Share
British Birthing Stories
Gigi: First Birth, NHS Hospital Birth, Precipitous 3 Hour Labour, Pethidine, Ventouse Delivery, Gender Disappointment, Delayed Bonding
Ep. 69
•
Gigi's labour moved so fast her body started pushing before anyone realised what was happening. Then the pethidine kicked in, and she was left alone in the room, unable to call out for help.
Gigi is a mum of two from London, and this is the story of her first birth, her son Rupert. After an early miscarriage, her second pregnancy came quickly, though the nine months that followed were not easy. She had planned to ease gently into labour with hypnobirthing, but when it arrived the night before her booked induction, everything happened much faster than she expected.
Contractions came every two to three minutes almost from the start, so close together that Gigi ended up labouring through half the tube journey to hospital. Once she arrived, pethidin took the pain away completely, but it also left her drifting in and out of consciousness, alone in a hospital room while her body began pushing on its own. What followed was a sudden dash to the labour ward, an episiotomy, an assisted ventouse delivery, and a newborn son she did not fall in love with straight away.
In this episode we talk about:
- Labouring so fast she rode the London Underground through established contractions
- What pethidin really felt like, and being left alone in a hospital room once it took hold
- An emergency when the baby's heart rate could not be picked up properly
- An assisted delivery with an episiotomy and a Kiwi ventouse
- Not feeling an instant bond with her baby, and being honest about gender disappointment afterwards
This episode is for anyone who felt like their birth, or those first days with their baby, did not go the way they 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.
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.
Follow us on social: Instagram · TikTok · YouTube
Want to come on the podcast? Get in touch and share your story here
More episodes
View all episodes
74. Chloe: Two Births, Emergency Caesarean and Planned NHS Home Birth After Caesarean (HBAC) Born in an Ambulance, Induction, Membrane Sweep, Pethidine, Syntocinon, Failed Spinal, Consultant Led Care, Doula, Meconium, Fetal Ejection Reflex, Third Degree Tear
01:08:09||Ep. 74Today on the show Chloe shares both of her births. The first was an induction that ended in an emergency caesarean at Liverpool Women's. The second was a planned NHS home birth after caesarean that ended with her daughter being born in the back of an ambulance.Chloe was 23 and hadn't done any birth prep when she booked her induction. A pessary and a sweep she wasn't told about got things started, and after two nights on a busy induction ward she moved to the labour ward at 3cm. Then came pethidine, the hormone drip and contractions with no break in between. Her epidural took several attempts because her back was so muscly. After three days with barely any sleep she went from 6cm back to 4cm, and she chose a caesarean. The spinal wouldn't go in, and rather than be put to sleep she told the team she couldn't feel anything on her right side. She could.Second time round Chloe spent ten months researching. She stayed with the Liverpool Women's home birth team, said no to an induction and a repeat caesarean, and laboured at her mum's house with her mum, her sister and her doula. Her waters broke over the birth ball with meconium in them. The midwife on call was stuck at another birth, so paramedics came instead. After two hours of her body pushing on its own in the pool, she was helped into an ambulance and her daughter was born round the corner in one go. A fetal ejection reflex, a 3C tear, and a baby who needed her airways clearing, which Chloe did herself.In this episode we talk about:Why induction felt like the norm at 23 and what Chloe wishes she'd questionedPethidine, a failed spinal and what it's like to feel part of your emergency caesareanPlanning an NHS home birth after caesarean (HBAC) under consultant led care, and saying no to induction and a repeat caesareanMeconium in the waters, paramedics instead of midwives and a fetal ejection reflex in the back of an ambulanceRecovering from a third degree tear and why Chloe found it harder than healing from her caesareanThe 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.73. Erin: Second Birth, Positive NHS Hospital VBAC, Spontaneous Labour, Midwife Led Unit, Birth Pool with Wireless CTG, Back Labour, Breech Baby Turned, Reduced Fetal Movements, Anterior Placenta, TENS Machine, Gas and Air, 3A Tear
54:53||Ep. 73I had Erin back on the pod to share the birth of her daughter, her second baby and her VBAC. Erin lives in Glasgow with her husband, their two little ones and their dogs. Her son was born by emergency C section after a 71 hour induction. This time she wanted to see what her body could do if labour started on its own.She asked to move to the NHS home birth team at her eight week booking appointment, then chose the hospital's midwife led unit when a home birth stopped feeling right. Along the way there were two episodes of reduced fetal movements, a sonographer who explained why an anterior placenta doesn't account for reduced movements, consultant appointments about continuous monitoring, and a breech scan at 30 weeks that hit her much harder than she expected. By 32 weeks her daughter had turned head down.Labour crept in over New Year. Three days of cramps, then back pain through the night after the bells, then contractions she only ever felt in her back. She got to triage at 5cm and laboured in the pool with a wireless CTG monitor. At 8cm, in transition, she was asking for a C section. While she waited for an epidural on Labour Ward, her body started pushing on its own and her daughter was born on the next contraction. Erin lifted her straight onto her chest, exactly the moment she'd pictured all pregnancy.In this episode we talk about:Planning a VBAC on the NHS after an emergency C section, and moving from the home birth team to a midwife led unitWhy an anterior placenta doesn't explain reduced fetal movementsUsing the birth pool with wireless CTG monitoring during a VBACBack labour, transition and asking for a C section at 8cmBirth reviews, accessing your maternity notes, and a 3A tear repaired in theatreThe 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.72. Nicole: First Birth, IVF Conception, Ghost Pregnancy, Positive NHS Hospital Induction, Failed Epidural, Ventouse Delivery, Episiotomy, Breastfeeding Challenges, Hospital Readmission
38:26||Ep. 72Nicole is an Australian mum living in the UK who welcomed her daughter Rosemary after a long IVF journey. Her pregnancy was smooth until a late scan flagged Rosemary as measuring small, and Nicole was booked in for an induction at nearly thirty seven weeks. She leaned hard on hypnobirthing and a strict no contact with the outside world rule to stay calm through days of waiting in hospital before anything even started.Everything changed when Rosemary would not come down and Nicole ended up pushing alone for almost an hour before a doctor, who happened to be an old family friend, stepped in with a ventouse delivery and an episiotomy. What followed was an exhausting recovery, a battle to breastfeed that ended in an official complaint, and a terrifying moment days later when Rosemary was readmitted to hospital because she was not putting weight back on.In this episode we talk about:What it is really like to be induced and spend days waiting for a bed on the wardThe strange experience of a ghost pregnancy before her successful IVF transferPushing for nearly an hour before a doctor stepped in with a ventouse deliveryWhy she made an official complaint after her breastfeeding support fell shortBeing readmitted to hospital just a week after birth and what caused itThis episode is for anyone who has ever felt dismissed while trying to feed their baby, or who is heading into an induction and wondering how on earth to stay calm.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.71. Steph: First Birth, NHS Hospital Birth, Preeclampsia, Gestational Diabetes, Induction, Failed Epidural, Dural Puncture, Failed Pushing, Emergency C-Section, Postpartum Haemorrhage, C-Section Infection, Birth Trauma
38:56||Ep. 71Steph is a first time mum from South Devon who spent her pregnancy hypnobirthing and hoping for a straightforward delivery. Instead she got appendicitis at fifteen weeks, gestational diabetes at twenty six weeks, and preeclampsia at twenty eight weeks. She was induced at thirty six weeks, and what followed was, in her own words, hell on earth.The turning point came hours into pushing, when a doctor and a midwife came in to examine her and realised she was not the nine or ten centimetres she had been coached to believe. She was eight, and her baby was stuck in the birth canal. What followed was an emergency C-section where Steph could feel everything, a dural puncture from a failed epidural that left her unable to sit up or hold her own baby for days, and a birth so far from the one she had planned that it took her years, and a second birth, to make peace with. In this episode we talk about:Getting an endometriosis diagnosis after years of being told her symptoms were normal, and conceiving naturally after being told she would need helpEmergency appendix surgery at fifteen weeks pregnant and being told what would happen to her and her baby if she did not have itBeing induced with gestational diabetes and preeclampsia and what the hormone drip really felt likeA failed epidural, a dural puncture, and the blood patch procedure that finally fixed it three days laterWhy there was no golden hour after everything she had been through, and how she turned her bitterness about the birth she did not get into research and advocacy This episode is for anyone who has ever felt like their birth spiralled completely out of their control. Steph's story is proof that you can come through it and come out the other side an advocate for yourself and for other women.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.70. Georgie: First Birth, NHS Hospital Induction, Coarctation of the Aorta Diagnosed at 12 Week Scan, High Risk Pregnancy, CVS Test, One Sided Epidural, NICU, Open Heart Surgery at 7 Days Old
01:14:52||Ep. 70At her twelve week scan, Georgie was told there was a problem with her baby's heart. The tests that followed gave her daughter a one to two percent chance of surviving the pregnancy. Georgie is a mum of two from London who shares her first birth story. Her pregnancy started with severe nausea that kept her housebound for weeks. Then at her twelve week scan, everything changed when the sonographer found signs of a heart condition. What followed was months of uncertainty, scans and waiting. The turning point came when specialists confirmed her daughter had a rare heart condition with a devastating survival statistic. Georgie and her husband made the decision to continue the pregnancy, taking each day as it came. Her daughter defied the odds, was born through a long and difficult induction, and had open heart surgery at just seven days old. Today she is a happy, healthy toddler. In this episode we talk about:What it is like to be told at a routine scan that something might be wrong with your baby's heartBeing offered a termination for medical reasons and how Georgie and her husband made their decisionA one sided epidural, an unconsented sweep, and learning to advocate for herself in labourFighting to breastfeed in NICU when she was handed formula options instead of supportWhat it is really like when your seven day old baby goes into open heart surgeryThis episode is for anyone who has been told something might be wrong with their baby and does not know how to carry that uncertainty. Georgie's story is proof that you can hold onto hope even in the hardest of circumstances.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.68. India: Second Birth, Positive NHS Midwife Led Unit Birth, Four Hour Labour, 37 Weeks, Shoulder Dystocia, Healing Birth After Trauma
38:32||Ep. 68Four hours. That is all it took from her first contraction to holding her son in her arms.India is a yoga teacher, outdoor enthusiast and mum of two from the Kent coast. Her first birth left her with a 40 hour labour, a forceps delivery, and months of physical and emotional trauma to recover from. When she fell pregnant with her son on her very first attempt at trying again, she felt joy and fear in equal measure.This time she did things differently. She saw an osteopath and had weekly pelvic floor therapy before he was even born, working through tension her body was still holding from her daughter's birth. When labour came on fast at 37 weeks, she trusted her body completely. She was taken straight through to the midwife led unit, and her son was born on all fours, with no time left for the water birth she had planned, in one of the most instinctive and empowering experiences of her life.In this episode we talk about:Preparing your body for birth with osteopathy and pelvic floor therapy after a traumatic first birthWhat a genuinely fast labour feels like when it goes from first contraction to birth in 4 hoursAdvocating for a physiological birth and staying off your back, even in an emergencyShoulder dystocia and how a calm, confident midwife handled it in secondsWhy her son struggled to settle as a newborn and what finally helped him relax into his bodyThe instant bond she felt the moment he was placed on her chest, after months of feeling disconnected during pregnancyThis episode is for anyone who has had a traumatic first birth and is wondering whether their second could be completely different. India's story is proof that it absolutely can.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.67. India: First Birth, Hospital Birth After Miscarriage, Planned Water Birth, COVID Restrictions and Forceps Delivery
54:17||Ep. 67She had planned a calm hospital water birth after miscarriage, but gave birth during COVID restrictions with no birth pool, continuous monitoring, an epidural, forceps delivery, episiotomy, and a postpartum recovery that took far longer than she expected. India is a mum of two from Kent who shares her first birth with her daughter Maloo. After a miscarriage during lockdown, she fell pregnant again quickly and carried the anxiety of pregnancy after loss into a healthy pregnancy. She had prepared for birth with hypnobirthing, movement, breathwork and trust in her body, hoping for a hospital water birth on the midwife-led unit. But when she arrived at hospital, the unit was closed, the pool was unavailable, and she was told she needed continuous monitoring. After a long labour, gas and air, pethidine, an epidural and time in theatre, Maloo was born by forceps with an episiotomy.What followed was really hard. India experienced significant pelvic pain, later discovered her stitches had not dissolved properly, and began to understand how much her body was still holding from the birth. She also talks about the support that finally helped her begin to heal. In this episode we talk about:Miscarriage during lockdown and falling pregnant again soon afterWhat pregnancy after loss felt like and how anxiety showed up throughout her pregnancyPlanning a hospital water birth and how COVID restrictions changed her optionsContinuous monitoring, losing freedom of movement, and how that affected labourGas and air, pethidine, epidural, theatre, forceps delivery and episiotomyPostpartum pelvic pain, stitches that did not dissolve properly, and healing physically after birth This episode is for anyone who has experienced pregnancy after loss, a birth that moved away from what they hoped for, or a postpartum recovery that felt harder and longer than 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.66. Jazz: Second Birth, Positive NHS Birth Centre Birth, Home Labour, 12 Days Overdue, Low BMI, Self Advocacy, Membrane Sweep, Oral Morphine, Natural Tear
01:06:19||Ep. 66Jazz is a content creator and mum of two who shares her honest, informed take on birth. In this episode she shares the birth of her son Drew, a second positive birth in an NHS birth centre that started with hours of labouring at home. Twelve days overdue and booked in for another induction, Jazz went in ready to push back and buy her body more time. She never needed to. Her contractions started spontaneously the night before, and she laboured at home with her partner and his dad in the next room before heading to hospital already three centimetres dilated. This time she also knew how to advocate for herself, pushing back on being made consultant led again because of her low BMI, and on being told she could not labour in water. In this episode we talk about:Refusing to be pressured into another induction, and how her labour started spontaneously at home insteadPushing back on being made consultant led again because of her low BMI, and on being told she could not labour in waterTaking oral morphine for back pain and having her waters broken at eight centimetresWhy her body wanted to curl into a side lying position that is not considered optimal for birthPushing for two and a half hours, tearing naturally again, and her advice for any mum in labour who needs to poo This episode is for anyone about to have a second baby and wondering whether trusting your body gets easier 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.