This is the amazing moment mum Gerri Wolfe ʀᴇᴀᴄʜᴇᴅ ɪɴsɪᴅᴇ herself to ᴅᴇʟɪᴠᴇʀ her own twin daughters via ᴄᴀᴇsᴀʀᴇᴀɴ. The 41-year-old delivered the twins,
Matilda and Violet, at Newcastle’s John Hunter Hᴏsᴘɪᴛᴀʟ on December 22 with husband Robert by her side. The special moment was captured by Simone from Simone’s Photography. The girls are her 10th and 11th children, and it was the fifth ᴄᴀᴇsᴀʀᴇᴀɴ – but this birth was unlike anything she had experienced before.
Refusing to settle, Gerri researched her options online and instead opted to give birth via maternal ᴀssɪsᴛᴇᴅ ᴄᴀᴇsᴀʀᴇᴀɴ. The procedure is essentially a traditional C-sᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴ , save for final moments, in which the mother is permitted to ᴘᴜʟʟ the child out of her own ᴡᴏᴍʙ herself. Gerri said: ” It was a very rewarding experience. Once I learnt that I couldn’t have a ɴᴀᴛᴜʀᴀʟ ʙɪʀᴛʜ and the girls needed to be born sooner rather than later, I thought about how I could turn a sᴜʀɢɪᴄᴀʟ ᴘʀᴏᴄᴇᴅᴜʀᴇ into a birth. I had worked damn hard for my two previous births, a Hᴏsᴘɪᴛᴀʟ and then a homebirth after four C-sᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴ s a year later, so I was devastated to learn that I’d need to undergo a fifth C-sᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴ and I needed to make it a close to a ɴᴀᴛᴜʀᴀʟ ʙɪʀᴛʜ feeling as I could. I was very nervous on the day, about the actual C-sᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴ more so than about how it would be performed. But I was excited to meet my girls. The whole experience felt quite personal and I was treated with respect from the theatre staff, rather than as just another C-sᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴ patient. The procedure was the same as a ʀᴇɢᴜʟᴀʀ C-sᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴ , until I was told to reach out for my baby. The ᴅᴏᴄᴛᴏʀdelivered her up to her shoulders, then I grabbed her from there. I had a little help for my second twin as she was ʙʀᴇᴇᴄʜ. It was a beautiful moment”.
After their wild introduction to the world, the babies were allowed to leave the Hᴏsᴘɪᴛᴀʟ and rest comfortably at their home with their mother, surrounded by nine older siblings and their loving dad. Gerri says she has no ʀᴇɢʀᴇᴛs on bringing the twins into the world on her own terms. She said:” It’s my body, it’s my birth, it’s my baby.”
