"My birth story"

At 33 weeks pregnant, I took part in the online Positive Birth Program through Bunbury Hospital. Tiff was a fantastic facilitator and the program prepared me so thoroughly for the birth of my second child. After using hypnobirthing for my first birth, the program provided an excellent refresher and got my head in the game again. I recommend it for anyone looking at preparing for an informed and empowered labour and birth. Here is my birth story:

As I ticked over the 41 weeks pregnant mark, I was feeling well and truly ready to welcome my second daughter into the world. The midwives had booked me in for induction the following day and I wasn't crazy about the idea. I'd heard mixed things about induction (mostly negative), and I was worried that my plan for a natural, unmedicated birth wouldn't go as planned if I was to be induced.

So, that day I tried every way I'd heard of to induce labour: pineapple, dates, clary sage, acupressure, raspberry leaf tea, nipple stimulation, a long walk, spicy food, sex.

That afternoon I lost my mucus plug and noticed a bit of blood. I was due to go in to hospital later that afternoon so that they could administer the gel for induction the following day, so the midwives told me to come in a little earlier to check that everything was okay.

Upon arrival, the midwife placed me on the CTG machine which confirmed that I was having regular light surges. They checked my cervix which was already 2cm dilated. This was around the afternoon. I was so happy that I had gone into spontaneous labour and didn’t need to be induced. They sent me home about an hour later to labour in comfort. At this stage, my surges were comparable to light period pain.

As the surges slowly started to increase, I used the breathing techniques that I had learned in the positive birth program and combined what I had read in Juju Sundin’s Birth Skills book. I remember the facilitator referring to the toilet as the ‘dilation station' so spent a lot of my time here. In between surges, I crocheted my daughter a hat, had a cup of tea and ate my dinner. Through the more intense surges, I used stress balls to distract myself while rolling on the birth ball. I tried the TENS machine but it wasn’t for me. I diffused clary sage, kept the lights dim with red lights and battery-operated candles which I found very calming. I tried to picture my cervix opening and dilating, and repeating my affirmations to myself ‘I am strong!’ ‘No surge is bigger than me'. I had my earphones in listening to my birth music. I listened to alpha waves to help me focus and concentrate, which is what worked in my first birth too.

The surges continued but were very sporadic and irregular. One would come and last for 60 seconds then the next would be 30 seconds. They could be 10 minutes apart and then 2 minutes apart.  I decided to lie down on the bed and try to get some shut eye. My husband was already fast asleep next to me.

About 5 minutes later, I awoke with one almighty surge. I knew from the birth of my first child that this was it! I woke my husband, told him to grab my bags as we had to get to the hospital. He rang the maternity ward a few minutes after to let them know we were coming in.

Living in Karratha, the hospital is luckily only 5 minutes away, as things were ramping up fast. We arrived at the maternity ward not long after. I was offered a wheelchair to get to the birth suite but declined as I wanted to remain upright to move my baby down. My surges were very regular now and coming every couple of minutes. During this, I held onto my husband around the neck, used him for support and breathed through each surge.

As we entered the birth suite, the midwives quickly checked my details and then checked the baby's position. She was posterior and I was told that they could administer water injections if my back pain got too much. At this point, I was still using breathing techniques and birth skills and found this to be sufficient. My husband set up the diffusers with clary sage and turned on the red lights. I continued to listen to my birth music and knew that my daughter wasn’t far away from being born.

The midwives didn’t have chance to check my cervix as my body was soon telling me to push. I was assisted onto the bed. I knelt on the bed and rested my arms over the top. As each surge came, I would bear down and vocalize. I used sound to block out the pain combined with the breathing techniques learned in the positive birth program. I pictured a coffee plunger pushing down, pushing my baby down and out. One of the midwives told me when to hold and when to gently push. She coached me by telling me to blow out the candles and breathe my baby out. Just a few pushes later and my daughter was born. I picked her straight up from the bed and held her tightly. Our beautiful, healthy baby girl was born just after midnight.

Shortly afterwards, I birthed my placenta and my husband cut the cord. I required no stitches and was able to go home just a few hours later. The positive birth program prepared me so well for the birth of both my daughters. I would highly recommend it to anyone wanting to prepare for a positive labour and birth.