GentleBirth in the MLU

I was due baby no.3, Friday 18th June in the MLU, OLOL Drogheda.

At 5 days over I had a sweep, the next morn I had a bit of a show, a bit more that evening, but that was it!

I had a bad day on Friday at 7 days over, I was induced on my last baby and wanted to avoid being induced again, I was in terrible humour all day and cried quite a few times, but by the end of the day I told myself to just enjoy the next week, do loads of nice things and what will be will be, crying and being miserable wont help things!

Saturday at 8 days over was a lovely day so we went for a nice relaxing walk. While walking I got a few Braxton Hicks, I hadn’t really had many of during the pregnancy. That evening after the kids went to bed myself and dp sat out the back in the evening sun, while sitting there I felt a few more strong bh's and started to have a bloody show but tried not get excited! That night dp put on a funny movie, and I bounced on my ball while getting more strong bh's. I had a shower before going to bed and slept for about 3 hours before waking up at 2am Sunday morn with quite strong pains coming every 7-8 mins. This was that start of me not being able to lie down and I could barely even sit down! The pain was mainly in my lower back and low in my bump.

I was awake most of the night with the pains, I managed to get a bit of sleep leaning over pillows on the bed in between pains while listening to my Gentlebirth CD. Sunday we took it easy most of the morning while deciding what to do, the pains were coming around every 5-6 mins now but still not too bad so we decided to drop the kids to their nana, come home and relax and see how things went.

When we got home I had a nice bath while listening to my cd, the pains were coming every 4-5 mins but still manageable, I was in and out of the bath a few times and found it a great relief, it was the only place I could sit or lie down! I got dressed and dp went and bought us a curry, it was yummy but I could only eat it while leaning over the couch in between contractions! Things started to move along then and the only place I was comfortable was leaning over the kitchen counters, pains were every 3-4 mins for around an hour, and I really needed to concentrate on my breathing so we decided to head to hospital at around 9.30pm, (when top-gear was over of course!).

The car journey wasn’t the most comfortable but I just relaxed as much as I could, pains still coming every 3-4 mins but as we got closer to the hospital they were coming every 2 mins, I was delighted as I thought once I got in the car they'd slow down but they didn’t so I thought it wouldn’t be long now!

We got into the hospital and met my midwife who wasn’t exactly what I expected. I hadn’t met her at all during my pregnancy and I didn’t find her the friendliest, she was nice, but just not very informative and was a bit hard of hearing I think which didn’t help at all!! There was a care attendant there also who was lovely so that helped! I was examined and was 3cm but contractions slowed right down. We were left alone for a while but I couldn’t relax and started vomiting with contractions. I knew I needed to just calm down so I leant over a sink in the corner, the only place I felt comfortable, I listened to my CD and blanked out everything else. The contractions weren’t long about coming back then and we were back in action! Most of the pains were very manageable but all in my back so the midwife got me a heat pack and put it on my back and it was a great relief, she thought the baby might have been lieing back to back and slowing things down. I got a couple of very strong contractions and could feel baby moving down and around in my pelvis and the pain was all gone from my back which was amazing. I could no longer breathe through the contractions and started making noises instead so I had an idea things were close and I felt a lot of pressure so went into the loo but once I sat down I got a really bad pain and couldn’t get up so I called dp to help me! The midwife came in and asked to examine me so I lay down on a mat on the floor, I was 7cm and my waters broke while she was examining me. She then insisted she examine me while I got the next contraction which was pure torture, I was asking her to stop but she didn’t so dp had to tell her to stop, I dont think she was too happy with that! I then started to panic a bit and the midwife was telling me to push with each contraction which I didn’t want so I had to tell her to stop, I wanted to push when my body was telling me to. I tried to calm myself down again while getting big hugs off dp.

I was repeating all the GentleBirth affirmations in my head while the midwife told me it was a big baby and repeatedly asked me were my other babies big, I don’t know how, but I managed to let her know that it wasn’t the best time to be asking me questions like that! I had been pushing hard for over 30 mins, or more so my body was pushing hard, and I was exhausted and had just about given up, babies head was halfway out and not budging, I felt like I just couldn’t get him out any further. It was agreed that Id need an episiotomy which I didn’t mind at that stage and even after getting the episiotomy I had to give a few big pushes to get the head out and again I needed a big push to get the shoulders out. At last, at 2.40am on Monday 28th June, my baby boy was handed to me screaming his little head off! When I opened my eyes there were 3 other midwives standing there, they had been called in to help, I didn’t even notice they were there until then! I asked to leave the cord to pulse which was no problem. About 10 mins later the midwife felt the cord and told me it was ready to be cut but I didn’t believe her (I didn’t really trust her!) so I asked to wait until the placenta delivered which it did about 5 mins later, then the cord was clamped and daddy cut it. At last, I had a completely drug free birth, with the exception of the local anaesthetic for the stitches!

My new baby had his first feed soon after and wanted to feed and feed and feed! He was a hungry boy! We weighed him soon after and he weighed 9lb 6.5oz, much bigger than my other two. I got home the next day. Feeding is going great, he's thriving, he's 4 weeks now and weighs 11lb 13oz! His two big sisters are mad about him, and mammy and daddy are really enjoying him, its just a pity they get big so fast!

Jack's Speedy Arrival

I did the Gentlebirth course with my husband Michael in April and had been listening to the rehearsal track most days since then. I felt very calm about the birth and was looking forward to meeting my baby.

On Friday morning 30th July I had a small bloody show. I started getting mild period like cramps mainly in my back around lunchtime but felt they were only warmup contractions as they weren't consistent in length or frequency. I put a hot pack on my back and lay on the couch. Michael came home around 7pm and we had a chipper. I told him that I felt things were getting going but it could take some time before labour became established. We were due to go to the cinema at 8pm with some friends to see the A-Team and I felt we should still go. Cramps were coming every 15 mins or so at that stage but were very manageable. We went to the movie and after about 40 mins into the film, the contractions were getting a little hard to sit through and I noticed they were coming every 8-9 mins. I still wasn't convinced I was in labour though and I stayed another 20 minutes. Michael was watching me wriggle in my seat and suggested we leave and come home.

We arrived home 15 mins later and I decided to have a bath as I wanted to check if the contractions would ease off and I also wanted to labour for as long as possible at home. I found it hard to get comfortable in the bath and thought I felt my waters break but wasn't sure. I was listening to the GentleBirth rehearsal track but was finding it hard to concentrate. Contractions were coming every 6-7 mins. I went upstairs to get dressed and my waters broke. At this stage I was sure things had started and Michael was packing up the car so I could go in to the Rotunda and get checked. I put on my tens and when a contraction came I'd lean against the wall and tap my foot and hand in rhythm with the tens.

On the way in in the car the contractions were coming every 3-4 mins. We arrived in the Rotunda at 11:50pm and I was assessed. They confirmed that my waters were gone and I was 2cms dilated. Contractions were less than 2 minutes apart and lasting nearly 1 minute. I was on the foetal monitor for 30minutes lying on my back which was really difficult.

Michael went through my birth preferences with the midwife and as I wanted as little intervention as possible, the midwife said it would be best for me to go to the prenatal ward where I wouldn't be on a clock and expected to progress at a certain rate. I felt this was a good idea. Unfortunately the prelabour ward was very busy and no bed was available so I had to stay in the emergency department for another 2 hours. I found this very difficult as it wasn't very comfortable. Michael turned off the light and got my gym ball from the car but I was finding it very hard to get into a comfortable position. I listened to some music and walked on the corridor stopping to lean against the wall when the contractions came. Eventually a bed became available and we were led to the prelabour ward. I had to stop for every contraction as I was finding it difficult to walk.

I arrived to the prelabour ward and tried to settle in. The ward was full and dark and there were other women trying to sleep. The midwife said she'd be back in a while to admit me. At this stage I really felt like I was losing control. Contractions were every minute and a half and I had barely 20 seconds between each to relax. I asked Michael to get the midwife but she was very busy and said she'd be with us shortly. I was trying every position imaginable but was really struggling. I felt I was tensing with each contraction and kept trying to remind myself to relax. The midwife came and asked me to get on the bed. She listened to the baby’s heart and started asking questions about my medical history which I found very difficult to answer between contractions.

I kept saying to her that I didn't think I could keep going like this for any longer. She felt it was too early to examine me to check my cervix and said maybe she could get me some solpadeine. She was called away again to someone else. I stood up and tried to sway to each contraction. I said to Michael that I didn't feel like I could keep going much longer as the pressure I was feeling in my back and around my back passage was so immense. I felt maybe I needed to use the toilet so I went and sat on the toilet down the hallway. I really felt at this time that I needed to push.

While I was in the toilet, the midwife was suggesting to Michael that he should go home for a while as I could be hours more. Michael asked her to re-examine me to check progress and I met her on the corridor and asked to be re-examined also. She agreed and was highly surprised that I was 10cms dilated. She ran for a wheelchair and whisked me off to delivery. It was 3:56am when I arrived in delivery and I started pushing when I felt the urge. I was kneeling against the back of the bed holding Michael's hand. The contractions had spaced out a bit, giving me a chance to rest between pushing.

Jack entered the world at 4:28am and I could hear him crying before his body had delivered. He was handed straight to me for skin to skin contact and I had a few stitches for a small tear. We were left in delivery for a couple of hours, I had a shower and some tea and toast and Jack was checked over and weighed (8lbs). We walked down to the ward just after 6am.

While the labour was very intense, it couldn't have gone much better and I am completely in love with my little man. He has taken to the breast feeding really well now after a few bumpy days. I really feel the GentleBirthing course and preparation led to a very stress free pregnancy and birth for me and for Jack.

A Positive Birth Even When Things Don’t Go To Plan

My labour was a really positive experience, so for anyone who is nervous about theirs, my best advice would be to try and stay as calm, relaxed and positive as possible because it really helped me to get through it.

I posted on WOL last Friday about my painless but frequent Braxton Hicks and they continued all day on Saturday while I visited two friends of mine who recently had babies. I was out of the house from noon until around 7pm and kept busy as I didn't want to dwell on the fact it was my due date. Myself and H2B then went to do a quick shop and stocked up on some snacks and drinks for the labour bag. I wasn't really hungry and had diarrhoea twice that day and the BH were very regular too.

By around 10pm or so the BH were around five minutes apart and starting to twinge, period like pain and spreading to my thighs and back so I started wondering if maybe this was it. Started timing them properly and bouncing on my ball. Was also listening to the Gentlebirth affirmations on my iPod and found that really relaxing. At 11.30, H2B insisted we call Holles St as he was getting a little freaked at the timing of the 'braxton hicks' as in ante natal class they told us to come in when contractions were 5mins apart. So I rang and they told me to come in.

Got there around midnight and they brought me in pretty quickly and examined me internally. They told me I wasn't in labour and that my cervix was high and 'unfavourable'. They then put me on a trace to listen to baby and the midwife said, oh you're having lots of contractions, can you not feel those, and I was like 'no, not really'. So she advised me not to go home, and sent me to unit 3 instead and told me to walk as much as possible, have a shower etc to get my cervix to soften.

Roll on all night, myself and H2B were chatting and pacing the halls and I hooked up my Tens machine as the pains had increased by then. They weren't really painful though, definitely manageable, and I continued to listen to the affirmations. We were both so calm and just chatting and laughing amongst ourselves. Roll on 6.30am and the pains were more intense so they examined my and said I was starting to dilate and they'd check me again in an hour.

At 7.30am, they checked me again and I was 2cm so off I went to the delivery ward. As soon as I went in, the midwife said that she wanted to break my waters and she said it was for the best. Despite my initial feeling that I really didn't want to do this, I agreed and she broke my waters. I had it in my head that the pains would get way worse so I immediately asked for the epidural and she said grand. The doctor came in to administer it about 40 mins later and to be honest, the pains were still very manageable. I walked around the room humming and still had the tens on and sat up on the bed then waiting for him to do his thing. While he went out of the room for a minute, the midwife handed me the gas and air and I took one puff of it and nothing, then another and I vomited ALL over myself. Advice: bring spare nighties for delivery, thankfully I did after reading it on here somewhere!! He administered the epi anyway, said it'd take around 15 minutes to kick in and left. The pains didn't ease up at all. AT ALL! The midwife was baffled and said it should be working by now (40 mins later) and tested my feeling with icecubes. She couldn't understand it! The pains were coming pretty quickly and I just breathed through them, kind of groaning and feeling confused as I was told the epi would take the pain away. Another hour passed and she rang the doc back to do a top up and he was confused as well and gave me more of whatever it is they give you. The only thing that felt numb eventually was my thighs and my bloody feet! The pains didn't go away but were totally manageable. At my 9.30 internal I was 6cm, two hours later I was 8cm, an hour later 9cm and in 40 mins they told me I was ready to push. The baby had passed meconium by then and they said they'd prob need to give me an episiotomy to get her out quicker, so I said fine. I pushed her out in 25 mins. The midwife was like a cheerleader, so was H2B. They gave me the courage to keep pushing as it is quite difficult to summon up the energy. I felt her head crowning - it was like jelly! - and saw her come out. Couldn't believe it was a girl as I was so convinced I was having a boy for the entire pregnancy!

Because the labour was fast, according to the docs - had mucus on her lungs when she was born, so she was breathing a little fast when she was born and her oxygen levels weren't as high as they'd have liked. So they took her away and put her in an incubator in ICU to dry out her lungs. Having her taken away so soon after birth - I only got to hold her for five minutes - was awful, I have to say. It was so scary, not knowing what was wrong, if she was going to be OK. And being in the ward after, surrounded by women and babies, was so lonely. I was without her for two nights in total and they were the longest of my life. They did all sorts of tests on her to make sure she was OK - checked her heart, lungs etc. She had slight murmur, caused by two small holes in her heart (my own heart almost stopped beating when the cardiologist told me that but he reassured my it is quite common and rectifies itself and sure enough by the time we left hospital on Saturday the murmur was gone and Maisie is thriving.) She's a little pet. Sleeps like a log and is feeding really well (as my nipples can verify!). I love her so much, it's unbelievable. I can't imagine how I ever lived without her.

As I said, the thing that stood to me most during the labour was staying calm, trusting my body could do the work. I unfortunately had to have an episiotomy (thanks a lot perineal massage!!) but the midwife said it was more to get the baby out quickly as she wasn't as happy as she should have been at the end because she pooped. They aren't totally happy with how it's healing and I have to get it checked again soon but fingers crossed it will be OK. I don't know what I did wrong really as I kept it clean, changed pads regularly etc. I just don't know. But fingers crossed it will start getting better soon.

Mary's Amazing Homebirth

The hospital scan at 12 weeks had estimated my due date as the 20th July. However, my own estimated due date was 29th July and as I had been charting my own cycle I was completely clear on my dates. As a result I had politely, but firmly, argued with the hospital that my dates were the most accurate and would not accept the scan date as my due date. This was of benefit at the end of my pregnancy as it prevented me being put under huge pressure for induction by the hospital when my date of 29th July came and went without anything happening.

On Saturday 31st July I did my usual Saturday routine – went down to the local market (in Midleton), to shop for food for the week, bumping into lots of friends on the way for a chat. All were surprised I was still `hanging in there'. I felt perhaps labour was starting – I had been getting what felt like very mild tightenings in my abdomen all morning. However, I wasn't sure, as they were so mild I felt they could have been warm up surges (Braxton Hicks). After shopping and lunch I went for an acupuncture appointment and explained to my acupuncturist that I could be in labour. I had a lovely treatment, listening to my GentleBirth CD while on the table. The treatment took about 40 minutes and I took note that I had 3 surges while there. They were still extremely mild – they still just felt like tightening sensations, however they did seem to be getting slightly stronger. After acupuncture, I went down town to do a few more bits and pieces before making my way home.

I went up to chill in bed for a while and debated with myself whether to call my friend Tracey who was one of my support team for the birth. She lives in Tipperary – about 2 hours drive away and was due to come down the next day for a visit..Eventually my gut told me to phone her, which I did. I explained my hesitation, but she said she would leave right away. I then went back up to bed and watched some TV. During a trip to the toilet I had what seemed like a very small show, but it was a miniscule amount.

Around 6pm my 4 year old daughter, Sadbh, and husband, David, came home from a birthday party and myself and Sadbh had a huge pillow fight upstairs. I was still having surges and they seemed to be getting stronger as I found myself having to stop playing for a second to take a deep breath while they happened. Then around 7pm Tracey and my other friend Gwen (who was staying locally) arrived. These friends along with my Mam and my husband David were my birth team. We all sat down to a lovely dinner cooked by David and washed down with some Prosecco (but not too much!!!) It was a great evening with lots of joking and laughing, ending in us all dancing around the kitchen to my daughters favourite song at the moment - `All the Single Ladies'.

By this stage the surges were definitely getting stronger and I had to stop eating and talking while I was having one, to breathe through it. I still wasn't sure I was in labour however as they were so manageable. Gwen suggested I call the midwife (Mary) just to let her know I was having surges and how close they were (about every 15 minutes). Then we all went into the sitting room to watch a Tom and Jerry DVD with Sadbh. After about half an hour of the DVD I had to leave the room, the surges were intensifying and Tom and Jerry was a bit too active for me!!! I had continued to use deep breathing during a surge and was feeling great. Myself, Gwen, Tracey and David went upstairs and set up the laptop to watch Glee – I had been saving episodes to watch during labour. After about 20 minutes my waters released (this was about 10.40pm). I phoned the midwife who said she was on her way. After my waters went the surges intensified. However, I still felt in control and that they were manageable. David, Tracey and Gwen are hilarious and they were making me laugh so much that the intensity of the surge would just dissipate with my laughter.

After a while the surges became very powerful and I needed to get up on the birth ball and roll. My doulas would rub my back in between with a lovely aromatherapy mix, which both felt and smelt great again helping me to relax. I was also feeling extremely hot and Gwen rubbed me down with a cool cloth, which also felt great (needless to say I had stopped watching Glee at this stage). After a while I began to feel like I wanted to vomit, and asked for a bucket but thankfully this passed quickly without me throwing up. All the while I was listening to my GentleBirth CD – and it is hard to accurately put into words how I felt really.

I have heard and read stories from women who say they enter this powerful zone where their body is doing all the work. I suppose it is like what it says in the GentleBirth book and workshop – turn your thinking brain off. And as Ina May says about birth – `let your monkey do it', (or something to that effect anyway) well this is how it felt. My thinking brain was in me somewhere but it was hard to access, putting a sentence together was really challenging, at one stage I wanted a hair band, but found it really hard to formulate the sentence. I had managed to access this powerful primal part of myself and it felt amazing. I just was!!! All of my body was busy birthing my baby and I felt so full of power, so much a woman, so connected to that primitive part of me that just knew how to birth this baby. `I' didn't have to do anything - my body was working so effectively. The surges were taking over completely and they did indeed feel like waves (which is why the rocking helped me so much I think), coursing through my body and ebbing and flowing from my head to my toe. They were intense but I wouldn't say they were painful, just powerful.

I have no idea how frequently they were between before the next one. I did manage to ask to get the pool filled as I wanted to float in water – I had bad oedema in my legs and I thought the water would be a chance to rest my legs. I asked Tracey and Gwen to fill it as I wanted David up with me. At 11.40pm Mary arrived and examined me – she put the lights on but I couldn't bear them, so I managed to ask to turn them off which she did. I found out later I was 9cm at this stage (I didn't ask on the night – I didn't want to know and didn't even think to ask).

I do remember at times thinking that the surges were so strong I would not be able to handle the next one – thankfully, however, the other part of my brain would kick in and override the doubt and go with what was happening to my body. All the time I had the GentleBirth CD on and this helped immensely as I associated it with relaxation and calmness, and the affirmations were great.

David was a great help as well – reminding me to breathe, and telling me how amazing I was. That really helped me a lot, he felt so reassuring I just knew I could do it. At some point, a short time after the midwife arrived, we transferred downstairs. I was still hoping to use the pool – little did I know I wouldn't have a chance at all. Although I had no idea how dilated I was the surges felt different. They felt more like I was bearing down so I presume I was in second stage labour at this stage. I don't remember walking downstairs – the sitting room was dark, but the pool was nowhere near ready. I knelt on the couch for a while – with David supporting me. Then I went and sat on the birth stool I borrowed (thank goodness for it, as it helped so much with my swollen legs and it had a lovely cushion so it was comfy) while leaning into David who was on a chair. I didn't realise it, but at this stage the baby's head was at my perineum and I was trying to push him out. Forty minutes later (around 1.15am), we were still in the same boat – the baby's head at my perineum but he couldn't get past it. My perineum just wouldn't stretch to let him out. Towards the end of this period I did start to feel pain – he was pressing against my bladder and I felt like I needed to pee but couldn't. I was panicking a bit as well as in my first labour I had been in second stage labour for over 12 hours at home and had had to transfer to hospital. I didn't realise at this stage that this baby was right down at my perineum . The surges were powerful this time (unlike my previous birth), but he just could not get past my perineum.

I asked the birth team to go into the kitchen – perhaps everyone watching was slowing me down? To no avail. Mary had me change position as well, to widen my legs, again no joy. She tried to help me stretch and give the baby some more room to pass with her fingers. Eventually she suggested an episiotomy – after consulting with the other midwife there (Ellmarie) - they were all agreed that this was the best option and so I agreed to it. I was hesitant since I had had to have one last time as well, and really was hoping to avoid it. However, she could not think of anything else to do at this stage, so I agreed to it and she gave me a small cut first – to no avail. She then widened the cut. It took another two or three surges and the baby's head finally came out. It felt amazing – now I reached down and felt my babies head. With the next surge the body came out – it was so long and it felt so warm. I took my little boy in my arms and felt so exhilarated. It was such an amazing feeling – here I was holding my new son in my arms – I felt like a warrior. I was on a high. I hobbled over to the couch (cord was still attached at this stage) and lay down holding him in my arms. He was so warm and wet and gorgeous. The rest is a blur – Mary let the cord pulsate for a few minutes then cut it as she had to get cord blood (I am Rhesus Negative). David cut the cord. Then we waited for the placenta to birth.

Mary sewed me up as we opened a bottle of champagne to celebrate. The birth team got busy cleaning up the house after the birth and when Mary was finished, cleaning me up as well. We were all on a high. Although he was born at 1.31am, we didn't go to bed til 5.30am – I was high on hormones and excitement after such an amazing birth. Even now typing it up I am in tears remembering how powerful it was. I feel so blessed and honoured to have been able to experience and tap into this part of myself. I know it probably sounds corny but it feels like I accessed a connection to a powerful goddess in me – it's hard to put it into words. We named our son Odhran and he was 9lbs 15 oz. Breastfeeding is going great – he is a guzzler!!! I loved my birth and one of the first things I said to David after he was born (before the cord was even cut!) was – "oh I need to do that again, can we have a third one!!!!! Seriously!!!"

Odhran is a fantastic baby, very placid and calm – loves being in a sling and cuddled. He is also so alert and taking everything in already. For such a short birth this sure is a long birth story, but I want to try to remember it all myself and capture it as best I can in words. Like my first labour I found the GentleBirth programme so helpful. It helped me during my pregnancy to allay any fears I had and to give me the chance to take some time for myself every day to listen to the CD (with a 4 year old and working outside the home part-time, it was a challenge to find the time but it was so worth it). When my labour started I felt excitement rather than fear, and this allowed me to trust my body to birth my baby for me. I am now enjoying taking a few minutes every day to listen to postnatal track and find it really helpful in both giving me some time to myself and helping me to unwind.

Mary

GentleBirth with Induction of Labour

Dear Tracy

Just a line to say thanks for the GentleBirth programme and to shout out to anyone considering GentleBirth for their pregnancy and birth, do it! It works!

I liked the sound of GentleBirth right away having found the web site while looking for information on alternative pain relief during labour. I was just pregnant but absolutely delighted and already keen to educate myself about the journey ahead. I understood that my options were limited regarding ante natal care as a homebirth would be out of the question due to location and I chose Holles St simply because it was the handiest. I also knew from the get-go that I would like to have a natural birth if at all possible and a hospital delivery held the greatest chance of intervention so I set about arming myself with knowledge.

As a first time mother I knew only the stories I'd heard from other women and unfortunately most of those were of negative experiences however I had also watched a series of programmes called Home Birth Diaries and the experiences of the women in those planted the idea that birth needn't be scary at all. The women all managed to deliver their babies without any medication using alternative measures to manage their pain.

My first step was booking the workshop which I attended with my husband when I was 5 months pregnant. I opted for the workshop along with the homestudy programme and I'm glad I did. Attending really helped my husband to understand a bit of the birth process and he had his head in the sand about it up to that point, I couldn't even get him to glance at a pregnancy book!

It helped me too as it reinforced my belief that childbirth is possible without drugs and set me up for the homestudy. I listened to my cds every day and found the tracks really relaxing. People commented on how positive I was and I suspect some thought I was delusional but I continued on, enjoying my pregnancy and looking forward to meeting my baby. My estimated due date was 24th July but it came and went and as is routine in Irish hospitals I was booked in for induction once I went 14 days over. I wasn't happy about this as there is a fear that induced labour is harder to manage without an epidural and I have to be honest in the back of my mind I wondered would all my hypnobirthing have been a waste of time. On the morning of the scheduled induction we made our way to the hospital and I listened to my birth preparation track which really helped to relax me and settle my nerves.

I received a prostaglandin gel at 1pm was checked at 7pm and I was ready to have my waters broken. Labour kicked off straight away and I managed my pain for 5 hours with deep breathing and by staying upright swaying my hips (My husband later admitted I looked like I was doing the Haka! nice)after 5 hours I got a bit of disappointing news from the midwife. My contractions were 1.5 mins apart but were only lasting 30 seconds and she informed me that 30 seconds wouldn’t be long enough to be effectively dilating my cervix. she reckoned what I was experiencing were effacement pains. I was gutted. I thought there\'s no way I\'ll be able to stand the pain of labour it this isn\'t the real thing. I mentioned to the midwife that I was feeling a bit of pressure too so she agreed to examine me and what d ya know? I was 5 cms dilated!! Happy days!!

I was in active labour all along and was managing quite nicely. I was taken immediately to delivery where I was hooked up to the CFM as is the norm in an induction but I was able to sit on a birthing ball using gas n air to ease the contractions. In less than 2 hours I was ready to push. I tried to go with my instinct and allow gravity to assist delivery but the midwife wasn’t happy with the baby's heart rate and we switched to coached pushing. I pushed for about 45 very intense minutes after which my beautiful baby girl was born weighing in at 10lb 8oz 55.5 cms long (I had to have a few stitches for a superficial tear)

The midwives were brilliant, they delayed cutting her cord until it finished pulsating and placed her directly on my tummy. She breastfed in the delivery room and we have had no problems with feeding. I wanted to share this story as it shows that induction isn't game over for a natural delivery and controlling fear and staying positive really does make for a gentle birth.

Fantastic 3 Hour Labour

Hi Tracy,

I gave birth to our Beautiful baby boy on Thursday 28th of October at home, after only 3 hours of real labour. What a fantastic experience!

As I was 8 days over my EDD everything was ready and waiting, the birth pool was set up downstairs in the spare bedroom just awaiting water, the spare bed was made up and comfy, the delivery pack was in, a mountain of towels, candles and the ipod dock all ready to go, just waiting...

At 7 days over my EDD I had to attend a UCHG clinic to discuss inducing labour over the weekend, which only made me more determined to have him at home. I spent that evening on the internet looking for ways to naturally induce labour. Down on all fours wiggling my hips, strong foot rubs from hubby, using my pilates ball and drinking raspberry leaf tea.

I woke at 6:30am the next morning (28th October) to pee and found I had my bloody show, was very excited but went back to bed. At 8:30am I started to get very mild surges between 5 and 10 minutes apart, so I got up and went to get breakfast, at 10am I sent a text to my midwife to let her know that things had started.

By 2 o'clock the surges were getting stronger but were still irregular, I decided to put on my GentleBirth cd and take a bath. When I got out of the bath around 3pm the surges had grown noticeably stronger and were 3 minutes apart, at 3:30 I got hubby to ring my midwife and update her, she said if the surges were still like that in an hour she would come over.
by 4:30 they had grown very strong and I was starting to feel a lot of pressure so the midwife said she would come around and see what was happening. I started to sit backwards on the toilet during surges as this felt more comfortable and around 4:40 my waters released into the toilet.

I immediately felt the need to push but was a bit worried as it seemed too soon, so I got into the birth pool, still only half full as I had emptied the hot water into the bath tub earlier, and the pressure eased somewhat. When the midwife arrived at 4:50 the pressure was back and the urge to push uncontrollable. She helped me out of the pool to do an internal check and said I was fully dilated and she could feel babies head, so push with the urges. The surges were every 2 minutes at this stage.
The midwife immediately went to notify the second midwife that the birth was imminent and started to unload her supplies, in between monitoring baby and myself. At this stage I had lost my mp3 player in favour of gas and air I'm afraid.

As there had been a slight staining of the waters I had to stay out of the pool so baby could be monitored intermittently. Instead I laboured next to the pool holding onto the bedstead.
I laboured in an upright/ squatting position with hubby behind supporting me and Baby was born at 6:09pm. Weighing 10 pounds 6 and a half ounces and 54cms long. He was bright as a button and gorgeous.

I needed 4 stitches to close a small tear to my vaginal wall. but was elated that everything had gone so well. The second midwife missed his birth by 15 minutes, but they were both brilliant after. helping me upstairs into the bath and into bed.

Thanks Tracy for everything, I truly believe that it would have been a totally different story without your cds, and the 5 weeks (well 6) was just about long enough to get into them !!

GentleBirth VBAC

First off, this is going to be very long but I wanted to record every detail for myself and also because when I was reading birth stories when pregnant I wanted to hear every detail.

Just for background info - I have DS who was born in March 2008. I had him by c-section after a very long (almost 40 hours) and painful labour. I begged for epidural, but when I got it, felt no relief. Then had an oxytocin drip which made contractions go haywire and hubby thought I was going to die. Epidural was checked and fiddled a bit, but still didn't work, eventually it was taken out and a whole new one put in - which didn't work either. After almost 40 hours I was just 4cms. They kept saying my baby was fine (he had a monitor on his scalp) but I was exhausted and completely out of it from lack of sleep and the effects of gas & air.

I didn't get to hold my baby for almost 4 hours after he was born - they had no bed for me so I had to wait in the recovery room and he wasn't allowed there. Breastfeeding never really got going as I was so shattered from the labour & section and I had problems with my wound opening afterwards and various antibiotics made me feel sick and a bit dazed. Lots of other things happened (not medical) that left me reeling from the whole experience. All in all, it was a hard time for me and I swore he'd be my only child.

Of course, a year or so later I got broody and started to think about having another baby. I did some soul searching about the experience I'd had, I requested my hospital file and the first thing I saw was that my son had been OP which explained the awful labour. His head was also at an odd angle and quite large. I don't wonder now why he wasn't coming out and I don't beat myself up about it. I then spent a LOT of time researching vbac. I desperately wanted another child, but couldn't bear the thought of another section. I admit to being a little obsessed with my 'mission'!

Throughout my pregnancy, I did the Gentlebirth vbac progamme (homestudy, I didn't attend the weekend workshop). I found it great for relaxing and I had a really lovely straightforward pregnancy. I also obsessed a bit about the position of my baby, fearful of another OP labour. I spent a lot of time on my gymball, I had a kneeling chair at work and rarely put my feet up when at home. Baby was in the right position throughout my pregnancy thank god. I couldn't face going back to the hospital I'd had my son in, so I decided to go to the Coombe and this time as a public patient. At my first appointment with the consultant, I asked to be moved to the midwife led clinic, they weren't going to allow it since I'd had a previous section but I begged and told them they wouldn't have any trouble from me! They agreed, on the provision that I attend the clinic at the hospital as opposed to one of their local ones, but this was my only option anyway as I live in Wicklow and the Coombe's midwife team don't cover that area.

I loved being in the midwife led clinic, apart from the fact that I rarely had to wait long for any appointment, they were just so lovely, so straightforward and reassuring. The fact I really wanted a vbac was never an issue, even at the 39 wk stage they weren't stressing about it which helped me to stay positive.

At 40 + 2, a Saturday, I was getting really fed up. My bump was really huge and I was so uncomfortable, but more than that I was starting to fret about what would happen if I went more and more overdue. I knew that the longer I went over, the more my chances of a vbac would decrease. I tried everything - hot foods, hot baths, sex (not so hot!) and I walked the legs off myself. That day, I once again did a long walk and DTD with hubby. All day I felt very uncomfortable down below, it was like waves of pressure coming and going. Now that I look back on it, I'm sure it was labour but at the time I didn't even think. For one thing, it wasn't painful and it was all concentrated in my vaginal area. I assumed it was because the baby had dropped down and it was pressure. That night I went to bed listening to my GentleBirth tracks and I woke about 2am to turn over in the bed (which at this stage was like a military operation due to my size!) and as I turned I felt a huge thump down below. It hurt. I wasn't sure what it was, it really felt like I'd had a huge boot up there and my initial thought was that maybe my waters had gone. I got out of bed to check but they hadn't. I went to the loo and I'd had a show. I thought to myself "this is great, things will hopefully happen in the next few days"...

After I cleaned myself up, I noticed I was feeling very uncomfortable in my pelvis and bum. I got back into bed lying on my side and immediately shot up out of the bed - it was agony to lie down. I thought maybe it was that side, so I got in again and lay on the other side but it was just as bad. I got out, leaned over the bed a bit and rocked my hips. This seemed to help but Hubby was asleep and I didn't want to wake him so I started wandering around upstairs wondering what was causing this discomfort! I honestly didn't think it was labour. I'd had a false alarm the week before, but that time the pains were around my lower back and into my bump. A midwife had told me that if something like that happened again and I wasn't sure if it was really labour, to get into a warm bath and if it wasn't labour it would subside but if it was it wouldn't go away. So after a while I decided to have a bath. It took a while to run and get into the bath because I kept stopping to deal with the pain which by now was all in my back passage. I got in but couldn't get comfortable as it was very painful to sit or lie on my back. I remember thinking how lovely it would have been if the bath had been deeper like a pool - I think a birth pool would be heaven. I also remember thinking to myself "I'm never going to be able to do this, I can't even cope with the pre-labour pains" and I started to feel very down and a bit panicked. At this stage, I just wanted company, some support, and I didn't want to call for my hubby in case I woke our DS so I phoned him from the bath! (I had my mobile there to tell the time)

Hubby came into bathroom and started asking me all sorts of questions - had my waters broken? (I didn't really know, since I was in the bath they might have done) when exactly did the pain start? Could it be labour if your waters haven't gone? How far apart are they? How long are they? - to be honest, I wanted to push him down the stairs I was so stressed with all the questions! I kept saying to him, "you're asking me to think and I can't think" I just felt like I was in my own world, all I wanted was for him or someone to tell me everything was ok. It was about 5:15am and after 15 mins or so of him watching me breathing through the pains (I was on all fours in the bath) he was freaking out that they were every 2 mins and lasting for 1 min... He wanted to go to the hospital, but I felt it was way too soon. I still didn't believe that this was labour. I think the experience I'd had first time had really left a mark, I was terrified of arriving at hospital to be told 'you're not dilated yet' which is what happened last time. I agreed that we should ask my mum to come up since she needed to mind our DS anyway. So hubby called her and I tried to get myself dressed (hubby had to help me out of bath and dry me!)

I went into our spare bedroom but once out of the water I really felt the intensity increase and it was very hard to do anything at all, the pain was on top of me every minute and I knew I wasn't coping, I was panicking and kept praying that it wouldn't be like it was last time. I was kneeling on the floor leaning my arms on the bed and I just couldn't get up to dress or do anything, I just needed to stay there and try to get through each contraction. I don't even think I had my eyes open. With each wave, all I could do to cope was make a sort of groaning noise. I knew it sounded awful but it helped me so I couldn't stop. I really wanted my mum as she had been a great support throughout my pregnancy and was very supportive of my wish for a vbac, so I asked my husband to find out how far away she was. When he was on the phone to her, she apparently heard my noises in the background and told him that it sounded like I was fairly well on. She advised him to get an ambulance! When he told me that, I said it was ridiculous, no way was I going in an ambulance but I then had a thought - they'll have gas & air! so I agreed to him phoning for one (little did I know he'd already done it!)

Mum arrived and got down on the floor beside me and kept saying into my ear "you're doing great, your little baby is making it's way out and you'll be holding him or her in no time, just keep calm, breathe and we'll get through it" - she was such an amazing help. At one point, our DS came into the room and said "oh mammy you're sick - get up!" and then he brought in my hairbrush and started trying to brush my hair and said "mammy you're all better - get up" - the poor thing! The ambulance arrived and I asked my hubby if he could stay with our DS so mum could stay with me a while, he was happy to do that. The ambulance staff were great, they brought up a canister of gas & air and hooked me up - great relief, the contractions were still there but it did take the edge off. They then had a look at me (which I don't remember, but my mum told me) and decided they'd need a doctor so they called the on-call doc and waited for him to arrive - I wasn't aware of this, I was just trying to deal with the contractions and getting more and more upset that they'd tell me in the hospital that I wasn't in labour or only 1 or 2cm dilated. The doc arrived and examined me. I remember saying to my mum "if I'm not dilated I'm not going near the hospital yet" the doc said something to the ambulance guy but nothing to me and I was convinced that he was saying that I wasn't dilated yet! I got very upset and mum had to explain to the doc that I really needed to know exactly what the situation was because of a bad experience last time so the doc said "you're 6cm" !! I was over the moon! I started cheering around the room "I'm 6! I'm 6!" my husband was there and I kept saying to him "Mick, I'm a 6!" mum says it was hilarious but I really was so pleased with myself. It was all systems go then to get me to hospital, living in Wicklow it was a bit of a boot to the Coombe but it was about 7:30am on Sunday so the traffic wouldn't be too bad. At this point I was bearing down with each contraction, I couldn't help it but they kept telling me not to. It took a while to get me into the ambulance, with having to stop every minute to breathe/push!

I still couldn't lie down or sit, so I got on the stretcher in the ambulance on all fours. The doctor had his hand on my back and I remember barking at him "DON'T touch my back!" (I'd been saying the same to my mum and hubby earlier, I just couldn't bear anyone touching me) I'm sure I was quite rude to him and then my husband said to me "he has to love, you're not strapped onto the bed so he's making sure you don't fall off!" - I feel really bad about shouting at him! The doc, my husband and the ambulance lady were constantly shouting at me not to push but I really really couldn't help it. I did try to pant but it was very hard to resist the urge to push. Then my waters broke and the doc checked me again - I was 9cm. He said into my ear "please please don't push, we're nearly there and you don't want to have your baby on the steps of the hospital, just please hold on and you can push for Ireland when you get in there" so from then I really did try to pant, with a sneaky push every so often ;-) I noticed that the pain wasn't so intense once my waters had broken. We arrived at the hospital I think around 8:30am and straight to the delivery room. I have no memory of this, I think I must have had my eyes closed the whole time.

We had a midwife and a trainee midwife. I had to lie down for the midwife, Sarah, to examine me. She said that I had a lip of cervix that wasn't staying back and once that stayed back I'd deliver in no time. So she held it back for a while (not long) and then said right it's back now, lets get baby born. I said I didn't want to lie on my back anymore and thankfully Sarah was fine with me on my knees so she put the back of the bed up with lots of pillows and I knelt leaning up on the back of the bed and just went with the pushing. I still had gas and air, and my hubby had a lovely cold damp cloth for my face which was heaven. I remember thinking how it wasn't so bad and then wondering if I was pushing properly as I was getting tired. I said this to my husband and he said I was doing great, that they could see the head - it had hair! Sarah then said "you're doing it, your baby's head it just there you're doing a great job keep going" and I did - and I felt a sort of burning sensation (but it really wasn't that bad) and then I heard her say "that's it, baby's head is out"! I really couldn't believe it, it didn't feel like I'd delivered a head! It honestly wasn't that bad at all. She said "next push or two and your baby is out". Unfortunately I pushed and pushed and the body just wasn't coming out. The nurse manager then came in and spoke to Sarah and then said to me that my baby was stuck and I needed to do exactly what they said to get her out. They told me to turn around and lie flat on my back, put my legs as far apart as possible and as far back as possible and hold them there. Then as I pushed Sarah put her hand in and moved baby (I found out later this is called the McRoberts Manoeuver) again I didn't think it hurt that much and in one push our gorgeous baby girl was out. Sarah and the nurse manager checked her but she was fine and a few seconds later they plopped her up onto my chest. It was amazing. She was so hot and wriggly and gorgeous, I couldn't believe we had her. I also couldn't believe how bright it was.



And I saw Sarah I think for the first time. I must have had my eyes closed all along, and of course because I'd been on all fours for hours everything was behind me so I didn't really see much! My hubby gave me a big kiss and said how proud he was, which was lovely, but no-one could have been as proud of me as I was myself :-) I put our little girl to the breast and she latched on straight away. While I was getting to know her, Sarah was explaining that although I'd asked for a natural 3rd stage (to let the cord finish pulsating before clamping it) they couldn't do that because they had to cut the cord the minute she was out in case they had to rush her away due to the shoulder dystocia.



She seemed really anxious about that, but I told her I didn't mind at all, I understood and at that stage it didn't really matter to me, our baby girl was safe and well and that was the only thing that mattered. Because the cord had been cut, I said I'd take the injection to get the placenta out as I just wanted it over by then but 45 mins later the placenta still hadn't come out so they put a drip in and half an hour after that it still hadn't come out. A surgeon came in then and I was so worried that I'd end up in theatre after all that, but he pushed on my belly (which really hurt) and finally it came out. I then gave our little girl to my husband to hold so that I could be examined to see if I needed stitches. I did. Surgeon came along and did that, which wasn't too bad (I've no idea how many I needed, but I had a 'small tear' I presume because of the shoulders being stuck etc) While I was being stitched, our little girl was being weighed - 9lbs exactly! I couldn't believe that, our DS was 7lbs 14oz and I thought he was big - I'm quite petite myself although my bump had been enormous. We then had the nicest tea and toast ever :-) after that I got up and had a shower, got dressed and they sat me in a wheelchair to go to the ward. It was such a different experience to the last time, I was tired but felt amazing, no fuzzy head from drugs etc. and having the shower made me feel great.

I am so chuffed that I got my vbac, and that I did it all with just gas and air. I have to say that I think the Gentlebirth programme really helped me achieve it, although I didn't stay as calm as I would have liked I think that was because I was taken by surprise, I really didn't believe I was properly in labour but to have got to that stage without knowing I think was down to the hypnosis. And also I wasn't at all afraid of the birth, I just went with it. It was a wonderful experience and one I'll never forget.

For anyone really hoping for a vbac - do the Gentlebirth programme, read all the positive vbac birth stories you can, enlist the support of someone close who will really root for you (my mum was an amazing support - she read Tracy's "vbac guide" and really got on board with the idea) fly under the radar in the health system - go with midwives if you can) or if you're going private/semi-private, make sure your consultant is very pro vbac and finally, really believe that you can do it.

First Baby – Incredible Experience

Hi Tracy,

Sorry its taken me so long to send you my birth story, time has flown by since the arrival of Cian on the 19th of October.

Just to give some background I had been listening to the Gentlebirth cd's on and off during my pregnancy and then attended the weekend course in Dublin when I was about 30 weeks. This was our first pregnancy. We found the course great, especially my husband, who finally realised that he had a major role to play. He was now fully on board and knew specifically what he needed to do in the whole process. We met with very inspiring people and found out about home births, as we had never heard of this before then. Anyhow, to keep this brief, we managed to get a great midwife and a birth pool and planned a home birth. My GP was totally against this and even brought me to tears when I told her. So we decided not to tell even family after that!

Anyhow, on Sunday the 17th i had bad pains, but only every ten or twenty minutes or so, but they were bad enough to keep me awake all Sunday night! Monday conti ued like this and i had a show so i started to get excited, however Monday was a long day, and Monday night was no better.


Monday evening i started getting in and out of the pool as it was a great relief. Tuesday morning at 2 am  called my midwife as the surges were now 4 minutes apart. Once she arrived I got out of the pool, and things slowed down a bit. We tried to get some rest but I couldn’t get comfortable at all. The surges were tough for most of tuesday. I was listening to my cd's - even just to try to get me to sleep to be honest. Despite the tiredness i stayed very calm, as did my husband. We just took each surge as it came, and being novices at all of this had no idea how long more it was going to go on for. My midwife examined me at lunch time on Tuesday and i was at 5 cm's- not bad but a long way still to go I thought! I kept going into the pool to get as much relief as possible. By 4pm I hit a wall. Everything had slowed down. I just couldnt take another surge, I didn’t have any strength left.

I tried gas but i was weak at this point both mentally and physically. I discussed my options with the midwife and thought that if i went to the hospital, maybe they could give me a small dose of pethadine so i could sleep for an hour or two and then I’d be able to continue.


This was very emotional and upsetting as I felt I was letting my husband and midwife down, and especially myself. My midwife was very supportive and came with us to limerick maternity. On arrival the hospital staff wanted to keep me on the bed for the trace, but I couldn’t physically as the surges were very strong. They decided to put me on IV fluids as I was dehydrated. After an hour in admissions I was told to go up to the ward. I had been on the drip for about 20 minutes at this stage and suddenly my waters went. The surges were very frequent and intense at this point. I was then told that a labour ward was free so I walked over there. Again the midwife wanted to do another trace.

I was still waiting for some pain relief so i could sleep. I managed to stay on the bed for about 3 minutes, then jumped off and wasn’t having any arguments about it! she started to do her paperwork, as my husband and my midwife got me through each surge. My husband had me concentrating on each breath in and out, and my midwife was watching my body and baby. the other midwife kept walking in and out, which only made me laugh, when suddenly my midwife called her to tell her that the baby was crowning, I hardly believed it, I thought i had hours to go, and was still thinking that an bit of sleep was possible! I was in a squatting position, and after 17 minutes of pushing Cian arrived at 3 minutes to 8. It was the best feeling ever. I didn’t need to have any stitches, so the next day I went home. It was great that it was all so fast as my midwife got to stay with me for the birth, otherwise she would have had to leave. Herself and my husband were a great birthing team.

I really have to put my successful natural birth down to the GentleBirth program. Even in the hospital, when I didn’t have my ipod, my husband was familiar enough with the affirmations, that he knew what to say to keep me centered. I also believe that this helped keep Cian calm though the whole experience, his heart beat didnt change, even when i was dehydrated. Your course helped me to trust my body and to turn my brain off and just let nature take over.

Thank you for helping to make my first birth such an incredible experience.

MLU Baby

On Wednesday I was 40 + 6 days and had been booked into see a consultant for a review scan and regarding induction. I was so disappointed as I had been attending the MLU all along and had visualised giving birth in a much different environment than my previous experience of being induced. Following my consultation I was booked in on the Friday for induction. I went up to the MLU after seeing the consultant and talked it through with them. We discussed all the measures I had undertaken to encourage labour including, reflexology, acupuncture and many of the old wives tales to boot! We elected to do a sweep before I left the hospital even though the head had not engaged so it was less likely to have any effect.

I went home rather disillusioned. I went for a long and determined walk, took a long bath and mainly complained all evening! I went to bed resigned that I would be induced on Friday.

I woke at 11.30pm experiencing pains; I wasn’t sure if they were contractions but I couldn’t sleep so went downstairs, stoked up the fire and listened to my gentle birth cd. After about an hour I was sure this was labour and the contractions had been at 5 minute regular intervals right from the off. I got my husband to help put on the TENS machine and I continued to manage the contractions well. I was anxious to regularly use the toilet and so was in and out a lot but had no show to speak off. At 1.30am I phoned the MLU and spoke to the midwife who gave me some advice and told me to come in when I felt I needed to and to call before leaving as she would have the birthing pool ready for me.

I continued to labour at home when at about 3am I had a significant show and lost the mucous plug. I decided I would have a quick bath and head off to the hospital. I did that while my husband gathered the bags and phoned his Mum to come over to look after our little boy who was sleeping.

I called the MLU again to let them know I was on my way as we left at about 3.45am. ON the 30 minute journey contractions became more regular and quite intense but thinking of my affirmations and with the TENS I was managing well. We were up in the MLU at about 4.20am.

I laboured for a little while before the midwife examined me and said I was 5cm but the head had a little to come down yet. I changed into a nightshirt and walked around while listening to my GentleBirth cd. I continued to have a strong urge to sit on the loo! I was here I sat about 15 minutes later when I had a strong urge to push. The midwife and my husband urged me off the loo and I gave birth to my beautiful baby girl in a kneeling position about 9 minutes later at 5.06am, with my husband rubbing my back. I was elated! I sat holding my baby girl while waiting for the cord to stop pulsating and to deliver the placenta. Everything went so smoothly and I was able to walk over and lie down on the bed afterward. The midwives examined me and to my delight I didn’t require any stitches. My little girl weighed 7lbs 10ozs and was perfect. We had lots of skin to skin contact and she breastfed with enthusiasm!

I felt great and after a little rest I had a lovely shower and breakfast. We relaxed in the MLU for the day and went home that evening. I couldn’t be happier with my experience of the MLU and I really feel that hypnotherapy was lodged in some part of my brain and carried me through the labour with calmness and confidence!