Love to read birth stories? Here is one shared by a local mum who has completed the Bump2baby Reality antenatal classes. She is keen to share her story with other parent-to-be to give them a real-life account of how birth can be.
‘I had a surprise start to labour, 3 weeks early at 37+1.
I’d had a busy weekend and went to bed thinking I had one more week of work before going on maternity leave which was when I was going to do all my ‘nesting’. I got up for the classic nocturnal trip to the toilet. I was so used to this occurrence, I did it half-asleep without putting any lights on. I heard an audible *pop* and felt something but thought perhaps I dreamt it. I went back to bed then felt like perhaps my waters had broken. I was Googling the symptoms and decided to leave it a few minutes then stand up. Gravity would give me my answer… I stood up and realised they had definitely gone. I rang Bluebell who asked me to come in straight away, it was around 1am. I didn’t have any other indications of labour but the midwives confirmed my waters had broken and said I’d be induced if I didn’t go into labour within 24hrs. As this was my first pregnancy, the midwives gave me the impression that I’d have many hours before I returned. They told me to go home, relax, have a bath etc. I had a pregnancy massage booked for 4pm and was encouraged to go as it would help labour along. Unfortunately, I had to cancel that as things progressed rapidly.
My husband and I went home to catch up on sleep. I struggled to get comfy lying down, it felt like I needed to go to the toilet again so I was up and down trying to get back to sleep. Eventually I gave up and came downstairs and logged onto my work laptop. I thought I’d have 5 days to wind down and sort out my admin, turns out I only had a matter of hours. I was cancelling meetings and leaving messages for people while trying to clear down my inbox while balancing on my gym ball. I was so distracted as I knew the clock was ticking that I wasn’t paying attention to how I was progressing. I started getting very distracted with what I would describe as dull aching and thought I’d better start writing to HR and my manager before I had to log off. I’d never had any pains relating to my reproductive system so I had no idea what to expect.
I finished the email hastily as I felt my first contraction, it was very noticeable as things changed up a gear. I grabbed my phone to record how long it was before the next one. I rang Bluebell after the second contraction came in quick succession. I sounded so relaxed they asked “what makes you think you’re in labour”? Midway through my reply I couldn’t speak as my breath had been taken away. I wouldn’t describe it as painful, just like I’d been stopped in my tracks. They said come in!
I went upstairs to wake my husband; it happened to be when the normal 6:45am alarm went off. I said: “it’s time to go to the place”. He said: what place? I said: the place! Luckily our hospital bags had been packed for a while and had been topped up with snacks the day before (just in case) so we could make a quick getaway. We drove through Warwick town centre; I remember the bumps along Jury Street being particularly uncomfortable while contractions were coming. They were getting stronger; I just remember closing my eyes and breathing through. To me, it felt like going up a rollercoaster, you can feel the intensity building (like ticking up to the big drop) then it peaks and you feel a rush where you brace and just ride it out until the feeling goes. We parked in the overflow car park; I leaned over the metal railings when a contraction came then gingerly walked over to Bluebell stopping every now and again.
When I arrived, I was greeted with: “can you provide a urine sample?” I was having a contraction at the time and flashed a look conveying exactly what I thought about that. When I was examined, the midwife remarked that she was surprised that I could tolerate what she was doing as most people find it painful. I laughed and said: “it wasn’t the greatest feeling in the world”. The midwife said she could feel the baby’s head ready to come through and I must have a high pain tolerance as I was already 9cm dilated so I should get in the pool and start pushing!
I was led to my room with the bath that had been filling since I arrived, it was a lovely warm temperature. It was breakfast time so I was asked if I’d like some toast. My husband fed me the toast in the bath and handed me drinks. To start with I just chilled out on the ledge seat until I felt a contraction and went on all fours until it went away. I didn’t have time to create a birth playlist as I thought I had 3 weeks to curate this. Instead, I had the playlist that I’d been playing to my unborn son which was very eclectic, from Bach to AC/DC. So, we listened to that on loop which was amusing at times as the moods changed from serene to high energy.
I had a student midwife present who was very nice, her inexperience showed when she lost the temperature probe in the water at one point and it made a crazy noise but it was funny. I was well-coached by the supervising midwife who explained what was happening at each stage and when to push and how close I was to seeing my son. I can’t remember being in what I would describe as pain during labour. There was a time my husband asked me what it felt like having a contraction in the water and I just shot him a look telling him everything he needed to know! I was very quiet and didn’t say a lot. There was no screaming or swearing. Anyone listening would have just heard breathing out whenever I was having a contraction.
I was lucky that I got everything I asked for on my birth plan, I was adamant I wasn’t going to be put on my back. I wanted everyone to leave me alone and I would decide what felt most comfortable so I could get on with it. I was pleased that the midwives had clearly read my birth plan as I heard them discussing what I’d asked for and they asked me questions to confirm that was still what I would like.
My labour continued to progress rapidly and I was only in the pool for 4 hours – the first part I was just waiting to push. I had hoped that I could just let my body do it (I was that relaxed and never got the urge), but I had to consciously push every time a contraction came, it felt like my eyes were going to pop (luckily, they didn’t)! I didn’t feel the baby turn on the way out or the ring of fire. I felt the penultimate push as that’s when I had some external pain but it wasn’t bad enough to ask for any relief as it was over in seconds. My son was part way out and they wanted me to deliver on land, I wasn’t keen on this but it felt very uncomfortable so I acquiesced. As I was being helped out, one leg in and one leg out of the bath, the final contraction threatened and I just said: “nope” and got straight back in clinging onto the side upright. At the final push, the midwife pulled at the same time under the water and the bath went from transparent to something out of Jaws.
I sat on the ledge at the opposite end as my son was brought to me attached by the cord for some skin-to-skin contact. I looked down marvelling at how long the umbilical cord was and being impressed at how that fit inside with a baby. My husband cut the cord once it had gone white and held my son also skin-to-skin as I waited to deliver the afterbirth. I did take the injection at the midwife’s recommendation rather than wait to deliver it naturally. I was curious what the placenta looked like as I wasn’t keeping it. The midwife offered to show me straight away but I said it was too soon; I asked her to take a photo and I’d look later.
I was able to nurse my son straight away, I didn’t have any colostrum syringes as I was only going to start collecting that week to avoid inducing early labour. I remember wondering why I wasn’t offered any pain relief but figured it must have been because I never asked for any. I felt a bit disappointed I didn’t get to try gas and air. As it happened, I needed some stitches and asked for all the anaesthetic they could offer me as I had an inkling how much it was going to hurt already. It was exactly as you would imagine and I’m glad analgesia has been invented.
I was fortunate to have my own en-suite room so I could have a shower. I was a bit apprehensive about the first toilet trip but I was also lucky that there was no pain or discomfort. My husband and I had the fold out double bed to relax on and spend time with our son while various health professionals came to see us. We had some nice sandwiches brought to us which weren’t half bad for hospital food. We were at Bluebell nearly 24hrs as we had to see several different staff who came on at different shifts otherwise we’d have to come back on a different day.
Although I was caught off-guard by the early birth, I felt mentally and physically very prepared. The Bump2baby Reality antenatal classes had given me sufficient information to know what I wanted and communicate that in my birth plan. I’d done a lot of reading and was confident that I could challenge anything that I wasn’t happy with. I made my husband read my birth plan and instructions to advocate for me if I became incapacitated. Before being told about hypnobirthing I did think it sounded woo-woo as I’ve tried meditation before and just can’t stop my mind wandering off as I’m always thinking about something unless I’m asleep. However, I did my due diligence and checked out free hypnobirthing resources online (websites, blogs, webinars) and decided that some of the advice was very doable. At no point did I fear labour, I had already told myself I could do it (as generations of women before me have done) and trusted my body to do what was necessary. I had an easy pregnancy without too much bother so I figured the labour would go the same if I just let it. My biggest tip would be not to fight contractions, allow them to happen and breathe through. I’ve definitely been in more pain before and survived, so I could remain serene.
I was told by the midwives that if I have a second child I should be on my guard as it’s likely the baby will be even quicker. I didn’t notice the time at all because I was so in my zone with hyperfocus. It was only afterwards when I checked my Badger app and saw all the details with timings then read up on what a typical first-time natural birth is like, that I realised what a great textbook birth I’d had. I’m keen to share my story because there are so many people who have horror stories that might scare expectant mothers or don’t give the impression that there’s any point in documenting your ideal birth plan because it’s unlikely to happen. In my case, it couldn’t have gone any better and I was really happy with the water birth. I would highly recommend the Bluebell birth centre.’
E Evans (Bluebell Birth Centre, Warwick Hospital – April 2024)
