# My natural hospital birth experiences



## faun

First a bit of back ground i had my first child when i was 18, i was very scared and basically did what i was told. So i ended up having pethidine which was horrible and made me see mushrooms growing out of the floor! When it still didn't control the pain and i was panicking my midwife told me to stop being a silly little girl get a grip and have an epi so i did. It worked very well to the point i couldn't feel anything and was even able to sleep! Because of this i couldn't feel when to push so ended up giving birth on my back with my legs in stirrups with the midwife pushing my tummy to try and get baby out i ended up with a large 2nd degree tear and being made to stay in hopsital over night i was very traumatised by the whole thing. My son was born weighing 9lb8oz and i was left with a fear of birth that really petrified me.

So when i got pregnant again i was very scared and determined that i was not going to let the midwives dictate to me what was going to happen with my birth i think being four years older and a lot more mature helped. I did alot of research, well asked a lot of people how they gave birth and what was normal i found out then that i had been treated very badly but was to young and naieve to know any better. So i started thinking about homebirths i talked it over with hubby and he agreed if i wanted to i could as it was my body :happydance: As i live in a rented house i thought i should check with my landlord first that it was ok to go ahead with my homebirth he was not understanding at all and said if i went ahead it would be against his wishes and i would be in breach of my tenancy agreement and therefore be evicted! This was not what i wanted to hear to say the least so i spoke to my midwife she suggested a natural hospital birth. I hadn't realised that such a thing was possible as my previous experience was the midwife forcing drugs on me. She asked me what i wanted from my labour and helped me write my birth plan. In my birth plan i put that i did not want any unneccessary examinations only wanted to be checked when i arrived and if she felt babies heart rate needed a check. No one was allowed to touch me during labour apart from my husband, i did not want to wear clothes so i had easy access for skin to skin and it felt better that way, i wanted my own music, to be allowed to use the bath/shower as much as i wanted even to give birth there if i choose, i wanted no drugs of any kind i didn't even want to be told my options for pain relief, i was to be allowed to be as mobile as i wanted and to be left on my own as much as possible. Also medical intervention was only to be allowed if mine or babies lives were at risk. So i was pleased with my birth plan and the community midwife said it was all very doable. My due date came and went by the time i was 9 days over i was starting to worry that i would end up getting induced my induction had been booked for the following day even though i had told my midwife i would not attend an induction till i was at least 15 days overdue. So i started trying everything possible to get baby out me and hubby went for a 8 mile walk along the coast while DS1 was at nursery had a curry for lunch and had plenty of sex. Still nothing then suddenly about 6pm i started to feel strange and then i had my first contractions so we rang my parents and drove over to drop my son off by 7pm we had dropped him off and were on the way home but the contractions stepped up a gear so we went to hospital i got there about 7:20pm handed over my birth plan and was told i wasn't in labour as i wasn't in enough pain! They put me in triage until a midwife was available to talk to me after about 25mins my waters went. I still hadn't seen a midwife by this time so hubby went to find one she came back read my birthplan and offered to check me i said i wasn't ready to be checked yet and could she get me a jug of water please and when could we move to a delivery room. She said seen as how i wanted to wait to be checked she would have to leave me there till a room became available. So off she trotted to get my water and i undressed and started feeling the need to push hubby asked if i wanted to get the midwife and i said no we could manage without her so i squatted on the floor of the triage room with hubby supporting me from behind and when i felt the urge to push i did 3 pushes and she was out onto the floor where hubby quickly helped me scoop her up into my arms. The time was 7:50 she was born in complete slience with just me and hubby there :cloud9: he helped me onto the bed where we sat and cuddled our princess the midwife came in at about 8pm took one look turned white and ran off to get a cot and everything else she needed while she was gone the placenta slipped out so when she came back all she had to do was cut the cord check me for tears check the baby and weigh her. So Amber was 8lb1oz 9 days overdue and delivered by me and hubby in a triage room :haha:

My third birth i just copied my birthplan from Amber as even tough i didn't really get a chance to use it i was even more sure i wanted to do it alone as much as possible. I woke up about 2am two days before due date covered in slime and having pains this time in my back. I got up and had a bath then went back to bed i got up as normal told hubby what had happened and he decided to stay home so he rang work. The other kids got up and we had a special breakfast as it was DS1's birthday i walked them to school as normal came home and made a birthday cake for DS1. I was having contractions but they weren't regular so i just carried on i cleaned the windows hoovered etc just stayed busy at about 12 ish i had the most intense ripping pain ever and baby did a huge movement which worried me as i couldn't get him to move at all after no matter what i did so i rang the delivery ward and went in to have a trace as i was sure something was wrong. Baby was fine and they had no idea what the pain was so i allowed them to check me for dilation and i was 3cm so went home as i wanted to be there when the kids got home so we could have a special tea for DS1 all our relatives came round to drop of pressies etc. We decided not to tell anyone i was in labour apart from MIL as she was going to look after the kids for us. By midnight the pains had stepped up a gear so we decided to go to hospital so we could get a room as they were very busy. We arrived and got comfy tunes on the stereo, me clothes off walking round swinging my hips to try and help baby move into position. 1am the midwife offered to check me and i declined she listened to babies heart with a doppler though. By 3am it was really hurting so hubby gave me a lovely massage and we talked about what we would name baby and drank tea and eat biscuits. 4am came and went still not let the midwife check my dilation but i knew i was getting there carried on walking dancing:blush: and singing along to my music all while naked must have been a site :haha: 5am i decided it was shower time so stood in the shower with the water on my back and it was heaven. By 6am i finally allowed my midwife to check dilation and i was 9 nearly 10cm! I was so pleased i had got there with no pain relief and with no contact from the midwife my hubby was very forceful about it bless him everytime she came in he was like you are not touching her unless she allows it my hubby is the best! By 6:45 i was ready to push so they checked babies heartrate and there was a problem everytime i contracted the heartrate dipped and struggled to come back up. My waters still hadn't broken so i made the decision to allow them to break my waters to try and speed things up but as she checked me they went anyway :happydance: I started pushing with my contractions and he dropped down and his head kept coming half out then going back up i tried loads of positions to try and help him but nothing was working so the midwife suggested trying to help by trying to stretch the skin as he was coming down so i agreed as she was getting worried. With her help i managed to get his head out but his cord was round his neck twice so after she moved the cord he just popped out. We were told that the reason he was coming down then going up was the cord wasn't long enough while it was round his neck. So with minimal assistance he was born at 7:04am weighing 10lb8oz he was placed straight onto my chest and had a breastfeed after 10 minutes they cut the cord. I wanted a natural delivery of the placenta but after an hour it still hadn't come out so i agreed to a injection to speed it up which is when things went wrong the placenta came away but i had a huge PPH as the placenta site was so big it couldn't clot properly so the emergency button was pushed and i had one midwife giving me a uterus massage while another was getting a drip in to give me drugs and a doctor was seeing if i needed stitching! I had a small 2nd degree tear and lost 1200ml of blood! After my birth i read my notes and i was 10 minutes away from theatre to get baby out as his heartrate was so low but thankfully with a bit of help from my lovely midwife all was ok. So even though my birth wasn't completely as planned i was very pleased with how much the midwife respected my decisions to have a hands off approach with no drugs and how closely she followed my birth plan. 

If any one has any questions about natural hospital birthing let me know as i haven't included every single detail or you would be reading this all day:coffee:


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## PeanutBean

Inspirational!


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## Bournefree

Pretty amazing and wonderful Faun - thank you so very much for posting!
XxX


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## southerngal2

Wow! Thanks for sharing.


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## indigo_fairy

How lovely to read your birth stories, and how wonderful that you made the decision that your first experience wasn't going to be repeated. Thanks for sharing! Definately inspirtational.


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## faun

Thanks ladies i am very hopeful that this birth will be just as natural and peaceful i have decided to go for another hospital birth as the last 2 were such good experiences and will be using the same birth plan with a few tweaks this time. As i am considered high risk because of the PPH i will have to fight a bit to get the birth i want as they are already talking about induction, drips and all sorts! They can forget any of that things will be done my way as i am very vocal about what i want and hubby is right behind me all the way. I am prepared to fight them every step of the way if need be though i would rather not but if they think they can push me around they can think again. My body, my birth, my choice :)


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## caseylin

awww this is awesome! I am prego with my first and VERY MUCH want everything to be as natural as possible. I didn't realize until I was prego and started doing my research about how a hospital birth could be so far from what I want to happen. I am definately scared that I will be pressured into things I don't want, or not allowed to move around ect... so i guess if I can take your advice, I should make a birth plan. And tell doc come hell or high water this is what I want and this is how its going to be. I am preparing myself by reading Ina Gaskins book, and looking into Hypnobirthing as well to prepare myself to the pains and reality of labor. 5 months to go!!!! 
thank you so much for your story. It gives me hope :)


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## disneyfan1984

Caseylin - definately consider hiring a doula! Our doula was one of the key factors in our totally med-free hospital birth. They help make sure your birth plan is followed, along with doing a ton of other stuff.

Check out my siggy for my birth story!


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## flyingduster

This is awesome! I'm only *just* preggers now so anything could happen yet, but the more I read the more I want a natural birth, I want them to LEAVE ME ALONE and let it happen!! I'm too scared to have a home birth, so it'll be in a hospital, but I will be so fussy and am training up hubby already so they can leave me to do what my body tells me needs to be done!!! Reading your stories makes me feel that YES, it is possible! YAY!


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## Jenniflower

flyingduster said:


> This is awesome! I'm only *just* preggers now so anything could happen yet, but the more I read the more I want a natural birth, I want them to LEAVE ME ALONE and let it happen!! I'm too scared to have a home birth, so it'll be in a hospital, but I will be so fussy and am training up hubby already so they can leave me to do what my body tells me needs to be done!!! Reading your stories makes me feel that YES, it is possible! YAY!

I was scared to have a home birth in the beginning too. I also thought it was ridiculous that women would make such a mess in their own homes when they could do it in hospital. I also thought the placenta was the most disgusting thing ever and thought women who kept it after were crazy hippy freaks. This forum sucks you in. You start reading about how easy, how much safer it is, how it's not messy at all. And next thing you know you're planning a home water birth in a 1st story flat and prepping your hubby on how to cut the placenta so you can encapsulate them. 

All I'm saying is beware... these women suck you in! :winkwink:


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## Mervs Mum

Thanks so much for sharing this Faun! xx


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## 2ndtimeAbz

Thankyou for sharing you birth stories, some great experiences and it's great to hear about non medicine orientated hospital births :) I think i need to do a hospital birth plan in case I get transferred!


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## flyingduster

Jenniflower said:


> flyingduster said:
> 
> 
> This is awesome! I'm only *just* preggers now so anything could happen yet, but the more I read the more I want a natural birth, I want them to LEAVE ME ALONE and let it happen!! I'm too scared to have a home birth, so it'll be in a hospital, but I will be so fussy and am training up hubby already so they can leave me to do what my body tells me needs to be done!!! Reading your stories makes me feel that YES, it is possible! YAY!
> 
> I was scared to have a home birth in the beginning too. I also thought it was ridiculous that women would make such a mess in their own homes when they could do it in hospital. I also thought the placenta was the most disgusting thing ever and thought women who kept it after were crazy hippy freaks. This forum sucks you in. You start reading about how easy, how much safer it is, how it's not messy at all. And next thing you know you're planning a home water birth in a 1st story flat and prepping your hubby on how to cut the placenta so you can encapsulate them.
> 
> All I'm saying is beware... these women suck you in! :winkwink:Click to expand...

lmao! Well I've never been totally against a home birth, as I come from a somewhat 'hippie' background where I personally know a heck of a lot of people who have had home births... but hubby is very traditional too so it'd be HIM that'd have to change as well.... Still very early days yet though, so we'll see!!!


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## AP

You. Are. FAB!!

I loved your story Hun, that is inspiring!


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## emyandpotato

Thank you so much for linking me to this. Feel as though midwives will see me as just a silly child too as I'm only 20, and I got raised eyebrows when I said I didn't want an epidural at my last antenatal appointment. This is really inspirational though, thank you again


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## 2ndtimeAbz

I think no matter how old you are, some mw will always talk to you like ur a silly girl! 
Some are more supportive tho :)


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## kiwimama

Thanks for sharing your great birth stories Faun. It must give the women who have had a less than desirable first birth, so much inspiration that second and subsequent births can be calm and natural.


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