Positive Birth Stories

My dd arrived 10 days early weighing in at 8lbs 7.5 ozs,i had a really easy preg and a promblem free dilevery,havent had time to read all the other posts but i believe if you expect the un expected then u will b ready for ne thing..

With my dd i could of gone to hell and bk with the birth and would of still been over the moon with her as she is some what a mircale baby to us...but justdont rule too many things out,dont feel guilty for wanting every drug going and dont let ne one bully u into wanting drugs that u dont want..
Every birth,pregnancy and baby are different,do what feels right for you..

udar, please don't be offended by my email then -in it I did say I took hmc's point and that it really, really hurts etc! Anyway, apologies in advance and please feel free to inore my comments.

Sorry Udar

Didn't mean to imply that you personally are in any way naive or under any illusions about childbirth - was just relating my own experience really, because I was totally unprepared for childbirth myself...largely because well meaning folk reassured me that it would be hunky dory!!!

Agree with HMC, I was too complacent with my first, which meant I didn't cope as well as I could have if I had taken it more seriously... but that said, it was a pretty smooth birth. Only interventions were them breaking my waters and pethidine -- which I asked for but in retrospect reckon I could have coped without. Minor tear. I think it's very valuable to go in with an open mind because plenty of women really don't find it that difficult, and you don't know what you're capable of until you try.

Except for about 45 minutes of bad pain, 2nd labour was jolly easy! And that is the true of most of my friends who had bad first time experiences, too.

Udar, have just rec'd your email address and replied.

Udar,

My own personal opinion, but I think its better to go into your first labour with some level of anxiety...I suffered from the opposite problem - well meaning folk telling me that it would all be fine and not too bad really, so I was totally unprepared for the protracted pain >24 hours(spine to spine delivery), failed ventouse, forceps and episiotomy followed by baby experiencing breathing difficulties. The shock of this (which was the opposite experience to my expectations)tipped me into PND...

Have since had a chat with my Obstetrician who feels that we do women no favours by lulling them into a false sense of security and reassuring them that it will all be hunky dory with just a bit of gas and air thrown in to cope with the moderate pain.

Sorry, I've done quite the converse to what you requested ...i.e. given you a slightly negative birth story rather than a positive one. However, I sincerely hope that you have a really good labour - they do happen, but don't feel any sense of failure or loss if things don't turn out that way....and be prepared...

Me too re the positive experience of section. I'd also say, be positive but also be prepared for the unexpected and don't think you've 'failed' if things don't turn out as you plan. All labours and births are different. If you really want a natural birth and it is very important to you, I think Dinosaur's advice about a doula might well be worth thinking about. But no matter how much acupuncture you have, sometimes you do need a section for both your sakes and that can be wonderful too. Honest!

Can I put in a positive birth story for a section?

I had an 'emergency' one with dd (failure to progress) and a planned one with ds (big, and footling breach). It both cases I was fine, with no prblems with the delivery of the aftercare. And both times I had the unimaginable joy of holding my healty, beautiful children! We were fine, I had two very positive bith experiences.

I'm amazed that you lot can remember all this detail! It's all I can do to remeber dd's birthday, let alone what happened...I struggle to remember how much she weighed! I know I had a section (the scar reminds me), it was planned due to medical problems on my part, and was a doddle- I'd recommend it to anyone!

Udar, here's the home birth thread which has got some lovely positive birth stories on it. You could also try reading the various birth announcements here since quite a lot of people include their birth stories. I also asked for book recommendations here and I ended up buying Have the birth you want by Gill Thorn. I'll happily send it to you if you want to contact me using the contact another talker link. I do think a positive attitude and an open mind helps. Good luck.

Both my birth experiences were pretty positive (imo!), the second one a much more positive experience than the first probably because I knew what to expect this time. With DD1 we got to hospital at about 0720, my contractions having started coming quite strongly and regularly very suddenly at about 0600 (I'd had an examination the day before and the doctor told me I was 2 cms dilated - without even knowing it!) I didn't want to get on the bed straight away so I paced the room although I was on a monitor so couldn't go very far. I think the walking/pacing helped me a lot, as I also did it 2nd time round! I used gas and air, then pethidine, but the mixture of the two made me feel totally out of it. I was told to lie down on the bed after my waters broke, and was told to stay lying down, which I didn't really want to do, but was too out of it to argue. I didn't really have the feeling of "needing to push" but dd1's heartrate was dropping so she was delivered with the help of a ventouse. Worst part was not being able to sit down properly because of stitches!

DD2's birth, however, was a much more positive experience. I said from the start I didn't want gas and air but would probably have pethidine. We got to hospital at around 3am (very antisocial!), and as when I was in labour with dd1, I paced around as much as I could, leaning over the bed and swaying my hips from side to side and backwards and forwards through the contractions (this really seemed to help me - don't know why, and it just seemed to come naturally too). After a trip to the loo, where I had a really strong contraction, I told mw's about the contraction and they suggested I got up onto the bed and leaned over the back to see how that felt. After I got on the bed, they asked me if I liked this position - to which I said no(!) - but I felt a really strong urge to push. My waters broke as her head crowned, which I think helped get her out.

Goodness, that's very longwinded! I hope I've said something which will be of help to you - basically I found walking around during labour and "swaying/rocking" through the contractions extremely helpful, and being in an upright position as opposed to lying down was definately the best way for me! Before dd1's birth, I tried to watch as many "true life" birth programmes as possible to prepare myself for the "goriness" of it all. I think it helped as I imagined the "worst possible scenario" and, luckily for me that didn't happen. Both births were a positive experience, and it's really true what they say - it is painful but you soon forget the pain when you've got your wee one in your arms! (By the way, dd2 will be a year old tomorrow, so this is bringing back lots of memories for me!)

udar hi! Thought i'd put a bit on here as i still love telling my Birth stroy!

In short, i was crampy all day the day before my due date, at five i started bleeing quite heavily and went to hospital with dp and mam and dad (who were in the waiting room the whole time) I was already 7cm's dilated and had a quick scan as they thought hte baby was breech, she wasn't! I had gas and air and had the pethidine at the ready but as i was so far on i decided to try without. It WAS agony and the worst part was when the baby had a bowel movement in the womb(meconium?) and they tried to get her out with forceps! I screamed and then had her naturally! I went in at 5 and dd was born at 8.58. I am aware that i was VERY lucky by reading some stories on here but keep a positive attitude, you might be as lucky as i was. It was my first baby and my Birthplan was followed to the letter!
Good luck++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
P.S-i pray i'm as lucky next time

Hi udar, my first labour was good and relatively easy (well, as easy as it gets anyway!). I think I posted it on the homebirth thread so I'll have a look later and let you know. If not, I'll post it for you.

Udar, I echo Dinosaur

Basically you never know what is going to happen on the big day, the only thing for certain is that baby going to come out. So don't bank on everything going to birthplan, etc, just have conifdence that you have done your best to prepare your body and mind and make sure you have a) good support on the day b) someone to talk things over with, disect what did happen - you always have us Mumsnetters.

Also, there is so much emphasis on what to do to prepare for labour that it is easy to lose sight of the fact that a whole other set of quandries and challenges (and immense highs and overwhelming joys) begins once you get your baby. What I mean to say is try to think ahead and not put all your energy in to the one big labour day.

Hope this helps, and please relax and do what ever makes you comfy.