Birth Stories

'The not so straight forward birth!'

Alison’s Story

As a midwife I have observed a wide variety of coping strategies during birthing so when I become pregnant I was keen to find a way to remain calm and in control (not merely for myself but for my husband also) as I didn’t want him to panic and feel a helpless birth partner.
I had an uneventful pregnancy and was planning a water birth but unfortunately after trying every trick in the book to avoid it, I still managed to go over due and was induced. I went into hospital in the afternoon on the Friday and was told that it probably wouldn’t work first time so expected to go to the maternity ward overnight to sleep.
About 10pm (whilst watching ‘I’m a celeb get me out of here’) the surges were regular so I asked my midwife to put my hired tens machine on just in case. By midnight my cervix was 3-4 cm dilated and my surges were stronger and longer due to the hormone drip encouraging them. I was now in what they call ‘established labour’ and began to breathe some gas and air (still using the slow breathing technique).
My baby’s heart rate had been dipping therefore it was monitored continuously but I still managed to stay in control and mobilized on the birthing ball and stood up leaning over the bed which I found really comfortable. My husband and I did not feel the need to use any scripts but we listened to the CD and he stayed by my side, constantly whispering to me, reminding me to relax and to do the slow breathing. I could not believe how helpful this was as the few times I forgot to use the techniques I could really tell the difference.
At about 3am I was feeing tired so decided to have an injection of diamorphine (like pethidine) which enabled me to relax and nap in between surges. I quickly progressed to fully dilated by 5.30am and was on all fours for birthing, using the birth breathing techniques, which I apparently was doing very effectively.
Unfortunately after some time (apparently, I had no concept of time, the whole experience went really quickly for me) the baby had not made an appearance due to the position he was in, and his heart rate was still dipping.
The doctors decided to take me to theatre (with my consent) and try a forceps birth/ caesarean. My husband came into the theatre and we remained calm. Our baby’s head was too high in my pelvis for the forceps so I had a caesarean. At 7.03am on the Saturday, Alfie Jake was born - making the labour 7 hours from established and 9 hours from the very beginning. He came out crying, with top scores, and looked huge! My husband and I were stunned at the size of our baby guessing he must be at least 9lb (the theatre staff couldn’t wait for the midwives to get him onto the scales!). How wrong we were…he was 10lb 13oz!!

We are so delighted and overwhelmed with our beautiful boy and I can't believe how well I feel (I've sailed through these initial days that I expected to be really difficult). Alfie is an absolute angel (very calm and edible)!

We just want to say that although our experience was the opposite to what we desired and expected we do not feel disappointed in any way what so ever and feel this is all down to the HypnoBirthing. I cannot stress how valuable the breathing techniques were to me particularly the slow breathing and will definitely be using HypnoBirthing again if we have another baby and letting others know how great it is!

Thank you Wendy, with love from Alison, Jake and Alfie x