An empowering and calm birth

I’m also so glad I decided against the early induction because deep down I knew my body would do what it was meant to on it’s own.

Hi Kat! 

We have a beautiful baby girl!! 

Labour was very intense for me and not how I was expecting at all! But I still felt very in control and happy with how it all played out! 

I was due on the 22nd and the doctor offered an induction for the 29th as he didn’t want me going more than a week over. 

They then rang me on the 23rd and said they had a spot for the 25th if I wanted. 

I really wanted to go into labour naturally and labour at home till it was necessary to go to hospital so I refused the early induction. 

I went for an induction massage/acupuncture on Wednesday the 23rd and Saturday the 26th to try and help go into labour naturally along with trying everything else to bring on labour.

At 1:30am Sunday the 27th I woke up to my waters trickling and contractions starting at 7 minutes apart. At first I wasn’t sure if I was actually in labour because they were so close straight away!

The midwife then informed me it could likely take up to 2 hours per cm to dilate and I decided as much as I didn’t want it, with the contractions being less than a minute apart and me not getting any rest/recovery time before the next one started I wasn’t going to be able to get through without the epidural. 

By the time the anaesthetist got there and I got the epidural it was about 6:15. It then started working straight away and I felt calm and had a little nap.

But then at 6:30-6:45 the midwife came in and said that baby’s heart rate was dropping dramatically with each contraction and I might need an emergency c section unless it was because I was ready to go which was highly unlikely because I was only 4cms about 30-45 mins before.

She checked me and I was 9cms!

The epidural didn’t take long to wear off and I then got to have a shower whilst my partner got his skin to skin time.

Over all I felt really lucky that I had an amazing support system with my husband and mum and the doctor and midwife were amazing! 

I felt really in control and am so so glad we did your Calmbirth course so I knew all my options and went in knowing my options and what would work for me! 

The only thing I might change is that if I knew I actually only had 30 minutes to an hour left I might have not bothered with the epidural, but with the knowledge I had at the time I know that it was the best decision for me! 

I’m also so glad I decided against the early induction because deep down I knew my body would do what it was meant to on it’s own. I also can’t imagine how quick it would have been considering it was under 6 hours naturally.

Permission gained from mother to share her story and images.