Positive Birth Story: My second pregnancy. Positive induction using hypnobirthing

Here I share my second birth story, the birth of Olivia and how I had a positive induction using hypnobirthing. My labour was induced on a labour ward, I had a high risk pregnancy however I planned a home birth regardless (click to read how I planned a home birth with gestational diabetes). My plan A didn’t work out however I had an incredible birth experience. Read on to find out how it played out and how I coped with such a 360 change of plan. I was induced on the labour ward in Prince Charles Hospital, Merthyr, South Wales

The High Risk Part…

I was diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes at 28 weeks of pregnancy after hopes of a home birth this time around. I won’t go into details of GD here, that can be for another blog post, but I managed to stay solely diet controlled throughout. No metformin or insulin.

I will say, that I had amazing support from my community wife and consultant midwife at Cwm Taff Morgannwg Midwifery Services, who continued to support my home birth wishes, ensuring I had all of the information I needed to make my own decisions, which I am forever grateful for.

All was set for my plan A.. my birth pool was set up in my living room at 38 weeks gestation. At 38+6, my water started to leak during the night. The next morning a lovely community midwife, Sam, came to my house and confirmed that it was definitely my waters - which would have been great.. if my surges had followed suit!

The decision…

I was aware that there was now a slightly increased risk of infection and the longer it took for Olivia to be born, the higher that risk became. At this point though, there were no other concerns with me or baby so I decided to hold off on induction and go to the hospital later that afternoon for ECG monitoring. I also requested to speak with an Obstetrician to discuss options.

I went home to wait for my surges to come. but to no avail! The next day I went back to the hospital, at around 12pm, for another ECG check. When they do this check they are looking for any changes to heart rate (for me and baby) that might indicate an infection is present.

Whilst there, they said that they had a space that afternoon for induction should I wish to take it as by this point, my waters had been broken for almost 48 hours. After lots of discussion with my husband we decided to head up to the labour ward to begin the process. We had already written a birth plan that incorporated my preferences in a circumstance like this, as well as a birth plan for an unplanned C section, so we still went in to the process feeling confident and prepared as possible.

The induction…

I requested hormonal gel (which contains prostaglandins and is used to thin and soften the cervix ready for labour) as a method of induction and was 1cm dilated when they administered it at 3pm. Surges began instantly and came quite intensely - however I am not entirely sure that the intensity was solely due to the gel or whether the environment I was in played a part.

I was not prepared for just how busy, disturbing and anti-calm-birth a labour ward would be, making it incredibly difficult to put relaxation tools in to practice because they just aren’t conducive to relaxation at all. I spent the first hour or so watching The US Office as a positive distraction, and as a way of getting feel good hormones flowing (Oxytocin). The remainder of the time was spent with my eyes closed, earphones in listening to Hypnobirthing MP3 tracks, really trying to block our everything around me and stay as calm as possible.

It’s so important to build as much Oxytocin as possible in early labour and doing this on a mixed labour ward was probably the MOST challenging part of my whole labour and birth.

After four hours, my surges tailed off and a consultant came to see me, we discussed my birth plan in extreme detail, going through every bullet point and compromising on what we could still achieve for the most positive birth possible.

The consultant I spoke with was very supportive in me still having as close to my original plan as possible and we discussed that should I agree to induction within the next 48 hours, I would be able to give birth on the midwife-led unit within the hospital. I great compromise for me! It’s important to note that this doesn’t typically get offered out which is why it’s essential that you know your rights and are aware of what options are actually available to you, despite what you may or may not be told.

The Birth Plan…

I cannot stress enough the importance of a robust, well thought out birth plan! The prep that myself and my husband put in to this, the knowledge and research, the discussion around what we would and wouldn’t accept and be happy with, are truly the reason that I viewed this labour and birth as so, so positive, even though it was wildly difference from my initial hopes.

It allowed all of the maternity team to be consistent with each other, to stick to what I had outlined, to check in with me at every twist and turn, and it allowed me to transfer a tonne of my original birth plan to my new circumstances so that I could keep as much of my ‘ideal birth’ as possible. My birth plan allowed the maternity ream to make that happen for us.

Anyway, back to the birth…

I was transferred to the Birth Centre around 10pm, popped on a monitor to double check baby’s heart rate and it showed that it was slightly elevated so they suspected a potential infection. I had some bloods taken, no surges at this point, and the decision was made that I would give birth on a labour ward delivery suite so that a closer eye could be kept on us both.

Once there, a vaginal exam confirmed that I was 4cm dilated as a result of the hormonal gel induction, no surges happening at that moment so opted to have my waters broken which brought surges back consistently and powerfully.

My conditions for labouring on the labour ward were (as already laid out in my birth plan!):

• To remain upright with freedom to move whenever I wanted

• To create an Oxytocin friendly environment in the way I wanted

  • I used battery operated candles (linked)

  • Battery operated fairy lights (linked)

  • A reed diffuser of the candles I had been using for relaxation in pregnancy (linked)

• To use wireless monitors (I had continuous monitoring) instead of being attached to the machine

• To have access to birth balls (linked) and peanut balls, food and drinks freely

• That any discussions between professionals were done in hushed voices, that staff would knock before entering and would basically be inconspicuous when in the room.

I laboured on a birth ball, receiving light touch massage from my husband as one of my continuous hypnobirthing coping strategies during labour. Luke also kept an eye on my tension signs, reminding me to lower my shoulders when they became raised, something that the midwife picked up on and started doing too. He knew when I was in my calm ‘green’ zone and used that time to have his own toilet breaks!

Whilst upright, Olivia’s heart rate would drop slightly as a result of surges coming too intensely for her. I was given an injection to slow down surges slightly - something that I didn’t even acknowledge which is BIG for me as prior to my first birth (and hypnobirthing!) I was terrified of needles as well as birth!

Following this I moved to the bed and spent the rest of this phase laying on my side with a peanut ball between my legs when I felt I was transitioning (an intense stage between cervical dilation and pushing at around 9-10cm). It was only at this point that I could no longer engage with others around me and I used every hypnobirthing tool I had to completely focus on my body, my surges and my baby.

Birthing Olivia…

When I felt my body pushing Olivia downwards, I moved to all fours on the bed and she was passed through my legs around 10 minutes later. I remember bursting in to tears in shear disbelief that I had such a positive experience despite needles, diabetes finger pricking (yes you still monitor blood sugars even in labour - madness), ECG monitoring, an awful environment on the labour ward and a massive change to my ideal birth scenario.

Olivia was born completely healthy and well at 3:19am, 12 hours after the gel was inserted to start labour and five hours after my water were broken.

After the birth…

A paediatrician came to check over her following the potential infection concerns and confirmed she was super healthy, my bloods came back with no signs of infection (of course), and we were left, in a cosy, dimly lit room, fairy lights still twinkling, to enjoy our golden hour with our new baby.

My husband did an incredible job of advocating for us, questioning the maternity team and re-affirming my birth plan - he was the model hypnobirthing partner!

I felt and still feel so proud of myself for having the experience that I had. Don’t leave it to chance - do the preparation, sign up to the hypnobirthing course, things can change in the blink of an eye and it’s so important that you are prepared for that and can continue to feel confident, calm and in control regardless of the path birth takes!

What you need to know about induction…

NB: Although my experience of induction was a positive one, there are MANY risks associated with induction of labour, with an increased liklihood of needing medical intervention to birth your baby, such as forceps of C section. This can be due to multiple reasons including, maternal distress, baby’s distress, intensity of surges, induction methods failing to work and more. If you decide to agree to an induction, please do your research, do the hypnobirthing course, and it can make ALL the difference.

Ways you can do Hypnobirthing with me…

You can click to see ways you can do hypnobirthing with me. I offer 1:1 online hypnobirthing courses, both full 10 hour and intensive 4 hour courses, plus in person pregnancy relaxation antenatal classes in Rhondda Cynon Taff

If you want to chat first, why not book a free discovery call? This won’t be 15 mins of me trying to sell you my course, instead it’s an opportunity for us to get to know each other and see if we would be a good fit! To book a free 15 minute discovery call email me at hannahcontemporarybirth@outlook.com