When the birth plan takes a detour

My partner Luke and I were expecting our first daughter in March 2024. My pregnancy had a few complications from bleeding to being diagnosed with gestational hypertension around 22 weeks but otherwise physically, I felt well, and the baby was growing perfectly!

I attended my antenatal appointments, and everything was fine, I was never really concerned about the birthing process and never really had any questions for the midwives. THANKFULLY a midwife friend of mine suggested doing Calmbirth with Georgina.

Turns out there was a lot of stuff I didn’t know about birth. Doing this course not only helped me and my partner prepare for birth but also understand birth.

The weeks prior to giving birth, I practiced the mindfulness and breathing techniques that Georgina did with us along with the exercises to help move baby along!

I was due to be induced at 39 weeks due to my gestational HTN, something that I really wanted to avoid. When I signed the consent, I felt that I was rushed and bombarded with information. Georgina took the time to educate us around the different methods of induction and that ultimately it is my body and baby, so I have the say at the end of the day to make an informed choice. I was able to push my induction back a week as my blood pressure had been stable.

I did end up being induced at 40 weeks using the Cervadil tape. My partner and I thought that things would take some time, so he went home, and I’d call him back if needed.  Initially it was fine but after a few hours the pain gradually increased but it was constant pain. It was as if I was contracting but once finished there was still pain there. I did utilise paracetamol, but it wasn’t effective, I called my partner back to the hospital. He helped me breath through the pain, encouraged having showers and supported me. He was trying everything to get that oxytocin flowing!

My waters broke at approximately 2230hrs, not long after the midwife did the 12-hour check of the Cervadil tape. When my water broke, it was slightly stained with meconium. They weren’t concerned at this time, and I was transferred to the birthing unit. Thankfully once the tape was removed, I only had pain when contracting.

Once in the birthing unit, my partner helped me into the bath as the warm water was what helped me most. Our midwife was fantastic, she asked us what our birth plan was. We stated we would love a natural birth and that skin-to-skin contact was also our highest priority. I was not opposed to pain relief but knew with the Calmbirth tools that I had; I’d rather use them.

Unfortunately, though, not long after I had arrived in the birth unit that there was an issue with the portable CTG trace, and I required to be connected to the wired monitor. My midwife found that my baby was becoming bradycardic while I was contracting. This was escalated to the in charge and the doctor. Along with this, my blood pressure was also a cause for concern. I was given medication to help lower it however it did not come down.

When the doctor came to review me, it was pretty much a non-negotiable that I needed an epidural due to my blood pressure as this was going to help lower it. The doctor then advised my partner and I that we needed to seriously consider a caesarean due to the baby’s reduced heart rate coupled with the meconium when my waters broke. He stated that these are looking like signs of distress and if delayed we wouldn’t know what the fetal compromise would be until the baby was born. I was also only 2cms dilated at this point and they were unable to get the heart rate probe attached to the baby’s head to get an accurate heart rate.

This was not the news we wanted to hear. My partner was a great advocate, and we were both concerned for our baby’s wellbeing, so we agreed to the caesarean. My midwife was fantastic as well, as she knew a caesarean was not what I was hoping for, she explained that I wasn’t very far dilated and that it might have been different if I was further along.

The doctor suggested to try the gas, I used this but not for very long as it only made my drowsy between contractions and did not help with the pain. Instead, I utilised the breathing techniques that I learnt which I found to be far more effective until I went to theatre to have my baby. I found counting through the contractions helped and controlling my breathing, as they only lasted approximately 30 seconds, I guess it sort of distracted me.

Even though a caesarean was not what I wanted or planned, this was still explained to me through the Calmbirth course and that this wasn’t a failure, it was the journey my birth was meant to take. I now have a beautiful, healthy baby girl Sofia who is about to turn 1.