"Caesarean section at Albany"

We attended the in-person Positive Birth Program in Albany at 36 and 37 weeks. It was really informative and gave us lots of tools ready for my ideal "normal" birth. At 38 weeks I had my routine check up and discovered I had developed high blood pressure and had protein markers to indicate pre-eclampsia. Nothing had been out of the ordinary my entire pregnancy, this was a sudden change and we needed to adapt. I was really lucky throughout my pregnancy and had expected baby would be on time or late, certainly not early!

Coming up to the birth we were told the best plan was to attempt induction and get baby out ASAP in case my symptoms got worse or began to distress baby. Although this came as a shock and not what we'd hoped for we went along with medical advice and got admitted to start the ball rolling. Induction via Cervadil ribbon didn't really do anything and 24hours after we started I had experienced mild contractions but no real change in my cervix. Baby was still quite high and balloon catheter induction was offered but also carried a chance of pushing baby further up and increased chance of cord prolapse. The Doctors and Midwives were great and kept checking on me and baby the whole time. Although labour wasn't progressing my symptoms also weren't getting worse and I was given options with the choice to continue to monitor over the next few days or go ahead and progress to Caesarean. I had previously considered Caesarean as a last resort only, however the information and advice seemed to point towards this being the sensible choice, and potentially the inevitable one even with waiting a few more days. so we decided to go ahead.

Surgery went perfectly, once the anaesthetic was working and i was set up ready my partner was beside me the whole surgery. The room full of staff were excellent, explaining to me what would happen and checking on me all the time. I was nervous but so excited to meet baby - we had decided not to find out gender so everyone in the room was waiting to find out with us which added to the positive atmosphere.

As soon as baby was out they held him up for us to see - it's a boy! My partner was able to cut the cord after delayed cord clamping. Baby was wrapped and put on my chest for immediate skin on skin. While they were closing up my partner had cuddles as i watched. Baby was never out of out of my sight after first contact. Recovery was great the midwife helped me establish breastfeeding within the first hour of birth and I was back on the ward for visitors (at my request) within a couple of hours so the grandparents could meet their grandson.

I was truly blown away by the experience. it wasn't what we had planned for but was better than expected and in the end we had this amazing reward. The staff were excellent, we felt fully informed and involved with every step. Nothing was rushed or panicked and actually if we decide to have baby number 2 I would consider elective caesarean because of this positive experience. My previous misconception of caesarean included negative birth stories from friends and I was happily surprised as the Country Hospital experience really felt personalised and caring and not once did it feel like just another operation or procedure. Thank you to Albany Maternity team we had a great birth and are so so smitten with our little boy!