Birth story - Hannah and baby Lola

Having had our two boys in 2019 and 2021 (both birth stories published in here) using positive birth company techniques I knew what worked and didn’t work for me and exactly what I wanted for labour but as all things birth related, it didn’t quite go to plan but was still an amazing experience.

Pregnancy was mostly straight forward, had some PGP which was quite bad on some days and having to run around after a one and two year old was quite tricky! It went by very quickly and while I wanted to give birth in our local MLU, due to staffing issues all births in our area were being directed to the main hospital which was really sad especially as the local MLU was 10 minutes away as opposed to 30 minutes away on a good day.

2 days before my due date I woke up in the night and felt very unwell and vomited and again in the morning. As I felt “off” I phoned the midwives to see if I could be seen that day just to be checked over. They had space that morning so I left the boys with my parents and my husband and I went to see the midwife. I put the hospital bag in the car as an after thought but turns out they’d be needed. Once there they took my blood pressure and it was very high which might have explained why I felt funny. They took it again a bit later and it was still high and with a bit of protein in my urine they phoned the hospital who wanted to see me there asap so off we went.

At hospital my blood pressure was still high and they called a dr down to talk to us. She said I wouldn’t be allowed home and that the most likely thing to do would be to keep me on the maternity ward and induce me as they were worried about pre eclampsia. I was upset as being induced was not part of my plan but the dr listened to my concerns and thought that just breaking my water should be enough to get labour started and having already been examined I was already 3cm dilated and given a stretch and sweep.

I had to have further monitoring so was admitted and had my blood pressure checked every 2 hours and CTG monitoring every 6. Baby was happy and my blood pressure was coming down. Overnight my blood pressure continued to be low and stable and my bloods came back that I didn’t have pre eclampsia after all so my blood pressure was a one off. As my blood pressure was stable they decided that they would keep me on the induction list but were happy for me to go home and see if labour starts on its own.

Early Saturday morning after 3 I started to feel contractions and started to time them but they were 6ish minutes apart and manageable but I decided to get out of bed and bounce on my ball. Around 4 they were feeling a bit more intense and slightly more together at around 3/4 minutes apart. I could still manage with breathing and in between contractions I was calm and repacking my hospital bag as I hadn’t had chance to reorganise from my overnight hospital stay the day before.

At 5 Freya told me I was in established labour and they were getting more frequent but as things were happening so quickly, I didn’t believe it and wanted to avoid the long drive to the hospital to only be turned away if I wasn’t far along enough. Only 20 minutes later I felt the need to get to hospital and the contractions were every 2 minutes and getting stronger so my husband contacted my parents to come and look after the boys. By the time my parents got to us around 6 I was getting quite panicky that we wouldn’t make it to hospital in time as I was suddenly not managing to just control the contractions with my breathing, I was starting to make a lot of noise. We hurried in to the car and with my tens machine on and gripping on to a comb we managed the drive very quickly though I kept apologising to my husband for making so much noise, I was also feeling so much pressure in a band at the bottom of my tummy and felt like I was already pushing.

Once at the hospital a midwife met us with a wheelchair and took me straight in. Things all get a bit blurry as contractions were nearly every minute and I was struggling to keep up. I was desperate for some pain relief as they examined me when I arrived (around 6:40) and was 7cm they thought. I agreed to some pethadine but by the time the nurse arrived with it, it was too late and her head was visible. My body took over and she was out in 3 very quick pushes at 7:11am and handed straight to me. I looked to see she was a girl and I was so shocked as I had been convinced she was a boy the whole pregnancy!

A couple in bed holding their newborn baby

We did delayed cord clamping and skin to skin, she latched on and I had the injection for the placenta. I was checked and somehow had no tears, just a slight graze which considering her haste in wanting to meet us was a surprise. I had a bath in the pool they didn’t have time to fill for the labour, and we were on our way home at 10:30 and cuddled up on the sofa introducing the boys to their new sister at 11am. Such a whirlwind and I did lose control in the final stages but I’m still so proud of myself that I had no pain relief and managed at home with my breathing and still managed to breathe her out even though I was making a hell of a racket doing so!

This will most likely be our last baby so Thankyou to PCB for giving me the tools for 3 totally different but equally as amazing births and for informing me of what my body was capable of and that labour and birth was something to get excited about and strangely enjoy!