The first mother to christen The Queen Elizabeth Hospital’s Midwife Led Birth Unit has returned for the birth of her second child.
And baby Otto Wille is definitely a Strictly champion for the future after waltzing out to his dance teacher mum Vicki’s favourite tune “I Want To Dance With Somebody” at The Waterlily Birth Centre.
Vicki and husband Josh, who is also a dance teacher, were the first family to use Waterlily for the birth of their daughter Delilah two years ago.
Waterlily is part of the Hospital’s Midwife-Led Pathway which aims to give mothers greater choice in where they deliver their babies.
The £600,000 unit, which boasts ambient rooms and specially designed birthing pools, first opened its doors on 21 December, when Delilah was born.
Vicki, of Terrington St Clement, said: “I had such a good experience with Delilah that I was really keen to go to Waterlily again with Otto. It has a nice atmosphere and I got to have a water birth which really helped with the pain.
“It also made a difference to be able to play music and sing along. Everyone who knows me, knows I love Whitney Houston and Otto came out to one of my favourite songs.
“Otto is doing brilliantly well and is such a good little boy. He is very content, happy and has settled right in.”
But Otto was not keen initially to make an appearance after being 11 days later than his due date.
Vicki had gone along to her local surgery in Terrington for a massage and acupressure but Otto was still not ready to arrive.
A week later Vicki went back into the surgery for a sweep on February 15 and that managed to get things going.
Vicki stayed at her home until 7.30am before heading into the hospital’s Waterlily unit.
She said: “I did ask for pain relief when I got there but I was advised by the midwife that this might slow things down so she ran a bath to help.
“As soon as I got in the bath things progressed really quickly so we topped the water birth depth.
“I would recommend water births as they really helped with the pain for me. I took pain relief with Delilah but nothing really worked until I got into the water when I was totally relaxed. The same thing happened with Otto as soon as I got in the pool I was totally relaxed.
“Water births really worked for me. You have the freedom to move about in the pool and you can get into any comfortable position and it feels better.”
Otto was born at 10.45pm weighing 7lb 15oz to Whitney Houston.
Josh and Vicki met at a ballet school in London and now run Studio 19 in Bergen Way, North Lynn. Studio 19, which offers ballet, contemporary, musical theatre, was the school in which Josh first learned to dance.
The QEH’s Midwife-Led pathway provides a less clinical approach for women having low risk pregnancies, which includes Home Birth along with Waterlily.
For more information contact 01553 214903
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Pictured left to right: Wille family, Vicki, Delilah, Josh, Otto
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