Positive Birth Story: #birthedonlockdown First baby on the labour ward
Positive Birth Story, 1st Baby, Positive Instrumental Birth
At the time of positing, we are currently on lock down as the COVID-19 Pandemic sweeps the world. This has meant we have seen some changes to the way our maternity systems are operating, and natural it’s left lots of women feeling a little anxious and unsure of what to expect. But here’s the thing, the way we give birth still works in exactly the same way! And the opportunity for truly positive birth experiences is still there.
Our new campaign #birthedonlockdown aims to share these stories with you so you go forward into your birth feeling reassured, confident and ready to have the positive experience you deserve.
Over to Felicity for her story…
I was five days overdue when I went into labour. I had been getting quite impatient, mostly because it felt that everything was changing so quickly with coronavirus and hospital policies - and in particular, rules about birth partners - and so I just wanted to get labour over and done with! With this in mind, I asked my community midwife for a sweep at my 40 week appointment but she suggested I wait another week - as I’d had such a good and straightforward pregnancy and she’d much rather we gave things a chance to start of their own accord. Looking back, I can see she was absolutely right - and am grateful for her advice!
While I was waiting for labour I got in touch with a local doula, who encouraged me to think through every scenario - and imagine a situation where my husband was with me, and also a situation where he wasn’t, and instead I was supported by midwives, and tuning into my natural mammal instinct to be somewhere dark and quiet. This was really helpful as it made me relax a bit and engage with the fact that my baby and I would be able to cope, even in a scenario that might be very different to the one we had planned.
As it happened, my husband was able to be with me for almost the whole time, which was great. I woke up at 5am on April 2nd and was pretty certain ‘this was it’ and something was starting. I felt very crampy and alert, so went downstairs and made myself a hot water bottle and put on a film. Within a couple of hours I was having gentle but regular contractions. I woke my husband up and he helped connect me to the tens machine and rang the midwife team to ask about coming into hospital. They suggested that, although my contractions were regular, I should wait as long as possible before coming in - until the contractions were more intense and I felt that I couldn’t manage at home anymore. In the meantime, they suggested that I have a bath and / or keep using the tens machine.
This was all good advice, as I managed at home for another five hours (and got through two Disney films!) The tens machine was great but by 2pm I was nearly on the highest setting and knew it was time to head into hospital.
This was the only stage I had to be on my own - as (due to coronavirus) the hospital had to confirm I was in active labour before my husband was allowed to join me on the maternity unit. So he waited in the car while I headed in. A student midwife examined me and confirmed I was five cm - at which point I was able to call my husband - and we were both taken into a private room.
When writing my birth plan I had thought I would want gas and air and access to a birthing pool - but as it turned out I didn’t get on with the gas and air at all (I found it dried out my throat and I wasn’t very good at breathing in and out at the right times!), and the birthing pool was unavailable. This didn’t actually bother me because by this point, I was finding the contractions much more intense and was keen to have an epidural.
The anaesthetist arrived within a few minutes of me asking for an epidural and was brilliant - very calm and efficient. The hours that followed after the epidural were blissful! My husband and I listened to some music, ate some food and had a sleep - and by 7pm I was 9cm and it seemed the baby’s arrival would be imminent. The midwife on duty at this point was normally on the home birth team and made a real effort to make my room nice and homely - with candles and dim lighting, which was really lovely.
Then, from about 9pm, things started to slow down a bit. The midwife broke my waters - and I reached 10cm - and starting pushing, with lots of guidance from the midwife so that I could time the pushing to match the contractions. My baby was very relaxed - too relaxed as it turned out, as he had got himself into a slightly awkward position (posterior facing) and didn’t want to budge.
I was given a hormone drip to increase the contractions and after waiting an hour or so for that to take effect, I continued pushing. By 5am the midwife and doctor both felt that this wasn’t going to happen on its own - and it was clear I was getting tired - so they started to prepare for theatre. They explained that they would try and get the baby out with the help of forceps, and if that didn’t work, they would go for an emergency c section.
Looking back, it all seems quite dramatic, but at the time I felt so safe. The hospital staff were all so kind and professional - and took time to clearly explain everything to me, so I felt confident that I was in good hands. They took me into theatre, gave me a spinal tap in case I did need a c section, and all the team introduced themselves. Amazingly, in the time it had taken for us to get into theatre, the baby has turned back into a better position - and so I pushed (again, with prompting from the midwife) and the doctor was able to get him out with forceps - at 6.16am. We heard the baby cry rightaway and he was wrapped in a blanket and put on my chest.
The whole way through, I was made to feel so secure and looked after - and reflecting on it now, I feel so struck by how brilliant the whole team were, particularly given the circumstances and everything they were contending with in terms of the virus. And my postnatal care was exceptional too - with wonderful midwives and lots of support with feeding. I honestly don’t think anything could have been done better - and I will always remember their kindness and skill.
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