#3: Beth’s calm, positive & empowering induction…
Induced labours can be just as positive, calm and enjoyable as spontaneous ones; Beth’s inspiring birth story explores just how powerful and enjoyable a birth supported by process of induction can be.
Trigger warnings: please note that this birth story pregnancy sickness & induction procedures.
Before we get to birth, let’s start at the beginning. How was your pregnancy?
The first 12 weeks were tough! I hate feeling sick (who doesn’t?!) I wasn’t actually sick, just nauseous which was grim and keeping it to myself at work was really tough.
The last few weeks when I was past due date were also really difficult for me mentally, I was feeling really uncomfortable and frustrated and I had a bit of pelvic girdle pain around the end of 2nd trimester but other than that I was lucky enough to have a smooth pregnancy.
Feeling and watching baby moving, especially when I spoke to her, was my absolute favourite thing!
And, before the event, how did you feel about giving birth?
I was honestly excited for the birth! I had done a hypnobirthing course, some pregnancy yoga sessions and I followed some positive birthing pages on social media so I felt prepared and calm about it.
Did you know… how you feel about labour and birth as you approach the big day can have a huge impact on your labour. Feeling positive and excited can help to produce nature’s pain-managing endorphins and contraction-supporting oxytocin, while the hormones associated with fear and stress (adrenaline and cortisol) actually restrict these from being produced.
Then the big day arrives. How did it feel when you realised your baby was on their way earthside?
I was more excited that nervous!!
I had my bag of snacks ready and I was so ready to meet my baby!
So, how was your birth experience?
I went in for an induction on Saturday 29th May at 41 + 3 weeks pregnant. I was being induced because I was having quite bad Braxton Hicks contractions which meant I couldn’t feel baby movements as usual which was causing me to feel anxious.
I had had an attempted stretch and sweep* on the previous Tuesday but it was not possible because my cervix was not yet dilated at all so I was concerned that the induction by pessary wasn’t going to work.
I arrived at the hospital at 1pm and had all of my checks, they were happy with baby’s movements and my internal examination showed my cervix was now 2-3cm dilated (I think possibly because I had done a lot of walking over the previous few days to try and help things along). At 2pm I had a pessary put in and encouraged to keep moving and bouncing on a pregnancy ball. My husband, Aaron, was also allowed to join me on the ward for visiting hours between 2 and 5 which I was really grateful for! Aaron and I took advantage of the beautiful weather outside and went for a walk around the hospital grounds. By 5pm I was having a few very minor and irregular contractions, which at the time just felt like period cramps, so I decided to put on my TENS machine in preparation.
Aaron then had to leave so I settled in to watching some tv on my iPad (Taskmaster - kept me laughing all evening) while moving between bouncing on the pregnancy ball and relaxing on the hospital bed (and eating a sausage and beans dinner!). Aaron came back for another walk around the hospital grounds at around 8:30pm, where we were treated to the most beautiful sunset! By 11pm my surges had become more defined and regularly 3 every 10 minutes but the pain was still very manageable with the ‘boost’ button on the TENS machine and hypnobirthing breathing through each surge.
I tried to split my time between moving as much as I could and conserving my energy with relaxing. I tried, unsuccessfully, to get some sleep but I felt rested. By 3am I found the surges were getting much stronger to the point of not being able to breath through them quietly - the poor other women in the ward!! The midwife on the ward gave me an examination and said that I was 4cm dilated and able to go up to the birthing suite by about 4am (I was so glad I was allowed to go to the birthing suite, being induced is usually an indicator of going to the labour ward but because I was labouring on the pessary, I was a low risk pregnancy, had had a scan at 39 weeks which showed all was healthy and they were happy with baby’s movements, I was lucky enough to be allowed up to the birthing suite!).
Aaron was able to join me at this point which was the most important thing to me, as soon as he was with me the surges felt much more manageable. I was still using the TENS machine at this point and finding it really brilliant at helping me managing the surges along with my breathing. We had a wonderful wonderful midwife with us in the birthing suite called Rachel who stayed with us for the first 4 hours or so and supported me through the surges. The birthing suite had a brilliant bed which was able to be moved around in to different positions to allow me to try different positions to help with my surges, I was also given a lovely head massage by one of the support workers, Nina, which really helped me relax!
After about 2 hours I was 6cm dilated and could be stretched to 8cm with ‘bulging waters’, apparently I was following the textbook trajectory of labour and dilation - I always have been a stickler for rules!! As the surges become stronger I tried some gas an air which initially I hated it but Rachel suggested giving it another go because I might like it - and I’m so glad I did, I loved it! I also moved to sit on the birthing ball at this point with my hands on Aaron’s legs. I found between surges there was no pain at all and Aaron and Rachel kept me laughing, I was loving it, it felt like a really great night with friends! Rachel, unfortunately was due to finish her shift at around 8am but we were lucky enough to have one of her good friends take over, Annie, who was just as lovely and supportive.
Shortly after Annie joined us I requested to move to the birthing pool which Annie fill and added some lovely essential oils, I had to take the TENS machine off obviously but the warmth of the bath helped with the pain relief. By this point things were really starting to heat up and I began to get the ‘I can’t do this’ feeling, I felt a pressure in my bum and my ability to move around was more limited, I was on my knees with my arms over the edge of the bath for most of the rest of my labour. I had heard of the ‘I can’t do this’ feeling a knew it meant we were closing in on the home straight, however I naively thought it meant we were maybe 10 minutes from birth - how wrong I was, we were more like 2 hours from birth and mentally that wasn’t something I was prepared for.
Having really enjoyed labour up to this point, I did really find those last 2 hours tough, I think if I had be mentally prepared for the final stage of labour to be longer I would have been able to manage my comfort more effectively. I was getting to the point where I felt I needed more pain relief than the gas and air was able to provide me with but I was too far gone for Pethadine and it turned out I was also too far gone for an epidural because I couldn’t even get myself out of the birthing pool, my body was ready to push! It felt like I needed a huge poo but I didn’t push myself because it felt like it would hurt if I pushed (incidentally I’m very glad I trusted my instincts and my body here because I ended up with no grazes or tears at all!), I tried to listen to the midwives instructions on how to breath and when to push, my body ended up pushing involuntarily so I went with what my body was needing, and my vocalisations were also totally out of my control by this point!
As I was crowning I got cramp in my thigh and the midwife tried to massage it away for me but suggested changing positions would be the best thing to help with the cramp so I changed from being on my knees and hanging over the edge of the bath to leaning with my back against the bath. I then had another push and my baby’s head was birthed, this part was very surreal because I had a break in the surges when her head was already birthed so I was sat in the bath, feeling no pain, with my baby sticking out of me! I think I had maybe 2 more pushes at this point for my baby to finally arrive.
Baby was put straight in my arms and it was the most incredible and overwhelming feeling that I often try to relive in my head.
My husband then told me that she was a baby girl, Freya had arrived in the world. The midwives were amazing and one of them grabbed my phone and took a couple of photos and a short video in that first minute, something I will treasure forever. We had some skin on skin in the bath while the chord was left to go white then my husband cut the cord. I had the injection to speed up the birth of the placenta and the intention was to move to the bed to birth the placenta but when I stood up in the bath the midwife said the placenta was really close to being birthed anyway and one small push and it arrived in the bath.
They then helped me to the bed and passed me Freya for some more amazing skin to skin time, it was the most incredible feeling with my new baby girl and I felt like an absolute super hero!
Glossary: a ‘stretch and sweep’ is a procedure performed by a midwife. They gently sweep their fingers across the cervix, and see if they can (again very gently) stretch your cervix. This is to encourage the release of the prostaglandins that are needed to help your cervix efface (thin) and dilate (open) for labour.
Do you remember what you said to your baby when you first met them?
‘Hi baby…’ and ‘I’ve got you!’
Looking back, what was the best part of your birth experience?
Best feeling: holding Freya in my arms for the first time was beyond words, and a feeling I will never ever forget and will forever be grateful to the universe for.
Best location: birthing suit, in the water.
Best company: Aaron and our midwife team.
Best pain relief: tens machine, gas and air and a birthing pool (and a relaxing head massage and Aaron’s silliness keeping me laughing between the surges!)
Best preparation: a hypnobirthing course and packing a great snack bag (I didn’t eat many of the snacks at the hospital but they were an amazing treat to fill up on when we got home!)
And on the flip side, if you could, what would you have changed about the way your baby entered the world?
While I did a hypnobirthing course and found it empowering, I have since found another course I would like to do if I am lucky enough to have another pregnancy.
I would also be more mentally prepared for the final stages of birth the ‘I can’t do this’ feeling can still be a few hours from birth and I wasn’t prepared for that.
Think about it… there are loads of different ways to prepare for birth and baby life; all are really valid and great options, but that doesn’t mean they work for everyone and in every situation. The only way to know what is going to be best for you is to ask yourself what you want to gain from it. Finding an antenatal course that meets that need - be it emotional, practical, informational or anything else in between - is likely to be right for you.
If you could give parents-to-be one piece of advice about preparing for the birth of their baby, what would it be?
Learn about what your body is doing during labour, you can then work with your body, trust it, respect and be proud of how incredibly awesome it is!
Find someone or something that will make you smile/laugh between contractions!
