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I was three days overdue when I had an appointment with my midwife. She offered me a sweep, but she advised me to let things happen naturally which I agreed was what I wanted. That night I woke up after a dream I was in labour, I got up to go to the bathroom, and then I felt a gush! My waters has broken! My husband called triage at Hereford County Hospital and got some advice. We were told to get some rest and wait for contractions to start. It was 4am and we were way too excited to sleep, so we got up and watched movies. By 6am my contractions had started. Throughout the day we managed as well as we could at home by having baths and taking walks, but by 3pm I was suffering with pain in my back and my contractions were getting closer together then further apart so after speaking with triage we decided to go in.
By 4pm we were in triage being examined by the lovely triage nurse. She told me I was 3cm dilated so to take a walk. It took me nearly two hours to walk to our car and back, I was being sick a lot so we went back to triage and luckily I was 4cm and we were admitted to the active birth room with a birth pool.
I was so happy I chose a water birth as it really helped with my back pain and I soon settled into things. I used gas and air which was enough when combined with the warm water. At 9.30pm I got out of the pool to have an examination by the midwife who soon sent me back to the pool as the baby’s head was showing! I started to push and the midwife was so supportive and gave me confidence to keep going. After half an hour she told me to get ready to catch the baby as she guided him up to my arms. It was a magical moment as I wasn’t expecting to be the first person to hold him! My son was born at 10.10pm.
I stayed the night on the ward and couldn’t fault the care we received. My husband was blown away by how amazing everyone was. I would love to thank all the staff for making my son’s birth such a positive experience. They made sure the atmosphere was calm and relaxing which helped keep me calm. Thank you!
