How did your first vaginal birth turn out?

First labour, at age 40, went very well. I managed to stay completely relaxed which I think helped a lot, and I was also fortunate to have had a complication free pregnancy. Used hypnobirthing along with TENS machine and gas and air. And used birthing pool for a couple of hours (obviously had to remove TENS for that). From arriving at hospital to baby being born was around 12 hours. Pushing stage very quick. Did have 2nd degree tear but I was completely unaware of it until midwife said she'd need to give me stitches. Unbelievably I had zero pain post birth from tear or anything else. Not a twinge.

I really recommend the book 'practical ways to make your birth better' - it really helped me to relax and not be scared of what my body was going to go through. And I wrote a detailed birth preferences plan so felt assured that my partner and all the staff knew my wishes in different scenarios.

I needed forceps in the end but she was in a bad position so it was never going to happen without help. I did it without pain relief. I thought I had a high pain threshold... I was no match for birth pain. But I've had some friends who said their pain was like "really bad period pains" (mine was not...) so I think it's dependent on so many factors. I had 8lb baby and she was in brow position so bumping against my pelvis, causing most of the pain. I should say this presentation is pretty rare and usually caught earlier on, at which point they usually refer for c section for safety.

I planned one but ended up with emergency section as baby was breech.