Birth story - Colette and baby boy

When I had my first son in 2015 I did absolutely no research. I was working full time as a primary school teacher and by the time it became time to take antenatal classes I was too tired to go. I had no idea about pain relief or oxytocin and at 40+8 weeks my OBGYN insisted on inducing me for the safety of my son. What followed was a very medicated birth with an epidural and episiotomy and me coming away feeling like I hadn’t taken part in it at all.

I found out I was pregnant again in February and around June I decided that I wanted to put my all into having a natural labour and birth with this baby. I became excited at the prospect and purchased the pack in August which I then worked through with my husband. I also attended some prenatal stretching classes and learned about the best postural positions for a natural labour.

As my due date neared I became convinced I would need to be induced again. My OBGYN this time was incredibly supportive and encouraged me to try for a water birth - a rarity in Singapore as only 3 doctors support this and only one hospital has a tub.

In the last few weeks of pregnancy I bounced on my yoga ball a lot, took walks, many many candle lit baths and tried to stay as relaxed as possible. From 39 weeks my fluid levels were low but my doctor said he would not induce on this reason alone - he knew how important a natural labour was for me. I had a check up booked on Monday 29th October (40+4 weeks) but I cancelled it as on the Sunday night between 11pm-2am I had been kept awake by inconsistent surges. I decided instead to stay home, listen to music, relax and go for some relaxing walks and not take the train journey into town for my check up. My doctor said he would see me in clinic the following morning for a check up....

That night I went to bed at 11pm and the surges started up again (period pain sensations in my back and tightenings in my tummy). I told my husband I wasn’t going to stay up tonight as I did the night before and I went to sleep. A surge must have woken me up at 1am. I got up, pottered around the house and used up breathing through each one. I made my son his packed lunch for school and this took about 3 times as long as usual as I kept stopping to breathe through the surges. They were totally manageable. I went back to bed but the surges were too intense so I carried on walking around my house in the dark chatting to one of my friends on whatsapp who is a doctor. She encouraged me to wake my husband and get to the hospital. I couldn’t time the surges as I was too busy focusing on my breathing but guessed they were every 2-3 mins. I was hesitant to go to hospital too soon as I didn’t want to slow things down however at 3:45am I woke up my husband and we were at hospital at 4am.

My doctor did a VE and I was shocked to discover I was 7cm at 4am after 3 hours of labour. He asked the nurses to fill the tub for me and I continued to labour UFO walking around the delivery suite. My husband was an amazing support but the nurses did not follow my birth plan. Lights were turned on and I had many people coming and going with jugs of hot water because the hot water in the tub wasn’t working. I even had a hospital manager ask me for my insurance company details during a surge! There was no music or tea lights because of these distractions. However, I stayed in the zone and blocked it all out. After an hour I knew I was transitioning as I felt like I couldn’t do it any more and that the surges were not manageable. My doctor came back and he broke my waters, I was fully dilated and I wanted to push. At this point I no longer wanted to be in the tub which didn’t seem deep enough for me. I tried pushing in different UFO positions but ended up most comfortable on the bed. After 45 minutes of pushing, our son Magnus Aari, was born at 6:23am and he was brought up to my chest. He was perfect and his cord was cut at 6:26am. My doctor said the birth could not have been more positive and the next day asked me if I had felt like I had been a part of the experience this time - of course the answer was yes. It was not easy but I would not have been able to do it without the tools from the course. The breathing techniques were invaluable during labour but knowing all about Oxytocin vs Adrenalin for me was the key. I would recommend the digital pack to anyone considering it. Having a natural labour and birth was one of the most empowering experiences of my life and I feel extremely proud of both me and my son for making it happen.