Positive Birth Stories: My Quick Births by Polly

I had always wanted to be a mum, for as long as I can remember! Anyone who even remotely knew me would tell you that, and I now have two wonderful children who are my world! Both of which arrived very quickly!

I was very lucky to have straightforward pregnancies with no complications, and after completing an antenatal course and reading about hypnobirthing I was excited for the birth of my first and felt ready! At 40+1 I had finished work and was passing my time relaxing in the garden (it was a hot June!) that evening my partner went to tennis as I was sure we had a few more days- I’d had no show or any other “signs”.

I sat on FaceTime to my sister adding songs to my birth playlist that would get me hyped, painting my nails between what I believed were Braxton hicks contractions- in hindsight they were probably early labour, but I was blissfully unaware! I took a paracetamol that night, just in case things ramped up I wanted to get as much rest as possible- subconsciously maybe I knew more was coming!

At 4am that morning I woke for the toilet but contractions soon hit! They were strong and coming quickly, almost a minute a part from the get go. I timed them for an hour (we’d been told labour can take time, it can come and go, so make sure you’ve got constant contractions for an hour!) and as soon as that hour mark hit my waters broke and we called the hospital! They obviously said to come straight in, which took a while as I had to get dressed between contractions!

Once at the hospital they sent me straight to the MLU, where I was checked to find out I was fully dilated! I was shocked but grateful to be so far along! They told me I could push as soon as I felt ready. I was also offered gas and air, but by that point I couldn’t concentrate enough to use it, so instead just made use of my tens machine and my partners counter pressure on my back. At some point I moved from leaning over the end of the bed to on all fours on the floor, and within an hour of being in the hospital my beautiful baby girl was born, healthy and happy! As an accountant I have a very logical brain and like to think things through, but in labour physiology took over and there was no thinking.. just going with what my body told me!

Unfortunately due to the speed of delivery, and the fact my daughter came out with her hand by her head, I had quite a bad 2nd degree tear that needed a consultant to stitch. But I was able to have my golden hour first, then more skin to skin and a first feed while that was going on. I can’t fault any of the staff who helped that morning!

Once I was moved to the delivery ward it finally sunk in- our baby was here! The staff again were lovely, but stretched! Luckily I had a straightforward recovery and was discharged the next day.

When I became pregnant with my second we immediately began talking about a home birth… everyone told me 2nd babies come faster than your first… even the midwives who delivered my daughter said it barely 10mins after she was here! I was lucky I didn’t have a bad experience to put me off a hospital birth, but I didn’t want to risk not getting there in time! So we started planning a home birth. Again, I had a very straightforward pregnancy so there were no issues preventing me planning this, and my midwife was very helpful. We also attended a homebirth group locally to get some new perspectives. We had a box of supplies ready, and a hospital bag for just in case…

At 39+6 my contractions started at 4am, this time 10-15 minutes apart, so I had a little more time to prep my mind that baby was coming. After an hour I woke my partner to tell him and we continued to monitor them together, listening to the storm raging outside! At 6am we rang the hospital and told them I was in labour, and while contractions hadn’t ramped we wanted to let people know in case they did quickly! Around 7am the on call Midwives arrived at home and gave me a brief check, but my contractions still hadn’t ramped up so they called our local team and left us to it! Almost as soon as the midwives left contractions ramped up.. and by this point my daughter was up and needed taking to nursery! My partner left to take her and I moved back up to bed to try and get comfy while my contractions persisted. By the time my partner got home around 8:30am labour was in full swing- he called the midwives again and they arrived about 9am. Again I used just my tens machine to manage the pain, and by 9:47am I had birthed my baby boy on my bed!

My official record said my labour was 58 mins and I pushed for just 6 mins, so I was happy we planned a home birth as I doubt we’d have made it to the hospital!

I can’t thank the midwives enough for helping, and despite needing a few stitches, it was a smoother recovery than last time.

The beauty of the homebirth was that by 11:30am the midwives had left and we could retreat to our bed (my partner remade it while I showered), just the 3 of us.. till my daughter came home to complete our family of four!