Birth story - Ami and baby Reggie

I woke on with mild period like cramps and wondered whether this could be the start of things however didn't get my hopes up due to being a first pregnancy and thinking it may just be a false alarm. I decided to deep clean the house all day and things began to intensify around tea time, however still completely manageable using my up breathing and dancing along to my labor playlist. Being unable to sleep I spent the rest of the evening having a bath and bouncing on my ball.

Around 3am we rang the midwife lead unit, due to surges being 3 in 10mins for over an hour, and we decided to head in. I accepted an examination at this time and found I was 4cm. I spent the next 4 hours using my tens machine, up breathing and listening to relaxation tracks and was then examined again and was found to be 5cm. Things had intensified at this point and I got into the pool. Another 4 hours and my surges had begun to slow down, I was.vomiting a lot and unable to keep any food or drink down and I was having difficulty emptying my bladder. I had a further examination and was still 5cm. At this time due to my tiredness I agreed to have my waters broken, there was concern that baby had turned breach due to the midwife not being confident she could feel baby's head. I was then transferred to the labour ward for a scan which confirmed that baby was head down. However, baby's heart rate was fluctuating and therefore it was felt baby would need to be born soon, due to heart rate not recovering as expected, due to the frequency of surges. I had reached 9cm by this point using my breathing, tens and gas and air which really helped focus my breathing. My partner coached me through the breaths and kept encouraging me to eat haribo and drink to keep my energy up. The midwife on the labor ward really tried to meet my preferences and dimmed the lights, sprayed my room spray and had Bob Marley playing throughout. I was given time to try to breath baby down but he was showing signs of distress and therefore I was coached to push. I accepted an episiotomy which allowed me to deliver my baby safely without any further intervention. Although the birth was not my ideal of a water birth it was an incredible experience, I felt in control throughout the process and stayed calm at times that, without the positive birth company course, I think would have panicked. I can honestly say that despite it being hard, due to tiredness and lack of energy, I can't say that I felt any pain and the breathing played such a huge part in this.

We were able to have delayed cord clamping and skin to skin. Without the digital pack I know the experience would have been very different for both me and my partner, thank you!