A positive back-to-back labour: Axel’s birth story
It took us a couple of years to fall pregnant and we were in the middle of a fertility referral when I found out. I was lucky enough to have a really easy pregnancy - no sickness, no major complications. Just a bit of carpal tunnel towards the end! I was quite frightened about the idea of interventions during delivery which is one of the reasons why we chose HPHB. I wanted to hear directly from an actual obstetrician and Will was so helpful in giving us factual information, I found it very reassuring.
Labour was definitely not what I expected! I envisaged a low intervention, calm experience. It lasted for a couple of day and I ended up on the high risk side after having my waters broken, an epidural and a hormone drip. However, it WAS calm. Even though a lot of my decisions were being made for me, and it felt like everything was going out the window, I didn’t feel like I’d completely lost control at any point and I feel that HPHB played a big role in that. I was fully clued up on what interventions were available, as was Greg so he could fully support and advocate for me. I used hypnobirthing techniques to get me through most of it with just gas and air and a TENS machine. I had the lights dimmed and my own music playing in my labour suite. I was able to stick to my guns about some aspects of my labour and it made me feel much more empowered. Axel was just not ready to come out but being almost 2 weeks late they needed to throw everything at it to coax him out. I understood every element of it thanks to the HPHB course, such as why they’d suggest each intervention and the alternatives available. I didn’t need the epidural until they finally started the hormone drip and then Axel made a swift appearance an hour or so later (having made me wait for almost 2 days)! If he hadn’t been back to back I feel like I’d have gotten through the entire labour just with the entonox and the TENS machine. At one point, dare I say it, I actually enjoyed the experience!
It is true when people tell you all the pain goes away the second you see your baby, they’re not joking. I had never felt a love like it before. He was (and still is) the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen and I knew immediately that it had all been worth it and that I’d do it all again in a heartbeat for him. In hindsight, knowing what I know now, it wouldn’t really matter how the birth had gone because I’d have him at the end of it.
Before HPHB we hadn’t so much as changed a nappy before and honestly when Axel came I felt like I was totally ready for it. I knew how the nappies went on, how to swaddle (which, by the way, Axel does not care for) and what to expect in terms of postnatal recovery. Those first few days went pretty smoothly in terms of all of those things. When I came across feeding problems, I was already familiar with Jasmine from her breastfeeding session on the course so enlisted her privately as a lactation consultant which was a great help. I wouldn’t have known about her otherwise.
I have already recommended HPHB to friends. Two of my friends have babies on the way and I’ve told both of them to do this course. Outside of the fantastic course content, I’ve made some great friends that I’m confident I’ll have for a lifetime. I’m so glad I did it.
Top Tips
Write your birth preferences and come up with back up plans. You’ll feel much better about it all if it doesn’t go to plan but you’ve still retained some choices, even if it’s just that you kept your own music on!
Lucozade sport is your friend in labour. I can’t run for a bus normally but managed 40 hours of contractions with it.
‘Tearing’ is nowhere near as bad as it sounds.
Don’t panic, whatever happens the end result is so worth it!
You can read lots more Positive Birth Stories here. We have positive birth stories from all types of births, including homebirths, water births, induction of labour, instrumental deliveries and Caesarean section births.
Download our free birth plan template and other resources for your pregnancy here.
Find out more about our antenatal and hypnobirthing classes in London, Essex and online and book your place here.
Access free hypnobirthing relaxations and videos to support you through your pregnancy on our Instagram TV page here.
Watch our free pregnancy and postnatal exercise classes here.
