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15 Nov 2022
Our positive unplanned caesarean birth!
I attended Anna’s hypnobirthing course to put my anxieties at ease around labour. Needless to say my birth story was so far away from my birthing dreams. Anna’s course helped me and my partner to implement Iots of useful strategies. We felt knowledgeable on what our options were in different scenarios.
I hoped our baby boy wouldn’t be late but at 41 weeks there was no signs at all and I was offered my first sweep. I used the BRAIN tool which helped me decide this was right for me. By 41+8 days and 2 sweeps later I was only 1-2 cm dilated. Feeling very disheartened I was offered an induction, this made me feel very nervous but I was able to remain positive.
I gave myself a set period of time not to think about the induction so not to dwell on it. When the time came I read up on positive birth by induction stories, and then used the BRAIN tool to make my decision. I decided to go for the induction as by this point I was feeling very tired and quite eager for arrival of our baby. On 13th November I started my induction which was successful.
I opted for the non hormonal method of rods to be inserted rather than the pessary as I wanted to remain at home for as long as possible. During the night I started to feel uncomfortable a bit like period pain. By the morning my contractions were about 10 minutes apart. We drove back to the hospital to have the rods removed and by 11am I was 3cm dilated. I was told that I was now waiting for a bed on labour ward for my waters to be broken. Understanding the process I knew this wasn’t something I wanted as I didn’t want to increase my chances of intervention should my labour not progress fast enough. I also wanted a water birth and I knew this would be less likely to happen if I went down this route.
While I was waiting I lost my mucus plug, my contractions were around 3-5 minutes a part. I was accessing all my relaxing strategies but was feeling discomfort. I used my BRAIN to decide that pethidine was a good option for me and it worked really well giving me some much needed respite. As it happened I was waiting a long time for a bed and to my contractions became closer together and when I was re-assessed I was 5cm dilated and was able to go to the birthing centre.
The birthing centre was amazing I was thinking wow I’m so glad I made it here. I had gas and air and was able to use the pool. I was re-assessed at midnight and was told I was 8cm dilated. My labour was not progressing very fast and unfortunately my midwife also misjudged how dilated I was as part of my cervix had not come away. As a consequence I was told I was further along than I was and was told to start pushing earlier than I should (always listen to your body because this is what prompted them to reassess me). This was obviously very upsetting for me to hear but I knew I could not let this cloud my mindset and I needed to stay in the zone.
By 6am I went down to the delivery suite and was offered the hormonal drip or a c section. I was in a lot of discomfort now and my body was exhausted I remember thinking 3 hours ago that I had reached my threshold so the c section seemed the right choice for me. I didn’t feel scared about going into theatre. Hypnobirthing changed my attitude to feel excited that delivery was so close and we would be meeting our little one very soon. All the way through I used my positive affirmations and played my happy place playlist to keep me powering through. Andy had a list of things he had been well prepped to help keep me calm.
On the 15th November 2022 at 10:33 our baby Luke was born he was very content and his big eyes looking all around the room. It wasn’t exactly the birth I had hoped for but I am just so grateful that he arrived safely and we are all healthy and this was my ultimate goal for welcoming him into the world. Even though the experience was far from what I had imagined I look back on it and feel so proud and positive, a truly magical moment. Thank you Anna.
Emily and Andy - Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham