The Birth of Finley: waterbirth at Maidstone Birth Centre

On the Saturday night through to Sunday morning I was ill with an upset stomach and sickness. By Sunday morning it had eased off but I was getting random period-style cramps but I felt so weak from the night before I remember really hoping that it wasn’t the start of labour as at this point I was 40+3.

I continued to get random cramps through Monday and Tuesday but they were nothing note-worthy or worth recording as I had been getting these on and off for a couple of weeks prior however, I noticed some of what I assumed was my mucus plug that was also starting to come away. 

On the Tuesday evening (40+5), at around 6:30 as I was cooking dinner, I noticed a couple of cramps that felt stronger than they had previously and came and went in close proximity. I started to time how long they were and it was around 5 minutes between cramps - I realised then these were probably surges and not the same cramps I’d been having before!

We sat down to eat dinner as I was conscious that I needed to keep my energy up, the surges continued and although I managed some dinner I couldn’t eat much.

I phoned Maidstone Birth Centre at around 8:00pm to let them know that I thought I was in labour, they advised me that as I’d only been contracting for around an hour that I could be in for a long night, to get something rest and to call back when I was getting three contractions lasting 45seconds or longer in 10minutes. At this stage they were coming every 4 minutes for around a minute, although I was able to talk through them and they didn’t feel too intense and I practised my hypnobirthing breathing techniques through them.

As the evening progressed my surges got more intense. I moved between being sat on or knelt over my birthing ball, laid on my side on my bed or stood swaying to manage each one, I used my breathing techniques and squeezed either a comb or a hard spiky massage ball that I had. I also stood in the shower a couple of times where interestingly my surges completely stopped while I was in there… making me wonder if I was making the whole thing up! 

At around 00:30, my surges were every three minutes and lasting 50-60seconds, they were getting more intense and I was starting to have to really focus on my breathing through each one however they still felt very manageable. As I felt another surge starting, I went to stand up, so that I could manage it, and felt a small gush feeling - I wasn’t sure if it was my waters as it didn’t seem like much and wondered if it was more of my show but there was also some fresh blood. My surges really felt as though they amped up at this stage and I could no longer talk through them; I really needed to focus on my breathing and squeezing my comb/spiky ball to manage each one. I phoned Maidstone birth centre again to let them know about the “gush” and blood, they advised that I could come in to be checked if I wanted to - I said I thought this would be a good idea as I knew something felt different (it’s true, you really do know when ‘it’s time to go’!) As soon as I got off the phone I had quite a sharp pain and felt another gush, which was definitely my waters. From there my surges felt completely different, much more intense and I started feeling like I needed to push, I also vomited at this point. We drove the 15 minutes to Maidstone Birth Centre which felt like the longest drive, I kept my eyes closed and focused on my breathing and squeezing the spiky ball through each surge I desperately was trying to stop the overwhelming urge to push, I started to feel out of control and panicky. As soon as we arrived and after a long walk down the corridor (in hindsight it’s a short corridor!) stopping to sway through surges along the way to one of their birth rooms - the midwives checked my pad and advised they were concerned at the blood. I told them I would not make the journey to the hospital which was another 40 minute drive away.

They asked if they could check me which I consented too and they we were all surprised to find I was 8cm dilated. They let me get in to the birth pool as they were filling it up - I immediately leaned in to the urge and need to push, holding my spiky ball and my partners hands. I was encouraged a couple of times to change position from leaning over to on my back but felt most comfortable leaning over the edge of the birth pool. They checked baby's heart rate routinely throughout and were content that baby was happy and not in any distress. I was completely in the zone during this stage; I was offered gas and air which I tried to use but I couldn’t get on with it as I found it just made my mouth feel very dry and I was already so thirsty!

I don’t remember thinking too much and not aware of what was going on around me, apart from the midwives and my partner kept reminding me to relax my shoulders. I made all sorts of noises while pushing which was completely out of my control but felt very natural, the urge to push was also out of my control but felt natural. The midwife and student midwife were very encouraging, talking me through what was happening. I didn’t even think about pain relief options as although hard, it felt manageable, I remember saying at one stage “I don’t think I can do this” as I was exhausted and one midwife reassuring me “you can and you’re nearly there!”.

At 03:24, around and hour and a half after arriving at the birthing centre our baby was born in to the water, the midwife lifted baby to my chest (I will cherish forever and never forget this feeling) and the first thing I said was “oh my god it’s huge”, we then lifted baby up to reveal that he was a boy as we hadn’t found out during the pregnancy. My partner cut the cord once had turned white. 

I was given the injection to help move the placenta along - I had been asked about this as I was labouring and had said I had wanted to see how it goes delivering the placenta naturally however they had expressed concerns over the previous blood loss and recommended I have the injection so I agreed, at that stage I hadn’t been in a position to think/use BRAIN to discuss it any further.

My placenta was delivered around 10minutes after baby arrived with no issues, I then had to be stitched up for a 2nd degree tear which isn’t surprising as baby weighed a whopping 10lb3oz and had a head circumference of 37cm, the midwife even double checked this she was so surprised!

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