Emily & Henry’s Birth Story: A Calm, Supported and Empowered Birth

From early on in my pregnancy and after attending pregnancy yoga with Elle, I had a fairly clear idea on my hopes and wishes for birth. My husband and I did a birthing masterclass with Elle too and this confirmed we wanted to aim for a low intervention birth using hypnobirthing techniques. Due to it being my first baby I did want to birth in the hospital just so I had all available options.

In preparation for the birth we had followed the advice from Elle and packed essential oil roll ons, a hand fan, and a labour comb amongst other items in a hospital bag.

We got to 40 weeks and I had a lot of pelvic pressure and was having inconsistent contractions. After a discussion between us and the midwife we decided to try a stretch and sweep to see if we could get things going as if not we were going to look at induction the following week. At my sweep on the Monday, I was 2cm dilated and whilst I had some cramping after there were no signs of labour.

On the Tuesday, I noticed baby was slightly quieter than normal. I monitored him through the day and whilst he was moving it was not as much as his normal pattern. This led to a call to triage and we went in around 10pm in the Tuesday night.

Once in triage, we had a CTG which was normal but baby still wasn't really moving. A discussion was had between us and the midwife and she offered another sweep. We agreed to this and she advised I was 2cm dilated still but stretching to around 4cm. We discussed keeping our planned appointment for induction the following week and the midwife went to check with the Dr. After further discussions it was suggested that due to reduced movements they move the induction forward. They offered to do it there and then or said we could come back the next morning.

Before the induction started there was a conversation with my husband, Dr, midwife and I where we discussed the method of induction, and how things may progress from this point. The decision was made that because I was dilated enough they could break my waters and give my body time to respond. It was agreed that we would then reassess after 2 hours.

My waters were broken at 1am on the Wednesday. The midwife advised I stay mobile and upright. I spent the next 2 hours on a birth ball and did some walking up and down stairs, following Elle's advice to be UFO. We had the lights off in our room and had some celestial lighting on to try and promote oxytocin (another tip from Elle).

After 2 hours I was having some fairly consistent cramping and so the midwife advised she would give me another 2 hours and they would not give a drip as it appeared my body was responding. I continued to stay upright and as the surges got stronger I asked for some pain relief and had two paracetamol. I also began to use my labour comb and essential oils.

I was checked again at around 5am and was told I was in established labour so 1 to 1 care would start. I was able to have wireless monitoring so I could move around. Unfortunately the connection wasn't great when I was using the birth ball so I had to move to the bed but they managed to get this arranged in a seated upright position where I was comfortable. They brought in gas and air which I could use if I wanted to and then sat quietly out the way allowing my husband and I to just be in a bubble.

Due to the lack of sleep we made a decision to phone my mum and ask her to come to support us so my husband could get some sleep as we were advised it was still likely to be a number of hours before I gave birth. We phoned my mum at 6am to say I was 5cm and asked her to come in.

A very short time later I felt intense pelvic pressure. The midwife attempted to help me find a more comfortable position on my side but the pressure felt even more intense. I kept saying this and so the midwife asked if she could check me again to assess what might be going on. She checked and advised I had jumped to 8cm and was in transition, this was around 06.30am. Almost immediately I vomited and my legs started shaking but I knew this meant it was nearly time to meet our baby.

Another midwife and student calmly came into the room and explained they would be assisting with the birth. They stayed out of the way and respected our space. I was struggling to find a comfortable position and the midwives suggested kneeling over the back of the bed and using gravity so they assisted me into moving into position. Up until this point I had been using mainly just the paracetamol and breathing techniques but now started to use more of the gas and air.

I felt the need to push and struggled to breathe the gas and air during this so felt it was more beneficial just to take deep breaths. The midwives were reassuring me and telling me I could do this. They listened when I said I needed to push and also listened when I told them the surges had stopped.

A short time later at 07.31am, baby Henry was born weighing 9lb 6oz. He was immediately brought up onto my chest for skin to skin and the midwives helped me feed. They waited for my cord to stop pulsing and were hands off during this allowing us to just be in the baby bubble. They then allowed my husband to cut the cord and the midwives assisted with my placenta being delivered. Throughout the whole process the midwives always asked for my consent.

After I had been checked they allowed us to spend time with family in our room but reassured me they were available should I need anything. We came home that afternoon and are now adjusting to life as a family of three.

Although some things changed due to being induced, I found that by listening to my body I was still able to have an incredibly positive birth experience where I was listened to every step of the way.