Birth story - Natasha and baby Ottilie

*Trigger warning* - mention of reduced movements, induction, growth scans, third degree tear and stitches

I’m so excited to finally share my birth story as I found reading all these wonderful stories so inspiring, especially in the last few weeks leading up to my daughter arriving. I can honestly say this was the most empowering experience of my life and I have been telling all my pregnant friends that they must do the course!

Background:

My previous birth was during covid restrictions and was an induction at 41+1 after reduced movements. I had read a book on hypnobirthing and did some practise, but due to a long induction process and being alone in hospital over Christmas Eve/Christmas Day for early labour, hypnobirthing went out the window and I ended up delivering my son on my back in stirrups and got a third degree tear.

Fast forward to this time around and I had a much more positive experience which I definitely put down to this course and being more informed and mentally prepared for birth!

My pregnancy was fairly straightforward with the standard nausea for the first trimester and then being exhausted with running round after a toddler. At my first midwife appointment at 28 weeks the bump was measuring small so I was sent for a growth scan, which showed the baby was under the 3rd centile which was a concern. I was sent home with some fairly worrying possible causes and asked to return two weeks later for a further growth scan and a call with a consultant. The next scan showed an increase in growth but she was still on the small side under the 10th centile so we had another scan and consultant appointment. The third scan luckily showed she had increased again and was just above the 10th centile now so we had a forth scan booked as a precautionary check which showed even more growth so we were moved back to midwife care which I was thrilled about. We then planned for a home water birth having been given the all clear about the baby’s size.

I started having tightenings from 38 weeks, and one Saturday at 38+3 I thought I was in labour but it all stopped after a couple of hours. These continued on and off until my due date, which I really tried to think of as a due from date after doing the course. I found this really helped as I wasn’t stressed when the date came and went, but the midwife did mention booking an induction date at the 40 week check which I declined. I agreed to three sweeps 3 days apart to see if things would get going naturally as I was keen to have our natural home birth this time. So I had sweep 1 at 40+1 and was excited as I started to lose some mucus plug! The midwife also referred me for another growth scan because of an increase in growth this time, but given how inaccurate the measurements are I wasn’t worried.

Nothing further happened from the sweep though so I was back at 40+4 for number two and saw a different midwife. This lady then mentioned the increase in growth and being ‘overdue’ could make a home birth more risky so I should consider whether it was still right for me which I found quite disappointing but also because of doing the PBC course I used my BRAIN and decided I still felt happy with that plan so we carried on.

Sweep no 3 was at 41 weeks and the midwife mentioned induction again, to which I politely declined and said I would wait. She wanted me to go to hospital for additional monitoring two days later and to have a final sweep and discuss options from there. I was happy to accept this as I knew I didn’t need to agree to anything I wasn’t comfortable with. She mentioned that my waters were already bulging so another option could be to ask for a rupture of membranes (ARM) at the next appointment to get things going. I went home and did some research and decided after a night's sleep that the best next step might be the ARM so having got my head around this and the fact we would meet our baby soon, we packed our son off to my sister's house on the Friday lunchtime and headed into the hospital for our appointment.

When we got there we had to wait for about 90 mins which was making me nervous so I rewatched the course videos whilst we waited and practised my up breathing. There was some confusion when we were finally seen as they wanted me to speak to a doctor and talk through the options and risks. Again, using my BRAIN I asked why I needed to speak to a doctor as I was low risk and was only a week overdue. A lovely midwife then came and spoke to me and said she advised against the ARM if I was keen to avoid an induction because things needed to kick off naturally within two hours after the procedure otherwise they have to use the pessary or gel to get things moving. It also meant a water birth would be off the cards which I didn’t want. At this point I felt really disheartened but the midwife was so supportive and suggested that she did another sweep that day and then I reluctantly booked an induction date in for 41+6. I went home feeling quite upset, thinking that she might not come by herself and the clock was now ticking to the induction date.

The sweep caused the usual tightenings again straight afterwards and some more bloody show but I didn’t get excited. I went to bed at 9pm to try and get some sleep hoping to wake up feeling more positive in the morning. I woke at 1am for a wee, noticing there was more bloody show along with tightenings again. At about 2am I decided to get up and go downstairs to put some candles and a film on to see if that kicked anything off, but everything still seemed quite far apart and manageable with breathing. The only thing that was uncomfortable was lying down so I bounced on my birth ball and watched Bridget Jones with the dog! Nothing changed in terms of intensity or frequency so by 4am I decided to take some paracetamol and go back to bed as it seemed like a false start (again!) and I dosed on and off until about 6.30 when I decided to get up.

By this time I thought things could be real as I was having to concentrate on breathing through the tightenings, so I got in the shower and then woke my husband up at 7am to help me put my TENS machine on as they definitely seemed like surges now which was exciting. I also started using the Freya app to time them and help with my breathing. I went downstairs and leaned on my birth ball and over the armchair in the living room as the surges continued. They were coming fairly frequently but still not the magic 3 in 10 mins and 45 seconds long, but I decided to phone the hospital to warn them at 8.15am as I really wanted to be able to have a birth pool on the MLU. The midwife said stay at home as long as possible and when the surges were consistently the same length and 3 in ten mins to come in. Freya said I was in established labour just after 8.30 but I really didn’t want to make our way in to be examined and sent back home so I said let's wait half an hour or so to my husband as we are only 5 mins away.

Suddenly the intensity started to ramp up a bit though and I said to him to ring back and say we were coming in as I just felt like I needed to go then, even though I wasn’t having the same length surges each time and still 4-5 mins apart. By the time we were packed and ready to go I waited for a surge then jumped into the car with an eye mask on, headphones in playing Freya app and my tens machine on boost mode the entire way. In the 5 minute journey I had two surges in the car which were not pleasant at all but I kept thinking time will pass and I am one surge closer to meeting my baby.

We got to hospital at about 9.35am and then in the short walk from being dropped by the maternity entrance I had to stop 3 times so it felt like things were definitely in full swing now so I was hoping I would be the magic 4 and not sent home. The midwife from the previous day recognised me and was excited the sweep seemed to have worked but I couldn’t talk to her whilst she did her checks as I just wanted to keep my eyes shut and focus on my breathing. At this point my husband arrived with the bags too after parking the car. I had another surge before they could do the examination and I was laying on my back on the bed which was not comfortable at all, so when it had finished I said quickly do it so I can get up please. To my complete amazement, the midwife said I was 10cm, I couldn't believe it!

She left the room to find out about a pool in the MLU and my husband helped me off the bed to get my bottoms back on so we were ready to move. As he was helping me my waters broke in a very dramatic gush all over my bottoms, my husband and his shoes haha. He suddenly looked very panicked and ran out to shout for a midwife and say what had happened.

They wheeled me off to the first room (on labour ward) but it had a pool so I really didn’t care! I kept my eyes closed the whole way and then when we were in the room my husband was amazing at checking the environment was ok with the lights, music, smell and making sure they started filling up the pool as I was worried there wasn’t time! I asked for gas and air at this point as I knew the tens machine would need to come off for the pool, so I used this whilst stood leaning over the bed whilst the pool filled up. I definitely noticed when the surges started to change and I suddenly felt the downwards motion and my breathing change. My husband was amazing and coaching me through the down breath instead, and asking me if I wanted water or snacks in between.

I got into the pool at about 10.30am and it was such a relief - exactly what I had hoped for! I laid on the side of it for a little bit but then I could really feel the baby coming down so I moved to my back which was more comfortable. I kept thinking about what I had learnt on the course and that the baby would rock back and forth with each surge, and I could really feel it this time which was exciting!

The midwives were great at encouraging me quietly, it was really helpful when they said they could see her head coming down now - it spurred me on! When her head started to crown I managed to remain calm and not push at this point, and just breathe through it. I now fully understand what everyone means by the ring of fire though - oh my goodness! But I just kept thinking, this is the time my body needs to stretch and the next surge would soon be here, and as soon as it was her head came out and then her body shortly afterwards. The midwife stopped her head from flying out too quickly and she came out with the cord around her neck so they unwrapped it and then passed her up to me for skin to skin and to say hello. It felt like the biggest relief and I was so impressed with myself for doing it all!

We had delayed cord clamping for 3 mins and then I had to get out the pool so they could monitor blood loss. My husband cut the cord and then took Ottilie for skin to skin whilst I had the injection to deliver the placenta on the bed. They checked for any tears and I am so pleased to say I only needed two tiny stitches for a minor tear this time! One of the midwives that delivered Ottilie was in training and she said she was so impressed at how calm I was throughout and complimented me on my hypnobirthing skills which was lovely. We stayed for a few hours for help with feeding and the usual checks, and got sent home at 4.30pm the same day.

Thinking back on it all now I still can’t believe I have done it and she got here so quickly - I could not have asked for a more empowering birth and it’s all down to the PBC course, I feel like an absolute super woman!! I would recommend hypnobirthing to anyone, it certainly gave me all the tools to feel like I could challenge suggestions and make the right decisions for me and my baby, and to stay calm and in control throughout. Thank you Siobhan and the team!!