Birth story - Chloe and baby Otis

We arrived at the birth centre at about 23.30 on 5th Aug and were shown to the suite. We made ourselves comfortable and managed to have a snooze in between my midwife, Claire, doing the checks. We weren’t quite in established labour but Claire wanted us to stay to see how we progressed over the next couple of hours. And hurray, we did, we were officially booked in, so would be coming home with a baby.

When the new team took over in the morning, we had midwife, Melinda, and student midwife, Leah, looking after us and I can not praise them enough. They let me get on with labour all whilst doing what they needed to do and making sure I was comfortable and encouraging me to keep going. I think I used every single facility in the room; the pool, the harness, the wall frame before settling on the gym mat in the corner with the birthing stool.

Melinda and Leah helped me bring Otis Daniel into the world at 12:42 on 6th Aug. They helped us have skin to skin despite the cord being too short, they made my partner felt really included the whole time. Melinda explained to him the changes my body was making, what to expect next, what he could do to help and they encouraged him to get involved. Melinda gave me a pep talk when I went through my transition phase and I asked if I could pause and start again tomorrow 😂 and she helped me shower afterwards! A proper mother hen! A special mention to Leah, who was by my side the whole way through being my own personal cheerleader. She wasn’t phased by anything, even when my waters exploded all over her. And she guided my partner in getting Otis ready, helped us start breastfeeding and even helped us with the car seat when we forgot how to set it up 🤦‍♀️ I couldn’t recommend the Royal Oldham Hospital's (ROH) Birth Centre enough, they made us feel so welcome and part of a little family. Thank you so much!

Transfer of care

I completed a hypnobirthing course during my third trimester and it made me really evaluate what my choices around giving birth were. I know I have a low pain threshold and I was so nervous about labour. I set out my preferences (birth centre and a birthing pool!) and brought them up at my 34 week appt. I was then told that the birth centre at my chosen hospital had been closed and I would be on a labour ward (there had been zero mention of this either at the hospital or at any previous appt!) This was not in my plan!!!

I started looking at other birth centre’s and I really wanted to find one that I could either visit beforehand (Covid stopped that) or had an online tour as I tend to panic in unfamiliar places. And that’s when I came across the Instagram page for ROH birth centre!! You guys had just uploaded a tour of one of the suites and it looked perfect. Super calming and relaxing and you were advocates for hypnobirthing too!! I loved that there were so many different apparatus in the room to aid pain relief as I wanted to use alternative methods! I also really enjoyed when you started posting pictures of the team, it felt like I was meeting everyone before I got there ☺️

By 37 weeks I had officially transferred my care over! My labour and birth was so positive! my midwife and student midwife were so supportive of all my choices even when I refused more pain relief and an examination towards the end; they really helped me stay focused and calm even when I struggled with pelvic girdle pain (PGP) and they brought in other equipment to help me get as comfortable as possible! So thank you to all of you, we are so grateful for a genuinely lovely and safe experience!

I am a self confessed wuss! And as I progressed with my pregnancy, I found myself becoming more and more nervous about labour and giving birth. After I had a couple of panic attacks, I decided to give hypnobirthing a go. I purchased the book and the digital pack, and got started. Straight away, my mindset changed, I felt instantly calmer about the process and I was confident enough to demand I change my place of birth after the MLU was closed when I was 36 weeks!

In more detail…

On the morning of 5th Aug, I told my partner I felt weird but thought nothing of it. By 1pm, I realised I was having some cramps but they weren’t strong or very regular (or so I thought), after an hour or so, I decided to check the regularity on the Freya app and was shocked to realise they were actually 10 mins apart. At 11pm, I couldn’t stand the pain in my back, so we headed to the MLU. The midwife suspected the baby was back to back so suggested I took a codine, which eased all the tension in my back and allowed to me focus on my contractions. I had an examination and I was gutted to find I was 3cm. We were offered the option to either go home or stay so, using our BRAIN, we decided to stay as I was a lot calmer in the unit than I was at home.

We relaxed, chatted away and I moved on to gas and air at 5 and at 7am I asked for another examination and I was 7cm! My midwives were incredible, they kept low voices and let me move around the room as I wanted, just left me too it. I remember going through my transition stage so clearly, I remember my stomach muscles changing like the book said and I freaked out. I asked my midwife if I could pause and come back tomorrow 😂. At this point she gave me a super mother hen pep talk!!! I had so much pain in my back and hips, I tried every single apparatus in the room, then my midwife asked if I wanted pethidine to help and I surprised myself by refusing; I remember telling her there was no point because it wouldn’t be much longer!!! She then asked if she could do a VE to see if I was 10cm and again I surprised myself by refusing that, even though I’d told my student midwife she could have a practice earlier on! They never pressed, once I’d said no, that was it.

My little boy was born at 12:42, using the a birthing stool and my partner holding me up.

Bizarrely when he arrived, the cord was ridiculously short, he didn’t even reach my stomach, we chose there and then to cut his cord immediately rather than wait, as skin to skin was more important to me.

I had a second degree tear and when the local anaesthetic didn’t take 3 times, I was told I’d need to go to theatre for stronger anaesthesia. Using the BRAIN technique again, I refused because I didn’t want to be apart from Otis and I wanted to get him latched on. So I had my stitches just using gas and air!!!After I had healed and reflected on my experience, I felt like Wonder Woman!!! Even now 7 months on, my birth was such an empowering experience and I look back at it with joy and I’m so proud of myself for listening to my body and advocating for myself.