The Birth of Riley

Written by Lauren.

I am very blessed to have had the empowering birthing experience I had – I was able to remain calm, make decisions that were best for me and baby, and birth my baby with minimal interventions as I had hoped for.

Once I got to my ‘due date’ I still hadn’t gone into labour which was okay as I had the positive mindset that my baby will come to me when he is ready. My midwife talked me through all of the induction process, but I really wanted to have a spontaneous labour if it was safe for us both to do so!

Fast forward 5 days at 06.10am whilst in bed I heard my waters break and started leaking. I remained calm, got myself into the shower and relaxed. At 7.15am I phoned the Bracken birth centre to let them know as I wanted to labour in Bracken. Being my first baby I personally wanted the reassurance being in a hospital but not a labour ward setting.

They asked me to come in to run through some checks which I agreed to but very casually with no expectation of times just when we felt ready, upon arrival my blood pressure was reading a little higher that usual, but I put it down to the nerves of being in hospital and also knowing our baby was on his way! The Bracken midwife contacted willow triage as she said if my blood pressure didn’t come down I’d have to labour on labour ward.

At this stage I reached out to Mollie for some advice as I knew I had some say in my birthing experience. Mollie guided me in carrying on with my Hypnobirthing techniques, going home if possible to be in my safe space and if I felt like it was right, is to ask for them to give me a chance to labour on Bracken as I had no pregnancy complications.

I went over to triage for monitoring for a few hours in which I remained calm and relaxed. My surges started to become more regular, at this point I asked my partner to apply my tens machine so I had a bit of comfort, thankfully my blood pressure came down and was able to go back to Bracken.

Once on Bracken, the midwife said I can stay here in Bracken or go home to be in my own environment and would hopefully bring on my labour more effectively. I went home and had something to eat whilst breathing through every surge on my birth ball with my tens machine still working. (The tens machine was super helpful!)

At 7.30pm I rang Bracken as my surges at this point were every 45 seconds and the intensity of my surges increased and I knew I was in active labour! As soon as I got into Bracken I went onto the comfy mats in my room as the pool didn’t have time to fill up.

My surges were not settling down and at this point I knew I was nearly ready to push! The midwife put the monitor on my belly to track baby’s heartbeat whilst I was staying active on the mats as this felt most comfortable for me than lying on my back. The midwife was a bit concerned with my surge frequency and the timings of them which meant my body wasn’t getting any downtime before the next one. At this stage I knew he was on his way!

The midwife phoned labour ward and wanted the doctors advice, at this stage I went with her advice as they gave my surges a medical name which I cannot recall and most importantly I wanted both of us to be safe. They transferred me into labour room 9 and the doctor came in to do an examination to see where baby was, by this point I had some gas and air to give me a little bit of respite with the surge frequency. He told the midwife that the baby’s head was right there and to push.

I asked Rebecca, the Bracken midwife to stay with me whilst I pushed baby out, she stayed with me throughout my labour and that really helped me stay in the zone as she had the right mentality to match the Hypnobirthing techniques I needed to get me through!

I got myself on all fours, keeping to my breathing in for 4 and out for 8 alongside some gas and air and our little boy Riley James was born at 9.35pm with no complications or tearing for that matter! (Quite possibly what we learnt in Mollies Hyonobirthing course really did help me prepare my body to reduce the risk!)

I am very blessed to have had the empowering birthing experience I had – I was able to remain calm, make decisions that were best for me and baby, and birth my baby with minimal interventions as I had hoped for.

Mollie’s hypnobirthing course gave me the courage to advocate for my birth, and trust in my own body.

Thank you Lauren for allowing me share your birth story!

Like Lauren, if you are looking for a way to feel fully prepared and informed for birth, why not join one of my upcoming Group Birth Preparation courses in Taunton? Find out more here… Hypnobirthing Antenatal Classes in Taunton.

You can read more positive birth stories right here!