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Yearly Archives: 2017

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Birth preferences, Birth Stories, First baby, GentleBirth workshop, Holles Street

Lovely birth for an assertive first time mother in Holles Street!

Posted on May 11, 2017 at 7:56 pm by / 0

Our baby arrived a few days early in Holles Street last week!

He’s just perfect!

Birth was great too, drug free, just used the tens machine and that’s it.

My waters broke (all clear) on Friday 5th evening and we went into Holles St, they did a trace and allowed me to go home until Sunday morning 8am before they induced me.

I managed to get them to extend the time allowed, and high tailed it to an acupuncturist on Saturday morning.

My contractions started at 3pm later that day on Saturday 6th.

We went back into Holles St around 2am on Sunday morning, and I was 2cm dilated and we stayed in the delivery suite.

Midwives were great and really went with the birth plan, except for one that I had to have stern words with while trying to manage the contractions!

Hardest stage for me was definitely the pushing, but otherwise it was all manageable.

My placenta came out by itself, 5 seconds after I started skin to skin! Couldn’t believe it! It just dropped out!

Honestly, the hardest part was navigating your way through their system.  It’s not that they’re trying to be obstructive, it’s just they have procedures, which I understand, I really had to have words with one midwife, who wasn’t the one actually with me on the labour but another one, that wanted me to have the trace on constantly, move rooms, tried to break my forewaters etc etc (they broke themselves 30 seconds later on the birthing stool!)

She even had a doctor come in to explain to me why the trace had to be on, and I again mentioned I was happy with intermittent.

Then she backed off and started telling me how well I was dilating and that it all looked very positive.

 

I feel back to my normal self, it’s incredible how fast the body heals. I do put it down to sticking to the natural way. And baby’s doing great, I’m breastfeeding, he was 2.98 kg at birth and is 3.1 kg already 4 days in!

Thanks for everything.

 

Read more fantastic GentleBirth stories here.

Limited space so early booking is advised.

Positive Birth in Holles Street
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Birth Stories, First baby, Holles Street, Induction, Labour toolkit

Wonderful GentleBirth after prolonged rupture of the membranes

Posted on April 22, 2017 at 5:55 pm by / 0

This is a fantastic birth story from a woman having her first baby who had been messaging me for support from the day before as her waters had gone and were leaking.  She stayed at home for a while before going in and having antibiotics later.

“We had a lovely little girl and I had a brilliant experience ☺.

“I was starting to go into labour myself yesterday morning but was only getting mild contractions every 15 minutes or less. I got the oxytocin drip for about an hour, after that the contractions were my own. They took us through everything and we felt well placed to question everything and by the time I got the drip I was happy enough that I needed it.  More or less immediately I was getting contractions every 2 mins.  Got by with the tens for an hour and a half. The hypnosis really, really helped, and the affirmations just keep coming back to me.  Then I got the gas and air and without a shred of exaggeration I was tripping for the remaining hour (it took 3 and a half hours total). I wanted to go dancing and asked for a gin and tonic! It was all pretty hilarious and I never felt like I needed the epidural. My midwife was a superstar and respected the preferences that she could.  The continuous monitoring was a complete pain but I got there and am delighted. No stitches and a healthy baby. 😌

I am so, so grateful to you for your very kind reassurance over the last couple of days.  I really appreciated it.”

 

Read more fantastic GentleBirth stories here.

Limited space so early booking is advised.

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Articles, Home birth

What a doula did for me

Posted on March 28, 2017 at 12:13 am by / 0

I’m very late to the party with this World Doula Week post. It’s the last day and I’m up after midnight, trying to get this finished before anyone wakes up looking for me because that will be the end of it!

I didn’t want to let the week pass without thanking my doula for being here for the birth of my third child.  I hadn’t had a doula before – it wasn’t until I became a doula myself and attended births that I realised this was something I wanted, and deserved, for myself.

A doula plays a different role to your partner or midwife. Many partners are afraid of being supplanted by the doula but the doula doesn’t come between you.  The doula fills in the gaps, she supports your partner to support you, she holds knowledge so your partner doesn’t have to remember it all.  What a doula can, or will do for you, depends on many factors – what sort of birth you want, what sort of labour you have, who else is present, the birth setting.  I wasn’t sure exactly what I wanted my doula to do but I knew that I wanted someone there who would do exactly what I asked of them.  As a doula, you don’t have other duties, other than what the birthing woman asks of you.

So here are 8 things my doula did for me:

She threw me a ‘Mother Rising’

This was something I’d always wanted.  Think of it as a hippy baby shower, where you get the gift of positive energy and thoughts to take into labour with you, rather than nappy cakes and baby clothes. Lucky for me, my doula is a pretty talented artist, so she did the most amazing belly painting on me and my daughter. It was a very special day.

She helped decorate my birthing space

I hadn’t expected it, but she made bunting from birth images and hung them around the room for my Mother Rising. I loved them and left them up for the birth itself. My sitting room was like one giant vision board!

She was close by

One of the most important things for me was that my doula lived close to me as my husband was studying in a college at least a 45 minute journey from home. If I had a labour as fast as my friend Tricia from NurturingMamas.ie, he wouldn’t make it home in time! It gave me comfort knowing that my doula would be there, no matter what.

 

She came right away

In the end, my husband was there, but my doula came within 15 minutes of getting the call. My midwife was still a bit away.  I was so glad of the company because my husband was frantically filling the pool. And I really needed someone to bring me a drink of water!

 

She held my straw

See above!

She took photos

I decided I didn’t want a photographer at the birth because the room is really small and there were already going to be quite a few people. So my doula took some shots. She got some amazing ones, including one of the baby’s head being born into my hand and another of my baby as I saw her for the first time. So precious to have.

She squeezed my hips

The double hip squeeze is an amazing comfort measure (we cover it in my GentleBirth workshops) and my doula got stuck in once things got intense.

She did whatever I wanted her to do

Doula comes from a greek word meaning ‘servant’ and that’s what a doula is – someone to order around during your labour! Ok, so that’s tongue-in-cheek, but it is pretty amazing to have someone around during labour whose only concern is your physical and emotional well-being.  There’s so much focus on the baby during pregnancy that it is nice to have someone whose job is just to look after you!

I knew that if there was anything I needed or if an extra pair of hands was required for something, then I could ask my doula and she would do it.  A doula doesn’t need to jump in and take over a bunch of tasks in order to justify her presence. She’ll wait quietly and unobtrusively until she sees she is needed.  She’ll be there for you, but she’ll also fade into the background if that’s what’s warranted.  She’ll be a calming presence.

She was the other me

I’m not the average doula client, I suppose, because I don’t look for emotional support during labour. I look inward.  What I wanted was someone to do all the little things that I couldn’t do for myself because I had to focus on birthing. I wanted another me in the room!

Thank you, Rita, for being there with us on the beautiful night that brought us our beautiful girl.  And for being the other me.

Articles, Birth preferences, Epidural, GentleBirth workshop, Labour toolkit

GentleBirth – with or without the epidural

Posted on February 24, 2017 at 12:48 am by / 0

As my first baby turns 7, I’ve been reflecting a lot on her birth experience and my expectations during that pregnancy about how the birth would be and what parenting would be like.

There are some misconceptions I held about GentleBirth that I know some of those who come into my workshops will also have about the programme. So I’d like to do some myth-busting!

I’m starting in this post with the most important (I think) first. Most women who come to my class would prefer to birth without the epidural, although I do have many clients who see it as a supplement to drugs rather than an instead of – which is perhaps the best way to view it.

It’s a viewpoint fairly steadfastly held by the majority culture in Ireland (and other countries) that a first time mother can’t give birth without the epidural – and certainly not if she wants to remember it as a positive experience!  The effect this can have you if you’re thinking you’d like to do without it it is to have you thinking ‘I’ll show them’, especially when you’ve shared the fact you’re doing GentleBirth and had someone laugh in your face and tell you you’ll be screaming for the anaesthetist on the day.

The last thing you want in labour is to feel like you have something to prove. I remember during my first labour, when the thoughts of the epidural first crossed my mind, being disappointed in myself and thinking ‘they were right’.  As it turned out, I didn’t need the epidural in the end as it was a blip in my coping mechanisms and I got back on track once I made it to hospital, got the gas and air and some reassuring midwifery support (most importantly).

I do wonder though, would I have felt a failure if I had taken the epidural, had I in fact needed it?

There is no shame or failure in using any part of your labour toolkit, and that includes the epidural. At GentleBirth, it is not our belief that one comfort measure is better than another. Some women love the TENS, some like using water, some love massage and counterpressure, some can’t bear to be touched. Some like reassuring talking in labour, others want you to shut up and let them listen to their tracks. It’s all completely personal and subjective.

So why is there so much meaning attached to having an epidural, which is modern medicine’s greatest contribution to the labour toolkit? An epidural can provide complete pain relief, give an exhausted mother the chance to rest and recover, lower blood pressure and replace anxiety with relaxation. Sure, it comes with potential risks, but not everyone experiences the downsides. Once you know these risks, you can weigh the situation up for yourself. GentleBirth women choosing the epidural are doing so because, in that moment, that’s what they need in order to have a positive birth experience and that’s what GentleBirth is all about.

I believe that part of the stigma around having an epidural for some of those of us using the programme is the message coming from the prevailing culture that birth without the epidural is only for superwomen.  And who doesn’t want to be superwoman?

We all have our individual journey to meet our babies and we all use different tools along the way to make the journey the most pleasant it can be. We don’t need to justify to each other that it was a long labour, or baby was in an awkward position or whatever we feel contributed to us needing the epidural. The epidural is a valid and important part of the GentleBirth toolkit. Using it (or not) doesn’t define your birthing experience or your worth as a GentleBirth warrior woman.  There’s huge strength in being able to roll with whatever birth throws at you and being able to depart from the path you wanted and expected for yourself.   We are all superwomen.

 

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Birth Stories, First baby, GentleBirth workshop, Labour toolkit, Rotunda

First time mum has a surprisingly fast birth in the Rotunda

Posted on January 15, 2017 at 3:58 pm by / 0
Our baby girl was born early, she was due today so it was a bit of a surprise!! We had a scan the day before she was born at 38 weeks + 2 and her head wasn’t engaged yet so we thought she wouldn’t be making an appearance for a while. But my waters broke at 11.15 that night and we headed into the Rotunda Hospital. I wasn’t feeling any surges at that stage and when I was assessed at about 1am they put a trace on and all was well with the baby. They said they’d admit me and hope I went into labour within 24 hours. I was thinking of going home at that stage but the doctor said she thought I was actually having a surge so asked about examining me before letting me home and I agreed. She said I was 1-2 cm dilated but not fully effaced and said I might be better staying in. I’m glad I did in the end!
I was admitted to the annexe of the delivery suite and around 2am or so my surges started and were quite intense from the start I thought, although there was no regularity to them. I managed quite well for the first few hours listening to music and using the TENS machine. When the surges ramped up, I started listening to the affirmations and birth rehearsal. I was anxious to be examined  around 5am or so because I really wanted to be moved into a delivery room as we would be on our own instead of the annexe with others and no space. They were reluctant to examine me as I wasn’t in established labour and my waters had broken but they did at about 6am and I was only 2 cm and fully effaced. I found that quite hard to deal with as I thought my surges were very intense and almost on top of one another. The midwives tried to reassure me there had been a change but I still wasn’t established enough to be moved into the delivery suite. I was using the gas and air at this stage which was helping with my breathing. I was very worried I was facing into another 8 hours of the pain and not sure how long I would have coped without stronger pain relief.
Anyway things seemed to ramp up again and at around 8am I started feeling pressure. My memory is a little fuzzy for those few hours but I was examined again and was almost fully dilated!! There was a bit of a scramble trying to get a delivery room (they were very busy during the night) but I was eventually brought by wheelchair into a delivery room at 9.10. I started pushing at that stage and our baby girl was born at 9.43am.
She weighed 8 pounds 8 1/2 ounces and I was given immediate skin to skin with her for about half an hour and had delayed cord clamping. I had a 2nd degree tear which needed to be repaired and my husband took her for skin to skin for a while as I lost a bit of blood (about a litre) while the placenta was being delivered.
So I had the gentle birth I had imagined (even though it didn’t always feel ‘gentle’) as it was quite short and I didn’t need an epidural or any interventions. It was disappointing to spend all of the labour in the annexe rather than in a room on our own. I found the midwives and the Consultant very open to GentleBirth and knew in advance what my preferences would be (I didn’t have written birth preferences).
The workshop and using the app really helped me prepare my mind for the big day. I think the daily practice helped me even more in the lead up to the birth rather than the birth itself, I had bad pelvic girdle pain and didn’t sleep well in the 2 months beforehand and listening to the tracks helped me cope with that. Thanks a lot for the support.

Read more fantastic GentleBirth stories here.

Download the GentleBirth app today – there is a free week of full access when you register.  https://www.gentlebirth.com/

Contact

Phone: +353 87 6181008

Email: melanie@birthtobaby.ie  

 
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