Birth story - Mum and baby girl

To try and cut a long story short...I was booked in for and induction at 40+10 after my doctor saying that the baby was ‘on the big side’ and that they advised following protocol for safety reasons. After leaving the hospital I felt a niggling feeling that I wasn’t entirely happy with this choice despite the doctor being very informative and friendly. My instinct was telling me to wait until my baby was ready so I made the tricky decision to wait a bit longer and let my body do its thing. Siobhan’s recent post about baby size not being a reason for induction definitely helped make our minds up!

Anyway 2 days later I was back at the hospital to check everything was ok with the baby and I walked into the room and my waters broke with a gush! I was so happy to have waited! Next morning I went into labour very quickly, and was surprised I had no real 1st stage, straight in to surges 1-2mins apart! I found the up breathing really useful at this point as I was totally taken by surprise. 6 hours later and our baby was born. I tried the pool but was told I had a temperature so ended up with some unplanned assistance and a drip and catheter but all the while I felt content that I had waited and had an inner strength that seemed to come out of nowhere. My husband kept the positive comments going and reminded me to breath when it got intense.

After some antibiotics to treat a possible infection we are now home and I am truly proud of what I have achieved. A positive birth is totally possible for a first timer and even when lots of things are taken out of control- your mind is your own and our bodies are incredible! Thank you Positive Birth Company for giving me confidence and calmness through a unpredictable and incredible moment in my life!

Also it might be worth saying-our baby girl was 8lb 5 but that weight was because she was quite long, not because her head or body were large - something I’d never thought of.