24. Feb
A Calmbirth® couple story.
Born January 11th, 7 pound 13 ounces, 51cm
After a completely normal pregnancy I started developing epigastric pain at 37+5. Initially I brushed this off as pre-labour symptoms and used my Calmbirth techniques to cope when the pain was bad. After a few days I realised that it was a little unusual and arrived at the labour ward to be assessed. It turned out I had severe pre-eclampsia and HELLP syndrome which came on very suddenly, which had caused problems with my liver and low platelets. As such I was induced at 38+2.
The induction initially started with my waters being broken and a syntocinon drip being commenced. After 3-4 hours of active later there was still minimal dilation and at this stage I asked for an epidural as I was beginning to tire from the stronger contractions. Unfortunately my platelets were too low to have an epidural and whilst decisions were being made there was 3 hours where I could not have any pain relief at all. This was the point where I used the Calmbirth principles to cope with the strong contractions (which became ‘syntocinon only’ contractions with no uterine activity). As there was still no further dilation after 6 hours of active labour, I underwent emergency caeserean under general anaesthetic.
Calmbirth helped us stay calm in the face of adversity and we approached some very difficult decisions with complete peace. Despite the fact I had the most ‘unnatural’ birth possible, I felt it was still a rewarding experience as Eve was very healthy when she was born and we made the right decisions at the right time. I think Calmbirth helped me put my emotions aside and focus on the task at hand.
Eve is 6 weeks old now and thriving. We still use the Calmbirth principles during the dreaded ‘arsenic hour’!
Sam and Matt