It's my great privilege to share with you here second time Mum Julia's story of her daughter Ella's birth.
I had the honour of being Julia's doula, after she found me early on in her pregnancy; her pregnancy journey was pretty smooth and simple - but all of that changed once she went 'overdue'.
If going overdue is something which worries you, if you're wondering "how overdue is too overdue" or if you're wondering if you can still have a home birth if you go overdue - this story is definitely going to be one for you positive birth story bank!
Julia's is such a special journey too, as she was a woman reclaiming her power following a traumatic first birth, her birth ended up being a free birth (no NHS midwives present) AND her special little girl was born en caul (still in the amniotic sac/ no waters breaking until birth) in the pool. Julia also made the decision to transfer in to hospital after birth, and so her inspiring story also serves of a beautiful example of how transferring after (or during!) a home birth can also be a truly positive and powerful journey too.
WOWZERS...!
In Julia's own words:
" NHS EDD 05Aug2024
Actual date: 29 Aug2024 ( 43+3 weeks)
Planned: Homebirth
Actual: Freebirth in the birth pool with transfer
Known baby girl born “EN CAUL” inside the amniotic sac weighing 4.024kg.
My first birth:
Covid lockdown baby 2020. Low risk pregnancy, no issues at all once I have reached 41 weeks my midwife said that my placenta is going to fail soon and baby might die so I agreed to a sweep.
I did a hypnobirthing course back then but did not know enough to make an informed decision. Fear took over and I trusted the midwife. After a sweep my plug came out and I was booked for an induction the following day at 41+5 weeks.
They broke my waters, contractions started naturaly all felt good, was riding the waves all night using just tens machine and managing well. Had electric candles lit up lights off and midwife on shift was lovely accepting my hypnobirthing tools.
My cervix kept dilating until 6am came and I was so tired my contractions slowed down and I wanted to rest, midwife checked with her boss and they said they will give me 1h more if contractions don’t pick up they have to put me on drip. Obviously my contractions almost stopped completely once I knew I am on timer.
Shift change came, non of my birth plan wishes were listened to. I was put on drip and ctg monitor wanted to be upright they said i need to be on bed. Ctg did not pick up hertbeat, they wanted to attached head monitor to baby’s head. Tried 3times and it was not successful it was painful and i was all swollen from it. Transition came and then pushing started. Went on all fours but red alarm button was pressed as baby did not like it according to ctg i was forced on my back.
And that is how I stayed in the worst possible position as I could not breath. My belly was pushing on my lungs I declined all the pain relief and had only gas and air which was doing nothing. I was coached pushing as hard as I could as they could see baby’s head but it would not come out fully.
I was so tired after 20h and could not breath that I managed to do 30-40mins of pushing and then gave up and asked for an assistance. 15people turned up they did episiotomy and forceps delivery managed 3rd stage. Our baby boy was born & it was beautiful to hold him but trauma was created. Why nobody suggested to change position is beyond me. It was hard afterwards mentally and physically.
My second birth( MUCH more positive one!):
Pregnancy:
4years fast forward
I was pregnant again. Excited went to my midwife got weight bloods taken. Higher BMI but all good otherwise still low risk.
First scan at 12weeks: all good, I declined all measurements and bloods as results would not change our decision to carry on with the pregnancy.
Second scan at 20weeks : it showed that my placenta is posterior and low lying. It was 2mm closer to the cervix than it should be therefore they have booked me in for the 32weeks scan.
During all my antenatal appointments my blood pressure was high at the start of the appointment but as I calmed down it went down.
I did plan a home birth so I have found it very stressful that little things could jeopardise my plan.
Third scan at 32weeks: placenta moved up and was not close to the cervix anymore so all was good and green light for my homebirth!
Once I reached 41weeks... pressure started. I was offered sweeps, C section and induction as well as extra monitoring, all of which I declined.
More calls with consultants followed. During one conversation I was told about the Swedish study on post due date births which had to be stopped as too many babies died. That sounded really scary so I decided to look into it properly, only to find out it was invalid study which was never completed and the reason was not the one my consultant stated.
Why would she use an invalid study to scare me into induction? I have mentioned to her that in some countries you are not overdue until 42 or 43 weeks maybe that is why she pulled the Swedish study card.
Just before reaching 42weeks mark I was told that my homebirth won’t be supported if I don’t go in for the full set of checks and monitoring. I said it is my legal right but the midwife matron who I spoke to said that it is true, but they also have to protect midwives, and without extra monitoring they can’t support my home birth.
I asked to speak to the head of midwifery as it all felt crazy. She was quite nice and said she will discuss my case with regional team and get back to me. They agreed to support my homebirth past 42weeks mark. Hurrah!
All fun started once 42week mark passed and I was approaching the 43rd week. I had daily calls from matrons and texts from midwifes to offer extra CTG monitoring and scans. Saying they are all worried about us and asking about baby’s movements. It all became very stressful at the end. I asked them to not call me for next few days and I said that I will contact them if I feel something is not right.
My baby was moving well and I was feeling great. Of course I was worried about whether I am making the right decision, and not going for extra checks but it always came down to me trusting my body and nature more than EDD and not 100% accurate measurements and scans.
I did get lots of help from reading positive birth stories - I have read and researched a lot with continuous support of my doula, so I was making an informed decision every time I declined something.
I knew once I go in for extra monitoring it was likely there would be 'things' they might try to find, like lower amniotic liquid or baby in wrong position or calcification of placenta ( all based on stories I have read here in various home birth groups)...but what if all those things are part of the natural process at 43weeks, rather than being a sign of the placenta failing...?
As the days passed by without the calls I was getting back into my calm and trusting space.
Connecting to my baby and enjoying the time as family of 3 for the last few days (or weeks... who knew. At this point i was ready to continue to 44weeks or beyond.)
My godmother told me that she was overdue by 1month and in the 80s it was not a big deal. So that helped me a lot to just trust my body and follow my intuition.
Trust me there are not many birth stories past 43weeks to refer to but you can always find few to keep you going. Baby will come when baby is ready.
I was having few days of mini period like cramps here and there for about 10 days, but they lasted just a short time and came maybe only every other day. I think I was loosing my mucus plug slowly, but again was not certain as most of the time it looked just like a discharge i was having through out the whole pregnancy.
Then after long wait the big day came!
Labour:
I put my sweet 4year old son to bed and came downstairs. I told my partner that I feel hopeless and that maybe we should just book for C section( I wouldn’t do it I just said it)
9PM- felt like I needed number 2 but when I sat on the toilet there was nothing.
That happened 3 times, so I was thinking that is strange. I started to feel like a belt around my lower back and abdomen like I was cramping veeery mildly. Somehow it was on and off and I was not sure what is happening, could that be Braxton hicks contractions which I have never experienced?
I texted my lovely doula and she was asking if I could feel waves of intensity coming... so I thought maybe yes so I opened my freya app and started to record when I felt pain at that point I was certain it is not a labour starting ( you know after 43weeks you just don’t believe it) but surprise surprise I was having the contractions according to the app and it said establish labour already.
My partner Kris started to clean the kitchen, as we both thought we'd have many hours ahead of us, but my pain started to be so intense that I needed him by my side. He prepared the pool, but we still thought we'd have plenty of time ahead of us - I just wasn’t sure why I was feeling such an intense pain already.
Contractions started 7mins apart. (Last contraction on the app is the last one I was able to press the button)
The pain intensified, and very quickly I was on my knees leaning over the sofa with my birth comb Jessica had given me in my hand. Gas and air canisters were in the corridor as had them delivered at 38weeks, but was not even thinking about calling midwife at this point.
We called our doula and asked her to slowly make her way to us as we thought it might be a while. But my contractions got very close to each other and were so intense that I started to say I won’t manage it. Little did i know that I was already in transition within 1-2h of the first contraction.
**Jessica's side note...!* - I had a feeling all along that this second birth might have been swift for Julia (home births often are!)... and when her hubby Kris called me en route (I was leisurely popping some fuel in the car) that contractions were now around 3 minutes apart... I put my foot DOWN...!
12AM ish- our doula Jessica arrived just in time during the most intense time for me to support and hold me in this phase together with my dear husband Kris. There was no time for any breath work, any music or meditations... my body took control, my mind switched off.
All I could feel was the intensity and power of each contraction, fully in the present moment, ready for this to go on for a long time - listening to the supporting words of my 2 birth partners.
My comb was my only pain relief, and the wet muslin cloth on my neck later on my mouth as I started to roar but did not want to wake my little boy sleeping upstairs. I was holding on, not fully letting go of those intense sensations, until my doula Jessica said “let it go”.
I started to roar with my full power and opened my throat and it felt sooo goood.
My body started pushing but firstly my bowels started to empty, I guess there was no time for that beforehand. Once the pool was filled I waited until my contraction ended and I quickly moved in. Feeling warm water on my skin felt soooo goood and soooo relaxing!
I wanted to lie down, but my body did not like it at all I had to quickly turn around, back on my knees, leaning over the pool.
Our little boy woke up so my partner went to see him. He went straight back to sleep after Kris told him baby was coming, as we have prepared him for Mummy being loud when baby comes. Kris came back looked me in the eyes and held my hands and I felt baby’s little body inside of me turning.
I was still not sure how much longer of the intense contractions were ahead of me, when all of a sudden with the next contraction the head of our precious girl came out!
I tried to feel it but felt like a soft balloon filled with water, rather than a hard head with hair. I knew rest of her body would come with the next contraction.
I waited... time stood still for few seconds and then with the last contraction there she was , born still in her water sac at 1:20AM she flew out of me into the water. Our little mermaid.
The sac bursted open when I picked her up to my chest ( that was the reason my water never broke) She was wide awake not crying, just so peaceful. Then she gave us a little cry and started to breastfeed after few moments of us taking it all in.
It was so magical and very peaceful. There was no time when I wished we have called the midwifes, as my transition came on fast and last thing I could deal with was any kind of monitoring.
My body was doing what it was designed to do and I trusted it fully. There was no fear only trust. Our little Ella was not ready to come before 43weeks and 3 days, and waiting for her was so worth it. She is perfect our Ella Leilani!
The words can’t even describe how magical it all felt. It was all perfect.
Transfer to hospital:
After maybe 30 minutes of being in the pool, holding my little girl - Kris and Jess suggested I get up and birth the placenta out of the pool, as pool was getting darker (with blood - something that can be a normal part of birth)
But as soon as I tried to get up I got really light headed and was not able to get up. Jessica calmly asked if I wanted her to call the emergency, as I knew something was not right and I felt I might pass out.
Three emergency vehicles turned up in our house - so there was a lot of people in our tiny living room when I opened my eyes!
They knew I was not haemorrhaging, and checked my blood pressure, which had dropped low - but was slowly getting back to normal-ish. After my blood pressure got higher they suggested to cut the cord to keep little Ella warm. I agreed.
As soon as I stood up to get out of the birth pool I started to feel powerful contractions again. Thankfully most of the emergency team people were really great and understanding. They said it is the best to transfer me into hospital to make sure all is well, as they weren’t able to estimate how much blood I lost as all was in the pool.
My doula Jessica came with me to the hospital and held my precious baby near me while I was still contracting and birthing placenta naturally in the emergency vehicle on the way to the hospital. They wanted to take my girl in the separate emergency vehicle but we made sure that did not happen, but not sure if that would be the case if I didn’t have Jess with me to advocate.
Kris stayed home with our little boy who did not wake up during all of that and was sound asleep all night...!
I did not want to have the assisted third stage (injection) after such a magical and calm free birth, and just as they parked the vehicle in the hospital I pushed my incredible placenta out. I suddenly felt the biggest sense of relief! Beautiful how our bodies do all the work perfectly.
I was checked over in the hospital; bleeding stopped after placenta was out. I did get stitches, as I had a second degree tear, which I did not feel at all.
I stayed over in the hospital to make sure all was good as I still felt a bit light headed. Got IV fluid to top up my blood volume. Chatted to Jessica about all that just happened. I can’t imagine to be there alone and I was very grateful for Jessica. I was still feeling the highest emotions feeling soooo good sooo proud soooo happy cuddling my precious girl.
I was SO high on natural oxytocin (something which I never experienced during my first induced labour )
The next day my sweet little boy came with Kris to meet his little sister and we were reunited circle was closed and the new chapter have started for us as a family of 4. I did get some iron tablets and we went home with my placenta in the bucket.
Transfer to the hospital did not take anything away from my free birth and magical en caul birth experience. I am grateful we did have that option.
I did get more I wished for in birth, and I am forever grateful I did trust in nature and my body more than anything else, even when it was so hard past 43weeks mark. But it just shows that baby comes when baby is ready.
I am grateful to my partner Kris who was my rock throughout all of this trusting and supporting me, to my doula Jessica for all she did for us and how we did get the birth experience we wished for because she empowered us and taught us so much.
Wishing you all ladies best of luck with your birth and hoping my birth story will give some encouragement and hope to some overdue Mamas"
Want to feel confident and prepared as you approach your babies birth? Ready to take the leading role in your pregnancy and birth experience? Then the Positively Pregnant birth prep course may be just what you're looking for!
Jessica is a multi award winning doula, birth author & hypnobirthing expert, who has helped hundreds of free thinking parents to prepare for healthy, happy and powerful birth experiences.
She runs monthly in person birth preparation & hypnobirthing courses from her welcoming antenatal studio in Northumberland, has an award winning Online Hypnobirthing Course and serves families across the North East in her work as a Birth Doula.
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