Birth story - Charlotte and baby Charlie

*Trigger warning* - Natural breech delivery with baby needing assistance immediately after birth.

I have loved reading everyone’s birth stories and still read them now after having my baby - all so inspiring and everyone is incredible!

Everyday I think about my birth and how amazing and unexpected it was. I have had 2 completely different births with both my beautiful boys and remember them for different reasons.

I had my first baby 2 years ago and had a very long labour so felt incredibly anxious as soon as I found out I was pregnant again. My baby was back to back and I think this could have had something to do with how slowly everything progressed. I had a lot of discomfort in my back as I think baby had dropped on to a nerve and it made me very sick. Although it was all very long, I still had an amazing pool birth with no intervention. However, I wanted things to be so different second time round. I wish I had known about the positive birth company before as I think this may have helped me feel more relaxed throughout my labour but I’m incredibly thankful for it for my second!

I decided I wanted a home birth this time after hearing some really positive stories from my friends. I didn’t even consider it with my first but really wish that I had. I started to prep for having my baby at home but at my 37 week midwife appointment, I was told that my baby was potentially breech and that I would need to go for a presentation scan to confirm. Frustratingly, baby was head down up until this point. My heart sank and I felt absolutely gutted as I knew the birth I was hoping for was far from possible. It was confirmed the following week that baby was breech and I was talked through my options. I was asked if I wanted to do an ECV to try and turn baby or if I didn’t choose to do this, I’d have to be booked in for a c-section as I was advised the risks are higher giving birth naturally to a breech baby. I went home to have a think about it and to discuss with my husband. I decided after a couple of days to give an ECV a go as I knew the risks were incredibly low and I may have regretted at least trying to see if it would work.

My husband and I went to the hospital on the Friday night and they monitored baby’s heart rate for a little while. Unfortunately because baby’s heart rate was too high for too long, they wouldn’t carry out the procedure so I would have to go back in within the next couple of days. We went back on the Sunday and again we were monitored and baby seemed all ok so we were all good to go this time. Unfortunately after about 15-20 minutes, baby wouldn’t turn - they would only go to a certain point and stretch their legs out. I knew at this point it wasn’t meant to be and I should start getting my head around having a c-section. They would usually book a planned c-section at 39 weeks but I wanted to give myself more time to try and move baby or if they would miraculously turn last minute by themselves. The next available date was when I would be 40+1 days so we went with that and I’d just take the risk of baby coming earlier and having to have an emergency c-section. I was part way through the course but skipped to the c-section video and watched the breathing videos as well as I knew this was still important to do whilst being in theatre.

A couple of days later, I asked my husband to watch some more videos with me, just in case baby did decide to turn (I was still hopeful). I saw the one where it mentioned to maybe try using something cold placed on the top of your tummy and something warm at the bottom to see if this would help baby turn so I made note to try it the next day. Little did I know, an hour or so later, it would all start happening that night…

Unexpectedly (at 39+1), I started getting mild cramps around 9-9.30 Thursday night but was in-denial it could be the start of labour as I knew he was still breech and I had a week until my due date. Also, as my first baby was 10 days late I didn’t think my second would be so early! I think we got into bed just after 10 and I still had mild cramps but they seemed a little more frequent but again I didn’t think much of it and thought there was plenty of time before anything would happen! My waters then broke in bed at 11! I stayed calm and called the delivery suite straight away to say I think I was having contractions and my waters broke and that my baby was breech. I was told beforehand I’d have to go straight in to be scanned and to talk through my options. We called my Mum and she came round straight away to sit with our little one whilst he was asleep (luckily she only lives around the corner).

We got to the hospital around 11.40 and my contractions were a lot closer together but they didn’t seem to be too concerned as we were left in the family room for a little while. My husband went to find someone to see what was going on and they said they were just waiting for the triage room to become available so I could be monitored. When we finally got in, they put me on the monitor to hear baby’s heart rate whilst they waited for a doctor to come in to scan me to check baby’s position. By this point I was quite uncomfortable but it was manageable and asked the midwife if she needed to check me and she said no as she said she didn’t want to interfere if she didn’t need to!

The doctor finally came around 12.30 and did the scan and confirmed baby was still breech and tried to discuss my options. By this point, my contractions were a lot more intense so I wasn’t really able to take a lot in of what he was saying. I then felt a big urge to push (well I actually thought I needed to push a poo so felt very embarrassed to say it as there were a lot of people in the room ) so the midwife took my leggings off to check what was going on and by surprise the baby’s feet were there!! I remember looking at my husband and saying ‘What?!’ I think they then realised I was a lot further on than they thought and I was told I’d have to deliver the baby naturally.

The atmosphere in the room suddenly changed and I remember the doctor saying about trying to get me on a wheelchair so they could take me to a delivery room but there was simply no time and I wouldn’t have been able to move off the bed anyway. The midwife and doctor tried to stay calm and told me to listen to my body and push through my contractions. They just stood at the end of the bed and let me get on with it. The breathing absolutely got me through this whole experience and I felt so in control and calm.

The legs and body came out and then an arm. The midwife had to twist baby’s other arm slightly as they were almost to the side. I then remember the doctor saying in my next contraction I need to push the head out and he seemed a little more authoritative by this point as I think he might have started to panic a little. Baby’s head came out and our beautiful baby was born - the feeling was absolutely incredible that I had just birthed my baby that way and still to this day it makes me smile. They quickly cut the cord and had to take him out the room straight away as he wasn’t breathing which was scary but I then finally heard him cry and they told me everything was ok!

With the room being so small and it all happening so quickly, my husband was stood over the other side of the room (practically in the cupboard) and couldn’t really get to me because of all the other people as well as the monitor in the way which was a shame.

I then got taken to a delivery room for recovery which my husband could stay with me for a while. It was nice not to have any tears this time round as I had a third degree tear with my first.

The doctor and midwife came and spoke to me a couple of hours later to talk through everything that happened and made sure I wasn’t traumatised by it all. They also apologised to me because I shouldn’t have delivered my baby in that room and mentioned that with a breech delivery I should have been laying with my legs in the air in case they needed to intervene but there was simply no time to move me.

They had to monitor baby for 12 hours before we could come home because he was breech! I managed to come home before my little one went to bed which was lovely to introduce him to his little brother and still put him down to bed.

I know it wasn’t the birth I had imagined, far from it actually, but I feel incredibly blessed and forever grateful for my experience and I don’t think I would have got through it without the help of PBC so thank you!