British Birthing Stories

Lou woke up at half twelve thinking her first labour was only just starting. By the time anyone examined her in triage she was 8cm, and her daughter was born on gas and air at quarter to four that morning.Lou is a first time mum from northeast London and a former clinical geneticist. She has white coat syndrome, so her blood pressure goes up whenever it’s taken in a clinical setting, and seeing the same midwife, Chloe, every week meant she could take her readings at home. At 38 weeks those readings were higher, and with her mum having had preeclampsia, protocol would have sent her to triage and most likely towards an induction, the one thing Lou didn’t want. Chloe talked her through every warning sign and they agreed to wait.At 39 weeks her contractions started in the bath and were two minutes apart by the end of the ten minute drive to hospital. In triage she gave a urine sample between contractions and waited in a curtained bay while her blood pressure was checked, and nobody told her how far along she was until she asked. A midwife who wasn’t meant to be hers brought gas and air and took her into a delivery room, where Lou got on all fours and her daughter Layla was born about 45 minutes later.In this episode we talk about:How continuity of care helped Lou manage white coat syndrome and rising blood pressure without being sent for an inductionWhy Lou chose private non invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) over standard NHS screeningArriving at triage 8cm dilated and how much better communication would have helpedA fast pushing stage on all fours with gas and air, and how practising pelvic floor relaxation with an Aniball helpedAn internal second degree tear repaired in theatre under a spinalThe 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.

Holly’s first birth was an induction for obstetric cholestasis that ended in an emergency caesarean. Eight years later the cholestasis came back, and this time she had her VBAC at home on her living room floor.Holly is a mum of two from Hull. Her first pregnancy was low risk until the itching started at around 38 weeks, and she was diagnosed with obstetric cholestasis just before her due date. She felt a lot of pressure to be induced and agreed at 40 plus three. After a balloon, her waters being broken and the hormone drip, her contractions barely stopped and her son’s heart rate kept dropping for nine hours. When it didn’t recover, she went for an emergency caesarean.Second time round Holly and her husband Dan worked with a virtual doula and decided what they’d do in every scenario before they got there. She declined extra growth scans, went back to midwife led care and kept her NHS home birth plan when the cholestasis returned, signing a form at 41 weeks to accept the risks. On the day the trust nearly had no midwives to cover the night, and her contractions stopped every time she was on the phone. She laboured on her knees over the sofa, went through a blissful, quiet transition and pushed her daughter Kiara out on the living room floor, weighing 8lb 15oz.In this episode we talk about:What obstetric cholestasis is, what bile acid levels mean, and how Holly and Dan decided where their line wasWhy Holly’s first induction ended in an emergency caesarean and what she did differently second timePlanning an NHS home birth after caesarean while outside guidance in four different waysThe home birth staffing phone call, and why her contractions stopped every time she picked up the phoneTransition, involuntary pushing, a physiological third stage and choosing not to have her second degree tear stitchedThe 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.

Charlotte’s first baby was born in theatre with forceps after 40 hours of labour. Two years later her daughter arrived in the birth centre pool after 15 minutes of pushing.Charlotte is a 31 year old mum of two. Both her children were surprise pregnancies, two years and two months apart. She felt sick the whole way through both pregnancies, did a hypnobirthing course, and planned a water birth in the birth centre each time.With her son, labour started on a walk with her mum two days before her due date. She was sent home at 1 to 2cm, laboured through another night with no sleep, and was 5cm when she went back in. She pushed for two hours with a back to back baby who wasn’t moving, and was taken down to the labour ward, where a doctor told her his heart rate wasn’t good. He was born in theatre after a ventouse attempt and forceps, with an episiotomy she didn’t know about until much later. She lost quite a lot of blood, and the next day a midwife told her his heart rate had been fine the whole way through.Second time around the hospital weren’t sure about the birth centre because of that blood loss, but she got her water birth. Her contractions started at 1am, she was in the pool soon after 7am, and her daughter was born by 11am weighing 8lb 10oz. Charlotte talks honestly about why, after both births, the rush of euphoria she’d heard so much about never quite came.In this episode we talk about:What a back to back baby can mean for pushing, and how Charlotte went from the birth centre pool to a ventouse and forceps delivery in theatreFinding out about her episiotomy and blood loss afterwards, and how it shaped plans for her second birthPregnancy sickness that lasted all the way through two pregnancies, and why she never asked for help with itA sleepy newborn who didn’t feed for 12 hours, tongue tie and a hard start to breastfeedingA fast, positive birth centre water birth, and feeling shock and confusion instead of a rush of loveThe 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.

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:How pressure to be induced at 41 weeks and an epidural that stalled her labour shaped Steph’s first birthWhat a back to back baby meant for her emergency caesarean at 10cm, and the blood loss and infection that followedBeing consultant led for a VBAC on the NHS and why her consultant became her biggest championHind waters breaking at 38 weeks, labouring at home and arriving at hospital at 8cmWhy forceps and an episiotomy took nothing away from her healing VBACThe 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.

Two completely different births, one five weeks early and one planned down to the day. Alex works for a small legal firm and has two little boys under three, and she's on the pod today to share both.Her first labour crept up on her. She lost her mucus plug, then spent a day unsure whether her waters had actually gone, baking wedding cupcakes and packing up the house because she genuinely didn't believe she was in labour at thirty five weeks. By the time she reached hospital, a doctor examined her and told her flatly that her cervix was completely closed. Two hours later she was eight centimetres and pushing. Her son was born weighing six pounds six ounces, and what followed was eleven days in hospital for jaundice and a really difficult start to breastfeeding, until a retired health visitor finally showed her and her partner what they'd been missing.Second time around, Alex went in with a plan. After reading about the ARRIVE trial, she and her partner chose a planned induction at thirty nine weeks so they'd have family lined up for childcare and he could be with her the whole way through. It still didn't go entirely to script. Her midwife wanted to start a hormone drip after two hours and Alex said no. Labour then stalled on an anterior lip, her baby's heart rate dipped, and an obstetrician stepped in with a ventouse. He was born six minutes later, weighing eight pounds eight ounces, with no tearing at all.In this episode we talk about: - What a precipitous, premature labour can actually feel like when you don't realise you're in it - The ARRIVE trial and why Alex chose a planned induction at thirty nine weeks - Saying no to a hormone drip and trusting her own body - What an anterior lip is and how it led to a ventouse delivery - Getting breastfeeding support right the second time, including tongue tie that never caused an issueThe 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.

Today on the show, Lisa is back to share her second and third births: two positive NHS home births after a first birth that ended in forceps, a third degree tear and a haemorrhage.Going into her second pregnancy, Lisa was high risk on paper. Instead of the glucose tolerance test, she used her old meter to check her own blood sugars four times a day and controlled them with diet. She declined the consultant appointments, protected her due date with an early scan, and was taken on by a home birth midwife called Maria, who told her she was there to support whatever she chose. After a long, restless early labour, Lisa had 45 minutes of almost constant contractions, got in the pool, and her body pushed her daughter out in about five minutes. The midwife didn't make it and her husband called 999. Lisa believes she experienced the fetal ejection reflex.Her third labour started over a coffee with a friend and carried on quietly through church and a family dinner. She laboured downstairs on her own overnight and in the pool in the morning, then called out to the midwives as they arrived. Her daughter was born four minutes later, with no tear and a slow, rested recovery.In this episode we talk about:Declining the glucose tolerance test and monitoring her own blood sugars through pregnancyPlanning an NHS home birth after a third degree tear and a postpartum haemorrhageHow one home birth midwife and continuity of care changed everythingA birth before arrival in the pool, the fetal ejection reflex and a 999 callA calm third birth at home, no tear, and why she stayed in bed for a week afterwardsThe 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.You can get in touch with Lisa and work with her here:Lisa runs a free monthly positive birth group in Wimbledon and anyone pregnant in South West London is always so welcome to join us (details on her website) https://www.doulaforyou.co.uk/https://www.instagram.com/lisaharrisdoula/