Birth story - Amber and baby Isla

I started the PBC course when I was 12 weeks pregnant with my second baby, after what I felt was a traumatic delivery of my son at the end of 2019.

I was a young first time mum when I had my son at only 22, I now know I was very uneducated on the process of birth and the factors that can influence the delivery of a child which may be why I found it so extremely traumatic. When I had that positive pregnancy test with my daughter, I was filled with excitement at first but my mind soon wondered to “oh my god, I have to go through labour again”. I had heard of the PBC after following Louise Pentlands’ birth of her daughter, Pearl, so I thought I’d give it a try. The course was the best investment into my pregnancy I could have ever made. I planned to have a water birth with little intervention and to use all the breathing techniques I had been practicing for the past 6 months.

August 22nd 2020, 2 days pasted my ‘due date’. I realised that I had been ever so slightly leaking from down below on and off all day, perhaps this even started the day before I realised. As I had a 20 month old I was too busy to really take much notice of this, I’d even been to soft play with him in a hope to kick start my labour (it didn’t work). I called the delivery suite around 7pm after putting my son to bed and was advised to go to the delivery ward to be checked. Turned out my waters had broken and I was experiencing a slow leak as my daughter was a back-to-back baby. I was kept in and told I was having my baby! I was alone as my partner stayed at home with our son, I honestly thought I’d be coming home.

11pm I was given a pessary to start the process and I was 0cms dilated. I was told I’d have the pessary but at 5am I’d need the hormonal drip because not many women progress from just a pessary, so I was told. I remembered the techniques I had learnt and tried to make the environment as relaxing as possible for me (even though I forgot my birthing bag!!!). I tried to rest and put on a show on Netflix.

By 1:30am I was experiencing back ache which I thought was due to the hospital beds being so uncomfortable. Now I realise that I was starting to feel early labour. 3:45am I was having to breathe through the contractions, walking around the hospital room, using the Freya app, (definitely worth the £4.99). The app kept me relaxed and reminded me of the breathing and as I was breathing I felt the surges become much more manageable.

5am I was given the epidural I had booked as I was going to be needing the hormonal drip to ramp up my contractions. However when I was checked I was at an ‘easy 4cms’ and my contractions had become regular and strong on their own.

Come 9:30am I was checked again and I was at a 10, I couldn’t believe it had happened so fast for me compared to my first labour. As my daughter was back-back I had to wait an hour with my legs open on a birthing ball to allow her to rotate and she did just that! 10:40am, my amazing midwife who happened to deliver my son just 20 months earlier, told me it was time to start pushing. As I had the epidural, I could only feel some of the bearing down sensations, however I tried to remember the techniques learnt on the course to keep me calm and relaxed to help my baby girl into the world. 10:50am, 3 pushes and my daughter Isla was born weighing 8lbs 7ozs (so much for a small baby I was told during her pregnancy, but that’s another story🤣).

I couldn’t recommend the PBC enough, I had a wonderful birth experience even though it was not what I had planned to happen. Part of me is sad I didn’t get to experience a water birth again, but nevertheless my birth experience was positive, calm and overall amazing. Thank you Positive Birth Company!