Prolonged rupture of membranes, Induction of Labour - Michelle

ANTIBIOTICS / 3A TEAR / POSITIVE EMPOWERING VAGINAL BIRTH

We had our baby boy Hayden Graeme Tinson on Saturday 25th at 3.34pm, weighing 4.110kg.

I'm so grateful that you answered your phone on Friday afternoon! And even more so that we did your hypnobirthing classes in the first place! I ended up being induced and with a 3A tear needing surgery but I can proudly say I had amazingly positive birth with no regrets.

After attending the course, I listened to the Rainbow Mist hypnobirthing track as often as I could and purchased additional tracks too. I have a Bluetooth sound eye mask at home and ended up listening to them when I went to bed. I made a vision board and affirmation cards (although I didn't end up using either during my labour). I didn't get a chance to look into any aromatherapy oils so I didn't use any in the end. I listened to the Midwives Cauldron podcast and learnt so much more about my body that I didn't know I was capable of! I read as many resources from the Hypnobirthing Australia resource list as possible.

I went from not overly looking forward to my birth to being really excited to have our baby.

After I spoke to you, we went to hospital about 9pm and went into the pre-admission room for assessment. I still had no surges. The midwife we saw advised us how the hospital wanted to proceed then let us think about it before making any decisions. They wanted to give me the antibiotics at 24hr after my waters broke (3am Friday) then induce me at 6am Saturday straight to Syntocinon. We read the links you sent through. The Midwife called the Dr in to answer any questions we had.

We used the "BRAIN" technique. I did ask her for specific statistics on the risks of not having the antibiotics at 24hrs but she was reluctant to get them for me. We ended up negotiating to have the antibiotics at the 24hr mark. Then have my waters broken at 6am then given 2 hours to see if my surges would start naturally. If not then they would administer Syntocinon at the lowest dose first then gradually increase it depending on what my body did. We signed a waver stating this.

I went to a overnight room to get some rest and I went to sleep listening to the hypnobirthing tracks through my eye mask. Some mild surges started at 1am. I was woken at 3am for the antibiotics. My surges stopped after that. Tim came back to the hospital at 6am and at 6.40 they took me to a birthing suite where my MGP midwife came in and broke my waters as per our wishes. Then she read our birth preferences and agreed that everything could be accommodated.

Tim put the Hypnobirthing sign on the door, dimmed all the lights and put the battery tea light candles around the room. We put on the Hypnobirthing tracks and waited.

My surges stopped again. Syntocinon was administered at 8.40am, I kept listening to the hypnobirthing tracks. Eventually all the tracks had been played several times over so we put on a party playlist on my phone and we all (Tim, my midwife, student midwife and myself) had a bit of a sing and dance around. Then we listened to a working from home playlist on Spotify. My surges were coming on a bit stronger.Throughout this time Tim used 3 acupressure points on me 3 times.

I went in the shower for a bit of pain relief and Tim moved the shower head over my lower back, I was hoping that bub was ready to come out. Unfortunately not ready yet. Got out and went on the bed for a while. Started telling everyone that I wanted a caesarean and to take me to theatre. My midwife kept telling me bub wasn't far away. Tim put the hypnobirthing tracks back on which helped calm me down.

Another Midwife came into relieve my main Midwife for a break and when I started screaming / yelling through my surges, she coached me through deep breaths. I was still leaning over the top of the bed which had been folded into a upright chair position. Then I suddenly needed to kneel on the floor leaning over the bed.

I think I was fully dilated by now and I was feeling the pressure like I needed to poo. The surges were very strong. I listened to my body and instinct and ended up bringing my legs closer together then after much bearing down breathing, our little boy was born at 3.34pm.

They brought him up to me through my legs. Then I was helped up onto the bed to birth my placenta. I was having cuddles with bub while birthing my placenta which still involved surges but nowhere near as strong. Then with the surge breathing techniques, after about 20min I birthed my placenta. Because of the time my placenta took to come out, delayed cord clamping happened naturally.

We waited for the Dr to come check me for tears and he determined a possible 3A tear but couldn't be sure so gave me the option of going to theatre with a full team of people or him doing it in the labour room. He explained all the risks and benefits in great length and was more than happy to answer any questions. I opted for theatre.

I went to theatre for anal and tear assessment which resulted in stitches for a third-degree tear. The surgery team were also amazing and gave me all the options for pain relief during the surgery and all the risks and benefits allowing me time to make my own decisions.

Tim was able to stay with our baby the whole time and was taken to the ward to get settled.

I'm so proud of myself for birthing our 4kg baby and his placenta without pain relief! Also, for being so positive throughout the pregnancy and labour. I'm so happy that I found this course and did it and proud of Tim for how much he embraced it during my labour and birth. Above all, I'm proud to say that although we didn't have any control of when and how bub came out, all the decisions made on the day were ours and we birthed our way.

Thank you Alana for your passion to educate women and their birthing partners in that there is nothing to be afraid of giving birth and showing us that you can have a wonderful, positive experience even when things take a different turn. I will forever remember this amazing experience and own the fact that I had a positive birth. I will continue to tell anyone that will listen about Hypnobirthing and the Midwives Cauldron podcast, in hope that other women may be inspired to make their birth story a positive one.