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21 Nov 2020
Our EMPOWERNG vaginal birth after caesarean.
I decided to research Hypnobirthing courses early on since this was my second pregnancy and my first (caesarean) had not been a great experience for me. I found Anna’s course and instantly felt that this was the right one for me since Anna seemed very genuine, realistic and down to earth.
I was 38 weeks pregnant when on Thursday evening I had my show and some mild period pains in my back. I got bouncing on my ball until bedtime and then went to bed as usual. At about 4am I woke up with surging pains in my hips which kept me awake until the morning. I was due to have a growth scan that Friday morning which I attended. Unfortunately it showed some concerns about baby. By this point my surges had stopped so I was offered a sweep and/or an induction either that day or the following week. I wanted to try to let things happen as naturally as possible but was also concerned for baby so decided to have a sweep (something I never thought I’d say yes to). My affirmations, visualisation and breathing techniques helped me get though it and it really wasn’t as bad as I had expected! I went home to see how things developed.
My surges started up again in the afternoon becoming regular and I breathed through them. By late afternoon I told my husband Nicholas that he really needed to stop work now and at around 5pm my waters broke, a sensation that I’d wet myself a little bit, although nothing drastic had actually happened.
I had some food and went to my bedroom with relaxing music, lighting and my birthing ball. I tried to sleep but I couldn’t sleep through the surges. At 4am we rang the hospital since the pain was getting a lot worse, I’d been sick and was having regular contractions and we were told to come in. I consented to an examination to check if my waters had broken because I wasn’t completely sure if they had. I was only 1 cm dilated, but my waters had broken.
Unexpectedly we were allowed to stay since a side room was available, my waters had broken and I was in a lot of pain from pelvic girdle pain (PGP). By Saturday morning my surges were still going but were not getting any more frequent and I was struggling with the pain and exhaustion. At around midday a midwife arranged for me to have a bath. This really helped me relax and Nicholas and I talked over our options. Since my waters had broken a long time ago I was told I could not have a water birth. I was in so much pain from the PGP I was completely ready for another caesarean or an epidural but when we got back to my room after the bath I heard a really loud pop and my hind waters broke.
From then on everything went super quickly. My contractions came really fast one after the other and I was examined and was 4-5cm dilated. This came as such a shock since I didn’t think anything had been going on. Nicholas took the midwives through my birth plan and set up the room with lights and music and encouraged me with affirmations. The pain from the PGP was so intense that I could only be on all fours on the bed. My breathing techniques went completely out the window and I was clinging to the gas and air. Within an hour I was fully dilated and ready to push. The PGP was really preventing me from opening my legs wide so the best position was on my back on the bed. I was concerned since this was the last place and position I wanted to end up in but it was clear I wasn’t going to be able to manage any other way so I did what was best for baby. I was getting really exhausted by this stage and I had to have a drip since baby’s heart rate was increasing.
Finally, Elena was born at 7pm on Saturday without any intervention. I had torn quite badly but it didn’t hurt at all and baby was healthy at 5lb 13oz. What was great was that Nicholas cut the cord, and afterwards we were given as much time as we wanted for Elena to feed skin-to-skin and for all of us to relax before I went to theatre for my stitches.
Although I didn’t get the calm water birth I’d hoped for, using hypnobirthing tools I managed the VBAC with the additional PGP pain and no intervention or additional pain relief other than gas and air. The atmosphere and encouragement really got me through and the sense of achievement and empowerment went a long way to helping me feel positive through the surgery to repair the tear and during my recovery afterwards.
Heather and Nicholas - Droitwich, Worcestershire