Birth story - Nicole and baby Edmund

*Trigger warning* - COVID, High blood pressure (not pre-eclampsia), use of word contractions (not negative to me), prodromal labour, waters broken, shoulder dystocia.

Having followed PBC hypnobirthing in my first pregnancy, I decided to refresh my memory for this one.

My pregnancy:

I had a textbook pregnancy and was low risk throughout. I kept well despite morning sickness lasting until around 27 weeks. This sadly made me feel pretty exhausted and I was unable to keep up my fitness regime. But I continued to stay active chasing after my 2 year old instead .

At 37 weeks I tested positive for covid which was a massive setback. All the happy vibes were suddenly turned to loneliness and isolation. Both my husband and daughter tested positive during this time too, meaning if i went into labour they could not be part of the birth, but I did all I could to make the most and remain positive in a tricky situation. My symptoms were mild feeling much like the flu but was made harder with being term with our baby.

Once isolation ended, my symptoms persisted. I realised I had a headache that wouldn't go away and being term I was concerned for both myself and my baby.

I contacted my maternity ward to make sure this was nothing to be worried about.

Whilst under observation it was clear i was having some pretty strong contractions which the midwives monitored, but knowing I was planning a home birth, their main aim was to ensure my blood pressure stabilised and baby was happy and healthy. Pre-eclampsia was ruled out and as unclear as the impact of covid on pregnancy is, I was advised that the strain of covid may have been taking its toll. I rested up as much as I could with a toddler in tow for a few days and my blood pressure returned to what was normal for third trimester.

My labour

I continued to have contractions daily but at staggered times. I was hitting the 3 in 10 minutes then everything would settle and restart.

Prodromal labour continued up until 40 weeks and 6 days (much to my annoyance after having a due date baby first time round). When I realised things weren't easing. I was finally in labour!

I carried on as normal, taking our daughter to and picking up from nursery, carrying her in from the car fast asleep and then called my husband to come home from work as I needed help looking after her when she eventually woke. I also called the home birth team to come out and look after me as well as my other birth partner (my sister in law and midwife in training).

The home birth midwife arrived around 6pm leaving me to carry on labouring and only checking in where observations were required. I managed these contractions with my little girl giving me cuddles, telling me everything was going to be OK. She was an actual super star and took everything in her stride.

I also insisted on being as normal as possible making her dinner and keeping things as they would usually be.

At around 11pm I was still labouring but things were slowing. As much as I did not want any interventions, I was beginning to feel that this was either another false alarm or that something may not have been right with babys position. So I agreed to a VE. This showed that our baby was positioned at an angle and my cervix was not dilating evenly. The midwife advised doing side lunges with each contraction to help move baby into the correct position.

We then discussed me going to bed for some rest as I would need it to deliver. The midwives left and we locked up and went to bed until 3am when I woke with more contractions (stronger than before) I kept lunging with each contraction for about an hour but things felt different.

I called the midwife back out and they arrived promptly. I also asked my sister in law to come and my husband called my mum as she was my daughters care for during labour. I carried on labouring with the use of essential oils which smelled amazing, massage and up breathing to manage.

My daughter woke at 7am bringing a breath of fresh air with her. I hoped that seeing her, hugging her and kissing her would boost oxytocin and get things moving.

I got in the pool for a while and enjoyed some toast, mini eggs (being so close to Easter ) and raspberries. It was bliss.

More time passed and at around 8am I agreed to another VE to see if we could break my waters.

Baby was now in a good position for waters to be broken and hopefully get things moving.

Upon breaking my waters, the midwives discovered that baby had passed a significant amount of meconium and recommended transferring into hospital to ensure myself and baby were monitored. She made sure I was fully informed of the potential reasons for meconium and also gave the option to stay home if I wished.

She left me to discuss with my husband (there was nothing to discuss, I always said throughout my pregnancy if there was any risk to me, my baby or both of us that we would go to hospital) I agreed to the transfer. At this point I asked my mum to take my little girl and leave before the ambulance arrived. It was something I never wanted her to see.

My contractions quickly ramped up where I was getting minimal rest in between. After some persuasion from the midwife, as they were advised 4 hours for an ambulance, the ambulance arrived and somehow I managed to get out with my husband and my community midwife supporting me as she had now arrived to take over from the on call home birth midwife.

As negative as this sounds, the ambulance ride was far from luxury I felt every bump in the road and at times it felt like a bit of an out of body experience where I wasn't really present. But I knew it was necessary to ensure the safety of myself and my baby. Thankfully it was over quickly.

I arrived at hospital in no more than 20 minutes. I was offered gas and air to which I politely declined. With assistance, I got onto the bed for delivery and maintained UFO position. Midwives tried to monitor baby externally but this wasn't working. They asked if they could attach a monitor to babys head which I gave consent to.

I started to feel the urge to push, and as I was only 5cm upon leaving home, midwives wanted to be sure I was definitely at 10cm and ready to deliver. To my surprise I was and my body was naturally telling me this through involuntary pushing. I quickly got to the point where I could feel the head coming, and in the stage of transition, I asked for my TENS machine. At the time I was frustrated that nobody gave it to me but in hindsight it was my brains way of trying to block out what was happening.

I delivered our baby boys head and at this point with each contraction he didn't come any further. Midwives quickly realised that they were dealing with shoulder dystocia and took the necessary actions to get him here safely. They tried all maneuvers in upright position but no success. I could hear the emergency buzzer going but carried on focusing on breathing and thinking of my favourite affirmation "my body is perfectly designed to birth my baby" and successfully blocked this out. My husband continuously supported me and showed me so much love in this full process. Between him and his sister they kept me calm and focussed on the end goal.

Midwives quickly informed me that they needed me on my back and I began to turn, they assisted with this and carried on with maneuvers to release his shoulder. All of this took place in a 3 minute period and our baby boy entered the world within 30 minutes of arriving on labour ward.

He was wiped down and handed to me with my husband telling me that we had a baby boy . Midwives were saying and a big boy he is! He was a bit stunned initially but quickly took his first breath on my chest after a rub on his back .

I was completely oblivious to all that had happened around me as I remained calm and focussed on what I was doing. Midwives respected me and although keeping me in the know, there was never any panic in their voices to break my calm! I am very thankful for this! I opened my eyes when I felt our boy come out and saw all the people in the room. They all did so well to remain calm in this situation and not break my concentration. My husband also did incredible in remaining calm for my sake.

I was briefed afterwards by the midwife in charge and even although it was not what I planned and although some unforeseen circumstances took place, my birth was overall a positive experience with my preferences being respected in all ways.

Everything that took place was consensual.

It was medically necessary to receive intervention which I always said I would consent to and I still gave birth with no pain relief to my big baby boy with nothing but a few minor grazes!

We now have a thriving 5 week old with no lasting damage from the shoulder dystocia.

I am thankful for hypnobirthing as I don't think I would have achieved this without the techniques learned. I will also be forever grateful to the team of midwives involved from the ones at home to the heroes at hospital who got our little boy here safely .

The female body is amazing!

If you wish to read my positive home birth story of my little girl search my name. Two very different births but both hold a special place in my heart .