Laura’s Emergency C-Section Birth Story
Laura and her husband Adam, joined me on a group hypnobirthing course in preparation for the birth of their first baby. Laura was hoping to have a water birth at Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield but a few complications meant she had to rethink her plan and ended up on labour ward at Pinderfields instead which turned into an emergency c-section. She has kindly shared her amazing birth story below.
I had a really positive birth, despite the circumstances we were under and here is my story.
After close monitoring through the pregnancy, at 36 weeks we were told our baby’s growth had significantly slowed, dropping to the third percentile. We were advised that it would be safest to get the baby out at 37 weeks, and ideally no later than 38 if we didn’t want to be induced at 37. The reasons for this were because of concerns around my placenta no longer feeding the baby. The consultant was really kind and advised we go home to talk and ultimately the decision was ours whatever we wanted to do.
We decided that due to the risk around my placenta we would go ahead with the induction and this felt the safest for the baby and myself. I called the induction ward the day after and we were booked in at 37 weeks for the induction at Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield. There are different ways of induction and ours was with a balloon. You don’t get given a set time, just a date and then you get a phone call on the day. The midwife called us around midday to go into the hospital for around 3PM and I was starting to feel really emotional and anxious.
My husband was great and reminded me of my breathing which really helped! Something we’d learnt a lot with Franki.
When we arrived we were greeted by a midwife who took us to our bay on the induction ward. We got ourselves composed and once we were ready she came to collect us for the procedure. She talked through everything with us and what I would experience with the balloon and then alternative options if this was unsuccessful at opening my cervix. I was offered gas and air but took the opportunity to practice my breathing (in preparation for labour!) and said I would ask if I felt it was needed.
The procedure itself didn’t feel painful, just more uncomfortable and a bit like period pain and I lost my mucus plug in the process. As it happened, my baby was so deep into my pelvis that the midwife couldn’t get the balloon past my cervix and ended up giving me a sweep instead.
I was dilated 2cm after it all and was told to keep moving as much as I could - walking, bouncing on the balls (they have these on the ward) etc. whilst waiting for a labour suite to become available. That evening me and my husband walked round the hospital grounds in hope my waters would break naturally as I didn’t fancy having them broken for me and wanted labour to start on its own. Because I was high risk I was told I needed to stay in overnight for monitoring.
The next day my husband returned with some breakfast for us and we were still waiting for a labour suite to become available. Once I was up and showered I continued bouncing on a ball and walking round to keep my cervix open. Around midday I was called down as a labour suite had become available and my nerves and anxiety shot through the roof! My blood pressure had increased and I knew I needed to recompose myself. I met my midwife Hana who was so lovely and again talked me through everything. She asked the anaesthetist to come talk me through epidurals and pain relief and also asked the head midwife who was on duty to have a chat to me about delaying the oxytocin drip. All these conversations were really important to me and helped make decisions about my labour.
The anaesthetist put my cannula in and did a guided meditation in the process as he was doing a study on hypnosis and pain relief so that was quite cool!
And then the head midwife explained to me the pros and cons of delaying the drip and the likeliness of my waters breaking on their own given the circumstances we were in. She left us to make the ultimate decision and I decided it would be best to start labour. Hana grabbed me something to eat before the oxytocin started and once I’d eaten that it was time for my waters to be broken. This was painless and the oxytocin drip started.
My contractions were a gradual build - so they didn’t go from 0-100, they just gradually increased. (This was something I was anxious about, but the head midwife gave me a really good explanation on how the drip would work which calmed me down) I used my breathing and hypnosis focus for the first part of my labour and then continued with my breathing but with the gas and air to aid once I was a bit further down the line. The contractions definitely feel like little peaks for me so I was able to get into a rhythm. Having our little LED tea lights and affirmations on the side helped me to regain focus if I felt like things were starting to become more intense.
Adam, my husband, was really supportive too throughout my labouring. I was about 3.5 hours in when my midwife went for her break and another midwife came in to support. I was asked to go to the toilet which I had to do on a commode - this I found quite hard as I had to try focus on the loo rather than my contractions and I was moved off the exercise ball which I’d be swaying on from the start.
After this my contractions became quite intense and I was struggling to move back on to the ball as I couldn’t catch a break. By this point I was ready for my epidural and asked if they could bring the anaesthetist back. I kept going with the gas and air and luckily managed to regain focus. The anaesthetist came within 5 minutes and started to prepare me for the epidural. It was at this point that Hana my midwife wasn’t happy with how things were starting to look. She remained really calm and explained that she needed to get a few more people to come into the room to check how things were looking.
I was 6cm by this point so not too far off being the full 10 but unfortunately my babies heart rate was slowing and dropping and struggling to return to normal levels. A consultant advised that we needed to get the baby out and asked if I would be happy to go ahead with an emergency c-section.
I chose to go ahead as this was safest for myself and baby. I was taken to theatre at 5:55pm and by 6:03pm she was out! It was incredible. The whole team of staff who were on hand to support with the c-section were incredible. We also got some amazing photos and videos of our little girl being born - this was on my birth plan and whoever grabbed our phones did an incredible job of capturing the moment. My c-section itself was really successful and I was out of theatre by around 6:30PM enjoying a cup of tea and newborn snuggles!
She weighed a small 5lbs 5oz and she was perfect!
I think the main things that really helped my labour be a positive experience were;
keeping a simple bullet pointed one page birth plan for each possible scenario - this way the staff were able make sure they did everything I wanted (which in our case they did, they were incredible) in each scenario - this is how we ended up with so many incredible photos from our c-section. In fact everything on my c-section birth plan (my Plan C) was met!
Accept that sometimes intervention is needed - the staff that day were there to protect me and keep me and my baby safe - as much as I wanted a water birth (my birth Plan A), I made an informed decision to go with my birth plan B (birthing on the labour ward) thanks to the wonderful staff for talking and guiding me through my decision making and ultimately, not pressuring what I wanted to do. They informed me and left me to decide. Talk to your midwife and ask as many questions as you want - ultimately she’s there to keep you safe but the decisions are yours!
And lastly - practice that mindful breathing. I used to practice when I went to the dentist, for a wax, before an appointment - it is normal to feel scared, anxious, fearful - especially when it comes to birth, but taking deep breaths can really help keep your mind stay focused and in a more calm state.
I love Laura’s birth story, especially the part where her anaesthetist used a guided meditation with her to help with her mindset and pain. Laura’s story really does prove that an emergency c-section can be such a powerful and positive experience too and the helpful tips the she shared at the end of her story are great takeaways. They are all things that I cover on my hypnobirthing courses to help you get as prepared for labour and birth as you possibly can be.
If you want to level up your birth preparation, I have group hypnobirthing course dates coming or you can book a private hypnobirthing course too, these are also great for planned c-sections too, yes, you can use hypnobirthing for a planned caesarean too!