Birth Stories
Chloe & Pia
Pia was born at home on 16 September 2006. Contractions started at 2am, although I was uncomfortable the night before so it might have started earlier, but I just thought it was the usual difficulty getting comfy late in pregnancy. We went to eat with my brother and his girlfriend and they fed us loads, which was just as well as I couldn't keep anything down once labour started (midwives kept making me drink honey and water to keep my energy up). I circled on all fours in bed and then got up, my husband got everything ready apart from the pool as we were having a home birth. We went back to bed until about 5, when I got up as the contractions were getting too strong to sleep. I used the yoga ball and from then on I wasn't really thinking with my conscious brain, more with my physical brain.
Andrew (my husband) tells me I made sense in between contractions but I don't remember what I said. At 7am, when contractions were 3 minutes apart we called the midwives at the Brierley, but I could still speak so they said to call back if I was happy to manage at home. Things got gradually more intense and at 9am my waters broke, we called the midwives and what felt right was leaning on the kitchen work surface and circling my hips. I was visualising 'opening' as a word which I'd not prepared at all, but it seemed to work as when the midwife arrived at 9.30 I was fully dilated and ready to push. She had to examine me and I really didn't want to be on my back (as I was in transition so was saying 'I can't do it') so we lay me on my side and Andrew supported my leg, which was much more comfortable. Then I waited for the pool water to be ready using all fours to push, which felt a strong position. In the pool things slowed down so although it was lovely I ended up getting out for the birth itself. By this time we had two midwives (in fact as soon as she arrived the first midwife called the other, so I realised things were going quite quickly) and one thought I shouldn't squat but the first one said 'she's done loads of yoga, it's fine'! I got out of the pool, leant against the wall and with two pushes Pia was born at 12.17pm. All in all, it took 5 hours of labour but 10 from the time I woke up with early pre-labour.
I got really grumpy in third stage as it was the first time I could feel anything and the placenta felt really heavy and odd. It ended up coming out in the loo as that felt most comfy.
I didn't really talk to Pia during the birth except to say 'we can do it' in the pool. The biggest surprise for me was that the baby goes back up between pushes, like a plunger. Pushing right through the contraction worked well but you have to be quite strong to do that, I got about 4 pushes in the longest ones. I'm really glad I practiced yoga because if I'd not been strong I think I would have found labour more tiring. Of course, having a shortish labour was probably the most important thing.
I still use some of the exercises to relax when trying to sleep while Pia sleeps.
Mary & Finn
Finn was born on 8th July ’06 at Kings. I don't know if you remember, but I had been unsure about attending yoga that week because I had lower back pains and it was the day before my due date. You showed us how to massage the lower back and I showed my husband as soon as I got home. He did it during my labour and it was lovely!!
So from the beginning...
I had a birth plan saying I wanted as natural a birth as possible, no drugs, no intervention, no episiotomy, no injection to deliver the placenta, but we had to ignore it in the end. My contractions started on the Friday morning at about 9 and were 4 minutes apart pretty much straight away. I did my breathing and wiggling for most of the day. I went to hospital that evening at 7, just wanting a bath!! We don't have one at home and they let me use their big one at Kings!! They had a problem in that 3 midwives didn't turn up that night and they were really busy. They already knew that lots of babies were due that week, but the weather had changed suddenly after a real heatwave and lots of women went into labour!! So there was nobody to look after me, but then later they examined me and I was only 1.5cm dilated at 11 that night, so I decided to have pethidine and go on the antenatal ward so I could get some sleep and dilate. Contractions are really exhausting and also they made me feel nauseous so I hadn't really eaten much. I managed 4 hours of sleep and was 5cm dilated when I woke up, so was allowed back onto the labour ward, this time with plenty of midwives on duty!
I had a student midwife with me most of the time. They kept commenting that they didn't believe I was in labour as I didn't make any noise at all. Just lots of breathing and wiggling!
I didn't get dilated enough to start pushing until about 4 in the afternoon on the Saturday when they had to break my waters. I was really exhausted by then and had not eaten for 24 hours apart from lucozade tablets. I had a bit of gas and air, but it didn't really do anything, so I didn't use it in the end. Nothing was happening and the doctor kept popping in to check my progress. She put me on a drip to make my contractions stronger so I could push, but said that if nothing had happened by 6.30 then she would have to help. At 6.30 on the dot I managed to push Finn's head into sight, but it was not enough to stop the doctor from intervening. She had a look and realized that Finn's hand was coming out as well, but managed to push it back in! This was the first time I made any noise at all - I said Oooh! I had to sit upright on the bed with my knees up by my ears and my feet on little ledges, my tummy was monitored, I had to have an episiotomy and Finn was delivered by ventouse because his head was at a funny angle. It was all quite stressful at that point as it happened very quickly.
When they were getting me ready for the delivery, I was still having contractions and naturally I was pushing, because that's what I'd been dong for the past couple of hours. They told me I wasn't allowed to push and I said 'well what am I supposed to do?". I panicked and my husband was there saying 'blow out candles' - my briefing a few days before had worked! That really helped during the contractions - I think I had three while they were getting me ready. But then they said 'don't starve your baby of oxygen' so I thought back to yoga class and the deep breathing we did that you described as giving your baby sweets, and did that in between contractions. Then as soon as I was ready everyone shouted 'push' and out came Finn.
I truly believe I didn't know the full meaning of the word 'push' until that day. My goodness! Anyway, you soon forget about the actual sensations of labour and birth, but I still can't believe that Finn came out from inside me, through that small place!! I felt so achy and sore afterwards, but immensely proud. It is undoubtedly the hardest thing I have had to do. It was quite horrible really and something I will never really get my head round. But it is so worth it and I will be doing it again. I just hope I have time to come to yoga classes again next time. It was a wonderful time to relax and bond with my unborn baby.
Marie - Louise & Clara
I hope you will be able to meet Clara soon but in the mean time we have uploaded a million photos to a
website so that the Brazillian family can watch her grow. Her first week has been very eventful , here is
the link below.
Thank you so much for all you taught me during my pregnancy. I entered my birthing space physicaly and mental powerful knowing that with good breathing and relaxation I could let my body do what it had been primed for. I gave birth completely naturaly 11 hours after my waters broke without any drug intervention and just a little external tear which did not meed stiches (they had wanted to induce me as my waters had broken and I had strep B but I refused) The stay in hospital was the only blip in a wonderful experience.Thank you again from the whole family!
Send a big kiss to all at yoga tell them from me that breathing REALLY REALLY REALLY works (I did the 4 deep breaths that we do to relax in yoga starting with the face, kneck spine then lower tummy) through every single contraction until they were very very active then I used ahhh breaths and sssss breaths right at the end. Also blowing out the candles realy works for the dont push moment, I was quite worried about this! Also my husband held my weight supporting my forehead like we did in the kneck massage (some times he massaged my kneck but it wasnt necessary) it was just great when the contractions were 3 mins apart for 1 min to start the contraction with his hand there to remember to start breathing there.Oh and also I stood up and rocked circled my hips for the whole labour except for a brief visit to the pool. Baby was prosterior so I had a lot of lower back ache which the pool helped relief ( it was not easy to breath out the back pain so the warmth worked).
A million thank yous and I can't wait until baby yoga
Love,
Marie - Louise & Clara
Suzannah Fletcher - March 2005
Jack Rafferty - born 23.8.02
Louis Finn - born 15.6.04
I got pregnant the first time on a road trip from Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon. It wasn’t thought out; I had been saying for a couple of months that I would like to have a baby but we hadn’t thought about any of the practicalities of having a baby.
To prepare myself for labour I read a pregnancy book, kept fit by walking to work and attended the usual ante-natal classes. I booked into a hospital that had birthing pools and interviewed obstetricians until I found one who was encouraging on natural births.
I went into labour naturally at 12am on a Wednesday night. At 2pm the next day our best friends drove us to the hospital. When we arrived I was only 4cm dilated and I felt like I was in agony. The midwife told me to keep walking around but as it kept going on and on, I started asking for an epidural. At 9pm, and at 6cm dilated, I had an epidural. It was like going from hell to a cocktail party.
Throughout the night I slept a little with my husband curled up on the floor next to me. At 1am my son’s heartbeat weakened and my obstetrician said that we may need to consider having a cesarean. (Jack was in a posterior position and he was still high in my pelvis - he had not “engaged” during the last stage of my pregnancy but I’d hoped he would as labour progressed.)
We were both shocked. We asked the obstetrician for more time and a fantastic midwife stayed with us to monitor Jack’s heartbeat. At about 4 am we had another scare but again we asked for more time. At 7am the following morning, I was finally 10 cm dilated but I was exhausted. My son was born by cesarean an hour and a half later, weighing 8.5 pounds. In the photos immediately after Jack’s birth I look tired and drugged. I slept for the first 8 hours of his life. After the operation, I had abdominal pain for 6 months and tried to block out how traumatic the birth was.
A year later when I became pregnant again, I was determined not to have another cesarean. I read every book I could get my hands on about vaginal births after cesareans (vbacs), spoke to my obstetrician at length about the reasons for my first cesarean (failure to progress, complications arising from foetal positioning, pelvic disproportion) and started doing internet research. A new friend of mine (a fellow mother) sent me the website for birthlight yoga instructors, and sent me links of other websites about homebirths and independant midwives.
I decided that my best chance of having a natural birth was to have a home birth. Surprisingly, my obstetrician agreed with me and we discussed the possibility that the transfer to hospital may have interupted the natural progresson of my labour. I also believed that I would be better able to handle the sensations of labour if I was in my own environment, and instinctively knew that it would be easier with midwives that I already had an established relationship with.
Having a home birth was not an easy decision for me. I am from a medical family and both of my parents believe that babies should be born in hospitals. Just days before Louis was born my father told me forcefully that I was risking my unborn son’s life. I understood his fears. However, I had thought out my birth plan carefully and discussed the possible risks with my obstetrician and midwifes. I also believed that having 2 midwives constantly monitoring me (who knew me well and could tell by my behaviour how labour was progressing) was better for me than being in hospital.
I started yoga classes with a birthlight instructor, Kirsteen, when I was 20 weeks pregnant. I had never done yoga before, and at first it was hard to laughing at my attempts to do some of the postures. Kirsteen is an amazing person and she has a fantastic sense of humour. For someone who had always thought yoga was for hippies, Kirsteen explained all the postures and taught me how to relax and breath deeply. Later on, when I was in labour, this and another technique, hypnobirthing, were the most important things I ever learnt.
I went into labour naturally the day after Louis’s due date. I was extremely careful about foetal positioning from 32 weeks - I religiously followed the advice from various websites and Louis was only slightly posterior during the last week of my pregnancy. (I found swimming breathstroke and sitting forward the most helpful however annoying it was!) Like my previous pregnancy, Louis did not engage and was still very high in my pelvis.
That first night was really difficult. Louis was rotating down in my pelvis and pushing against my lower back. This was the strongest part of my entire labour. I couldn’t get comfortable and I roamed all over our house breathing deeply and using the yoga postures.
My husband (Taff) put his “action” clothes on and eventually at about 4am I slept a little in the birthing pool. The contractions pettered out to 1 every 10 minutes and we waited until the midwives came at 7am to see how I was doing. I was running low on energy and knew I needed more sleep but couldn’t lie down because the contractions were so much more difficult to deal with. Taff and I had done a hynobirthing course when I was 34 weeks pregnant and had been given a CD with a guided meditation on it (I’m not sure if this is the right terms for this!). I used the CD during the second day to fall asleep and managed to get 4 hours sleep, which was a huge relief.
The contractions picked up again in the evening and by about 11pm I woke my husband (who had given up hope of seeing a baby anytime soon). He called Annie, my midwife, who came over and discovered that I was 10cm dilated (I can still remember vividly the feeling of relief).
I stayed in the birthing pool while Annie and Theresa (the second midwife) layed out their equipment and chatted with Taffy. I remember watching them and feeling very happy - we were all in our kitchen where we spent alot of our time, the lights were dimmed and I didn’t feel scared or alone. I let the stronger contractions wash over me, concentrating on staying calm and breathing deeply through them, even managing to crack a few jokes in between. Although I was making some progress, Louis was still high and despite being smaller than Jack he did not seem to be having an easy time coming out. By 5am Annie was getting worried and we decided that I should transfer to hospital.
We met my obstetrician at the hospital and after double checking that Louis was fine, he suggested that I have a mild epidural to give me a break for half an hour and then try to push Louis out. This was totally different to my first experience - I was still very much in control and after half an hour I tried to push Louis out using deep squats with my husband and a midwife for balance. I had my own cheer squad at this point. After an hour or so I wasn’t making enough progress and I had to transfer to the operating theatre.
My obstetrician was holding my hand explaining that he would do his best to use a ventouse to assist Louis but it was 50/50. I felt tears in my eyes and my husband squeezed my other hand tighter (in the end he didn't let go until Louis was born). It was difficult to feel what was happening because the epidural dose was much higher in theatre but not too much later my husband said excitedly “He’s coming out!” and I reached down and felt my little Louis’s head appearing. I cannot explain that feeling, but the labour and all my preparation all became worth it in that moment. My husband said I was on a high for days afterward.
Now when I think about Jack and Louis’s births, I just feel happy and I don’t remember the negative feelings I had before. I have also learnt something incredibly important about myself - I am a strong person and I am incredibly proud of what I achieved. The preparation and the labour has also brought my husband and I incredibly close together. My birthplan didn’t go exactly how I originally wanted it too but I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.
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