The birth of Giles
I was quite shocked when I found out I was pregnant for the third time. I’d just been promoted at work and we were looking forward to our five year old going to school! We had decided not to have any more children after my second prenancy ended suddenly with the birth of premature twins, one of whom died following complications. So it was with a mixture of fear and excitement that we looked forward to the new baby.
Our previous experience of NHS maternity services had been very mixed. I have met some brilliant, very experienced midwives but the majority I have encountered do not have wide experience of normal birth and tend to be supportive of medical intervention in labour. Perhaps the reason is a ‘blame’ and ‘sue you culture’ or perhaps this is what women have come to expect without questioning. The hospital maternity units I have encountered in two hospitals were dirty, impersonal and uncomfortable. Midwives change over with shifts, so you have no idea who you will be dealing with.
I have very strong views about not using any drugs at all during labour. To me, we still know very little about the massive and fundamental chemical changes that occur in labour. Throwing an artificial substance into the body at this point should be questioned in my view. I also have great reservations about the widespead use of ultrasound scans. Having looked at the limited body of research out there, my finding was that the potential low grade damage to sensitive foetal neural tissue has never been researched properly. Personally, I feel that drugs and ultrasound should be reserved for situations where a clinical problem is suspected. A C-section without anaesthetic would be traumatic and horrific, as would not scanning a woman with suspected placenta praevia! That would be negligent. All the NHS Practitioners I have encountered seem uncomfortable with these views. Perhaps, they have never questioned or looked at the research.
My view is that these are only the places to be in an emergency and not great for a peaceful, normal birth. After all, you wouldn’t go to A & E for a grazed knee, but you’d be pretty grateful to them if you’d had a serious car crash.
After our previous experience, we just hoped for a term baby and wanted a midwife with us wherever the birth happened, who we knew and trusted to offer support and advice. This is not available on the NHS so Independent Midwifery offered the answer.
When Caroline agreed to take us on, I felt so relieved because I knew that she would come with us and support us wherever we ended up, be it home or hospital. She was so kind and supportive, but fundamentally she has wide experience of normal birth and is prepared to discuss issues. We hit 29 weeks when it all went wrong last time and beyond. As the weeks went by, we felt more confident that things would go well this time and by 36 weeks a normal homebirth actually seemed possible. At just over 37 weeks, I thought labour was up and running, but it turned out to be a false alarm. This time, I kept getting periods of pretty strong contractions which is something I had never experienced before.
A few days before my ‘due date’ I finally had a ‘show’ and another bout of contractions. I kept in touch with Caroline, but the contractions tailed off about 10pm that night so I went to bed with the feeling that baby would probably turn up the next day. I was quite tired so forgot to put towels by the bed in case anything happened. I vagely recall coming round to hear the village clock chiming one and then woke with a start as my waters broke. All I could think about was how I was going to move without ruining the carpet! My husband woke up and with his help I got to the bathroom. I got in the bath and a big contraction hit, followed by another very soon after.
My husband rang Caroline immediately and by the time he got back upstairs, I was getting a bit concerned that the contractions were becoming so powerful and so close together that I was in danger of getting stuck in the bath. We got downstairs and my husband put wood on the fire and lit some candles. He went to get more wood and a drink of water. Whilst he was away I tried to get on the floor to see if it was more comfortable, but the contractions were intense and the pain very strong so I was quickly back on my feet gripping the back of two strong wooden chairs. Then came an urge to push! This was going very fast so I tried to hold back conscious that if I could just relax and hold on, Caroline would soon be there. There was a limit to holding back and my baby’s head was descending! Caroline arrived and within minutes the baby was on the way out and giving a good scream. When I saw him for the first time there was my lovely, pink baby boy weighing in at 9lbs 12 ozs. FANTASTIC!!