A Calmbirth® story.
Meet Frankie On Friday the 4th of October we went in for a check having high blood pressure and being 40 weeks and 1 day they offered the stretch and sweep so we opted to try that, I was 2cm, on Sunday the 6th I could tell my labour had started. Staying calm I went on with my day knowing my body knew exactly what it was doing, I went to bed as normal Sunday night, by 1am I realised my contractions were 15 mins apart, so I got in the shower and relaxed and got comfortable, I let my partner know at 4am, by 5am my contractions were 5mins apart so we started the 1 and a half hour drive to the LGH, we checked in and todd got everything we needed ready. We nested in our room, trying the shower and bath, Todd was massaging my back and keeping me hydrated, I got myself to 9 or 10cm drug free when they told me I could start pushing, I went with my body and stayed calm, I felt something wasn’t right, they told me that our baby had flipped spine to spine and she was getting distressed and that I needed to stop pushing as I was getting swollen and hurting her head, I was in quite a lot of pain. The doctor came in and told us the only option was for an epidural, something I didn’t want to do but knew it was the best option to help our baby come safely, I was so proud of the effort I had already put in, at 4pm I had the epidural. They gave me sometime to rest, we lowered the lights and I had a bit of time with Todd. My contractions stopped and I had to have some drugs to get them started again just before 6pm. The midwife let me know that I would be starting to push soon, I pushed and pushed for over an hour, our baby was distressed and she had pooped. Her heart rate was also not stable, the peds team were called and doctors as well, it was time to get the baby out. So with suction, forceps and a little cut she was here at 7:40pm with a natural delivery, healthy and screaming, we welcomed Miss Frankie George to the world. Calm birth helped Todd and myself to be informed about our options and for Todd to know how the best way to help was. Feeling that support and understanding from Todd was so important in our birth. He knew what I wanted and was able to speak for me when I couldn’t. He knew how to massage my body to help with the pain and knew how to communicate we me. Because of this we got to share some really amazing moments together not being stressed by the process of labour, we knew my body had complete control. Jade.