A positive assisted delivery: Julia’s birth story
This was my first baby, and I really wanted to learn about birth, including hypnobirthing techniques, as well as how to care for a baby. It was also really important to me to be able to meet other new parents in our area – Happy Parents. Happy Baby. include all these things on their course.
I had a planned induction of labour at 39+1 as my baby was small for their gestational age. I went into hospital in the evening and had the first prostin gel at around 10pm. Within the first hour I started getting some period-type cramps in my lower abdomen and back, which were eased with a hot water bottle and some paracetamol. My husband and I decided it made sense for him to go home to get some sleep overnight, as inductions can take time to work, so he went home around midnight. Quite soon after that I started getting contractions, which became regular at around 3 in 10 from about 2.30am. I was able to breathe through them and get snatches of sleep in between. I was examined again around 4.30am and was happy to hear that my cervix was now 1-2cm dilated and they would be able to break my waters. I called my husband to come in, and by 6am we were on the delivery suite and I had my waters broken.
At this point I put the TENS machine on, which was massively helpful, and shortly afterwards started with some gas and air. I found the combination of the TENS and the gas and air very effective. My husband was amazing and so encouraging the whole way through, at this stage I mainly wanted to just hold on to him and cuddle him between contractions and he applied sacral pressure during contractions which also helped. I used the birthing ball to stay active to try to encourage the labour along, and discussed the possibility of a water birth with my midwife and consultant, which they were supportive of, so we moved to another room which had a pool.
By midday, the contractions were really ramping up in intensity and I started getting very tired, having not really slept all the night before. On examination I was still only 2cm which I found a bit disheartening, as I didn’t know where I would find the energy for the rest of the labour. The doctors came to see me and recommended starting a syntocinon drip. I had known that this was likely to be needed because of the induction, but I was still a bit disappointed. I was finding the contractions increasingly difficult to deal with, and combined with the fatigue, I made the decision to have an epidural before starting the syntocinon, so that I would be able to get some rest, and then hopefully have some energy for the pushing stage later.
The anesthetist did the epidural so quickly and painlessly, I was amazed, and very soon I had complete relief from the contractions and was able to get some sleep. My impression of the timings from here onwards gets a bit hazy, but I think 4 hours later I was at 6cm. I started to get very shaky and felt cold – I was aware this could be a side effect of the epidural, and the midwife said it can also happen when labour is progressing quickly. At some stage, the team became concerned about the CTG and encouraged me to adopt different positions, and found that lying on my right made the CTG more reassuring. The contractions continued and at another 4 hours, I was at 10cm. At this point I could not feel my contractions at all, so I had to be coached through the pushing. I tried a variety of positions to push in and eventually it was the lithotomy position that was the most effective. It was a very strange sensation pushing down and not being able to feel anything, but the midwife and my husband were amazing at giving me so much encouragement and telling me that the baby was coming.
I was feeling very light-headed and spaced out at this point, and kept on zoning out completely and it took all my concentration to “stay in the room” and continue to push. The pushing was so intense – it took me to the absolute limits of my physical capabilities, but I knew I had to get this baby out as the team were getting increasingly worried about her heart rate. The consultant was in the room and told me that they needed to get baby out now, so they did a forceps delivery with an episiotomy. At that point I just wanted her out safely. As soon as her head was out she started crying and I couldn’t believe it. One more push and she was out, and as she was crying so well they handed her straight to me for skin to skin. The relief and elation to see her safely out and to hold her to my skin was like nothing I’ve ever felt before.
I didn’t get a full “golden hour” as the paediatricians needed to take Julia to the unit for some antibiotics, but once she was back I was able to hold and feed her, which was amazing.
I had hoped for a spontaneous labour and a water birth, and this was far from that, but it was a fantastic, totally empowering and incredible experience. My husband and I were supported in making the best decisions for us and our baby throughout by an amazing team, and I am totally in awe of my body for making and then delivering us our perfect little girl.
HPHB really helped me learn some of the practicalities of looking after a newborn. The breastfeeding session was very helpful, as was learning how to change a nappy and clean a baby!
I would absolutely recommend HPHB - what makes it stand out compared to other antenatal courses is that the sessions are delivered by experts (obstetrician, midwife, lactation consultant and paediatrician) which adds a lot of weight to the information given. The course resources are also really nicely put together.
Top Tips
Prepare for birth by learning about all the different ways that babies be born - caesarean section, instrumental etc. so that you are in a good position to make the right decision about these during your labour
Practice the breathing techniques in the weeks running up to the labour
Harvest colostrum prior to the birth if possible, so you can feed the baby even if they are a bit too drowsy to latch well initially
