Unplanned but Peaceful C-Section - Positive Birth Story
Jess had hoped for a vaginal water birth but after the many attempts to make this happen with little progress, her and her partner decided to have a C-Section instead, bringing in the gentle elements of their back-up C-Section birth plan in case this happened. The result was a peaceful, joyful C-Section birth of their baby boy. Jess shares her full birth story with us!
I desperately didn't want to be induced so I waited for what felt like forever for labour to begin naturally. This was my first baby and I knew I would be much more likely to go overdue. I had planned a water birth at the Midwife-led unit next to my local hospital and had done a Hypnobirthing course which made me feel very positive about birth. However, after 2 failed sweeps and many, many hours of waiting and trying all of the old wives tales, I agreed to be induced at 42 weeks.
My partner and I anxiously checked into the antenatal ward on the Monday morning to be told that I would not be able to give birth on the Midwife-led unit after 42 weeks but there was one room on the birthing ward with a pool, so I was very insistent that I wanted that room!
I had 2 rounds of the hormone gel, which did kickstart some short, sharp contractions during the early hours of Tuesday morning. I was placed on the waiting list for the birthing ward and a lovely Midwife offered to run me a bath - which was absolute heaven! But unfortunately this seemed to slow my contractions right down.
Sadly our hospital was having an issue with staffing so it took until 11pm on the Tuesday night to get transferred to the birthing ward, but I got my room with the pool! My waters were broken and we requested to wait an hour so see if that kickstarted my contractions again. After an hour I was started on the oxytocin drip which was turned up gradually until my contractions were coming regularly.
After about 10 hours of moving through contractions with just Hypnobirthing breathing & a tens machine, they were getting stronger and I felt like I needed to get in the pool, so our lovely Midwife set up the pool for me to get in. For some reason as soon as I got in the pool it just felt all wrong! I was previously so set on giving birth in the pool but it just didn't feel right in the moment so I got back on the bed and started using the gas and air.
After another 8 hours of using gas & air and my trusty tens machine, my contractions still weren't regular enough for me to be in established labour and I had been at 4cm for quite a while. As we were heading into our third sleepless night I made the decision to get a pethidine injection so I could get some rest, and I knew that it would wear off after 4 hours, still hopeful that things might have progressed by then.
Another 4-5 hours passed (which I don't remember much of!) and as I came back around I was checked again and still at 4cm dilated. At this point my waters had been broken for almost 24 hours and I'd been on the oxytocin drip for almost 24 hours. I knew that I didn't have much time before I was offered a C-Section but I also knew that I had given as much as I possibly could.
As my baby was still moving well and was seemingly happy still, we were able to have a very calm conversation with the surgeon about our options. We had a C-Section birth plan which included things like dropping the curtain and playing our own music, which the surgeon was happy to accept. I was taken off the drip and slowly dressed for surgery.
Although it was an 'Emergency Caesarean', there was nothing rushed about it. Originally, a C-Section was my worst nightmare. I've never had any kind of surgery before, never broken a bone, never spent a night in hospital. But as I was wheeled into the theatre I actually started smiling. Although I was disappointed not to have my gentle water birth, I knew that I had given all of my energy and made the best decisions I could have in the moment and for the first time in weeks I actually felt at peace. I knew we were about to meet our baby boy.
The experience of having a Caesarean was just incredible, being fully conscious and just having what felt like gentle poking on my abdomen. Plus the Doctors, Nurses and Midwives were just amazing; I felt so looked after throughout the whole procedure. We were able to see our baby boy being lifted out of me and my husband got to cut his umbilical cord. He was placed on my chest while I was sewn up and it just felt like such a dream. Our baby boy, Luca, was born just after midnight on Thursday morning and we got to bring him home by Friday afternoon.
I do think that if I'd had my perfect water birth I would have been a bit smug. I have to admit I did think a little bit that having a C-Section was the 'easy' way out but I now have so much respect for any other mothers making that decision too. I still feel a little sad that I wasn't able to birth my baby vaginally, but equally it was an incredible experience I'll never forget. Our baby boy is now almost 6 months old and I wouldn't change a thing!
Have you had a positive c-section birth that you’d like to submit to our Positive Birth Stories page to help other parents feel more confident? We’d absolutely love to hear from you!
Please click here for info on how to send us your story (and photos from your birth if you're happy to do so!).