I woke up on Friday morning feeling a bit crampy and sent Ky off to work. I’d been having contractions most mornings, so I didn’t think too much of it at first. But by 9:30 a.m., they’d settled into a loose rhythm, and I texted Ky to come home.
We arrived at the hospital around 12 p.m., with contractions coming about five to six minutes apart. The midwife monitored me, nodded, and said we’d be staying. She moved us to the maternity ward and told us to settle in—but things progressed quickly. By 1:30 p.m., I was already in active labour.
At 2 p.m., my waters broke, and the contractions intensified, coming just a minute apart. Just before 3 p.m., we walked back to the delivery room. I agreed to a cervical check—six to seven centimetres dilated, cervix paper-thin.
From there, everything moved fast. Our doctor was on leave, the on-call doctors were tied up in surgery, and the fourth doctor on the list sprinted down the hall while putting on gloves. There wasn’t time for any pain relief, so I focused on my breathing, and after just a few pushes, Ethan was here, at 3.33pm.
Ethan latched for his first feed on his own, and we had some quiet time together as a family.
After multiple rounds of IVF, we’d taken the Calmbirth course to understand the birth process and feel confident making informed decisions about interventions. That preparation helped us choose and decline what felt right for us.
After Calmbirth I understood what was happening and knew I could breathe through the pain, I’m also really grateful we had strategies to rely on when there wasn’t time for pain relief. Labour was intense and fast, but I feel proud of what my body was able to do.
Molli's calm breathing helped her stay focussed… by Karen McClay On the 12th of June our daughter was born. We did not expect to have such a fast labour being a first time mum, thankfully the education we got from attending the Calmbirth course prepared us for labour and birth from recognising the signs of labour to using the breathing…
Chantal's birth stories - Two different births with… by Karen McClay Chantal’s two very different births - one during Covid in Hospital and another 2 years later at home. But what both births had in common was they were both informed, confident, prepared and empowered to advocate for themselves and not be afraid to ask questions in order to have the…
