Seren's Birth Story
My first pregnancy went smoothly and I was due to have a hospital water birth, with minimal intervention and pain relief. For the two weeks prior to my due date I experienced rather intense Braxton Hicks contractions. My real contractions started at 2am on my due date (15th Sept), evenly spaced 20 minutes apart. They were really painful, so I was pleased the TENS machine was lessening their intensity. By 6:15am, they were 7 minutes apart and I was rather exhausted after little sleep. They continued all day, and I tried to encourage my labour by going for a long walk with Dave. Every time a contraction came I had to stop and really grab hold of him, as they were so intense. That night I got no sleep as the contractions were relentlessly painful and coming 7 minutes apart. By 2pm the next day (16th Sept) I was pretty desperate and really needed some pain relief, so we went to the Hospital Birth Centre. They examined me and said I was only 2cms dilated, to go home and take some paracetamol. The tears welled in my eyes. That night I got no sleep as the contractions were coming every five minutes and were so painful. By the third day (17th Sept) I was exhausted. In desperation, we kept calling the birth centre but they kept insisting I stay at home. By this stage I couldn't even tell if my TENS machine was working as I had had it on full power for so long. By 7pm, I insisted that we go to the hospital as I so desperately needed some gas and air pain relief. At the hospital they examined me and I started crying with relief when they said I was 7cms dilated. The midwife said that I would be fully dilated by 11pm and so I made use of the gas and air. At 11pm I was examined again, this time whilst having a contraction. The midwife's examination was excruciatingly painful. She then told me that the baby was in an OP position and that I was still 7cms dilated and would be for some time. At this point I couldn't cope with any more and was dragged to the labour ward for an epidural. With no gas and air I had a contraction in a corridor and started screaming in pain. The epidural was given and I was put on an oxytocin drip to help me fully dilate. For the third night I had no sleep and felt really terrible. A steady stream of unfamiliar doctors and midwifes came to examine me, with one artificially breaking my waters. I also tried to empty my bladder, whilst sat on a birth stool but couldn't feel my legs, let alone to urinate. At 7am I was fully dilated. Suddenly a new doctor entered the room and told me that my baby had passed meconium, and was having decelerations. He also said that I had an hour to push the baby out and that I would probably tear rather badly, and that there was a chance that the baby and I would be in further distress. He offered me a caesarean or said that I could try to push the baby out but would probably be in the same situation, or worse, in an hour's time. The fact that I had not slept for three days, couldn't manage to urinate let alone push a baby out and was risking my baby's chances of survival, prompted Dave and I to agree to a caesarean. I felt that I had given my 72 hour labour everything and the most important thing was the health of my unborn baby. I spent most of the operation shaking uncontrollably and vomiting, as I think my body had just gone into shock. Finally, a beautiful Seren Lybeth was born on 18th Sept 2004 at 8:40am, weighing a healthy 9lb 9oz. The staff then told me that she had been Occiput Posterior (Back to back) for the whole labour, which explained my painful contractions, which failed to dilate me. I knew nothing of OP babies and also didn't realise that I could have asked for vontouse to help me deliver her naturally. I vowed that my next labour would be natural and was determined that I wouldn't have another OP labour.
Edwin's Birth Story
As with the first pregnancy, everything went well and I did lots of antenatal yoga, acupuncture and reflexology. On my due date (11th Feb) I was experiencing mild contractions but my midwife was unable to give me a sweep as my cervix was posterior. On 13th Feb I was 2cms dilated and was having mild contractions which were 15 minutes apart. On 14th Feb my contractions were 7 minutes apart and I was still 2cms dilated. On 15th Feb I had a show at 3am and was monitored at the Labour Ward and sent home, still at 2cms dilated. On 17th Feb I had another sweep which was rather painful and at 8pm that night my waters broke. On 18th Feb I was still 2cms dilated and was monitored at the hospital. Due to the fact my waters had broken, I had only 24 hours before there was a significant risk of infection, so at 8pm that night, I was admitted to the hospital. (I later discovered that my painful sweep had almost certainly culminated in my hind water leak.) I was monitored and told that the baby had had two decelerations at 12:30am. Once again we were told that a caesarean was our only real choice as my dilation had been stuck at 2cms for the last 5 days, I now had a risk of infection due to my waters being broken for over 24 hours and also that my baby was at risk after having two decelerations. So at 2am we reluctantly agreed to another caesarean, and I was hastily given an epidural. At 5:47am on 19th Feb 2006, Edwin Ioseff was born weighing 9lb 4oz. Despite being disappointed we were all delighted at the newest arrival to our family.
Celyn's Birth Story
By the time I got pregnant with my third child I was realistic that I would probably need another caesarean but once again I was determined to try for a natural labour, managing the associated risks. At my booking appointment I talked at length with a consultant, who listened politely but gravely warned me that I was risking my life and that of my unborn baby. He arranged for me to meet my obstetrician at 34 weeks for further discussions and strongly advised that I book an elective caesarean at 38 weeks, to avoid scar rupture and infant mortality. I naively remained optimistic until then, hoping that if I went into labour at home and everything was going well, then I would be allowed a "trial of labour" at the hospital. By 34 weeks I had seen three consultants, all of whom advised me that regardless of how well my labour was progressing, the moment I set foot in the hospital, I would be pressured to have another caesarean. My obstetrician strongly recommended an elective caesarean, as a vaginal delivery had a very high risk of scar rupture, infant mortality and maternal haemorrhage. I was also encouraged to book an elective caesarean at 38 weeks, was not allowed to go post dates, had to attend twice weekly continuous foetal monitoring sessions and when labour occurred had to come straight to the hospital for continuous foetal monitoring, an intravenous drip, catheter and an epidural. Lastly I was given a long list of reasons which would result in another caesarean, which included, labour stopping and starting, labour taking too long, infant monitor decelerations etc. Prior to my 34 week meeting I had been reading books and researching the possibility of vaginal births after caesareans, which made me reluctant to agree to their proposals. During the meeting I got my obstetrician to agree that the actual statistics for scar rupture for vaginal birth after one caesarean was 0.5% and for vaginal birth after two caesareans was 0.7%. I knew that an epidural would not only greatly lessen my chance of a natural delivery but would also prevent me from being aware of the warning signs of scar rupture. I also knew that I had a 50% higher chance of a natural delivery if I chose to have the baby at home, as opposed to the hospital. Despite having serious doubts about their recommendations, I reluctantly agreed to book an elective caesarean, and against their advice I chose the day before I was due, in order to give me as much time as possible for things to happen naturally. I declined their recommendation for stretch and sweeps from 38 weeks as I felt my body would go into labour when it was ready and I was concerned that as with Edwin, I may have another hind water leak which would result in another caesarean.
The moment I agreed a date for the elective caesarean my heart sank and I knew it was the wrong decision. So immediately I began doing more research and started exploring the possibility of employing independent midwifes. I also arranged to see the consultant of midwifery at my local hospital to see if they could offer me the home birth I desired. She was very supportive of my desire for a natural home birth but in my hospital notes highlighted uterine rupture and strongly advised I had a managed hospital birth with continuous foetal monitoring, which I knew would almost certainly result in another caesarean. Meanwhile I had already spoken to several unsuitable independent midwifes, and then had the good fortune to contact Jacqui from the London Birth Practice. I found her incredibly easy to talk to, was very impressed by her experience of vaginal birth after caesarean and instantly had a gut feeling that she was what I was looking for in a midwife. Not long after, Dave and I had a consultation with Jacqui and Elke, and we were in no doubt that their warm, supportive attitude would give us the best chance of a natural delivery. So, without wanting to waste any further time, I booked with Jacqui at 37 weeks and spent the next month or so having relaxed antenatal visits from Jacqui, Sandesh and Elke.
From my due date (31st July) I found that my Braxton Hicks contractions were becoming much more intense and for the next week or so they were coming much more frequently but were somewhat sporadic. At 12 days overdue I started having contractions all day and they continued through the night, spaced about 20 minutes apart. The following day they remained constant and by 9pm I had my TENS machine on as they were coming every 3 minutes and were much more intense. That night, I tried to get some sleep but found the contractions too painful, so at 12am sat on my birth ball in the living room and tried to breathe through the pain. I woke Dave shortly afterwards and we eventually decided to call Jacqui, as they became too painful and I felt I needed some extra support to deal with them. At around 2am Jacqui arrived and I immediately felt a huge sense of relief as they both helped me cope with each contraction. As they built in intensity, I grabbed hold of Dave or Jacqui and found physical contact and my slow breathing helped me cope with the increasing pain. At about 4am I tried out the birth pool and really enjoyed being in the water but found that my increasingly intense contractions were beginning to space out. I decided to return to my birth ball after an hour and half in the water as I felt that gravity may help labour to progress more quickly. At 7am, a friend came to collect Seren and Edwin and I really began to feel the baby move down, within my cervix. Shortly afterwards Elke arrived, to relieve Jacqui who got some much needed sleep. By about 9am my contractions had slowed somewhat, despite homeopathic remedies and energetic stair climbing. Elke cleverly recommended we try to rest, so after a brief nap on the sofa, Dave and I went off to bed for a lie down. I managed to rest for a short while and then had some rather painful contractions which were made much worse from lying down. At 11:30am I decided to decamp to the children's small bedroom and drew the curtains to make the room dark and private. I leant over Edwin's toddler bed and started to withdraw within myself, whilst holding onto Dave for support. Immediately my contractions came on with great speed and intensity and I only just managed to cling onto Dave to cope with the excruciating pain. Jacqui regularly monitored the baby and within one hour I began to feel pain in my lower back and had an overwhelming desire to go to the toilet. I then moved to the toilet, had a show and started to have several pushing contractions. By 12:45pm I was back in the birth pool as I decided I would rather deliver my baby there, than on the toilet! I leant over the side of the pool, holding onto an incredibly supportive partner and used a cold flannel to refresh me between contractions. I was able to feel exactly were the baby was but at 1:30pm felt desperate as I didn't know how long I could continue. After asking, I was then rather relieved to hear that I was in the pushing stage and had already reached full dilation and transition. At 2pm I put my hand down and first felt the amniotic sac and then after a few more contractions, felt the baby's head. This helped me enormously as it made me realise that I didn't have long to go. Pretty soon the baby's head was delivered and at 2:13pm the rest of the body was eased out by Jacqui. I was then amazed as my baby's little body was propelled through the water and I quickly lifted him up to my chest, were he remained quietly looking around, at peace in his new surroundings. "I've done it" were my first words and Dave and I were overjoyed that we had managed to deliver our baby boy naturally, with only a TENS machine for pain relief! Shortly afterwards he latched on for his first feed and Dave was helped to cut his cord, whilst we remained comfortably sat in the water together. Elke made celebratory tea and by 4pm Celyn and I were snuggled up in our warm bed together as Jacqui and Elke said their goodbyes. Celyn Robert was born at 2:13pm, on 14th August, 2 weeks late, weighing 9lb 4oz, just like his brother Edwin.
I am eternally grateful to the London Birth Practice as they enabled me to have an incredible natural birth which I thought would never be possible, after two previous caesareans. Jacqui and Elke never focused on the negatives and yet the risks were acknowledged, resulting in a labour filled with calmness and warm confidence. People have been amazed when I tell them what we achieved that day and I know that we have Jacqui and Elke to thank for our incredible story.
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