Birth story - Swapna and baby Kiaan

I know pregnancy is the most wonderful and precious thing that happens to a woman. For me it wasn't any different, I had Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS/PCOD) so it took me very long to get pregnant, I had to go through a cyst removal surgery to conceive my baby. But now when I see him, I feel it was all worth it.

The first trimester I was very cautious and worried about my baby all the time, I did/didn't do everything people asked me to do or not to do because I did not want to take any chances. And when I entered the second trimester I was relieved that everything was fine with me and my baby. I was categorised as low-risk pregnancy. And therefore was encouraged by my midwife to have a water birth at home or at a MLU.

We chose waterbirth at the birth centre that was attached to the hospital as it was my first pregnancy and I did not want to take any chances (just in case).

I always had a feeling that my labour would start early (38/39 weeks)-which definitely didn't happen.

I started getting Braxton hicks around 39+2 and I was happy as I thought I might go into labour soon. But then I waited and nothing happened. As my due date came closer (19/10/19) My friends and family started messaging me asking if I had the baby yet or I was about to have the baby or If I was admitted to the hospital yet.... all those questions. I turned my Whatsapp and other communications off to avoid all those questions, as I did not want any stress or to go into anxiety mode, and doing so really helped me.

I was reading all the amazing positive stories and it helped me get through that waiting phase.

On 21/10 I had my 40+2 midwife Appointment and we planned a sweep at 40+8 and an Induction at 40+12 if my labour didn't start by then. But the next day on 22/10 I felt that I had reduced movements and I called Maternity Triage and they asked me to visit straight away to monitor the baby. We had the 40 minutes heartbeat and movement monitoring. And they said everything was normal, but because I was already past my due date they offered me an Induction; My husband and I discussed it and we declined it.

The doctor at the Triage unit suggested, as I had declined the Induction and I was overdue, I should also have a scan just to make sure everything was fine.

We visited the triage again next day on 23/10 (40+4) to have a scan. I still felt that movements didn't improve much overnight so having a scan was a good idea. After the scan, we were told everything was normal and absolutely fine but I should have a discussion with the doctors before I left. The doctor came and he again suggested that we should think about having a sweep, and he also said if I have a sweep and labour doesn't start within 24hours I would be admitted and induced. That caused panic for myself and my husband, as I definitely didn’t want to be admitted and induced because I wanted my birth to be normal, natural and with as few interventions as possible and I still wanted to have a water birth in the birth centre. Now "the course" helped us here; We used our BRAIN and asked the doctor to give us some time to think and we decided to call our midwife to discuss this with her.

I called my midwife and she sent her lead to talk to us at the Triage to get a better Idea and discuss our options. When she came we told her everything, after a detailed discussion she confirmed that even If I decide to have a sweep today, I don't have to be admitted in the next 24hours. If labour starts in the next 48 hours that's great if it does not we already had a plan in place - i.e. another sweep at 40+8 and induction at 40+12. Also, she said because all my monitoring reports and scan reports were normal I still had the option to birth in the birthing centre and have a water birth but that they can't continuously monitor the baby as they don't have those equipment with them as they are low-risk midwives.

She left us for 30 minutes to decide and let her and the doctors know our final decision.

We used our BRAIN again and decided to go for a sweep. We told doctors and midwife about it and they respected our decision. I had a sweep and came home.

Next day 24/10 (40+5) at 8:15 I felt strong cramps and they were in my lower abdomen, at first I ignored them as I wasn't sure if they were surges. But after 20 mins they got bit stronger so I opened Freya App to log them and realised they were coming every 2-3 minutes and were lasting for 40-90 seconds each and after monitoring for 2 hours I called the birthing centre. They asked me about the movements of baby, and again I did not feel a lot of baby movements so they suggested I go to triage and told me they would suggest what to do next.

We had our bags packed already so without wasting any time we left for the triage straight away! I knew that now I wasn’t going to have a water birth. But I was not bothered as I had a feeling very soon I was going to meet my boy.

Throughout my surges, Freya helped me with the up breathing, and trust me It helped me go through each and every surge very calmly. I was at Triage by 11:00 where they monitored my baby's heartbeat for 2 hours and told me at 2 PM that I was 3 cm dilated. I was admitted to the labour ward, where my husband set up the room, put all the snacks and drinks on the table. It was bright room so we did not put the tea lights on, but he kept them ready for the dark if we had to wait that long.

All the midwives I was assigned were lovely and so supportive, they were so glad and impressed to see how calm I was during each surge. They were getting stronger and stronger but with up breathing, I was all calm and cool. There were some stronger surges when I went to Amber mode, but otherwise, I was in Green throughout my labour, I never once reached Red.

My Midwife kept checking every 4 hours and told I was progressing well, and by 6:00 PM I was 5CM dilated. It was dark outside and my husband was ready with all the tea lights set up in the room. The midwife suggested I should try gas n air if my surges were strong. I tried it but did not like the dizzy feeling so I did not use it later. At 8:00 I asked the Midwife if I could have Diamorphine as the surges were getting worse and more painful. She gave me one shot and told me more painful surges are good news as I was almost there.

My waters hadn’t broken yet, so my midwife said If I hadn’t progressed when she next checked she would have to break them, and I was happy with that. But at 10:00 when she checked I was 7cm so she didn't do anything. I was told I was dehydrated and was asked to put a drip on to avoid any issues.

At 12:00 I asked for another shot of Diamorphine as my surges were getting even stronger. She told me at 2:00 I was now 8cm. But as my waters were still intact and I was dehydrated she will have to break them to progress even more quickly. She broke my waters and within 10 minutes my surges got extremely painful. She checked and told me I was 10cm at 3:45 AM. By 4:00 am I told her I had a very strong feeling to push and before she could say or do anything I had already started pushing.

Doctors and another midwife came and I was pushing with each surge now. After a while a doctor said I had to try hard as baby's heartbeat was dropping and If I did not push him out soon he would had to give me a cut down there to make more space for baby. I will admit at some point during pushing I gave up for a bit and said I couldn’t do it anymore but my Husband and Midwife were so amazing they said I could do anything and I was doing great and my baby would be with me any time now and that gave me more strength. I finally tried with my full strength and he was out at 4:45 AM no cuts were needed. I had 2nd-degree tear but my baby is worth the pain.

We couldn't do delayed cord clamping as we had planned to preserve the cord blood and the cord was too small so we had to cut it within 1 minute.

Overall my experience of birth was so empowering and amazing. My husband was amazing and very supportive throughout the labour and after. I had lovely midwives and doctors to support me. And most importantly the science and techniques I learned in the course through "Positive Birth Company" helped me throughout the phase and my journey. I have recommended this to all my friends who are expectant mothers so that they can benefit from it as well.

Our beautiful boy KIAAN is the best Diwali gift for us.