Birth story - Mum and baby girl

My first birth was far from ideal and I really wanted to take control to make sure things were more positive this time, so I bought the digital pack and hired a doula. (I did a hypnobirthing course in my first pregnancy but still found the digital pack really useful to remind me of the science and help me manage my anxiety about the birth.)

My first baby was back-to-back and so I was determined to get this baby into a good position but she was posterior too from about 28 weeks! Nothing I did would make her turn! I walked miles, did regular yoga sessions, saw an osteopath, spent hours every day leaning over my birth ball, never lay on my back or reclined on the sofa, did the spinning babies exercises every evening etc but she wouldn’t budge and I resigned myself to another long, posterior labour.

During the week before Imogen’s birth, I had a few evenings of regular Braxton Hicks and mild contractions but they always died off after a few hours. I had a stretch and sweep on my due date (30/10/18) and my cervix was fairly well forward but not yet dilated (but not completely closed because of having had a baby previously). (Sidenote: I found the sweep quite uncomfortable and I was a bit panicked about how I would manage labour if I found that so uncomfortable but I’d just like to say that the surges in labour are nothing like a sweep and I managed labour no problem at all!). Then two days later, I started losing my mucus plug which was very exciting! I kept losing it all through Thursday and Friday but had no other signs of labour so I agreed to another stretch and sweep on the Friday evening (at 40+3). I was really keen to get things started because I suspected the baby was fairly big (my first was 9lbs 2oz) and I really wanted to avoid induction (my first baby had shoulder dystocia and I knew induction is a risk factor).

So my sweep was at 5:30pm and the midwife said I was already 3-4cm dilated which was fantastic news! I’d had a couple of pains during the day but nothing resembling a contraction, more just like pregnancy aches in my pelvis and pubic bone. I had another of these ‘pains’ after the midwife left at about 6pm but still didn’t think anything of it and got ready to go down to a fireworks display with my daughter and partner. At 6:15 I had another intense feeling of pressure in my pubic bone and thought maybe I would stay at home and give the fireworks a miss. It turned out this was a good decision because by 6:30, the surges were coming every couple of minutes! I still didn’t fully realise I was in labour because I couldn’t feel any tightening or period-like pain, it was just a ring of pressure around my pelvis and in particular in my pubic bone. The ‘pain’ was totally manageable using breathing and by keeping mobile. I did lots of leaning against walls and rocking/swaying.

At 6:30 I arranged for my daughter to be collected and I asked my doula to come over. She arrived at 7 and felt my stomach during one of my surges and said it was definitely a contraction (she’s a retired midwife) which was exciting! I put my TENS machine on at this point which I found really brilliant. The surges were coming every minute or so so I decided we should head to the hospital even though I’d only been in labour for such a short amount of time. One of the things I was worried about in advance was knowing when to go to the hospital but I just instinctively felt it was the right time.

The car journey was horrible as I just wanted to be moving around, but I stayed calm using my breathing. I highly recommend travelling on your hands and knees on the back seat rather than trying to sit properly in the seat when in established labour!

We arrived at the midwife-led unit (which is part of our local hospital) at 7:30pm and we were met by a lovely midwife and student. They didn’t examine me internally at any point (which was brilliant!), just listened to the baby, felt my belly, asked me a few questions and observed some of my contractions. Amazingly enough, during the hour of contractions, the baby had turned itself round completely into the perfect position for birth (which explains the pressure on my pubic bone)! The surges were still every minute or so and very powerful but completely manageable using breathing. My doula and partner were amazing at saying lots of positive affirmations to help me stay calm.

At 8pm, the midwife said the birth room was ready and as I walked up the corridor I could feel my surges changing and my body starting to push! I said ‘I think I’m pushing’ and the midwife said ‘don’t worry, we know you are’ ☺️ We got through to the lovely room and I leaned over the bed (still fully clothed)! I felt intense pressure and as I pushed, I felt my waters release. The midwives peeled my leggings off and I climbed onto all fours on the bed. It was obvious that the pool wasn’t going to be ready in time but I couldn’t have cared less! I asked for gas and air at this point which I found a nice relief and helped me focus my breathing, although the surges were still manageable without. I could feel the baby’s head turning and descending and I just kept on pushing. At one point I could feel something moving inside me and I asked the midwife to please remove her hand from my vagina and she said that wasn’t her hand, that was my baby’s head 😂 I was doing down breathing but my body was also pushing bloody hard! It felt amazing and not scary at all, although I was convinced my baby wasn’t going to fit-she felt massive!! Everyone around me had total faith in me though and after half an hour of pushing, my baby was born! I was in shock for ages because I just couldn’t believe how quick it had all been! Even though it was obviously intense and hard work, my first thought after she was born was ‘what?! that was so easy!’. I pushed my placenta out naturally just 7 minutes later but then had the injection to help stop some bleeding. I had a second degree tear and two labial tears, which have all healed really well. I was worried in advance about having stitches under local anaesthetic but it was absolutely fine; I just used the gas and air to help me feel calm and a bit detached from it!

The whole way through the birth, I felt totally like myself and in control, I was able to think normally during and between contractions and I can remember the entire thing so clearly, which is just such an amazing feeling!

So after a very long first birth, this labour was just 2.5 hours from first contraction to birth! I feel incredibly lucky to have had such a wonderful birth experience and would do it again in a heartbeat!