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Charlie: Three Births, Teenage Pregnancy at 17, Premature Labour at 36 Weeks, Ventouse and Episiotomy, Two Miscarriages, Positive NHS Hospital Hypnobirthing Water Birth, Positive Unplanned Lockdown Home Water Birth, No Pain Relief
Season 45
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She found out she was pregnant at 15 weeks. She was 17. She had not packed a hospital bag, had not read a single book, and had no idea what was about to happen to her body.
Charlie is a mum of three from Sheffield who shares three births that could not be more different from each other. Her first, at 17, was a premature labour at 36 weeks with a low-lying placenta, a hormonal drip, an epidural she pressed too many times, a ventouse delivery, a traumatic room, and a wave of guilt that stayed with her for years. She did not want to be a teenage parent. She was ashamed of her pregnancy. And then she held him, and all of that shame turned into something else entirely.
Between her first and second births came two miscarriages. One managed at home on her own. One at 17 weeks, with a tiny coffin and a midwife she will never forget. Charlie went back to trying almost immediately after each loss, and the anxiety that followed her into her second pregnancy was unlike anything she had experienced. She called her midwife out to check for movements more than 20 times. And when she walked into that delivery suite at 41 weeks and was recognised by a midwife who knew her sister, everything shifted. She breathed her son out in a pool of water so clear you could read the hospital towel through it. Nobody made a sound.
Her third baby was conceived on a whim during lockdown, three weeks after her son's christening. She barely told anyone she was pregnant. She set up a birthing pool in the living room, sent the boys to the grandparents, drove to Dunelm to pick up a rug during contractions, and came home to waters breaking straight onto it. Thea arrived at 5pm. By evening Charlie was in bed eating a takeaway. The baby slept through the night. The house was spotless.
In this episode we talk about:
- What it is really like to find out you are pregnant at 17 and go through it entirely alone
- The ventouse delivery Charlie was not prepared for and the guilt that followed her into early motherhood
- Two miscarriages, what medical management actually looks like, and how the NHS care differed between them
- The anxiety pregnancy after loss brings and the midwife who came to Charlie's house 20 times
- How hypnobirthing changed everything and what a truly calm water birth actually feels like
- A lockdown home birth with no gas and air mouthpiece, a confused partner, and a baby who arrived in three hours
This episode is for anyone who has ever come to motherhood the hard way and wondered whether they would ever feel at peace with it. Charlie did. And her story shows exactly what is possible when a woman finally gets the support she deserves.
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.
British Birthing Stories shares real, unfiltered stories of childbirth in the UK, from pregnancy and labour to postpartum recovery.
These stories reflect personal experiences and should not be taken as or replace medical advice. Always seek guidance from a qualified healthcare professional.
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47. April: First and Second Births, Two Emergency C-Sections, Failed Induction, Large Baby, Bonding Difficulties, Birth Trauma, Attempted VBAC
57:11||Ep. 47She planned a home birth. She hypnobirthed. She did everything right. And after two days of induction at 42 weeks, her son was born by emergency C-section at 10 pounds. She never even got to hold him for the first four hours.April is a mum of three from the East Midlands who shares two very different but equally difficult emergency C-section births. Her first, at 22 years old, left her separated from her baby in recovery, unable to breastfeed, and spending the first six months of her son's life struggling to bond with him. Her second was supposed to be her VBAC. She had done the research, fought her way into the midwife-led unit, laboured in the pool for hours, refused Syntocin, and got to 10 centimetres. And then an obstetrician she had been battling all night took her to theatre anyway.She lost 2.5 litres of blood. She came out with a blood drain in her scar. And she left the hospital knowing she had been let down. In this episode we talk about:What it is like to be 22, in labour for two days, and separated from your baby after a C-sectionHow April fought to access the midwife-led unit for her second birth as a VBAC patientWhat actually happened in theatre and why April still has unanswered questionsHow being autistic affected her experience of both births and why nobody understood her decisionsWhat birth trauma really looks like and how it can take years to processThis episode is for anyone who has ever felt like the system failed them. April is proof that your instincts matter and your choices matter and you are allowed to say no. 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.46. Emma: First Birth, Identical Twin Pregnancy, Termination for Medical Reasons, Chemical Pregnancy, MCDA Twins, Threatened Premature Labour at 27 Weeks, NHS Induction, Emergency C-Section, Blood Transfusion
01:21:26||Ep. 46She had already been through a termination for medical reasons and a chemical pregnancy before she ever got to carry her twins. And when she finally did, she spotted them on the screen at six weeks before the sonographer did.Emma is a mum of identical twin boys, now three and a half, who shares an honest and wide-ranging story about what a high risk twin pregnancy actually looks and feels like from the inside. MCDA twins sharing one placenta meant fortnightly consultant appointments from the second trimester, a scary admission at 27 weeks with threatened premature labour, and a delivery at 36 weeks that started as an induction and became a C-section in the early hours of the morning. Her boys were healthy. Her birth team were warm and calm. And then she went home four days later and the real work began.Emma is just as honest about the year that followed as she is about the birth itself. The loneliness of those first nights in hospital alone with two babies. The breastfeeding journey that she wanted to make work and eventually had to let go. The postpartum rage that came from nowhere and scared her. And the community of mum friends she found about a year in that she says changed everything.In this episode we talk about:Termination for medical reasons and how grief can sit underneath the drive to just keep tryingWhat an MCDA twin pregnancy involves and how the monitoring affected Emma's experience of being pregnantBeing admitted at 27 weeks with threatened premature labour and a fibronectin result that gave a 60% chance of delivery within two weeksAn induction at 36 weeks that stalled and became a C-section, and how Emma felt the decision happen before it was ever explained to herBreastfeeding twins and the moment something had to giveMaternal rage, postpartum loneliness, and what finally helpedThis episode is for anyone expecting twins, anyone navigating pregnancy after loss, and anyone who felt like the postpartum hit them in ways nobody had prepared them for.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.44. Annabel: Two Planned NHS C-Sections, Breech Baby, Miscarriage, Secondary Infertility, Breastfeeding Challenges, Tongue Tie, Postpartum Constipation, Honest Postpartum Recovery
56:16||Ep. 44She always wanted a C-section. From the time she was a teenager. And when her son turned out to be breech, she finally had the reason she felt she needed to say yes. Second time around, she asked for one with no hesitation at all. And she would do it again without question. Annabel is a journalist, TikTok creator, and founder of The Moon Suit who shares two planned C-sections on the NHS. Her first birth was with her son Jasper, who was breech, in England before the family moved to Iceland two weeks after surgery. Her second, her daughter Ophelia, came after a long road of secondary infertility, a miscarriage before Jasper, breastfeeding into Jasper's second year affecting her cycle, and a frightening bleed early in Ophelia's pregnancy. Both births were calm and controlled. Both recoveries had their challenges. What makes this episode stand out is how honest Annabel is about everything that sits around the births themselves. The brutal breastfeeding journey with Jasper that lasted nine months of pain. The loneliness of early motherhood in Iceland with no village around her. The postpartum constipation that she describes as worse than anything she experienced in either surgery. And the very real emotional weight of gender disappointment with her first pregnancy that she sat with for a long time. In this episode we talk about:Why Annabel always wanted a planned C-section and how she navigated the NHS conversations to get what she wanted second time aroundWhat it is actually like to go through a planned C-section twice and how the two experiences comparedSecondary infertility after extended breastfeeding and the book and lifestyle changes that she credits with helping her conceive OpheliaA miscarriage before Jasper and a significant bleed in Ophelia's pregnancy and what those experiences were like emotionallyBreastfeeding with tongue tie, Raynaud's Syndrome, and mastitis for nine months and why it was completely different second timePostpartum constipation after a C-section and what actually helpedWhat it is like to raise two small children without a village and how much that changed when family came to stayThis episode is for anyone who has chosen or is considering a planned C-section and wants to hear from someone who has done it twice and has absolutely no regrets.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. You can follow Annabel on social here and if you'd like to buy her Moonsuit you can purchase it here43. Zoe: Two Positive NHS Hospital Births, Epidurals, Gender Disappointment, Childhood Trauma, Delayed Bonding, Morphine First Birth vs Epidural Only Second Birth
01:02:51||Ep. 43Zoe always knew she wanted pain relief. But like a lot of women, she found herself surrounded by messaging that made her question that. Until a pregnant midwife said something that stuck with her. You don't get a certificate for how you have the baby. Zoe is a mum of two boys from West Yorkshire who shares two positive NHS hospital vaginal births, both with epidurals, and an honest account of the emotional journey into motherhood. Her pregnancies were smooth and uncomplicated, but her fears were never really about the birth itself. They were about whether she would bond with her baby. Whether she was supposed to be a mother at all. Growing up without the mother-daughter relationship she had always craved meant that becoming a mum felt like something she had everything riding on. Her first birth went well medically, but she was given morphine while waiting for the anaesthetist, which left her quite out of it when Leo arrived. What she was not prepared for was the night that followed. Alone on the postnatal ward at 1am, flooded with drugs, not knowing what to do with a screaming newborn, her husband gone. By the next morning, she was obsessed with him. Second time around she went in with knowledge and confidence, knew exactly what she wanted, and had a calm and positive experience from start to finish.In this episode we talk about:The advice from a pregnant midwife that gave Zoe permission to choose the birth that was right for herWhat it was really like to be alone on a postnatal ward in the early hours with a newborn and no idea what to doHow medication affected her presence at Leo's birth and why she made different choices second time aroundThe difference in bonding between her two births and why she felt guilt about the gapWhy Zoe thinks women need more honest expectations around postnatal care and support This episode is for anyone who has ever felt pressure to do birth a certain way when actually their gut was pointing somewhere else entirely.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.42. Charlotte: Second Birth, NHS Birth Centre Birth, Two Miscarriages, Prolonged Early Labour, Retained Placenta, Theatre, Informed Second Birth, Becoming a Doula
49:26||Ep. 42She had two miscarriages, a traumatic first birth, and a husband who said he could never put her through it again. And then she came back, did everything differently, and pushed her son out standing in a doorway on her own terms. Charlotte is a mum of two from Leeds who shares her second birth story at an NHS birth centre on Christmas Day weekend. After a first birth that left her with birth trauma, breastfeeding struggles, and months of emotional recovery, Charlotte decided that if she was going to do this again, she was going to understand everything. She threw herself into evidence-based research, hired a doula for birth prep, changed her midwife at 20 weeks by making a formal complaint, and went into labour armed with a clear birth plan and a husband who finally understood why it mattered. Labour started with gentle contractions at a Christmas nativity play. Over three days of stop-start early labour, Charlotte made her way to the birth centre on Boxing Day evening, spent hours labouring in the pool, and then found herself in transition in a corridor, standing in a doorway, refusing to get on the bed. Her son Noah was born with her husband holding her up and the midwives catching. It was everything her first birth was not. And then her placenta was retained again, and she went to theatre for the second time. But this time her husband and baby came with her, and the people in that room treated her like a person. In this episode we talk about:Two early miscarriages and the lack of NHS support that followedHow Charlotte used research, podcasts, and a birth prep doula to rebuild her confidence after a traumatic first birthMaking a formal complaint to change her midwife at 20 weeks and why it was worth itThree days of stop-start early labour over Christmas and what that was actually likeHaving her waters broken without clear consent during a vaginal exam at 7cmTransitioning in a corridor and pushing her son out standing in a doorway with no pain reliefA retained placenta for the second time and why the theatre experience felt completely differentHow an empowered second birth gave her the reserves to cope with a baby who ended up back in hospital with an NG tubeWhy this birth was the reason she became a doula This episode is for anyone who had a traumatic first birth and is trying to work out whether they can do it again, and how to do it differently. 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.41. Charlotte: First Birth, NHS Hospital Birth, Birth Centre Transfer to Labour Ward, 9 Days Overdue, Meconium, Hypnobirthing, Informed Consent, Coach Pushing, Retained Placenta, Theatre, Postpartum Haemorrhage, Birth Trauma, Hypermobility
45:12||Ep. 41She was in the birth centre for the first time, on the beanbag, breathing through her contractions with her mum and her husband by her side. And honestly, she was doing it. And then her waters broke properly, and in the space of a few minutes, everything she had prepared for changed. Charlotte is a first time mum from Leeds who spent her entire pregnancy doing everything right. She hypnobirthed, she went to NCT, she went to the gym all the way through, and she was fit, healthy, low risk and genuinely ready for it. But the moment meconium appeared in her waters, everything shifted, and suddenly decisions were being made for her without anyone really stopping to explain what was happening or ask her what she actually wanted. And just like that, her birth stopped feeling like hers. What followed was two hours of coach pushing with no urge to push at all. A retained placenta that would not budge. A trip to theatre alone while her husband sat in a room with a screaming newborn he had never held in his life. And a neurological exam on her toes while she was bleeding, because nobody could find the notes from the anaesthetist appointment she had attended specifically for this moment. In this episode we talk about:What meconium in your waters actually means and how one moment can flip an entire birth planHow Charlotte's mum asking a single question kept Charlotte off the oxytocin drip entirelyWhat coach pushing really feels like and why Charlotte believes it made everything so much harderRetained placenta, theatre, and what it is like to be separated from your baby in those first momentsThe postpartum that followed, a baby who cried for six months, and what Charlotte wishes she had knownWhat informed consent really looks like and what happens when you do not get it This episode is for anyone heading into their first birth feeling prepared and confident. Because preparation matters enormously. And so does knowing that even when it goes sideways, you are allowed to ask why. 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. If you would like to connect with Charlotte or use her services you can find her on Instagram here and you can check out here website here.40. Lauren: First Birth, Positive Planned C-Section, Vanishing Twin Syndrome, NHS Antenatal Care, Breastfeeding Struggles, Scar Recovery
01:07:07||Ep. 40She never wanted a vaginal birth. Not once. She knew exactly how she wanted her baby born. And after a small battle with her midwives, she got it. A calm, planned C-section. Baby on her chest at 3.15pm. And she would do it exactly the same way again. Lauren is a first time mum from Kent who shares a warm and honest account of planning and delivering a positive NHS planned C-section with her son Louis. Low risk, informed, and clear on what she wanted, Lauren had to push back on initial resistance from her midwives before her decision was accepted. Her antenatal care left her feeling invisible and unsupported at times, including a deeply difficult moment at her 12-week scan when she discovered she had been carrying twins, and one had not survived. But when she got into that operating theatre, everything changed.The birth itself was calm, controlled, and positive. What came after was harder than she expected. Breastfeeding was painful and relentless, and the postnatal ward left her alone overnight with a newborn after major surgery, calling for paracetamol at 1am and waiting until 4. But Lauren came through it all with clarity, pragmatism, and a really beautiful perspective on what it means to make an informed choice and stand by it.In this episode we talk about:Why Lauren chose a planned C-section and how she handled the initial pushback from her midwivesDiscovering vanishing twin syndrome at her 12-week scan and processing that lossWhat it actually feels like in the operating theatre and how Lauren stayed calmThe reality of the postnatal ward after a C-section and why she chose to go home after one nightA really painful breastfeeding journey and the silver nipple shields that finally turned it aroundWhy she is going back for a planned C-section second time around and why she feels more nervous this timeThis episode is for anyone who knows in their gut how they want to birth their baby and needs to hear that it is okay to stand your ground.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.39. Shannon: VBAC After Three C-Sections, Hospital Birth Centre Water Birth, Fourth Birth, Shoulder Dystocia Concerns, Large Baby, Second Degree Tears, Postpartum Haemorrhage, Birth Coercion, Lockdown Birth Trauma
48:41||Ep. 39They told her she would bleed out. They told her her baby would get stuck and die. They told her she would traumatise the entire home birth team. Shannon had three C-sections, an NHS system fighting her at every turn, and a fourth baby tracking on the 97th centile. She went ahead anyway. Shannon is a mum of four and a doula from the UK who shares four birth stories shaped by hypermobility syndrome, COVID lockdown, birth coercion, and a fierce determination to achieve the VBAC nobody wanted to give her. Her third birth in April 2020 left her alone in recovery during COVID, separated from her husband, and threatened with being parted from her newborn daughter over a temperature spike. She locked that trauma away. And then, when her youngest was two, she decided she wanted a fourth baby and the vaginal birth she had never had.What followed was one of the most extraordinary acts of self-advocacy in the history of this podcast. From the midwife at her booking appointment who played the dead baby card within minutes, to a 36-week appointment where she was ambushed by the head of community midwifery and told her baby would be born dead and her birth team traumatised. Shannon fought every single appointment, armed with statistics and research. She was not signed off for a home birth until 38 weeks. Then, in active labour, the hospital told her the home birth team was not available. She cried. She got in the car. And she went in and did it anyway. In this episode we talk about:What it is really like to give birth during COVID lockdown and how the restrictions affected Shannon's third birth and recoveryHow Shannon educated herself on VBAC statistics after three C-sections and used that knowledge to push backThe tactics used against her at that 36-week appointment and why she describes it as feeling completely ambushedWhat happened in the labour room when the consultant who had lied to her in her third pregnancy walked in and said how long are you going to keep doing this forHow a third-year student midwife delivered a 9lb 13.5oz baby they said would never come out vaginallyIf you would like to find out more about Shannon and what she does you can visit her website here: shannonwhitlockdoula.com and you can follow her on social media here. This episode is for anyone who has ever been told by the system that their body cannot do something. Shannon's story is proof that research, self-belief, and a very well-written email can change everything.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.