Birth story - Laura and baby Nova

*Trigger Warning* - Large for gestational age baby/macrosomia, induction of labour, OP/back to back baby, contractions (not negative for me), potential shoulder dystocia, third degree tear, postpartum haemorrhage.

Pregnancy:

I was very lucky in that my pregnancy was overall very straightforward and enjoyable!

As a midwife, I did start to struggle with knowing too much about what could go wrong in pregnancy and birth, which made me extremely anxious. So I decided to try hypnobirthing and bought the digital pack. Myself and my partner watched the videos together from around 24 weeks onwards, and I found this stopped my anxiety and had me looking forward to birth!

I began drinking raspberry leaf tea from 32 weeks onwards, and started hand expressing colostrum from 36 weeks onwards.

My first bump measurement at 28 weeks was over the 97th centile. I was expecting to have a large baby as both myself and my partner were large babies, and I am quite tall.

My next measurement at 31 weeks showed increased growth so I accepted growth scans and the test for diabetes. I came back negative for diabetes, and the growth scan estimated baby to be large over the 95th centile.

I had another scan at 36 weeks in which baby continued to be estimated over the 95th centile so my consultant offered an early induction of labour at 38 weeks. I had expected this and already researched and decided against early induction (I also read In Your Own Time by Dr Sara Wickham, which I would highly recommend to those being offered early induction for non-medical reasons). I declined early induction, and my consultant offered early sweeps from 38 weeks which I was happy to consider.

38 weeks came and went and (using BRAIN) I decided against the early sweeps, as I hadn't been getting any signs that baby was ready to be born. Baby had also been back to back from 32 weeks, so I wanted to try and encourage them to turn before attempting to start off labour!

I had been getting Braxton hicks throughout my third trimester, but from 39 weeks onwards I noticed these started to feel a little uncomfortable and more regular than usual Braxton hicks. So at my 40 week appointment, I accepted the offer of a sweep more out of curiosity than anything else and was found to be 1cm dilated, just still with a thick cervix. The sporadic and slightly uncomfortable tightenings continued over the next couple of weeks.

I accepted another two sweeps at 40+4 and 41+4, although wish I hadn't as my cervix stayed the same and all this did was increase my anxiety! I ended up treating myself to a pregnancy massage which helped me to relax and feel less anxious.

At one of these final appointments, (using BRAIN) I accepted an induction of labour for 'post dates'. I requested that it was booked a day later than the usual 41+5 as we had a wedding to attend, so it was booked for 41+6.

I had an amazing time at the wedding, stayed right until the end of night, and even managed to do a waddle or two on the dance floor

The oxytocin and dancing at the wedding must have done the trick, because when we attended the hospital for my induction the next day, my cervix was 2cm and very thin! Although they would have been able to break my waters, I opted to have the pessary and then return home for 24 hours (outpatient induction of labour) because I thought this would give my body the best chance of starting off labour.

Labour and Birth

I had the pessary inserted at 7pm and went back home. We went to bed at 11pm as I wasn't feeling anything different and wanted to be well rested.

I was woken up at 1.20am by contractions. They were strong enough for me to need to get out of bed and use up breathing so I started timing them using the Freya app. This told me I was in established labour immediately as they were coming every 3 minutes. I decided to wait at home for as long as I could I avoid attending the hospital too early so I got into the shower and continued up breathing there.

My partner woke up half an hour later and by this point the shower wasn't helping as much, so I got out and he helped me put on my Tens machine. I sat on my ball at the side of the bed and continued up breathing.

By 3.20am the contractions were much more intense so we called the hospital. They invited us in to be assessed, and because I wasn't yet over 42 weeks I was still suitable to go to the Midwife Led Birth Unit.

We arrived at the birth unit at 4am and I was 6cm so the pessary was removed! I started using gas and air whilst waiting for the pool to fill enough to get in. Whilst waiting, my waters broke during a contraction.

Once I got into the pool I immediately felt a relief from the intensity of the contractions. My partner put on the playlist I had prepared and sprayed the calming room spray I had been using to get to sleep in pregnancy.

I felt amazing at this point, I was so relaxed in the warm water.

Not long after entering the pool, I could feel my body start to push at the height of some contractions. I was wary of pushing too early as baby was still back to back when I arrived to the birth centre, so I tried my best to continue up breathing. It wasn't long before my body was pushing with each contaction and I just went with it.

At 6.06am, after about 40 minutes of pushing, I breathed out baby's head. Unfortunately, there was no further movement when I pushed with the next contraction, which could mean that baby's shoulder was stuck (shoulder dystocia) so the emergency bell was pulled. I knew that I needed to get out and onto the bed so the midwives could help little one arrive quickly, but as I stepped put of the pool felt another almighty urge to push before I could get there. Instinctively, I squatted down on the stairs of the pool and with a final push she arrived at 6.09am

We made our way over to the bed where we started skin-to-skin and she latched for her first feed.

At this point I had lost more blood than usual (probably due to baby's size and a very speedy labour) and had a possible third degree tear, so we were quickly transferred to delivery suite. One of the doctors on delivery suite confirmed the third degree tear so I had the repair done in theatre. Whilst I was I theatre the midwife weighed the baby with my partner and then came to tell me that she was 10lb 11oz!

Because of the amount of blood I lost and a suspected infection in myself and baby that needed antibiotics, we ended up having a 6 day stay in hospital. We also tested positive for covid (most likely caught at the wedding ), so had to be isolated for most of the stay. Luckily my partner was able to stay and allowed to go on and off the ward to collect supplies etc. We used that time to bond as a little family of three without having to worry about lots of visitors, so in that sense it was quite nice! It also made finally arriving home on Father's Day extra special

If myself and my partner had not done the PBC course, I think it is very likely that we would look back on our birth experience as being quite traumatic. Even during the emergencies, I felt calm and in control throughout.

As someone who has seen a lot of labour and birth from the outside, I never ever thought that I could have such a positive experience.

I can honestly say that I enjoyed labour and birth and that in itself is so empowering.

I'm actually looking forward to doing it again!