Birth story - Imogen and baby Otto

I hope this story will reassure that even if things don’t go 100% to plan, you can still have a really positive birth and feel over the moon!

Luckily for me, my eldest sister is a midwife who worked on a home birth team and so told me to look into hypnobirthing as soon as I told her I was expecting. Without her I would’ve never known that birth could be a positive experience and would’ve spent my entire pregnancy watching One Born Every Minute and stressing! I read a couple of books and went on a course, however I wanted to make sure the information was totally saturated in my brain and so did the online course after watching the PBC videos on youtube. The online course definitely helped my partner understand the most, and because he could rewatch it I made sure he totally got it!

As a first time mum, I was expecting to go slightly over 40 weeks, however as I got closer to 42 weeks I did start to worry as I desperately wanted to be on the MLU but I was aware I was running out of time! I refused the first two sweeps I was offered as I wanted to let my body do what it wanted, but as the days went by I started getting a bit worried and so decided to speak to the midwives at the birth unit and see what they suggested. I had began having surges at 41+4, but they weren’t getting any stronger or more regular so they said a sweep would probably just give my body the kickstart it needed so that I could avoid hormonal induction.

Straight after having a sweep I noticed a change in the intensity of my surges, and so decided it was time to start using my TENS machine as I was struggling with back pain, which worked a treat! After a small wobble at the beginning, I managed to get into my zone, focusing solely on my breathing and keeping my eyes closed so that I wasn’t distracted by things going on around me. My partner then set up the living room with candles and cushions so that I could stay calm and focused. We began timing the surges with the Freya app (I loved the story about the marathon!), and after about an hour of them being 2 mins apart and lasting at least 45 secs we decided to call the MLU who told me to come in to be checked. When we got there we discovered I was 3cm dilated, and although they said we could stay there, as we live close to the hospital we decided to go back home so that my partner could get a bit of sleep.

A few hours later we went back in, and much to my relief discovered I was finally in active labour, so they filled the pool for me whilst I had some gas and air. The midwives made us some breakfast and we just spent a bit of time getting used to our surroundings and getting back in my zone. After four hours they asked to examine me again, and although I had been planning on refusing examinations so that I didn’t get hung up on my progress I accepted as I didn’t feel that my surges had changed since getting to the unit. I was still at 4cm, and so we decided that the best thing to do was to break my waters. After this things definitely intensified, but we also realised that whilst baby wasn’t back to back, his head was in an awkward position, meaning I was in a lot more discomfort than I needed to be.

Throughout my entire pregnancy I had been totally against pain relief, I was happy to go with gas and air but I really wanted to avoid anything stronger. However, by this point I was totally exhausted - I had been in latent labour for three days and my body needed a break. I decided to go for an epidural as it would give me a chance to finally get some sleep, and would let me lay on my side so that baby would hopefully turn (which worked). I was so worried that having an epidural would make me feel as if I’d failed, but the relief it gave me was amazing and I’m still 100% sure it was the right choice for me. I got a few hours sleep which was lovely, and even got to quickly see my sister as she was leaving her shift at the hospital!

My temperature was taken, and as it was slightly high they decided to take some bloods too. I felt totally fine, however my bloods indicated that I had an infection, so after having a chat with an obstetrician, we decided that if I wasn’t fully dilated we would go for a c section, as the best thing to do was to get the baby out to make sure we were both well. I had always been terrified of c sections, however my partner and the obstetrician really helped to keep me calm and reminded me that it wouldn’t be long until I was holding my baby in my arms, which was all that mattered. I was examined again, and to everyone’s surprise I was 10cm dilated, and was given half an hour to try and get baby out myself. Obviously my body was totally ready for him to make an appearance as after 13 minutes of pushing he was here! We had skin to skin and dad cut the cord which had always been part of our plan and was so special. Thankfully baby had no signs of infection and so after a one night stay at the hospital we were allowed to come home.

I was so worried that deviating from the water birth on the MLU that I had planned and dreamt about for months would’ve made me feel disappointed, however my birth has proven to me that as long as you stay calm and informed ALL births can be positive, and I would do it all 100x over for my little boy!