Birth story - Nikita and baby Rosalie

Having bought the digital pack I learnt so much about my first birth that I guess I didn’t understand and felt powerless to make decisions about in the moment. This time I was determined things would be different. I would be in control of my birth and I would make the decisions that were right for us.

I decided to have a sweep. It did nothing for my first birth but thought we would try it once this time. I was 1cm further on after. So had a second and the same happened again. All weekend I was up in the night using the breathing techniques and a tens machine with contractions every 15 mins from around midnight until 6:30am. But when I would get up in the morning it would all stop. When I returned to the midwife for a final appointment before booking an induction she couldn’t believe I wasn’t in labour. I asked for one more sweep and within an hour and half I was in labour.

With the techniques I learnt for breathing I was able to stay at home for 6 hours feeling calm and relaxed before wanting more pain relief. I refused gas and air and was pleased the midwife went with my requests. After 5 more hours on codeine, I was no further on. They broke my waters and within 10 minutes I was ready to push. They had just given me half a dose of diamorphine which helped me feel calm and give me enough of a break to have the power to push. Baby by this point had turned back to back and was starting to tire. They offered gas and air saying back to back would be tougher but I stuck to my guns and said no. I pushed for an hour on nothing but what I had already had and our baby girl was born happy and healthy at 7:25am.

The digital pack not only gave me breathing techniques and positivity but also the strength to say what I wanted and stick to it. It also supported my husband in following this through and standing by my decisions.