Story  by Leah

“We completed the Calmbirth course to prepare us for labour it was brilliant and really helped, he could not have done a better job of supporting me.

“I found that having a plan & knowledge helped reduce the fear of the unknown.”

I carried Bub until I was 40 + 6 it was suspected that he was a big boy

I was due to be induced the morning of the third at 7am but went into natural labour that morning at about 3:30am.

The contractions were 15mins then by 5:30am leaving home they were 5 mins apart. We arrived at the hospital around 6am, the contractions had moved to 2minutes apart.

I Laboured naturally using a tens machine along with movement & focused breathing.

At some stage I started using gas & at about 10am I had morphine I wasn’t get any rest between contractions. It was exactly what I needed.

Archie was born at 3:04pm after pushing for about 1.5hrs

I got a slight tear. Had a physiological 3rd stage . It was really everything I hoped for I was lucky that we could stick to the birth plan pretty closely. Archie was 9.11lbs & 55cm long

I can’t recommend the tens machine enough I had it on the whole labour apart from a quick trip in the shower which I didn’t love. I felt it really puts you in control of managing contractions & the level of intensity.

Very grateful that my obstetrician & 2 incredible midwifes worked so well as a team and couldn’t have been more supportive & encouraging.

My husband & I used breathing, a few affirmations and I was quite active during labour using the fitball.

We completed the Calmbirth course to prep us for labour it was brilliant and really helped, he could not have done a better job of supporting me.

I found that having a plan & knowledge helped reduce the fear of the unknown.