Birth story - Lisa and baby Archer

Possible Triggers - Breech baby (footling), declined ECV, group B strep (GBS), small growth, extremely quick labour, emergency c-section.

Pregnancy:

I had a dream pregnancy - while I definitely had some rubbish days I also had days where I felt like a superhero. However, things got a bit pointy during the third trimester where despite feeling great, I had a few issues. In particular:

- Baby’s tummy was measuring small on scans (around the 17th percentile).

- I was confirmed as a Group B Strep carrier. My midwife said this meant that I was required to go into hospital immediately when my waters broke and be put on continual monitoring and a continuous antibiotic IV drip during labour. I’m not sure whether this is strictly necessary but my midwife had a very authoritarian approach which I found quite challenging.

- Baby was breech.

Because baby was in breech I was sent for an ECV appointment at 36 weeks. To my surprise I received very little information about the ECV before the appointment and when I tried to use my BRAIN during the appointment I was treated like a petulant child by my midwife and the doctor. They weren’t really prepared to discuss the risks/benefits with me - instead responding “why wouldn’t you do it”. I had a really strong feeling that the ECV wouldn’t work and that it would place undue stress on me and my baby so I declined it and opted for a planned C-section. Declining the ECV was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done because of the pressure to be a good girl and just “give it a go” but once I’d left the hospital I felt amazing and was convinced that I had made the right decision for me and my baby.

I was really disappointed to “lose” the water birth that I’d envisaged and disappointed that I wouldn’t get to use the full toolbox of skills from the digital pack. However, I recognised that I wouldn’t be getting that birth anyway because of my midwife’s approach to my Group B strep diagnosis so I made peace with the C-section and mentally prepared for it and the recovery.

Birth:

My waters broke during a routine midnight bathroom mission at 37 weeks in one of those Hollywood gushes. Top tip - invest in some adult diapers!! Totally saved my car on the drive to the hospital as the waters just kept coming and coming!!

In the 20 minutes that it took to drive to the hospital and be seen by the registrar, I somehow progressed to 8cm dilated. Interestingly I’d had SUPER strong Braxton Hicks throughout pregnancy and wonder if that helped speed things along - and maybe the fact I knew I was heading for a c-section anyway so didn’t have any pressure to “progress” in any particular timeframe helped as well. Either way, there was a flurry of activity to get me prepped for theatre before I was fully dilated.

Unfortunately, by the time I was on the operating table I was fully dilated and baby was in the + 2 position (i.e. 1 cm from coming out). The registrar told me that a c-section was now too risky and I would have to push my breach baby with my legs in stirrups and without any drugs. I knew this was not the optimal position for labour, but the upbreathing kept my mind really clear and calm, and the wonderful medical team surrounded me and held my hands and gave me words of reassurance. The experience was the total opposite of my ECV appointment and I will never forget their warmth and kindness in those moments. I knew the next part was going to be challenging but in the moment, and with all the oxytocin flowing, I was prepared to do what my body needed me to do and I felt like I was in really safe hands.

However, just as I was about to start pushing the head consultant arrived (she’d driven in specially) and identified that the baby was in a footling breach position (i.e. feet first rather than bum first) and that his legs were in a really awkward position. She recommended that they put me to sleep and immediately proceed with an emergency c-section. I was SO relieved since I’d been so mentally prepared for a c-section and even though it was an emergency I felt so calm and safe and excited to meet my baby.

I later found out that baby’s head was stuck in my ribs and it was a difficult extraction - so I felt really vindicated about declining the ECV and also so grateful that I was able to have a c-section rather than have to proceed with a potentially quite difficult vaginal breech birth that I wasn’t fully mentally prepared for.

Recovery:

I was super scared about the c-section recovery, but it’s been absolutely fine (and probably much better than if I’d had to push in my particular circumstances). My biggest concern was the scar - I was really scared to look at it but when I did it was really clean and tidy and kind of bad arse (they literally cut another human out of me!!). It kind of makes my body look like a smiley face too which makes me laugh and I’d honestly take 10 more scars like it if my new little man needed me to.

I am SO grateful for the skills that I learned from the digital pack. The upbreathing and counting kept me in the perfect headspace throughout labour and the positive affirmations that I’d played every day in my final weeks of pregnancy had wormed their way into my brain and given me a sense of quiet confidence and calm that has carried through into my breastfeeding and other motherhood journeys. I feel like I’ve been given such an amazing start to motherhood and genuinely consider the birth to be one of the best days of my life. On the breastfeeding point - I was convinced that I’d have breastfeeding issues, purely because you hear so many negative stories. But to my surprise, my milk came in great and I’ve had no real issues so far.

Future mamas reading this - you’ve totally got this!! Find the things that get you into a calm headspace (for me it was the positive affirmations, meditation using the Headspace app, Yoga with Adrienne YouTube videos and writing in a gratitude journal) and trust that you were born for this. Wishing you all the best!!