"My birth"

I met with the head of obstetrics late in pregnancy, and had a non-standard management plan signed, stating I could have a waterbirth despite the recommendations. I was aware of the risks and benefits and consented to this. I was so thrilled Lauren was open to and willing to make this option available to me in Busselton. I had had 2 previous uncomplicated vaginal births and one caesarean for breech.

I came into hospital after labouring at home and progressing quite quickly as it was my fourth birth. When I arrived I was ready to push and my husband started running the bath as this was the plan. The midwife seemed quite stressed and started asking irrelevant questions instead of adapting to and reading the situation at hand. They also started telling me all the risks of being in the water, while I was in the middle of pushing, which I had already consented to. The midwife asked me to hop out of the bath several times which I declined as was the previous arrangement. I felt that they weren't able to move past the fact that I was declining standard care and provide me with care to the best of their ability in the situation.

My relative was coming up to help but they were kept in the waiting room so that my husband had to go fetch them. When he was gone the babies head was born. The midwife was not next to me when I birthed the head and was very distracted up to this point. At which point the midwife demanded I get out of the bath and pushed the emergency button. As far as I was aware, nothing was wrong. I was a women giving birth and there was no need for the alarm. My husband and relative returned just in time for the birth of our baby. Baby was born in good condition, breathing and pink, but didn’t cry straight away, calm from the water birth. The midwife was quite stressed by the baby not crying. Myself and baby completely fine. I remained in the bath until I was ready to birth the placenta, which came away with no issues. Once baby was born the midwife was much more at ease.

Given that I had pre-signed a non-standard management plan I feel that my name and details should have been on the running sheet. As far as I was aware, management knew about me but it did feel like it may not have been passed all the way day to the staff on the ground. Having the non-standard plan in place was such a relief for me leading up to birth, and I would love this option to be available for women in the future. But this needs to be something that is clearly documented, as well as handed down to the midwives working on the floor, so that they are aware of any non-standard plans coming up.

I feel that the midwife was not confident and overwhelmed by a busy night in the maternity unit and put out by me refusing standard care. They also seemed stuck on asking irrelevant details for an impending birth, and should have easily been able to get the pertinent information from a quick read through my file. I also feel that they were not fully confident in water births which influenced my level of care. Had I not been a confident multip, this would have thrown my resolve in labour and affected the way I birthed. I feel that all midwives should be trained in water births and how to facilitate things such taking a fetal heart rate in the water, etc.

Overall, I was so thankful for the plan that Lauren was willing to sign for me, and I hope more women can have this option in the future. But I would encourage better communication to staff, and more basic training around waterbirth to increase confidence and preparedness. Birth in water is not an emergency, it is a normal event.