Birth story - Roxy and baby Autumn

Four weeks before my due date, my belly suddenly grew rather large and the predicted size of the baby was going to be 9lbs +. This was scary at first as my birth plan was a natural waterbirth with limited pain relief. However, after completing the Positive Birthing Company online course I knew that my body could cope and I felt ready for giving birth.  

At 4am on my due date, I woke up with my first strong contraction. I stayed in bed and tried to sleep until they became stronger. I then went in the bath later that morning and put on the guided meditations that I had been practising in the bath for a few weeks before, which helped me feel relaxed and ready to take on birth!

I used the Freya app when my contractions became stronger, I spent most of the morning and afternoon at home using the breathing techniques and bouncing on the ball to get me to through.

We made our way to hospital when the Freya app suggested that it was time. When we arrived at hospital one of the midwifes said that because I didn’t seem in pain she thought I would need to be sent back home to continue labour there. I used BRAIN to decide to have an examination, where the midwife was shocked to see that I was 4cm dilated. 

They monitored the baby’s heartbeat and as she was moving a lot (she had always been a wiggler!) the heart rate recorded was too fast so I was told that I would need to go the consultant lead unit. I asked that if they could monitor the heart rate and if the baby was fine, I could then go back up to the Midwife lead unit which they agreed.

While moving wards my contractions were less frequent but I was still using the app via headphones to breathe and stay calm moving wards as my contractions were becoming more intense. They hooked me up to the heart rate machine and the baby started to stabilise, so they allowed me back up to the MLU. When we returned I was 6cm dilated, and at this point I’d only had paracetamol as the breathing techniques kept me calm and my body felt in control of each contraction.

In the MLU, I used the tips from the course to make sure I felt calm playing the positive affirmations, using oils and dimming the lights. I then got into the birthing pool and started on the gas and air. The transition phase happened a few hours later where my body got rid of anything left in me, which I then knew I was ready to go into the pushing phase.

I changed the breathing pattern based on learnings from the course and my baby practically shot out within 20 minutes of pushing. I had 2nd degree tearing and needed stitches but I was completely amazed that my body got through 22 hours of labour with only paracetamol and gas and air, giving birth to a 9.7lb baby with apparently one of the biggest heads recorded on the ward (36cm!). Autumn was born on the 30th Jan 2020 at 1.58am and we couldn’t be more in love.

I wouldn’t have been able to get through labour without the breathing techniques and the Freya App. The online Positive Birth Company course made me feel completely empowered to take control of my birthing experience.