Birth story - Lisa and baby Evan

A positive birth story where absolutely nothing went to plan!

I’d been planning a home birth from about 26-28 weeks, when I first encountered the digital pack and watched all of the videos in the space of about 2 weeks. I’d never considered a homebirth , having heard so many horror stories about birth over the years I assumed a hospital environment was a necessity. But my midwife was really supportive and my town has a great home birth team, so it was all set up and I was looking forward to it. Like most women, I’d been “trained” to fear birth in all its forms from a young age, in fact 2 years ago I was adamant that if I ever had a baby I would have an elective c section! The PBC really opened my eyes to the fact that birth could be an amazing and positive thing.

I woke up on Wednesday 21st November to feel a slight trickle, which made me think I’d wet myself 🙊 however upon getting out of bed, I had one big gush of fluid, followed by another a few seconds later! I phoned triage who arranged for a homebirth midwife to come out and examine me that morning. She confirmed my waters had definitely broken, and stated that I’d be booked an induction for 6.30 the following morning if I hadn’t naturally gone into labour by then.

That day I did everything I could to start labour - went for walks, bounced on my ball, listened to the relaxation tracks and tried to stay positive. However by 3am it became apparent that it wasn’t happening. I felt sad about missing out on my home birth, but knew it was for the best and I spent the last hour or so before having to go to hospital reading positive induction stories on here, and rewatching the positive induction video in the digital pack. When 5am rolled around, my partner and I packed up our last few bits, went for a McDonald’s breakfast and rocked up to the hospital.

I was put on a ward with other women having inductions who were much further ahead than me and it was quite noisy, so I drew the curtains, put my headphones and eye mask on and got in the zone. My pessary was inserted and then it was just a waiting game! I spent the day staying relaxed, listening to music, watching Netflix and bouncing on the ball. My surges started at around dinner time but were manageable with up breathing and a TENs machine.

Around midnight we were taken to the delivery suite for the drip. After this the surges started to intensify, so I used the gas and air in conjunction with my up breathing for a few hours.

Around Friday late morning, I started to flag slightly - I’d not slept properly in 36 hours due to being on the wards, I’d slept poorly the night before the induction, and my surges were now so intense that sleeping through them would be impossible. The midwife told me at this point that I was still several hours away from the pushing stage and asked me if I’d considered an epidural. This was something I was certain before labour that I didn’t want due to the higher risk of intervention and c-section, however on the other hand I knew that the chances of me being able to push out my baby with no sleep in nearly 48 hours was an impossibility. I chatted to the midwife and the anaesthetist, used my BRAIN and decided that getting rest was the most important thing, so I consented to the epidural. The procedure was straightforward and there was no pain, and I was soon fast asleep and stayed that way for a good 7 hours! Apparently several doctors and staff did the rounds and came into the room which I was completely unaware of, and my midwife kept the room very calm, quiet and dark.

At 4pm I was told I was 10cm dilated and ready to push! Fortunately despite the epidural I could still feel the surges in my tummy, so I didn’t need coached pushing. The pushing stage took 2 hours as apparently his head kept bobbing back up. A consultant midwife was hanging around and talking about intervention, which I was determined not to have! I worked harder than I’d ever had before to push my baby out with just the assistance of a small cut (which I didn’t feel and which has already healed loads), any my baby boy Evan was born at 17.58 on 23rd November weighing 7lb 4oz 😊

Even though nothing went to plan, I feel really positive and happy with my birth. I stayed in the “green” zone throughout, apart from one small crying wobble (which I think was more due to tiredness), all of the midwives and staff who looked after me were lovely and I will always have really fond memories of my birth. This is definitely due to the skills I learnt on the course, which kept me calm and positive throughout. My advice to anybody who finds their plans changing like this is to trust your instincts, trust your body, trust the staff looking after you, stay calm with your breathing and relaxation exercises and be open minded. I was adamant I didn’t want an epidural but in the end it was 100% the right choice for me.

After a few extra days in hospital, me and my baby are finally home and doing well 😊