Birth story - Debbie and baby Annie

Let’s be honest the thought of labour is scary for most first time mums. I’d seen the positive birth company on Instagram and had the course recommended by a close friend.

I bought the book and read it cover to cover on our babymoon in February. I also bought the digital course and my husband and I worked through the modules together (lockdown gave us the time!) It really helped him understand my fears about birth and how he could help me. We definitely learnt more about the birthing process from the PBC than from the NCT course we also did which was 6 times the cost! I was really keen on using hypnobirthing and having a water birth in our hospitals midwife led unit.

Covid-19 meant I had a lot of wobbly moments in my final trimester which was spent entirely in lockdown. I felt out of control and knew I had less support because of the pandemic but I was so lucky that our hospital went out of their way to keep services running as best they could.

Throughout my pregnancy I was low risk but at most appointments our baby was suspected to be breech. We had a 4d scan at 27 weeks and baby was definitely breech at that point. At my 36 week appointment (which actually happened when I was 36+6) the midwife referred me for a presentation scan as she couldn’t be 100% the baby was head down. This scan confirmed our baby was still frank breech which basically means head up, bum down and legs up by their face. Because of covid I attended this scan alone and it was lovely to see our baby but I was sad that my husband didn’t get this experience.

I was immediately sent to see a doctor to discuss my options. This conversation happened with me on my own in a busy waiting room. My options were to try an ECV (a manual turning procedure) or book in for a caesarean section. I had three hours to decide because of the timing and availability of doctors. The PBC had helped me understand what an ecv was and also my other options as I found the hospital information wasn’t great. I went over and over my decision, but ultimately the instinct part of the BRAIN process played a huge part in my decision and I decided to not have the ecv. Something told me everything happens for a reason. I did try some things from the spinning babies webpage and continued my pregnancy yoga classes which incorporated similar movements.

I spent the day after confirming my section rewriting my birth preferences around a planned section. It helped me ‘mourn’ the loss of what I thought my birth experience would be like and see the positives in the section. I kept my preferences for a natural birth too - after all baby may have turned before the date. (Spoiler - they didn’t!)

On the day of the section (also our wedding anniversary) we went to hospital and were shown into a transition ward. Here my husband could stay with me before the section and we would have a few hours together after but it wouldn’t be where baby and I would be. This made setting up my stuff for easy access after the section tricky. Easy access bag packing is critical!

The section itself was calm and the team were really great. We had a great playlist on of our favourite songs and I was talked through everything that was happening so I felt in control and prepared. We couldn’t do some of my preferences (gentle caesarean - this can’t be done with breech babies, husband cutting the cord - our daughter didn’t breathe straight away so the team cut the cord to shock her) but the team definitely helped me get the calm experience I wanted. I was surprised I could feel what they were doing but it didn’t hurt at all. The only uncomfortable bit was the local anaesthetic for the spinal and I got a bit hot and faint from leaning over my bump. It’s actually nice to be so aware of the birth and not distracted by pain.

Our little girl was born. She was almost folded in half from her position! She took a little while to breathe but because we had been warned this may happen I felt calm.

Due to some logistical issues with finding me a bed my husband actually got to stay about 8 hours after our daughters birth I’m so grateful for this time and I know he was. We ended up staying two nights in hospital (to help with feeding) and it was tough on all of us that he didn’t get to visit. The lack of sleep those first few nights was really hard without my husbands help. Hats off to single mums!

The thing with a c section is recovery is tougher than the procedure. Standing up and moving in the fortnight after the section isn’t fun. There are injections to stop blood clots which go on for 10 days. And whilst it’s important not to be a hero and to make sure you take the painkillers they can make you feel nauseous. It’s nothing you can’t handle but be prepared for it. Like a vaginal birth going to the loo (#2) for the first time was not something I’d like to do again in a hurry but peppermint tea and stool softeners really help. Not being able to drive for 6 weeks is frustrating when you are used to being independent but it’s a good excuse to use that brand new buggy!

During Annie’s newborn check the midwife picked up on some instability in her hips. Around 10-25% of babies who are breech have a condition called DDH where the hips aren’t formed correctly. Picked up quickly it can be treated fairly successfully. FaceTiming my husband to tell him I was an emotional wreck.

Annie was confirmed to have one dislocated hip and one dislocatable hip at an ultrasound, due to her hips not being formed. When she was 7 days old she was put into a pavlik harness full time. This was a tough, tough day. We had already struggled with breastfeeding (but were persevering) and my hormones were a bigger rollercoaster than I expected so this on top was hard. Seeing your tiny squishy newborn in a harness and being told you can’t take it off to bathe her, dress her or cuddle her in the same way as you’d expect to was devastating. But I kept focusing on the 95% success rate of treatment and the fact that Annie’s condition was fixable. I was assured she wouldn’t be in pain though may be frustrated by her new temporary accessory! The up breathing technique is something I’ve used many times during Annie’s treatment and diagnosis it really does help keep you calm in stressful situations. The great news is Annie responded well to treatment and after 9 weeks she’s considered hip healthy pending a one year X-ray.

The road to motherhood wasn’t an easy one for me (Annie’s our rainbow baby) and my birthing experience wasn’t as I imagined, neither was the start of our fourth trimester but I couldn’t be happier right now with my very smiley 7 month old.