Birth story - Jenny and baby Antonio

I’d always joked (..half joked) that if I had a baby I would want all the drugs going – if there was a way to avoid all the pain and horror of childbirth then yes please, sign me up. This was pretty much my attitude until about 4 months into my pregnancy when I started reading up about hypnobirthing and discovered the Positive Birth Company.

My partner and I watched the digital pack together and were struck by just how little we knew about the physiology of birth – I just knew what I’d seen on TV and film which had left me miseducated and to be honest, pretty terrified. I spent the rest of my pregnancy learning as much as I could about the physical and emotional realities of birthing and practised hypnobirthing breathing and relaxation techniques regularly. By the time 40 weeks rolled around I was looking forward to experiencing the birth of my baby.

At 40 weeks + 3 days I woke at 4.15 am to notice I was wet, not much but enough to make me feel sure it was more than ‘a little accident’ (I won that bet with my partner). I wasn’t having any surges so I went back to sleep and called the MLU the next morning. They advised me to stay home where hopefully nature would take its course, but that I should head in around 4pm to be examined.

Things didn’t really pick up, I had some mild cramping and a little bit of blood but no definitive signs that labour was around the corner. We headed into the MLU where I was examined and told that my waters (or at least a little bit of them) had broken. The pressure was now on because if I wasn’t in established labour 24 hours after losing my waters, I would need to be induced and to give birth on the labour ward. As I was hoping for a natural water birth on the MLU this really was something I wanted to avoid. I used my BRAIN and agreed to have a stretch and sweep in the hope it would get things moving.

By the time we got home about 7pm I was having mild but definite surges. We got ourselves set up in the lounge with my ball, dimmed lights, comfort TV and pizza… it felt like the night before going on a big holiday we were so excited and giddy. As the surges got stronger and more regular, we fired up the Freya app and by 9pm we were in established labour – hurray!

Things carried on like this for a while and it was all feeling very manageable. I was loving putting all my knowledge into practise and felt calm and in control. I decided I’d like to try out the TENS machine I’d rented, so I leaned over the birthing ball whilst my partner started to apply the pads. Just as I bent forwards there was a huge ‘pop’ as the rest of my waters broke and with that everything intensified what felt like one hundred-fold. I felt panicky and like I was no longer in control as I struggled to think clearly or form sentences. Between grunts and trying to catch my breath I told my partner we needed to get to the MLU quickly because I felt like things were moving really quickly – it really felt like I was about to have the baby on the living room floor! We called an Uber and were at the MLU in under 15 minutes.

Upon examination the midwife told me I was 6cm dilated and it was time to head to the birthing room where she started to fill up the pool. I was struggling to control my breathing because the surges were so intense and frequent (every minute or so) but my partner was doing an amazing job of counting with me through up breathing which helped massively. I asked for some gas and air which also helped to calm me and take the edge of the power of the surges.

When I finally slipped into the pool the relief was wonderful. I floated there for a few hours riding intense waves of surge after surge. Looking back it seems like an out of body experience and there were moments where it felt too much, and I desperately wanted it to end – but the midwife was wonderful, respecting every aspect of my birth plan and gently reminding me why I’d chosen a natural birth and to use my tools of breathing and visualisations.

After a while I started to feel cold, so I decided to get out of the pool and lie on the bed with my partner cuddling me. It was as if my body was giving me a break before the transition to the second stage, and I was using visualisations to calm myself.

Suddenly I started shaking and I could feel my body wanted to take over, but oddly despite everything I knew I felt reluctant to hand over the reins to mother nature. The midwife, who had been quietly watching over me, could see what was happening and gently said ‘I think it’s time for you to stand up and let gravity help you’. I didn’t want to move but I knew it was time as I’d been stifling the urge to bear down for a few minutes.

I slowly got to my feet and took a few steps with my partner propping me up. I had gotten less than a metre from the bed when I felt the unbelievable sensation of my baby moving down through my body. ‘He’s coming!’ I shouted as the midwife scrambled for towels to put underneath me. It was all happening so quickly there wasn’t time to send for another midwife, so my partner had to help get me into position. Standing up and in my partners arms I gave birth to our little boy – I didn’t have to push, I just breathed down and let nature work its magic and it was absolutely incredible. The second stage of labour had lasted less than 10 minutes and moments after delivering him I was laying on the bed holding our son.

Tio was born at 4.15am, exactly 24 hours after my waters had broken the day before which meant I very narrowly avoided a hospital stay. I had no injuries from the birth and Tio (despite being a slight 6lbs 3oz) was perfectly healthy and we were able to head home just a few hours later. I feel so incredibly lucky to have had such an amazing birth experience, it was everything I had hoped for and my partner and I still love talking about it months later. We may even do it again one day!