Podcast Episode #271
Positive Plus Size Birth story with Jen
A calm, honest, and deeply grounding conversation about trusting your body and making informed choices in pregnancy and birth.
In this episode, I’m joined by Jen, a women’s health physiotherapist and first-time mum, who shares her positive plus size birth story, from navigating maternity care options to experiencing a straightforward and empowering home birth.
In this episode, we cover:
- Jen’s conception journey and pregnancy with PCOS
- How weight-based risk categorisation affected her maternity care options
- Choosing private midwifery for continuity of care
- How home birth became the right choice, with hospital transfer always part of the plan
- Birth preparation strategies that actually resonated, including mindset, breath, and physical confidence
- Weeks of prodromal labour and managing the emotional side of waiting
- What labour felt like, including shower use, vomiting, rest between contractions, and trusting intuition
- The relief and support of labouring in a birth pool
- A fast, calm water birth and physiological third stage
- Early postpartum experiences, including breastfeeding challenges and mastitis
- Reflections on informed choice, body trust, and feeling supported in birth
This episode is a reminder that birth does not need to be dramatic to be powerful, and that informed, supported choices make all the difference.
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In this article you'll find tips to:
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Navigate maternity care options with confidence and informed choice
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Advocate for yourself when care pathways feel limiting or misaligned
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Build a birth preparation toolkit that suits your personality and body
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Prepare mentally for labour using physical confidence and body trust
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Stay calm and grounded during long periods of waiting or prodromal labour
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Support oxytocin and relaxation during labour at home
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Use simple comfort measures like water, movement, and breath
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Trust your instincts when labour is progressing, even if timing feels unclear
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Cope with labour intensity without framing it as fear or pain
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Create a supportive birth environment with partners and family
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Understand the role of continuity of care in feeling safe during birth
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Approach postpartum recovery with realism, especially around breastfeeding challenges
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Make birth choices that feel right for you, regardless of size or setting
Birth stories shape how we understand what is possible.
This positive plus size birth story centres calm, informed decision-making and trust in the body. Jen Nicholson, a women’s health physiotherapist and first-time mum to baby Maisie, shared her pregnancy and birth experience in a way that felt steady, honest, and deeply reassuring. Her story is not about chasing a perfect outcome. It is about creating the right conditions to feel safe, supported, and confident in the choices made along the way.
Why this positive plus size birth story matters
Jen’s experience highlights an important reality within maternity care. Being in a larger body can influence the care pathways offered, sometimes regardless of overall health.
In Western Australia, Jen reports she was automatically categorised as “high risk” based on weight alone, which limited her access to certain public maternity care models. This was despite being active, healthy, and medically low risk in other respects. Rather than accepting a model that did not align with her needs, Jen sought care that prioritised continuity, respect, and informed choice.
This story matters because birth is oxytocin-driven. Feeling safe, heard, and respected plays a crucial role in how labour unfolds.
Choosing private midwifery and keeping options open
Jen initially chose a private midwife for continuity of care, with plans for a hospital birth if needed. Home birth was not the starting point.
Over time, through education, reflection, and ongoing conversations with her midwife, home birth became the preferred option. Importantly, transfer to hospital was always part of the plan. This was not about rejecting medical care, but about creating the best environment for labour to progress naturally where possible.
This flexible, informed approach is a key part of this positive plus size birth story.
Birth preparation that supported confidence and calm
Rather than following one strict method, Jen approached birth preparation by building a toolkit she could draw from as needed.
Balanced education
Jen attended a birth course recommended by her midwife that focused on physiology, oxytocin, breathing, and partner support. She valued that the course also addressed how to protect oxytocin if labour became more medicalised, offering a balanced perspective rather than a single narrative.
Rebozo support
During pregnancy, Jen used a rebozo scarf to support her belly and relieve back and pelvic discomfort. This simple tool helped her stay more comfortable as her body changed.
A physical mindset that resonated
One of the most helpful elements of Jen’s preparation was reframing birth as a physical challenge. With a background of endurance and strength-based activities, she trusted her body’s capacity to do hard things. That confidence became a steady anchor during labour.
This highlights an important reminder. Birth preparation should reflect the individual. What feels calming and empowering will look different for everyone.
The long lead-up and the emotional weight of waiting
From around 38 weeks, Jen experienced prodromal labour, with regular contractions that would ease by morning. This pattern repeated for several weeks and was physically and emotionally draining.
She also described the pressure that can come from others as due dates pass. Repeated questions about whether the baby had arrived made the waiting period feel more intense and isolating.
Jen’s personal boundary was not to consider induction until 42 weeks and 2 days. This decision was made with monitoring, open discussions, and confidence in her baby’s movements and wellbeing.
When labour truly began
At 41 weeks and 6 days, labour shifted into something more consistent.
Jen laboured at home in a calm, dimly lit space, using a fitball and staying focused inward. She described her contractions as intense rather than painful, which reflected how supported and grounded she felt.
Early labour included vomiting, which worried her partner but felt familiar to Jen from listening to other birth stories. After this, labour progressed more clearly.
The shower became an important space, with warm water on her back and steady support from her partner. Eventually, she rested on the couch and slept between contractions, trusting her instincts even as contractions spaced out.
The birth pool and active labour
The birth pool marked a significant shift. Jen described the water as profoundly relieving, offering comfort, buoyancy, and ease of movement.
During this stage, she focused on:
- staying relaxed through her jaw and face
- using sound to remain open
- leaning into contractions rather than resisting them
- reminding herself that each contraction brought her baby closer
- connecting mentally to the women before her who had birthed
When her midwife arrived, it became clear that labour was progressing quickly for a first birth. One simple cue helped further: slowing the breath between contractions to support relaxation.
Baby’s arrival
Jen’s waters broke in the pool at around 3:20am. Maisie was born just ten minutes later, at 3:30am, after only a few pushes.
She arrived with one arm up by her head. Jen experienced a small tear and some grazing, but overall the birth was calm and uncomplicated.
The moments after birth were emotional and grounding. There were tears, disbelief, and a deep sense of connection, shared with her partner and her mum.
Third stage labour and early moments together
The placenta was born physiologically after a change in position, with minimal blood loss. There were no signs of placental stress, aligning with Jen’s sense that her pregnancy dates may have been slightly off due to PCOS.
Skin-to-skin followed, and the first breastfeed was unhurried and connected.
Post birth recovery and the reality of postpartum
Physically, Jen’s pelvic floor recovery progressed well after the initial postpartum days. Breastfeeding proved more challenging, with several weeks of nipple pain and multiple episodes of mastitis.
Using her physiotherapy knowledge, Jen managed symptoms early with therapeutic ultrasound, which helped reduce escalation. Her experience is a reminder that even when birth unfolds smoothly, postpartum can still bring unexpected challenges.
What this positive plus size birth story reminds us
Jen’s story is powerful because it is grounded in informed choice and self-trust.
There is no single “right” way to give birth. Every birth is a good birth when the decisions made feel right to the person giving birth. This positive plus size birth story reinforces the importance of respectful care, balanced information, and genuine choice.
You deserve to feel safe, supported, and confident in your birth experience, whatever path it takes.
** This podcast has general information only. Always seek the guidance of your doctor or other qualified health professional with any questions or concerns you may have regarding your health or medical condition.
Links
Free Register now: https://www.fitnestmama.com/pregnancyworkshop
Preparing for birth Pelvic health checklist
Free 7 Day Trial Pregnancy Workouts
Free 7 Day Trial Postnatal Workouts
Instagram @kathbaquie.physio
1:1 Consultation with Physio Kath
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