Birth story - Marie and baby Freya

In my first pregnancy I accepted an induction when I was two weeks past my due date and my birth experience was very negative. I was unable to have the water birth I had planned in the midwife led unit and was induced on the maternity ward. When visiting hours ended, my partner was sent home as my surges were getting stronger and closer together and I did not feel I was listened to by my midwife. The majority of my labour was spent alone, in the dark, in a cramped bed space in a bay shared with other women. Once I was moved to the delivery suite I was attached to a monitor and unable to move from the bed. I was finally given gas and air and my daughter was born two hours later.

When I found out I was pregnant for the second time I was determined to have a better birth experience. I researched hypnobirthing and purchased the Positive Birth Company digital pack half way through my pregnancy. Every evening I watched the videos, listened to the MP3s and practised my up breathing. I also completed a birth plan with my preferences which I hadn’t done in my first pregnancy as I hadn’t thought it was worthwhile. As my due date approached I continued to practice the relaxation techniques I had learned in the hope of going into labour naturally.

On the day I went into labour I woke at 5.25am with a cramping pain and went to the toilet. I got back into bed to go back to sleep but had another cramp 20 minutes later and realised the cramps could be surges. I began recording the surges on the Freya app and they were roughly 10 minutes apart so around 6.30am I woke my partner to tell him I thought I was in labour. I had a shower and the warmth of the water on my lower back really helped with the surges. By 7.30am they were coming every 4-5 minutes but around 10am they slowed down again. I spent the day walking around and bouncing on my birthing ball, breathing through each surge and timing them on the app. Around 9.30pm I decided to get some rest and lie on our bed, almost immediately the intensity and frequency of the surges increased. I called the midwife unit and they asked us to start making our way there to be assessed.

We arrived at the hospital around 11pm, just as the Freya app advised I was in established labour. Due to Covid-19 restrictions, my partner was unable to come into the hospital with me so I waited for a surge to pass before beginning the long walk to the midwife unit. Luckily I was 3-4cm dilated so my midwife was happy for me to stay and my partner was able to join me. I was so relieved to have gone into labour naturally and made it to a room with a birthing pool! My midwife had read my birth plan and ensured the room was dimly lit and we laid out battery tea lights to create a calm environment. I continued using the app to time the surges and help with my up breathing whilst using a birthing ball and moving around.

Around 1am the intensity of the surges increased again, I tried using a tens machine but it didn’t help and the baby didn’t seem to like it. My midwife said I was probably too far into labour for it to work so she suggested gas and air and getting into the birthing pool. This really helped and I felt much more relaxed. After a couple of hours I was asked to get out of the pool to empty my bladder and to be examined again, this time I was 6cm dilated. My midwife attempted to break my waters to move things along but was unable to, so she asked me to bounce on the birthing ball through each surge to try to get them to break. She also showed my partner how to massage my lower back using aromatherapy oils to make me more comfortable. At one point I was falling asleep in between surges and dropped the gas and air on the floor!

Eventually, my midwife said it sounded as though I was ready to meet my baby. At first I tried kneeling on the floor but my baby wasn’t moving down with each surge. When she asked if anything was holding me back I explained I would have liked to have been in the birthing pool and to my relief she said there was still time to get back in! I had to stop on the steps to let a surge pass but I made it in to the pool. Shortly after, my waters broke in the water, quickly followed by our second daughter at 5.53am. The sensation of giving birth in the water was totally different to my first experience and I didn’t need any stitches afterwards. Holding my daughter in the water was the most beautiful experience of my life and I’m so grateful that my midwife prompted my partner to take a photo. She said it was an amazing birth and I had just breathed her out.

Unfortunately my birth became complicated when I had a postpartum haemorrhage but I was out of the pool by that point and a team of staff were there within a minute to transfer me to the delivery suite for treatment. I didn’t have the immediate skin to skin bonding with my daughter I had wanted and I felt unwell for some time afterwards but I would repeat the birth in an instant rather than my first. We named our daughter Freya, it had been a strong favourite of ours during pregnancy and after my partner found out it was the name of the app I used he said it was meant to be.