Positive Birth Story: Home Birth turned Hospital Birth
Positive Birth Story: Home Birth turned Hospital Birth
This birth story comes from Tess and Alan, who attended a group hypnobirthing course with birth-ed earlier this year.
Planning for a Home Birth
I’m a planner. I always have been. This baby was planned down to the month, and we got pregnant first try. There was no doubt in my mind I wanted a natural, drug free, intervention free, strongly supported home birth. I organised my self a calm, caring, well informed doula named Ruth (and equally lovely backup Laura), my midwife was on board with all my decisions, we did Birth-ed’s hypnobirthing course with Megan, and we had everything ready to go.
Preterm Premature Rupture of Membranes
Well. Babies do that they want! My waters broke Sunday morning 36+1, and medical professionals wanted to induce me. No thanks! I wanted to wait and see if my body would do it by itself, and thanks to our hypnobirthing course I knew I had options and didn’t have to just blindly agree to whatever the healthcare professionals pushed on me.
I went for observations each day at the hospital to make sure baby was fine, started taking antibiotics just incase, and every day was having some periods of regular contractions that were very slowly changing intensity. I was checked with a speculum and told a few times I wasn’t in labour, although what they meant was active labour, I was clearly in a long latent phase. I was also given many different plans on what they wanted me to do, depending on who was on shift at the hospital, which became quite frustrating. During this time I was constantly in touch with Ruth just going over my decisions and making sure I was advocating for myself as best as I could.
Tuesday night was particularly hard, the contractions changed position, and the worry about infection was taking over my mind. When we went in for that days observations I asked to start induction, while still really not wanting the artificial hormones.
Planning for an induction
Went in and got examined, and was 3cm so I didn’t need the gel to soften my cervix. I went to the next stage which would have been i.v hormones to kick start active labour, and while having baby get routine monitoring first I suddenly had some contractions, so asked if I could have a bit more time, thinking they would give me an hour or so. The doctors seemed happy with my contractions so suggested 4-6hrs! I was happy with that. I went for a walk, with the contractions getting dramatically stronger and stronger, and agreed that Ruth could come up to the hospital (not thinking there would be much to do for a while, but my husband could use some support helping me with the pain). I couldn’t sit, and could feel so much pressure and within an hour (or maybe less) all of a sudden I had a ridiculous urge to PUSH, so called the midwife. She was obviously surprised and suggested she check me first, and oh, yes! There’s a head there, go on!
A very fast labour
I think it was about 5/6 contractions using gas and air as something to focus on, to get out the head and out came my baby! A whirlwind of speed! 36+4 and 5lb 13, but so squishy and sweet. Ruth was arriving up the stairs as I gave birth- there was just no time!
I’m so glad I didn’t follow what the doctors wanted, it worked out for me that I knew my body just needed some extra time to feel everything. I was informed, I questioned, I didn’t accept generic advice. What a wild ride, getting exactly what I wanted but with the exact opposite route I wanted to take.