Testimonials & Birth Stories
“When I first met Nicolene, I was so encouraged by her honesty, wealth of knowledge, and the way she cares about every patient.
I’ve had 3 wonderful birthing experiences with her as my midwife. With each one… she was super observant, professional and caring at the same time, but gave me the space to do what I feel I need to do. I felt safe in knowing that she doesn’t take chances, but at all times, have the best interest of mother and baby, at the center of her attention.
The thing I can never thank her enough for is the home visits after the water births we had. I was so thankful that she came to our home… and she told me… don’t get dressed up… when I get there I want to find you in bed with your baby.
She’s the most sound advice at the other end of a new mother’s phone call or message. And with every visit to her clinic, she not only looks at the baby… she looks at me too. How’s it really going with MOM?
Thank you for caring, loving, being THERE!”
– M Dowel Ellis
“Nicolene is die engel in ons huis wat altyd tyd het, altyd wyse raad het en die ondersteuning bied wat brood nodig is met n newborns, inentings, kinders se onderrig, gesondheid, groei en algehele welsyn. Sy borrel oor van passie vir haar werk en doen dit met soveel oorgawe en liefde! Sy is soos familie met voordele want haar ondervinding, raad en hulp is “priceless”… jy is my SOS! Dankbaar vir jou in ons lewens! Ons kinders dink jy is die BESTE kliniek tannie!!
5ster diens, ervaring, detail en passie!”
-l. Du Plooy”
“Thank you to Nicolene for not just one, but two amazing home birth experiences! Nicolene helped me to fulfill my perfect birth experiences by always being attentive and supportive to what we wanted. She helped us to prepare for the birth of our first son with antenatal classes and regular check ups once I decided to scrap the hospital plan and go for a home birth.
Nicolene’s birthing room is comfortable and relaxed, the perfect atmosphere to deal with the joys and challenges of labor. When times got tough she was there to cool me down, wipe sweat from my brow, hold my hand and talk me through the contractions. Nicolene is very professional, yet always calm, relaxed and caring.
The after support Nicolene gave in the following week after my births with home visits was a saving grace, especially with my first born, when I really didn’t know what I was doing.
Even now, a year after the birth of my second son, Nicolene gives our family continued support with nutritional and health care advice for the changing needs of my growing boys.
I will be forever thankful for the experiences of my home births and especially to Nicolene for her love and continued support.”
– Corriana
“Saturday, 21 November 2015, marked 39 weeks in my second pregnancy. Time had flown by and my to do list remained long before I was ready for baby number two to enter the world. This particular Saturday was very busy too and I had been running around a lot. Expecting him to arrive late like his brother, I was quite surprised when my waters broke just after 6pm that evening. I called my husband, Brett, and didn’t say a word. He saw my soaked pants, smiled and said “are you ready for this?”
Since contractions hadn’t started we decided to carry on with the evening’s braai with family. They even helped us set up the birth pool. The midwife, birth photographer and my mother (baby sitter for older brother) were notified, but contractions would only start a few hours later around 9pm. It was a relaxed and enjoyable evening. By 10pm the family left and I went to put our son, Kaleb (3), to bed. He still nursed to sleep which helped strengthen the contractions. Everyone arrived to a calm house with dimmed lights and music playing. I was looking forward to this!
I spent some time talking to the midwife and birth photographer while bouncing on a birth ball to encourage baby’s descent. The midwife then invited me to get into the birth pool. The inflated pool and warm water was so comforting and relaxing – maybe too relaxing. From this point, the hours just started passing by. I closed my eyes, listened to the music, drank some fluid every now and again and I just kept changing positions to encourage contractions, with my husband and midwife topping up hot water from time to time. Our son slept most of the night and my mom stayed with him when he woke in the early hours of the morning.
The birth of our first child was also at home with the same midwife. It was under slightly more challenging circumstances as he was in a posterior position making for a longer back labour. I also didn’t have a proper birth pool and therefore believed the second time around would be far quicker It therefor took me of guard when I was still in labour quite a few hours later. After a while the midwife suggested I get out of the pool, but I resisted at first. She also gave me some homeopathic remedies regularly to boost contractions.
I remember the light of dawn and birds starting to chirp outside as the sun came through the blinds. The others struggled to stay awake, but the midwife stayed with me, always rubbing my back or arms, combing my hair or putting a wet cloth on me or waving cool air on me. It was comforting. When I got out of the pool for the first internal examination, around 5am, the pains were quite difficult to handle. I was 8cm dilated, but baby’s head was still high. After returning to the pool for some time, the midwife urged me to get out at least until I was fully dilated when I could get back in to deliver. I stood outside the pool, holding onto its handles. I welcomed every pain as progress, but dreaded the the next one. The midwife was standing behind me to support my legs during contractions.
Another examination found I was fully dilated but that the head was still high. I started pushing to assist in baby’s descent, then the midwife felt a second bag of waters. Another push and my waters popped, splashing against the pool’s side in front of me and onto the tile floor. Immediately after, my husband and the midwife were talking to me, to get me into the pool, but I couldn’t focus nor resist the involuntary, uncontrollable urge to push. A chair was brought closer as the midwife was becoming tired herself and needed to get up for the delivery, but before she could move away, I sat her down, saying my legs were too tired to do it alone.
The midwife said to my husband “are you ready to catch this baby?” He held his hands in place, ready to catch as the baby descended. The pain was relatively gone by this point. I felt with my hand as the head emerged, then the shoulders came and we pulled him onto my chest. A perfect baby, Ethan!
We delayed clamping for four minutes and had stem cells collected. I lay down on the couch with a very alert Ethan still on my chest. During this time, my mom and our son came out so he could meet his little brother. He looked very brave and excited. He was no longer our baby and only child. We were now parents of two beautiful boys and felt on top of the world!
– N. Strydom
“I had undergone many sleepless nights trying to decide WHERE to birth and WHO I wanted my primary caregiver to be. After numerous visits to different Gynae’s, I realised there was something seriously missing in this prenatal care procedure. At that time, I embarked on a HypnoBirthing course, which gave me the confidence to change to midwife led care and a home birth. This was possibly the best decision I ever made. After someone recommending Nicolene Laubscher to me, I made contact with her and went for my first appointment. How different this type of care was from regular Gynae’s. For the first time, I actually felt like my preferences counted, I was genuinely cared for and even though Nicolene had hundreds of patients, I always felt like her number one priority when I was there. I had found the missing link. My pregnancy was absolutely flawless, right up until 36 weeks when my blood pressure went up and I developed preeclampsia. There was my vision of a home birth, right out the window! Now, I had two choices and a home birth was not one of them. I could pay a ridiculous amount and go to a private hospital, leaving Nicolene’s care – probably resorting to a C-section OR, I could put my trust in this amazing midwife, who had a great relationship with the maternity ward at Paarl general hospital and who assured me that if I went there, I could remain in her care and she could still birth my baby or remain with me if I had to have a C-section. I had built so much trust in her that I took a leap of faith and went to a government hospital. As it turned out, I was treated really well by the maternity staff, had great doctors and the best part is that they did not resort to a C-section straight away. After being in their care for another 7 days, until baby was at least 37 weeks, I had to be induced but I could still have the natural birth that I had planned, with Nicolene by my side. We all thought the induction was going to go on for at least 2-3 days, as most of the woman in the unit who had inductions were climbing the walls in the passage in agony for a good few days. I went into labour about 5 mins after my first dose. Thankfully, my HypnoBirthing practice paid off and I never actually knew I was in labour – the only way I knew was because of that awful fetal monitor I was hooked up to overnight. By the next morning, the doctors thought I was bonkers because I wasn’t in any pain, yet my contractions were coming at a fast rate. Nicolene was there the entire time, checking in on me. At 2pm my waters broke and my contractions came in hard and fast. Nicolene was my anchor since not even my husband could get into the hospital until I was 5cm dilated due to hospital protocol. I was at 5 when my waters broke so hubby rushed in as her head crowned at 2.45pm…only 45mins later. My daughter was born at 2.55pm. If Nicolene had not been there, I would not have been able to have the confidence I did in that type of setting. She was there when no one else could be and from when my daughter was born right up until August this year, when my daughter turns one, she has been guiding me, teaching me, reassuring me…the list goes on. I have sometimes messaged her in the middle of the night in a flat panic (as you do) and she has helped me. She has done all my daughters vaccinations, helped with her diet plan and guided me every step of the way. It is during this last year that I have realised that no other care provider in the medical field would have given me the amount of care and guidance as Nicolene has. I realised that she does her job because it’s a passion, not because it’s her job. I was inspired by my experience and by her care which led me to become a birth Doula and HypnoBirthing practitioner. If one had to look at the details of my experience from a negative point of view, one would really think I had a terrible birth experience, but I look at it as an opportunity for a great story of inspiration and realisation that it really doesn’t matter what setting your birth takes place in, what matters is the choice of care provider, and unfortunately nowadays, woman really need to choose wisely when it comes to choosing their method of care. Nicolene is one of those people who leave a lasting imprint on your life. There is no other person who I would recommend more than her.”