Birth story - Neave and baby Eleanor

I started the hypnobirthing course with my partner at 30 weeks after I realised I didn’t quite feel emotionally or physically prepared for birth. The videos and information were invaluable and by 35 weeks I felt ready for whatever birth threw at me.

On the morning of Wednesday 26th September 3 days before our due date I started having mild surges every 10 minutes or so. I informed my partner that I thought things were starting to happen and he decided to take the day off work just in case. We went for a long brisk walk and timed the contractions throughout the day. Unfortunately this carried on for another few days until the morning of our due date (Saturday 29th sep). I awoke and after a few hours of silence from the little one, we decided to go into hospital to get checked. I was seen very quickly and hooked up to a CTG to check baby’s movements. Her heart beat was strong but her movements were still reduced. However, they were happy enough that she was doing ok in there and not becoming distressed. After an internal examination to see whether my waters had gone (they hadn’t), we were told I was 3cm dilated. I accepted a sweep as I’d had 3 days of surges, very little sleep and wanted things to get moving.

The surges carried on at 10-15mins apart for another 2 days. At this point I’d been getting around an hour of sleep each night and was becoming increasingly uncomfortable yet still able to breathe through the surges. On the evening of Monday 2nd October the surges became increasingly powerful. I called the hospital at 3am and was told that I needed to let them get a little bit closer together before I came in. Two hours later at 5am the surges were coming every minute and lasting for over a minute. I called back and was told the same again, yet this time I listened to my body and knew that things were happening. I asked the midwife if I could at least come in to be checked which she agreed to.

We arrived at the hospital at 6am, I was 4cm dilated and admitted to a delivery room. We had originally planned to give birth at the birth centre but my blood pressure was quite high upon arrival so I was asked to stay on the consultant led ward. I was slightly disappointed but knew that it was best for both me and baby. The shift change over brought in a midwife with a student midwife who I immediately warmed to. I was hooked up to a mobile CTG machine as I’d asked to be mobile throughout and wanted to let gravity work its magic, however the monitoring showed that my heart rate was far too fast and I was given IV fluids for dehydration.

11am rolled around and I was examined once again showing I was now 6cm. I felt amazing knowing I was still able to breathe through the surges and things were going in the right direction. 4 hours later and numerous back massages from my partner, I was re-examined and felt quite deflated to hear those words ‘failed to progress’. It was decided that they would break my waters to speed up the process. The midwife was gentle and I knew it was the right thing to do at the time as I was becoming increasingly tired from a week of contractions and 10hrs of active labour so far. The process was painless and made my surges increasingly powerful, so much so that I got stuck in a surge that lasted 11 minutes. I’m not sure whether it was the surge or the knowledge that nothing had happened in the past 4 hours, but I felt very deflated and concerned. My partner knew our birth preferences by heart and I needed him at that point to tell me what he thought I should do. He reassured me that everything was ok, the baby was happy, my body was responding well and there was no immediate hurry to make any decisions.

The midwife suggested use of the hormone drip and an epidural alongside that. I had managed so far with just the breathing, but I was becoming weak and tired. Using our BRAIN, my partner and I decided that the hormone drip would be the best way forward as it would lessen the chances of a c-section (which was my ultimate fear). We also opted for the epidural as I was struggling and needed some sleep to conserve energy for the pushing stage.

It was now 8pm, we were on to our 3rd persons shift and the changeover of midwife was welcomed. A midwife named Geraldine who had 28 years experience and was a huge advocate of hypnobirthing arrived. She immediately changed the room around, added some mood lighting and sounds, then proceeded to make both me and my partner comfortable. It made a huge difference and felt like an entire new room! I felt at ease for the first time and completely trusted her.

Another 4 hours passed and after an examination I was fully dilated and ready to push! We decided to wait 30mins for the epidural to ware off a little and then began pushing at 1:30am on the Tuesday.

At 3am on Wednesday 3rd October our beautiful baby girl arrived safely and screaming. She was placed directly onto my chest and after a few minutes of delayed cord clamping, my partner had the honour of cutting her cord. She was weighed and measured, then we were left for 2 hours in the room to bond and have skin to skin. It was incredible. At 6am Geraldine the midwife came back in and offered me a bath. I didn’t expect anything amazing but was completely surprised to see she had filled the birthing pool and placed candles around the side with dimmed lights. She had provided a seat for my partner and the three of us sat in the room, me in the bath, and my partner and baby on a chair beside me. It was just what I needed and so special that I could be with my partner and new baby at the same time.

We stayed in hospital for one night and were discharged the next afternoon. We bundled our baby into her car seat and had the slowest drive home ever 😅.

My labour wasn’t what I had expected but I feel that every decision made during it was well informed and ultimately my decision. A week of surges and a 21.5hr labour wasn’t what I ever imagined but the experience as a whole was hugely positive. I don’t feel that it would have gone as well had I not completed the hypnobirthing course and been as informed as I was. At no point did I feel scared or in danger, and that was wholly down to Siobhan’s incredible videos. I can’t thank the positive birth company enough for making my first experience of labour such a positive one!