'Much to my horror I had no time for any pain relief... I was 9cm dilated.' Hannah's natural birth story
Hannah Damary-Wilson was 39 weeks pregnant when she went into labour. She shares how things progressed so quickly when she gave birth to her fourth child that she didn't even get the chance for an epidural
Hannah, a member of the MadeForMums Top Testers Club community, was no novice giving birth to her fourth baby, but even she couldn't predict how quickly things would progress. Baby Georgiana came into the world at 39 weeks on Friday 23rd June at 1.11pm...
This is Hannah's quick natural birth story:
"I was 39 weeks pregnant when I dropped my youngest daughter off at nursery and started experiencing contractions on the drive home. I spoke with my husband Lewis on the phone and he said he'd have a bath waiting for me when I got back. I spent the morning pottering around trying to put the washing away in preparation for what I was certain was impending.
"I felt relieved that things were starting because the doctors had been keen for me to be induced, but I was adamant that while the baby was happy and healthy and so was I, that I wanted labour and birth to progress naturally and when the baby was ready. It’s always a bit nerve-racking though when it starts. Lewis always feels a bit panicky (this is our 4th baby) and helpless when labour starts – he worries until we get to the hospital then once the professionals take over, he begins to relax.
"At 10.30am I lost my mucus plug which is a jelly-like, thick mucus that seals the opening of the cervix. So I started to run another bath whilst finishing off putting my eldest daughter's laundry away.
I suddenly felt a severe pressure in my stomach and all I could think was: I need to get out of Bella's bedroom! Thankfully I made it over the threshold, into the tiled hallway and then... my waters went.
"My first thought was thank goodness I got off the carpet in time and thank goodness I got that washing put away – the thought of coming home from hospital with a newborn AND a messy house, filled me with dread! My thoughts then quickly moved to, oh my goodness, it's actually happening! I had spent the morning up until then wondering if I was wrong about the labour starting, so when my waters broke it was confirmation that my instincts had been right.
"My husband was upstairs in the shower so he had no idea that any of this had happened as he was getting ready for an appointment himself. He eventually came down and met me on the phone with the hospital.
"My mum arrived just as the triage midwife advised that I should come into the hospital as my contractions were established and coming every 5 minutes. She was going to stay with me while my husband nipped to his appointment and ran some errands. I was keeping a note of the time of each contraction in the notes section of my phone, I still have the record which I sometimes look back on even now!
My husband absolutely loved racing down the motorway; living out every labour movie scene!
"We made it to the hospital at midday and I declined him getting me a wheelchair although it turned out that we ended up needing one as we'd accidentally got off on the wrong floor and my contractions were now pretty debilitating.
"The midwives ended up meeting me in the corridor with a wheelchair and wheeling me into the delivery suite. It took about 20 minutes to get all my notes on the whiteboard, discuss some essentials and carry out a vaginal examination which revealed that I was 5cm dilated. At this point my husband piped up that there would be a baby within an hour, which the midwives waved off with a laugh.
"My mum has always been desperate to see the birth of a grandchild, as me and my siblings were all delivered through c-sections in which she was put to sleep, so we invited her to be our second birth partner which she was absolutely thrilled about.
"Much to my horror I had no time for any pain relief other than gas and air, but thankfully we ended up with a quick arrival. Twenty minutes later I said that I wanted to push, I was re-examined and was now 9cm dilated. At 1.05pm I began voluntarily pushing, at 1.10pm our daughter's head was delivered and at 1:11pm on Friday 23 June – Georgiana arrived.
"Baby Georgiana was born weighing 9lb 2oz – my biggest baby! I was relieved that it was over and delighted to welcome our new addition. I must say that I was also feeling rather proud of myself for what my body had achieved and for holding firm to my instincts of not allowing myself to be pressured into an induction.
"My husband couldn't help but remind the midwives that he'd told them that there would be a baby here within the hour!"
Pic credit: Hannah Damary-Wilson. As told to Janet Mtima
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