Birth story - Rowie and baby Arlo

A friend recommended the positive birth company after taking the course with Siobhan and experiencing a very positive birth herself. During the third trimester I downloaded the digital pack and found its positive outlook really resonated with me.

I had a long latent phase of labour which started with surges 15 minutes apart on the Tuesday evening. By the Thursday at 40+6, and following the bloody show that morning, I was eager to speed up the surges and get active labour going. This involved a long walk around the block and then a trip to Ikea, where the surges got so strong I had to lean against rugs and other furniture in the showroom to steady myself! I’d had two false alarms in the previous week where I’d gone to hospital only to be sent back home, so I wanted to make sure that this was the real thing before I headed to the maternity unit.

I got home at around 5pm. I set up my TENS machine and put on a funny film for some light relief while bouncing on my birth ball. It wasn’t long before the surges had ramped up to the elusive three in 10 minutes, and my husband helped count me through my up breathing as they got stronger. After two to three hours of regular and intense surges, it was time to get the taxi to hospital just after 8pm. As it was a 45 minute drive to hospital, I wanted to make sure my surges didn’t slow down. I put on an eye mask and some headphones with the positive affirmations and guided meditation - they really helped me keep my focus along with a scarf covered in lavender spray which I breathed into every time I had a surge.

On arrival at triage at around 9pm, we discovered it was a very busy time in the maternity ward and lots of people were in labour, so we had to wait to be assessed. I kept my eye mask and headphones on, up breathing as I leant against the wall in the corridor. Soon we were given a room and to our relief the midwife said I was 4cm dilated and in active labour. I’d been desperate for a water birth but at this point we were told that the birth centre was closed due to a staff shortage. Although I was disappointed, I knew the tools I’d been equipped with on the hypnobirthing course would keep me calm and that I would be able deal with this setback and still have a positive birth.

After the VE at 9.45pm the midwife left us and said that we would be given a room in the labour ward shortly. By this point my surges were coming thick and fast, rolling into each other because my waters hadn’t broken and were bulging on my cervix. Time ticked on and at 11pm the midwife came back to say there were so few staff and they were so overwhelmed that she would have to go and clean a room upstairs in the labour ward herself. I asked for some gas and air to cope with the surges and waited until she returned. As we had only been in a temporary room and thought we would be transferred imminently, we didn’t get out our tea lights, play music or dim the lights. Instead my husband continued to coach me through the up breathing and I found the gas and air really helped as the surges intensified and I was having four in 10 minutes.

At 12.30am on the Friday I finally got a room in the labour ward. As soon as I got onto all fours on the bed I felt a change in the surges. It wasn’t long before I realised I was nearing the next stage. My husband played some hypnobirthing music and set up the tealights so we could create the atmosphere we had wanted in the birth centre. By 1.30am the urge to push was extremely strong and I actually told the midwives I needed a poo! They said to wait until a vaginal examination, where they found I was fully dilated. Given the green light to push, I used my down breathing and got into UFO positions so that gravity would work with me. My husband was an incredibly supportive birth partner, counting me through my breathing and holding my hand throughout.

The rest is a bit of a blur, but according to my notes the midwives found just after 2am that there was meconium in the amniotic sac, which could cause complications. The head was progressing slowly and the midwife found during assessment of fetal wellbeing that baby’s heart rate had slowed and so he needed to be delivered now. I was asked if I would consent to an episiotomy and using my BRAIN, decided that this would be the best solution to ensure that my baby came out safely and as quickly as possible.

And so Baby Arlo was born shortly after at 2.41am. He was taken straight to the resuscitation table for his breathing to be checked over and to be cleaned up (the sac of meconium burst and both he and I were covered in it!) Unfortunately this meant we couldn’t have delayed cord clamping or immediate skin to skin contact, but the main thing was that he was ok.

Despite this complication, and the fact that I had a postpartum haemorrhage after the third stage, the birth was an incredible experience. I hadn’t had my dream water birth but I don’t regret anything. The course gave me the toolset to deal with the unexpected in a calm and collected way and to use my BRAIN when difficult situations arose. I would recommend it to anyone.