Reading About Natural Births and Birthing Process Helped Cri During Her Birth Center Birth

When did you realize you were really in labor?

I started having mild contractions on the tuesday evening..they lasted all night and I could sleep through them.I timed them and when they started coming every five minutes I rang the birth centre.this was at about 3 in the morning.they told me to take some paracetamol, have a bath and try to go back to sleep. And to call them back when I started getting them more frequently. I run out of paracetamol and the bath didn't help so I just went back to bed with some birthing meditation on and did my best to breathe through each contraction. They lasted all night and I didn't have any sleep. I rang the birth centre again in the morning whilst my husband was out with our dog. They told me to go in so they could check me. We ended up going in around 12.with each contraction I leant against a wall and breathed loudly and rotated my hips. This seemed to help or at least it was something to do that kept me focused.the midwife we saw didn't check my dilation but just told me that things hadn't got serious yet and it could still be a couple of days before the baby came out.she recommended getting some paracetamol and going back home to try and get some sleep.more serious than this?it baffled me a bit and made me realise I had to get a grip on myself.i also remembered reading that vocalising the contraction is a waste of energy and should just focus on breathing..so we went home.took the paracetamol and actually managed to sleep from about 2 till 6...when I woke up through a contraction I also remembered reading in one of Ina May's books the idea of imagining and feeling myself dilate with each contraction...as I tried to do this with the next I felt something inside me pop.i leapt out of bed and whilst on all fours by the bed I let me waters empty on the floor.i woke my husband as now the contractions really started coming strongly and one after the other.. I rang the birth centre again and the told me to go back in...it was the most intense car journey of my life as the contractions were now really powerful and really frequent. I found myself screaming in the car and had to kneel down on the floor of the hospital twice in our way to the birth center.when we got there they had they were filling up the birthing pool, they checked me and I was 9 cm dilated...now I knew the baby was close

What was the most challenging thing about going natural?

I always knew if I was to give birth I would have wanted it to be the least medicated as possible and everyone has been really supportive of it.i read extensively about painless births and felt more than ripe to get labour started and to see the baby.I stayed away from using the word "pain" all along and would still not choose it.but I was not ready for how overwhelming and intense the whole experience was...

What was the most helpful thing you did to prepare for childbirth?

Reading about natural births and the birthing process from a biological perspective so that I kind of knew at least academically what my body was about to go through.also yoga and good food

What surprised you about your birth?

The intensity of it and how my body just knew and did what it had to..

Reading about natural births and the birthing process from a biological perspective so that I kind of knew at least academically what my body was about to go through.

What pain relief strategies worked best?

Used yoga and paracetamol in the first stage of labour and gas and air in the second and lots of breathing throughout.

What position did you end up delivering in?

I delivered the head on all fours the the midwife told me to straighten myself up so my husband held me up from begin with his arms under my armpits as I delivered the test of the body

How did it feel to hold your baby for the first time?

Beautifully surreal