Cara’s “empowering, invigorating, out of body” positive hospital birth story

The story of Cara’s, “empowering, invigorating, out of body” hospital birth to her daughter.

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How would you describe your birth?

Empowering, invigorating, out of body.

How did you prepare for a positive birth?

Read positive birth stories, stayed active during my pregnancy and saw a pelvic floor physio to learn how to connect with my pelvic floor/ deep core, breath work exercises every day, positive affirmations / thoughts about birth (avoided fear- based thoughts).

Tools/ support used during labour

·       The shower

·       Doula

·       Exercise ball (for during labour)

·       Counter pressure during early contractions.

Cara’s birth story

Cara says: “I’m sharing my story to hopefully encourage some pregnant mamas, as reading other people’s stories helped me.”

Early labour

Cara’s contractions started at 1am. She says: “They were intense enough that I couldn’t sleep through them, but far enough apart that I could sleep between them. I thought: “OMG - it’s happening - I get to meet my girl today, but, boy, was I in for a surprise!”

Cara laboured at home all day with her contractions slowly getting closer together and more intense. Around 11pm, after getting into the shower to labour, she says her contractions got more intense - consistently lasting a minute and happening every four minutes. After things stayed this way for about an hour, she texted her doula and headed to hospital.

But when she was checked after arriving at the hospital, she heard the words no mama in labour wants to hear: “you’re 2cm dilated”. Cara decided to go home because she only lived a five-minute drive away from the hospital.

At home, Cara got back in the shower and after half an hour of intense and frequent contractions, thought she should lie down to rest as she’d been awake for 16 hours at this point and she knew she still had a long journey in front of her. As Cara closed her eyes in bed for a second, her waters “exploded”. She yelled out “my water broke!” and started uncontrollably vomiting. Cara’s partner called the hospital team who told them to come back in. The two of them drove to the hospital – with Cara vomiting and her waters continuing to break the whole time.

After getting admitted at the hospital, Cara says she told them she wanted an unmedicated birth, and from this point on, says she “was in my own world”. After being checked again, Cara was told she was 3cm dilated. “I thought, ‘how can I only be 3cm?’ and wondered if I was going to be able to stick to my unmedicated birth plan,” Cara says.

Active labour

Cara’s doula arrived and Cara got back in the shower. “The shower had proven to be the most effective at progressing things, as well as the most beneficial pain remedy,” she says. “After a few hours of intense contractions, I was checked again – I’d progressed to 7.5cm dilated. I felt so encouraged and thought ‘I can do this’.”

Thirty minutes later, Cara says her contractions changed. “I could no longer exhale and control my breath through them,” she says. “I quite literally had to yell and felt the urge to push. My dilation was checked and I was told I wasn’t progressed enough to push - I felt a wave of defeat.”

Pushing

When the next contraction came, Cara says she had to “frantically hyperventilate” to get through it without pushing. “This continued until my obstetrician came in, who said straight away that maybe I’d been checked at the transition stage. She checked and gave me the green light to push,” Cara says.

“Pushing was by far the most exhausting but best part of my whole labour.” Cara says: “I finally had somewhere to channel my energy and pain, and I could feel each push bringing my baby further down.

“I pushed for a whopping two hours – working with each contraction, going from being on all fours to side-lying positions, being supported by my husband, doula, nurse and obstetrician.”

Cara says: “Finally, after sweating more than I’ve ever sweated in my life, my baby’s head came out and everyone cheered. Then I literally felt her whole body wriggle out. They put my baby on my chest and she let out her first cry.”

After birth

Cara says: “The feeling that rushed over me in that moment is one I’ll never forget.

“I held my daughter, started crying and looked up at my husband. I could timestamp that moment forever as the best moment of my life.”