Birth story - Jill and baby Theodore

I started the positive birth company course at 32 weeks and it honestly changed my whole mindset and birthing experience.

I started having contractions on the 7th of May when I was 41 weeks. It started with twinges that morning but I could get through them as they weren’t strong, so I went about my day as usual. Then at 1am that night I started to get surges that were irregular but still coming fast and strong. By 4am I rang the Labour ward (EOU) and they told me to have a bath to time my surges. I used my Freya app to help me breathe through and also time my surges. They were still slightly irregular but getting closer together with only 7 minutes between each one. I then rang EOU and got told to come up straight away. They checked me and I was already 5cm by 6am. I wanted a natural water birth with gas and air but with the knowledge of the PBC I was prepared for any situation as long as my baby was healthy and safely brought into the world.

I got to the Home from Home room and got into the birthing tub immediately, with gas and air at hand. By 9am my waters still had not broken, once the midwife broke my waters, my surges were incredibly strong and I used my breathing techniques which helped me greatly to calm and centre so I could get relaxed. By 12noon I was 10cm and ready to push.

I was exhausted by the time I was ready to push, I asked for morphine to help me and after that I wasn’t allowed back in the birthing pool at this stage. But after pushing for 1hr, my baby boy needed some help getting into the world. I stayed calm and collected.

They rushed me to the labour ward as I needed to have an episiotomy on my consent. I had to get help with the Ventouse and within 3 minutes and two big pushes, my baby boy was born at 13.47pm weighing a whopping 11lbs 7oz which no one expected.

If it wasn’t for PBC I would not have been able to prepare and educate myself for every possible scenario. I couldn’t be prouder of my body for producing such a healthy, big, boy naturally.