Birth story - Grace and baby Conor

Being heavily pregnant during a global pandemic was the last thing I could have ever imagined. With the lock down in place and midwife appoints disrupted my anxiety was slowly bubbling away as I tried very hard to stay focused on my baby and his imminent arrival. Our hopes of a home birth seemed to be drifting away. It was hard to get any clarity from midwifes as they themselves seemed unsure what decisions would be made over the next few weeks. 

The Positive Birth Company became ever more important. We had already gone through the hypnobirthing digital pack and I used the positive birth affirmations and meditations on a daily basis to help me to stay present despite everything going on in the outside world. My biggest fear was that the normal postpartum support networks wouldn’t be accessible and without the help from friends and family I would really struggle. We download the postpartum pack to give ourselves as much knowledge as possible in preparation for the limited support we might receive. 

Finally the day had come!! I woke at midnight with strong cramps that were very regular. I had been having quite a few of these over the last week so I didn’t get too excited and decided to get up and go to the bathroom, walk about and see if they eased off. After several regular surges I went to wake up my partner and we used the wonderful Freya app to time them. Very soon the message came up saying I was in active labour despite only being awake and out of bed for half an hour! I couldn’t quite believe it after what felt like the longest few weeks waiting for him to arrive!! I remember feeling so relived to have dodged an induction which was scheduled for 2 days later.

We phoned triage and I was completely expecting to be told that home births weren’t going ahead due to Covid-19. To my absolute surprise she said a midwife would come round once my surges had increased in intensity. 

By this point my partner was getting the living room ready, lighting candles and setting up the birth pool. I was surprised at how quickly my surges were coming and it wasn’t long until I phoned triage again and could hardly talk to the midwife as surges were now very strong.

The only position I could deal with was on all fours leaning on my birth ball. My partner helped me put on the tens machine. 

The wait for the midwife seemed like forever and my partner called them back to check she was on her way. Finally she arrived by which point I could just about say hello before the next surge took over. 

 I hardly had any down time as the surges seemed to just roll into each other. The midwife did several checks between the surges which wasn’t easy as I had to keep getting onto all fours as soon as a surge happened. I was absolutely amazed to find out I was already 6cm dilated. This really made me feel so much better and soon after I was able to get into the birth pool. This felt incredible, the water helped so much with the pain and I instantly relaxed.

The whole time I used the Freya app and my partner helped me count the up breathing. This was the only thing that got me through the strength of the surges. I tried to keep drinking water and ate a few grapes but couldn’t stomach any of the snacks we had stocked up on. I made several trips to the toilet and just about manage to go up and down the stairs as the surges came on ever faster. I’m sure that being mobile through out really helped speed up the birth. 

The surges got ever stronger and I struggled to keep going with my up breathing.

Keen not to poo in the pool I went to the toilet again and this time I felt the need to push. My waters still hadn’t broken and I remember thinking about them constantly and wishing they would break and relieve some of the pressure. The pressure was very strong and this is when the pushing sensation started. I got back into the pool and began the 2nd stage of labour. 

The midwife was wonderful and for most of the labour she left me to it and only did checks when needed or if I requested them. I remember telling her I could feel his head but she said it was my waters bulging, they must have broken soon after but being in the water I didn’t realise. 

The 2nd stage was a bit of a blur as I just went into my own little world focusing on breathing as much a possible but mainly making mooing noises that allowed me to cope with the pushing sensation. I needed my partner by my side the whole time and felt panicked if he wasn’t next to me. He constantly reassured me and told me how amazingly I was doing. I remember telling him I couldn’t do it and it was too painful! At this point the head was really pushing down and I experienced the ring of fire that is so often talked about. It felt like his head was stuck like this for ages but it was in fact only a short amount of time. The midwives kept checking with the torch and mirror and reminded me to push with each surge. At this point I had some gas and air but really hated the feeling so just took in enough to take the edge off. 

Finally his head was out and they told me he had a lot of hair. It felt like they helped to twist him slightly and then he was out. They told me to grab him and I was in such shock that I struggled to have the strength to lift him up. The umbilical cord was quite long and wrapped round his neck and they decided to cut it quite quickly as he was struggling to breath a little. The midwife took him over to the table and gave him a rub down. He had quite a bit of mucus in his chest so it took a while for him to cry but he was fine and a lovely healthy baby with rosy chubby cheeks. I couldn’t quite believe it!! My legs were like jelly and I was helped out the pool and sat on our living room floor to deliver the placenta. I was absolutely exhausted and decided to have the injection to speed things up. It was a while until I got to hold my baby as the midwife was still trying to clear some of the mucus but I finally got a little cuddle and looked into his eyes for the first time. He was so alert and looking straight at me, this was an incredible moment.

While I waited for some stiches my partner did skin to skin and once I was sorted out we tried our first feed. 

I’m still in shock that my first experience of giving birth was so completely positive. All thanks to the wonderful midwifes and the positive birth company and their hypnobirthing digital pack. 

Giving birth to my son was such a memorable and joyous experience. The pain was intense but the empowering feeling of birthing him at home will stay with me forever. I look forward to telling my little son about it when he’s old enough.