I’m excited to introduce Sarah from Mum & Mor as part of my new guest series The Partner’s View. Sarah’s partner explains how our birth choices are taken out of our hands, so it’s best to be prepared for everything, but at the end of the birth you have beautiful baby. What were your thoughts and feelings leading up to the birth of your child? Nervous, but not due to the birth or child. I was excited to meet our little one. As a birth partner, how did you prepare for the birth? Preparations were made almost like a battle plan, just to be ruined by outside choices we couldn’t control. Sarah had gestational diabetes and hypertension. So as a birth partner, my preparations were more in the books of, “be ready for anything, and be timed for nothing”. Tell us a little about your partners birth? The actual birth was quite smooth and fast, 14 minutes of pushing and our daughter joined the world with no problems. Sadly, the hospital procedures didn’t go as they should have, but we made the best of it. The drip wasn’t fitted properly first time, then the epidural failed to work. It was a tiresome event. What were you most afraid of during your partner’s birth? Being useless, being unable to do anything. It was a problem for me through that time, not being able to do much other than stand around and cheer. I was given the job to test Sarah’s blood, but it wasn’t for long anyway. What was the best and most positive part of your partners birth? The smooth birth of our child. The little thing just screamed out once, then had the most curious gaze as we held her. It doesn’t get better. How did you support your partner and baby after the birth? We were stuck at the hospital 4 days after, so all I could do was help smoothen our stay. It was tough as we tried breastfeeding first, without luck. I gave emotional support at the gallons, though! I prepared formula for the baby and ordered takeaway now and then due to the bad hospital food. What advice would you give to a birthing partner? Fatherhood 101; Don’t prepare too much for one plan, there is a great chance it’ll be changed again and again. Be flexible about events, be ready to grab what is needed, and support the expectant mother’s wishes. A little bit about Sarah “I’m Sarah, a British expat that moved to Denmark in May 2015 to be with my Danish boyfriend I met online. I’m currently a stay at home mother to my baby daughter and I enjoy blogging, playing video games, crafting and spending time with family.” You can find Sarah on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and StumbleUpon, and on her website. If you would like to join my guest series, please drop me an email at thepramshedblog@gmail.com, I would love to read and publish your stories. Claire x