Birth story - Naomi and baby Matilda

*Trigger warning* - mention of previous PPH

I was so determined to have a more positive birth experience with my second child, and I'm delighted to say we did!

First birth

I had a long labour (30 hours). My son was back to back and I was 4-5cm dilated for a long time. After 15 hours I gave up on a home birth and transferred into hospital. At this point hypnoborthing went out of the window and a spiral of intervention occurred. Oxytocin drip, epidural, episiotomy, ventous delivery and a 1200ml PPH (post-partum haemorrhage). I was broken, exhausted and too weak to feed my boy. Although there were many positives in the labour and birth, I was desperate not to have a similar experience again.

Second birth

At about 34 weeks I had a debrief with my midwife to go through the notes from my first birth. This was incredibly helpful as I came out fully understanding what had happened and learnt what factors contributed to the bleed which I could look out for this time.

We planned to try again for a home water birth. Although the consultant wasn't keen, the midwives were supportive and we agreed I'd transfer in if labour was slow and we'd take measures to reduce the chance of a PPH.

At 40+2 I had a stretch and sweep, was 1-2 dilated, everything looking favourable, baby in a great position and I was feeling positive. Fast forward to 40+7, 2 sweeps later and booked for induction at 40+10. I was frustrated, tired and uncomfortable. I'd been losing my mucus plug, but there were no other signs of labour.

At 40+10 I changed my mind about being induced as I really wanted things to begin naturally, and opted for a 4th sweep and monitoring. Baby was happy, so we rebooked for 40+13. A homebirth was no longer an option due to being 10 days past due date.

40+12 I had my fith sweep! I was 3cm dilated and my waters were reachable. To my excitement I started getting cramps in the afternoon every hour which picked up in frequency and intensity after I put my son to bed. I couldn't sleep, but was breathing through them and using the TENS machine. By midnight I was getting roughly 3 in 10 and my waters started leaking, but it wasn't a big volume. At 2am I called the hospital and was advised to take a bath and see if they picked up or stayed the same. Although the bath was lovely and good for pain relief, my contractions really tailed off. I wish I'd not taken this advice, especially as getting in the pool too early with my first birth seemed to really slow progress.

By 4am contractions had slowed to only every 20 minutes and I decided to nap for an hour as I figured I was in this for the long haul and I'd need rest.

In the morning we headed into hospital as we were booked for induction anyway and my contractions were still very far apart. At 1pm the midwife broke my waters (it was probably the back waters leaking overnight), and contractions picked up almost immediately. By 2pm I was in established labour and it was clear I wouldn't need any induction drugs. I moved into a great pool room and stayed UFO, up breathing and using the TENS machine. My husband was a great support, holding onto me, encouraging me and clearing up sick

Time got a bit blurry. I stayed out of the pool as long as possible, and when I did get in it was a huge relief. I used gas and air for the remainder of labour, but the pipe and mouthpiece were very temperamental, it had to be at the perfect angle to get anything, so most of the time it was useless!

I only had one VE, which was done in the pool and I was 8cm. This really encouraged me as I was definitely flagging by this point.

The second stage was very intense and I didn't remain as calm as I'd have liked. I used BRAIN to decline the pain relief I was offered. I said I couldn't do it so many times and made quite a bit of noise! The midwives were so good at encouraging me to keep going and explaining what was happening. Maybe I could have just used down breathing to get her out, but I was so ready for her to be born I pushed instead with my contractions. It took a few big pushes to get her head out which felt very strange, and not particularly pleasant! One more mega push and my little girl was born, 4.5 hours after my waters had been broken.

I pulled her up between my legs and onto my chest in the water. She didn't take a breath for a little while so the midwives pulled her from the pool and encouraged her to breathe. It was only a few seconds, but wow, the relief when she did! The cord was cut quickly, I think to move her in case she needed extra help breathing. We'd agreed I'd get out of the pool quickly in case of a bleed, which I did, but thankfully I lost a normal amount of blood. My husband knocked the canula out of my hand as I was getting out of the pool, I think this made more mess than anything else!

Once onto a bed, I had the injection to deliver the placenta and an oxytocin drip (both to reduce the chances of a PPH). I had a tiny graze that needed 2 stitches, but the pool had worked its magic and saved me from any other repair work. I cuddled my gorgeous little girl and gave her a feed. It was amazing.

Recovery has been so much easier this time. I didn't have lots of drugs to work out of my body and I felt pretty much back to normal within a few days.

I'm so glad I did the PBC course again. It really refreshed my memory and helped me advocate for myself in the planning stages and whilst in labour. I just want to encourage all those other mums out there who've had a hard first birth - your body knows what it's doing and your next birth experience can be totally different!