A positive vaginal delivery: Sophia’s birth story
This was my first pregnancy, which wasn’t planned, but I'm very happy now that it happened. My partner and I joined HPHB course when I was around 30 weeks pregnant. I didn't have any fixed idea about how I wanted my birth to be, I just wanted to have all information about the options. My husband and I moved to the UK only two years ago and we don't know anyone who has given birth here, so we had no idea of what to expect in British hospitals. We wanted to learn about birth options, pain relief and everything else.
My contractions started at 2 am and they became regular, 1 minute long, every 3 minutes pretty quickly. I called the triage at the hospital a couple of times before finally heading to hospital at 9:30am. Labouring at home for 7.5 hours was a good idea. I followed suggestions given on the course: warm baths, breathing and yoga to keep calm and relaxed; breathing techniques made a big difference.
In triage I was assessed and told that I was 4 cm dilated and in active labour - I was then transferred to the birthing centre and met my lovely midwife.
My labour had already progressed too far for any pain relief stronger that gas and air, so that's the only pain relief I had. The midwife encouraged me to use upright labour positions. My partner was amazing at supporting and encouraging me all the way. I'm sure I wouldn't have been able to do it without him as I felt soooo tired by the pushing stage. Thanks to the HPHB course I knew what to expect at each stage of labour and that really helped me remain calm and in control. It's my first baby and everyone was surprised how quick was the labour. After only 30 minutes of pushing our beautiful daughter arrived at 2pm.
We were left with her for the golden hour and I was elated, extremely exhausted but ultimately happy! We took advice from the course to do skin to skin with both myself and my partner.
The main takeaway for me from our birth story it that the partner's support plays enormous role in the process! He or she can lift your spirits even if you feel like you can't do it any longer. I think I wasn't very responsive when I was at the last stage of labour, I could hardly speak! But my partner never stopped encouraging me, which gave me so much confidence. That's what made our birth story positive.
We came home the morning after birth, it was all new and exciting. Thanks to HPHB course we knew about baby care and so it wasn't frightening. Little by little we've learned what Sophia likes and what makes her unhappy, but there is still a lot to learn!
I would definitely recommend HPHB to anyone expecting a baby. The course is full of invaluable information. Francesca and the other members of the team are amazing! Very supportive and always ready to answer any questions.
Top Tips:
Don't have any expectations
Go with the flow, don't fix your mind on any birth plan, any kind of birth is amazing.
Stay positive and accept help from family and friends.
