British Birthing Stories

  Rhianna is a first time mum who shares a fast and positive NHS midwife led unit water birth. She was diagnosed with gestational diabetes late in pregnancy but stayed diet controlled throughout, with no concerns for her or baby Teddy. She spent months preparing with hypnobirthing, antenatal classes and online birth communities, hoping for a water birth with as little intervention as possible. When labour arrived two weeks early, it moved faster than anyone expected. Within fifteen minutes of calling the midwives, her contractions went from nothing to intense. By the time she reached hospital she was already six centimetres dilated. What followed was a water birth, a stretch of guided pushing when her baby's heart rate needed close watching, and a birth so fast that the midwives in the room told her to consider a home birth next time.In this episode we talk about: Being diagnosed with gestational diabetes late in pregnancy and staying diet controlled throughoutGoing from six centimetres dilated to holding her baby in under five hoursUsing the birthing pool and gas and air as her only pain reliefGuided pushing when her baby's heart rate needed closer monitoringWitnessing a student midwife's very first birth from start to finish This episode is for anyone who wants to hear what a fast, positive water birth can really feel like, even when it happens nothing like you expected. 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. 

 Bonnie went into her first birth with a detailed plan for a water birth. She left theatre with forceps, a missed third degree tear and a hemorrhage that was still waiting to happen at home two weeks later. Bonnie is a certified babywearing consultant, mum of two and originally from Hong Kong. Her first birth started with real promise. Contractions kicked off the day before her due date and progressed fast. But the hospital was too busy to admit her, so she spent hours pacing a corridor in established labour with nothing but paracetamol, only to be checked and found eight centimetres dilated. From there the birth centre she had planned for was closed due to staffing, an epidural slowed everything down, and a dip in the baby's heart rate meant forceps in theatre.The real turning point came two weeks after the birth, when a tear that had been recorded as second degree turned out to be third degree, missed at the time. Bonnie collapsed at home with a postpartum hemorrhage caused by retained placenta and had to be blue lighted back into hospital, where both were finally treated. For her second birth she went in determined, fought a consultant who tried to block her from the birth centre, and this time gave birth in the water she had wanted all along. In this episode we talk about:Being turned away in early labour and told to walk the hospital corridorA birth centre closing due to staffing on the night she needed itForceps delivery and an unplanned move to theatreA missed third degree tear and a postpartum hemorrhage at homeFighting a consultant for access to a birth centre and water birth second time roundGestational diabetes, induction and a fast birth centre water birth This episode is for anyone who has been told to just wait, who has had a birth plan fall apart in front of them, or who is preparing to fight for something different second time round. 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.

Lana is a mum of two, a content creator and coach, who joins Georgia to share both of her birth stories. Her first labour with her son began with her waters breaking at forty weeks and three days, and what followed was thirty six hours that changed how she felt about birth completely. Meconium in her waters. A syntocinon drip that made the pain unmanageable. An epidural that only worked on one side. A baby born unresponsive after her pushing stage. Then a retained placenta that led to emergency theatre and a blood transfusion. It was the start of a postnatal depression that took months to recognise. Her second birth, an elective caesarean during a hard pregnancy with gestational diabetes, gave her something she never expected: a completely healing experience. In this episode we talk about:Labouring through the night with meconium in her waters, and an epidural that only worked on one sideBeing told, mid push, that her baby was likely to be born unresponsiveA retained placenta, an emergency trip to theatre, and losing two and a half litres of bloodPostnatal depression that showed up as rage rather than sadness, and what finally got her the help she neededChoosing an elective C-section for her second birth, and why it healed her from the first  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.

 Rebecca is back to share her third birth, another planned home birth in Devon after two positive home births before this one. She prepared exactly as she had before: hypnobirthing, positive birth stories, a supportive home birth team. Everyone told her a third baby would come quickly.It didn't. Labour lasted more than ten hours, far longer than either of her previous births, and nothing about it felt familiar. She needed her husband beside her in a way she never had before, had to change position to help her baby turn, and reconsidered pain relief she'd planned to avoid. When her son finally arrived, the reason for the long labour became clear.In this episode we talk about:Discovering a ruptured ovarian cyst in early pregnancy, and mistaking it for something more seriousChanging midwives after a dismissive response to her home birth planA labour lasting far longer than her previous two, and changing position to help her baby rotateDelivering at home with the cord wrapped around her son's neck, stomach and legThe postpartum struggle with constipation that nobody warned her aboutThe 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. 

 Rebecca is a mum of three from Devon, and in this episode she shares the first two of her birth stories. She had planned a calm water birth at her local birth centre, complete with a hypnobirthing course and a positive mindset. Her waters broke at 39 weeks after an evening walk home from a prayer meeting, and what followed was a labour that moved far faster than anyone expected. Examined at two to three centimetres, she was sent home from hospital with instructions to come back for an induction that night. Within hours she needed to push, could not reach the midwives on the phone, and gave birth on her lounge floor with two paramedics. Second time round, wanting a home birth on her own terms, she was told by a midwife that she needed to check with her senior what to do with a woman who was refusing medical care, simply for declining an early induction. In this episode we talk about:Being sent home from hospital at 2 to 3cm dilated with no bed available on the wardGiving birth on the lounge floor with paramedics after the midwives could not be reachedBeing told she was refusing medical care for declining an early inductionStanding her ground against a consultant's stillbirth statistics at 42 weeksA four hour home birth exactly on her own terms the second time round  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. 

 Jess is a first time mum from Cardiff who planned a home birth from the moment she found out she was pregnant. She did hypnobirthing, joined antenatal classes, and built a relationship with the midwife who ended up attending her labour. Contractions started at 40 weeks and 5 days, and she laboured calmly at home through the night with a birth pool, gas and air, and a TENS machine. After hours stuck at 5cm with a swollen cervix, she was transferred to hospital by blue light ambulance. Her waters broke naturally with thick meconium, and then her baby's heartbeat disappeared from the monitor. Within a minute the room filled with staff, and Jess was rushed for an emergency C-section. In this episode we talk about:Getting the green light for an NHS home birth and what happens when no midwives are availableLabouring calmly at home with a birth pool, gas and air, and a TENS machineWhat it is like to stall at 5cm for hours before deciding to transfer to hospitalLosing your baby's heartbeat on the monitor and the category 1 C-section that followedWhy the postnatal ward, not the surgery, ended up being the hardest part This episode is for anyone who has planned every detail of their birth and needs to hear that it is okay when things go a completely different way. 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.

 Tash shares her second birth story, a precipitous NHS hospital birth that started with her waters breaking at midnight and ended just thirteen minutes after she walked through the doors.Tash is a mum of two. Her first birth with her daughter Betty was a positive NHS hospital birth with an epidural, though panic during her first contraction sent her hypnobirthing prep out the window. With her son Leo, her waters broke unexpectedly at midnight, days before a planned induction, and contractions came three minutes apart with no gaps from the very start. She talks about:A precipitous second labour that started with waters breaking at midnight, days before a planned inductionLabouring through an hour long car journey with contractions three minutes apart and no pain reliefArriving at hospital already crowning, and a birth in a triage side room before the midwife even had her nameFetal ejection reflex, and what it felt like when her body pushed the baby out almost on its ownA frightening first night at home when her fast birth meant her son hadn't drained the fluid from his lungsWhy the epidural was completely right for her first birth, and completely unnecessary for her second 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.

Gabby is an American mum of three living near Cambridge who comes back to share her third birth, after an emergency C-section with her first and a successful VBAC with her second. Labour started fast, in the shower, and she nearly gave birth in the car on the way to the Rosie Hospital. Her daughter arrived within minutes of arriving, but minutes later Gabby began to haemorrhage, losing nearly two litres of blood and needing a manual removal of clots, fully unmedicated. She was discharged the same day, without iron tablets.She talks about:A precipitous labour that went from the shower to nearly the carGiving birth again within minutes of arriving at hospitalPostpartum haemorrhage, a manual removal of clots, and what that actually felt likeBeing sent home the same day without iron tablets after losing nearly two litres of bloodHow this birth compared to her first C-section and her 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.