Birth story - Sarah and baby Mabel

My first labour was a really positive experience at the local birth centre, at 39+1, with my waters breaking to kick things off and my daughter being born 6 hours later.

So this pregnancy I was expecting a quick labour again…

On the 5th September I was 4 days overdue, and throughout the day I experienced mild back aches and cramping but being busy with a toddler and with the heatwave I wasn’t sure if I was just uncomfortable with being heavily pregnant.

Once I had put my daughter to bed I felt quite unwell and went to bed myself, skipping my dinner.

At midnight I woke up to what I felt was a definite contraction and again a couple more around 2am.

At 3am I got up and sat on my birth ball in dim light with the Freya app to see if this really was the start of things, by 3:40 I’d had around 7 irregular contractions which were all very manageable. I called the birth centre, and as my waters and show had not gone the midwife suggested taking some paracetamol and going back to bed to get some rest.

So I did this in our spare room downstairs and we decided not to call my Mum who would be childcare for my daughter just yet.

Between 4am and 5am I had from what I can remember three much stronger contractions which I had really focus on my up breathing to get me through, although I am also sure I managed to sleep and even dream in between them!

At 05:07 my daughter woke up and I watched her on the camera app as I was worried about her waking and me not being there. After I heard and saw that my husband had seen to her and she was settled in our bed I felt I needed to go to the toilet.

In the bathroom I saw that my show had gone and then very quickly after this my waters went in the toilet and I felt an immense pressure. I tried to call my mum from the toilet as I knew I had little time now before baby was arriving but before knew it I was ‘Mooing’ and luckily I then heard my husband on the phone to my Mum asking her to come up to our house soon (she is luckily very close by!)

I got back to the bed and stayed on all fours - sure that the baby was coming very soon!

My husband was on the phone to the birth centre at this point, and I was telling him that the head was coming, I just knew, the midwife advised us not to attempt to get in the car and for him to get clean towels asap! My husband now tells me he quietly told the midwife over the phone he thought I was over reacting!!

Once he came back with towels I birthed the baby’s head in one down breath and the body in the second. I stayed calm, relaxed, breathing down and letting my body take control rather than fight against it and she came very easily.

My husband passed her up to me and then had to call 999 on the advice of the midwife as it was now classed as an emergency, my Husband was amazing running up and down the stairs to check on me and then our toddler daughter who was happily reading Zog on our bed during the whole thing.

My Parents arrived shortly after the birth and were obviously shocked to see baby had arrived already!

We worked out Baby’s time of birth at roughly 05:20 from looking at the call log on my phone to see when we dialled 999.

Paramedics arrived and I birthed the placenta, at home while the ran checks on me.

My Mum and Daughter dressed the baby in another room, while checks were done on me, my body went into a bit of shock and I fainted, looking back not a surprise really!

We were taken to hospital by the paramedics who attended our home, to be checked over where I was told I had a third degree tear, due to the speed of delivery and that as it was an unassisted delivery, not quite as gentle as it could have been had a midwife been there to guide me. I will gloss over the rest of the details of treatment of my tear as this is not so positive for me or relevant to the actual birth.

We were luckily allowed to go to the local birth centre later that evening for our first night with baby Mabel which was lovely, the midwives there were also keen to see us after the phone call delivery that morning!

All in all quite a story, I feel the positive birth company gave me the tools to make what could have been a traumatic labour experience, a positive one, and for the second time - so thank you!