Steph’s first birth ended in an emergency caesarean after she’d pushed all the way to 10cm. Two years later she had the healing NHS VBAC she’d been quietly preparing for since before she was even pregnant again.
Her first pregnancy was straightforward, but at 41 weeks she felt more and more pressure to be induced and eventually agreed. Labour started quickly after the pessary, then stalled once she had an epidural. By the evening she was pushing when her baby started to struggle and a consultant found he was back to back, with his forehead coming first. He was so low that the caesarean was difficult. Her incision tore, she lost a lot of blood and she was vomiting the whole way through. It was two and a half hours before she could hold him.
Second time round she was consultant led and expecting a fight. She took the NICE guidelines and her old notes to her first appointment, and her consultant stopped her halfway through to say it sounded wonderful. Her waters went at 38 weeks, she laboured at home through the night with a TENS machine, and she arrived at hospital on all fours at 8cm. Her son was born an hour and a half later with forceps and an episiotomy, and went straight onto her chest for over an hour of skin to skin.
In this episode we talk about:
The stories shared on British Birthing Stories are real, personal experiences from real women. I am not a medical professional and this podcast is not a substitute for medical advice. Every pregnancy and birth is different, and I always encourage you to speak to your midwife or doctor about your own individual care.
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