Heart of England Midwives
Birth Stories
Corrin's story
I’m a first time mum and we had a home birth with Diane and Helen in March of 2010. Under the hospital system I'm sure our baby would have been a c-section or at least a birth with assistance of ventous/forceps, because of the length of our labour, but at home, with Diane and Helens help, we were able to achieve the home birth we had hoped for. We were given time to progress naturally and both my baby and I were happy and healthy at the end of a very LONG labour. Like a lot of first time mums I had a long latent phase (before you’re 5 cms dilated). I had strong contractions on and off for 6 days but the contractions varied in length and never became regular. Diane, our primary midwife, was a pillar of support during those days where I lacked sleep, food and sometimes the belief that I would be able to get through what seemed an endless latent stage. She was my cheerleading team when I really needed it and visited us daily when the contractions got too much to handle for a good strong pep talk!
On the Sunday (the 6th day of contractions) I rang Diane in tears at 6.30 in the morning - after 2 nights of no sleep and not having eaten the day before because of the contractions it had all got a bit too much for me! The tens machine was no longer feeling effective and I was feeling panicky because the tens machine and hypnobirthing techniques had been the only thing to get me through the previous few nights. I was convinced Diane would come over and tell me I still wasn’t in established labour.
When she came round I was in the bath and in a bit of a panic. All i could think was ‘what if this still isn’t the labour and I have contractions today and tomorrow? How am I going to cope with no food and sleep when I AM in established labour?’. We agreed she would do an internal to check on my progress. To our delight I was 7 cms! I had obviously started established labour at some point overnight! Once I knew I was past 5 cms and would be meeting my baby today the panic disappeared and I became a lot more comfortable. Everything all of a sudden became manageable with an end visible. Diane called Helen, our second midwife, and she arrived shortly afterwards, remaining downstairs to provide support if we needed it.
Our baby had been in a good position for days, but as with the way of things he had decided to turn back to back at some point over night. This made the contractions sore at the back of my pelvis. My husband and Diane worked hard putting pressure on my back during the contractions as I pottered around the house. I wanted to leave using the birth pool that we had set up in the dining room until I really needed it. Eventually I gave in and got in the pool. To my disappointment the warm water, although lovely, stalled the labour. I also found that I wasn’t in a good position for people to be able to help me with the discomfort in my back. Eventually I decided to get out – much to the amusement of my poor husband who had just got in to help me with back massage. I was a bit thrown not to be using the pool as I had always imagined I would give birth in water and didn’t really have a plan in my head for giving birth on dry land. However, I got out and decided it was more important to get the labour back on track.
After about 7 hours I still wasn’t progressing that fast and our baby’s heart beat had sky rocketed. Given the lack of progress, the fact my waters hadn’t broken and our baby’s heart rate Diane and Helen discussed the possibility of transferring to hospital with us. They were concerned that our baby might be tired.
His heart rate increasing coincided with a massive amount of movement from him which I really didn’t appreciate. He was kicking and punching like he was having a party in my tummy. The movement made me think that it was unlikely he was tired - if he was why was he moving so much?? We asked Diane and Helen whether they would feel comfortable giving us some time. They agreed it was safe to do with close monitoring. Diane and Helen worked together checking his heart beat even few minutes using a Doppler.
It was around this time i asked for the gas an air because the kicking and the contractions were making me quite uncomfortable. The pain relief helped loads, though it made me feel really drunk.
When Helen checked me again our baby had done a full 180' turn and was in a much better position for birth!! Clever Baby!!! The kicking stopped and his heart rate returned to normal. It really is amazing how babies in the womb know what they’re doing! Diane and Helen agreed we could progress at home
From then on everything progressed fine but slowly. Eventually I was fully dilated with a small lip of cervix left over his head. With Diane’s advice I lay on my side for a few contractions to move the lip and then came the pushing stage.
I pushed for a total of 2 and half hours (at a hospital birth they never would have let me go that long! the cut off is 2 hrs). A funny part of his head was presenting, so he wasn’t making it easy for me to deliver him. Since giving birth to him we know he has quite a big head and he was presenting with the widest part at a slight angle. It made for a rather unusual head shape when he was delivered! The picture of him being weighed just after being born really doesn’t do justice for just how ODD his head looked! I tried to use hypnobirthing ‘birth breathing’ but after an hour I hadn’t made much progress. Diane suggested that because he was lying quite awkwardly I would need to try more aggressive pushing holding my breath. I tried this and started to make more progress. We followed Diane’s advice and moved into different positions to push and encourage him to move down. I even tried walking up and down the stairs while pushing!
During the last 20mins our baby’s heart beat started to drop. This is normal but it usually rallies once a contraction has finished. Diane and Helen became more concerned when it started to get lower. It eventually dropped below 90 beats per min and didn’t rally at the end of contractions. Diane and Helen were keeping a close eye on the situation. They were really encouraging me to push my hardest because they wanted him out fairly quickly. They made the decision to call an ambulance as a precautionary measure in case he was born in respiratory distress or there was a delay to him being delivered, however, Diane felt sure the baby would be born very soon.
Diane and my husband helped me to move into different positions to push, some of which were quite painful, so that we could get him out. I had to trust that although the positions were very uncomfortable Diane and Helen knew what they were doing and that it needed to happen for our baby.
Diane suggested an episiotomy to speed up delivery and I agreed although it was something I had hoped to avoid. She put in the aesthetic ready to make the incision and I think the shock made me push the baby’s head out. Thankfully this meant that she didn’t need to do the cut. She could see the baby’s cord was next to his ear and was being pinched which was why is heart rate was low.
They asked me to push as hard as possible and out he slid in one go screaming his head off! His apgar score was 9 straight after birth so there were no concerns that he was distressed, just a little annoyed!
At the same time (5 mins after the call went in) the ambulance arrived. Just in time to hear the cries of a healthy little boy! The ambulance staff stayed in the living room, downstairs, until the placenta had been delivered safely and then shouted up their congratulations and left. The female ambulance technician was very annoyed to have missed the birth!
Our baby was delivered straight onto my chest. My husband and I had skin to skin contact while the midwives sorted me out. It was lovely to have him stay with us and not to have him taken away. We became a family together and we had time to get to know each other and meet each other in the peace of our own home. Diane set up the scales and he was weighed in front of us – a very LONG 7lb9 with huge hands and feet. My husband had some cuddle time with baby while I delivered the placenta.
Diane and Helen helped me into a bath, sorted all the towels, made the bed, made me toast and tea and when we were settled left us to have our first night on our own as a family.
They came back the next morning at 10 am to check on us.
I feel so lucky to have had such a perfect birth. I would do it again in a heartbeat, even if it was very long. Bar an initial uncertainty when I first suggested it, my husband soon became very much in favour of a home birth. The support and confidence Diane and Helen brought to the experience convinced him it was the best option for us. Their hard work meant that he could really be far more supportive as a partner than if it had been a hospital experience. He wants to tell everyone what a great experience it was. The main thing I have noticed is how positive I feel in comparison to my peers. Our birth wasn’t without its moments, but at no time did I feel out of control or frightened. The trust that we had built with Diane and Helen made the experience so special and meant I always felt safe. Consequently I feel fantastic about the birth of our little boy. Our view always was that a birth isn’t a medical experience unless it needs to be. Birth should be about family. After all, it’s the moment you become a family. With Diane and Helen’s help we were able to achieve a happy birth at home with the people we love. It’s an experience we will treasure for the rest of our lives.