Birth story - Rose and baby girl

*Trigger Warning* - ragged membranes and Postpartum Hemorrhage.

My previous birth story is also on here but that was a planned MLU water birth that ended in an unplanned c section due to waters breaking and slow labour.

After my c section I knew there was no way I would opt for an elective as I found the recovery really difficult and now with a toddler running around, I couldn’t have managed. This time around I wanted a home birth as I felt like it would give me the best chance of having the VBAC I wanted. After a couple of meetings with OBs, (these can be difficult but stick to your guns) I was signed off for a home birth.

I was woken at around 2AM to regular surges on the 15th January and they continued throughout the day, with the help of a walk and generally staying active. By about 9PM they were coming much more regularly and I was having to use my TENS and up breathing through them, so I decided to call the home birth team and give them a heads up. They said they were happy to come out right away or give them time to get established, I opted for the latter as my previous labour was very long (over 50 hours) so didn’t want to waste their time. An hour later things had ramped up and the surges felt like they were coming more frequently so I rang the home birth team back, only to find out they’d been called out to another birth and were only able to attend 1 birth at night due to staffing. This meant I’d have to go to hospital instead, or wait a couple of hours until they were available again. I had a think, went for a wee and as soon as I stood up everything really intensified! I was getting no break between surges and I couldn’t talk through them. I was really disappointed as I knew I was going to have to go to the MLU and I felt the birth I’d fought for was falling apart, but the baby wasn’t waiting so I got my husband to ring the MLU and they were happy to take me so we headed off there once my mother in law arrived to watch our son.

When we arrived at the MLU we were introduced to our midwife and headed into a side room to get assessed. This took quite a while and whilst we were waiting I was introduced to the head midwife and an OB. They had seen my birth preferences and wanted to try and talk me into having continuous monitoring and a cannula, my husband was great at advocating for me but eventually I had to get ratty with them and tell them that I knew everything they were telling me as I’d already been told it by many different people, I’d made my choice and I was starting to feel ganged up on. They gave up and left after this thankfully. I was finally examined at around 11PM to find out I was 4cm! The midwife headed off to get our room and pool ready.

Getting in the pool was such a relief! It really helped to ease any aches between surges, and the feeling of moving water during surges made them so much more manageable. Once I was in the pool things really picked up, I think because of how relaxed I was! My husband was amazing at helping me through surges; using visualisations through them and reminding me to breathe. He kept me well hydrated in between and kept feeding me fruit pastilles to keep my energy up, he was really amazing and a credit to my birth - I couldn’t have done it without him.

After around 4 hours in the pool I started to have a bit of a wobble, saying I couldn’t do it anymore and thinking about gas and air. The midwife didn’t intervene or offer anything to me, as I requested in my preferences. I really appreciated that as I know if she’d have offered to get me gas and air in that moment, I would have taken it but I didn’t need it. Unsurprisingly, this was me going through transition as not long after this I was examined and it turned out I was at 9cm! This was a huge boost for me as when I had my son, I had only made it to 7cm before I needed a c section.

Not long after I got back in the pool after my examination my body started pushing! After about an hour of allowing my body to do it’s thing, there was baby’s head! The midwife wanted me to do some big pushes with the next wave to get her fully delivered. Sure enough, after pushing with my body, she was here! The midwife passed her to me and she was so calm, just looking around and very relaxed - apparently it was because of how gently she came into the world!

With my previous birth I had a PPH, but they were happy to try a physiological third stage if I was watched closely. So, the pool was drained immediately and I had cuddles sat on the pool steps. After a few minutes it was obvious that I was losing too much blood so my husband cut the cord and I had the injection to deliver the placenta. I was helped out of the pool and onto the bed for the placenta delivery. Once this was complete I was still bleeding so the midwife decided to check for tears as she said this can make bleeding look worse - turns out I had no tears! Just grazing, which I was very pleased about. I did have some stitches though to avoid awkward healing. While the midwife was stitching me she noticed big blood clots were being passed and realised that my membranes were ragged. An OB was called and it turns out I still had a lot of membranes inside my uterus that they needed to get out. It was recommended that I had gas and air for the procedure and I was very glad I did child birth is not painful, but that was! Thankfully the consultant was able to get everything out and I didn’t need to go into theatre. Although all of this meant my husband had some lovely skin to skin time with baby, which is a bonus.

After all of that was over I’d lost a litre of blood and was feeling pretty terrible, but baby girl was handed back to me, had her first feed and tea and toast was brought in! I’m so pleased that I got my VBAC and it turns out that being in the MLU was the best place for me as it meant I could get help immediately. The universe has a funny way of working things out! Also I feel the midwives make the birth, not so much where you are.

For anyone that’s going for a VBAC, or if you’re unsure as to what to do, I would recommend giving the VBAC episode of The Better Birth Podcast a listen. I found it very informative and empowering.