The moment in active labour you remember best.

[Ostryga]

Mine was being told I couldn’t have an epidural at 4cm because I “wasn’t in enough pain” after 10 hours of non stop pacing due to awfully positioned Dd and all I wanted to do was fucking sit down for 5 mins.

I projectile vomited onto the midwife’s shoes and she paged the anaesthetist.

Mostly just remember the bad things. With DC1 it lasted 24 hours, ended in shoulder dystocia and forceps with an extended episiotomy which was sore for weeks and became infected. Also had back to back contractions but hated G&A because it made me feel drunk so I tried to struggle through the agony for as long as I could but after 12 hours, I couldn’t hack it and begged for an epidural.

DC2 came into the world very quickly. Got to hospital at 9cm and she was born 30 mins later. She seemed to just fly out despite being 9lbs6 so not tiny. I didn’t have any pain relief at all. Then the placenta got stuck and I haemorrhaged, was rushed down to theatre at breakneck speed and needed 2 blood transfusions.

DC3 I wanted a home birth for some reason. Don’t ask me why after the Hell of the first two deliveries and I have no idea why they even entertained the idea. I was just traumatised by hospital I think. I was taken into hospital in the end at about 6cm dilated because the midwife who attended at home was pregnant and didn’t like the incense I’d been burning (even though I stopped as soon as she arrived and she sat downstairs until the smell had gone), it made her feel dizzy apparently. I was kind of glad she made me go in in the end though, I bled quite a lot and there’s no way I’d have wanted to deal with that clean up at home.

I had elective c-sections with DC4 and 5 which were much more peaceful.

The moment I realised I needed to push and that baby was going to be born in my bedroom!

I remember my contractions starting to just run into one long bout of pain! A nurse came to check my blood pressure, waited patiently for the contraction to stop and when it didn't said "hmm... I might just get the midwife!".

Unfortunately I had somehow managed to decontract by 1 cm which was very demoralising!!

Doctor broke my waters, and it gushed out all over his expensive leather loafers. A funny moment before everything started to happen.

DD: breaking the gas and air because I bit down on it too hard and screaming at DH to "fucking fix it", and the relief when I felt her feet come out.

DS: DH and the midwife both telling me off for letting out a big scream. They both got shouted at extensively for that... I mean, really!