Is it possible to have a 'calm and straightforward' birth in hospital?

[samstown]

I am 29 weeks pregnant and my thoughts are increasingly turning to the birth of my baby. I have joined the NCT and have started to go to one of their Yoga classes (which is excellent). I have already decided to give birth in hospital rather than at home. I love the idea of a home birth but I just cannot get the thought out of my head that if something went wrong and I was at home rather than in hospital and couldnt get transferred I would never be able to forgive myself. I know that lots of women have wonderful home births, but I think, this time at least, it just isnt for me.

However, I have been reading all the stuff from the NCT which seems to suggest that if you have a hopsital birth it will be difficult to have a straightforward birth etc etc. I really like the idea of a birthing pool but I dont know if my hospital has one (Lister in Stevenage in case anyone does know!) I also want as little intervention as possible really, although if it was necessary obviously I will go with whatever is best for me and my baby. I really want a calm and quiet birth and really try to use the breathing techniques that I have started to learn, but all I have really seen on programmes like One Born Every Minute is women labouring on their backs and screaming in pain! I am also unlucky in that there is a midwife led unit at my hospital but it isnt opening until the autumn so that is not an option either.

I am rambling here, but what I guess I am asking is have any of you had a calm and straightforward birth with music, breathing, water etc and all that stuff that goes with a homebirth, in a hopsital environment?

It is possible to have one, but you can't plan to guarantee one.

I had all sorts of plans, but my babies had other ideas.

I had a twenty eight hour back to back labour without intervention(just gas and air) in hospital. I can honestly say I look back on it with fondness. It hurt but never unbearably. I kept focussed on the fact that, unlike many other types of pain, this would come to an end soon and I would have something wonderful to show for it. I had a two hour second stage with a lovely student midwife who was doing her qualifying fortieth birth so said she was staying until the end even if it took another twenty hours!

I had a calm and straightforward birth in a hospital as a VBAC with pre-eclampsia, so it is definitely possible! Like dizzyblonde, I never found it completely unbearable, which I think was just luck really although I did walk around a lot and stayed upright until delivery. Only screamed once on the first push. The only preparation I did was a 5min chat with my mum about breathing, so certainly not down to dutiful attendance of antenatal / hyponobirthing classes etc!

The breathing really helped me. I also had a TENS and gas and air towards the end. No intervention apart from ARM (recommended by consultant as VBAC), which I was really worried about but worked very well. Good luck!

Hello OP. The Lister do tours. You can ask tonnes of questions. The NCT need to understand that, yes Drs do intervene and follow protocols because if they don't and anything, anything happens they get sued, not the NCT. I agree with other posters though, if all is going smoothly you are more likely to need to ask for help when the urge to push comes than be chucking out "drug pushing" doctors!!

Lister has new facilities and I would be shocked if there were no birthing pools....

I think what I never really grasped before having a baby is that inbetween contractions, everything feels normal and pain-free. Ok, contractions hurt and you may be inclined to scream/grunt/grind teeth/whatever gets you through but inbetween each one, I was lucid and focused.

Another calm hospital birth here. In fact, I rather enjoyed my stay in hospital. Arrived at 7am at 7cm dilated, had a long warm bath, lunch, laboured away on birth ball, mum and dad popped in at 2ish to see how it was going, started pushing at 4ish, had DD at 6pm - same one midwife throughout, radio on, lots of light-hearted chat, best tea and toast I've ever had, straight after. Couldn't have asked for better.

I had a calm/straightforward birth in hospital but did find that the consultants were itching to get stuck into breaking my waters/monitoring/clip on baby's head/ventouse etc when there was no actual evidence of it being necessary other than the fact that I was 10 days overdue.

The MWs were great and fended the cons off but I found that my DH and I had to be quite assertive in questioning why things were suggested and saying no thanks unless there was a specific need for it.

I'm not slating all doctors or intervention at all and would have been very happy to go with anything necessary, but am glad we stood firm as I had a great birth, relaxed and calm and I felt like I could have walked out and gone home an hour afterwards.

Definitely 2nd the suggestion of the Natal Hypnotherapy CD, I found it v helpful.

I have had 3 babies.... and I would recommend an epidural every time,, as you feel more relaxed (10 times more ) and pain free.
My 2nd baby was with no pain relief and it wasnt fun at all.. ......v.painful.
I think the invention of epidurals are brilliant...
divine intervention in my opinion.
Calmness... fab!

Lister does have a birthing pool but only one. I am having my DC2 there in September and plan on using the pool. Am gutted that I will miss being able to use the brand new birthing unit by what will probably be just a matter of weeks. Ah well. I had DC1 at QE2 Welwyn and did not have a good experience so hoping that the Lister will be better! Let me know how you get on! ( I am about a month behind you I think!)

by birthing unit, I mean midwife led unit - sorry!

Calm and straightforward sums up both my hospital births - nothing like anything you see on television! My midwife did tell me that a lot of it is down to luck - length of labour, position of baby, pain threashold etc. I agree with the poster who says you can't plan to guarantee one wherever you give birth.

Had great experiences with hospital births 2 & 3, a nightmare with 1 not because I was in hospital but because loads went wrong and if I had been at home I would have one less daughter now and maybe not be here myself, birth 4 was a home birth....nightmare ( not typical I know), midwife got lost ( I live on a main road 8 minutes from her base), paramedic had never delivered baby and had to sort myself out (fortunately children1,2,3 slept thru' it all)...then got admitted anyway due to excessive blood loss.....which I had to come back to when I returned to my house!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I've got nothing against home births but just to remind NCT that things can go wrong at home too! I wish they were more supportive of real personal choice and a bit less negative about hospitals!

Also having a baby at Lister in september, my first, I am hoping to be able to use the birthing pool,

I hope it will be a straightforward birth as well!

I've had 2. Partly luck tbh! But they were positive experiences and, much as I hate the word - they were empowering!

I had a lovely hospital birth. I had planned to use the midwife led unit but bleeding meant I got sent to the labour ward. Had to be monitored but once they decided I was fine and the baby was fine I came off and the doctors left. It was just me, my husband and the midwife.

I did give birth on my back, but only because it ended up being more comfortable that way. I had a very fast labour so no time to try lots of positions. Lots of skin to skin afterwards as well. And I used my natal hypnotherapy techniques to good effect.

It wasn't the waterbirth I had been hoping for, but it was a wonderful experience.

I would second the recommendation of a doula, wish I had booked one for my first labour. It helps having someone supporting you and your husband and most doulas should have some sort of relationship with your local maternity unit.
Also waiting until later on in the first stage of labour is a good way of avoiding intervention.
I really thin k with the NCT they don't really go in depth enough with the role the hormones play (adrenaline interfering with the production of oxytocin) and just seem to assume that being in hospital will instantly up your stress/adrenaline levels.
Good luck anyway.

"but just to remind NCT that things can go wrong at home too!"

You'll find that all the information available on homebirth from the NCT mentions this.

"I really thin k with the NCT they don't really go in depth enough with the role the hormones play (adrenaline interfering with the production of oxytocin) and just seem to assume that being in hospital will instantly up your stress/adrenaline levels."

Have you read any of the NCT publications on place of birth and how to boost your chances of a straightforward delivery? They do mention the role of hormones - far more so than any of the NHS sponsored materials available to mums, which tend not to mention it at all.

OP - the VAST majority of UK mums have their babies in hospital and most are happy with their births. It's just that women who give birth at home tend to have - as a group - even better experiences and fewer complications. But if you can't feel comfortable with the idea of having your baby at home then it's not for you.

I'd third the recommendation of a doula - mainly if you're going to the labour ward. Less likely to need one if you're going to be in a birth centre. Also, try to stay at home as long as you can - at least if you're able to cope at home and aren't frightened.

Yes it is definitely possible to have a calm and straightforward birth in hospital. Have had 3 natural, drug free labours. DC2 was a particularly lovely experience. I arrived at hospital in quite advanced labour, wasn't given an internal examination but told if it felt right to push to go ahead. DD came in one push; I had a natural delivery of placenta, a bit of a repair job, lunch and home. The whole process was under 3 hours.

I felt very strongly that I wanted to labour on all fours and was worried that if I lay on my back at any point for an examination I would get stuck like that so refused. One MW was quite stroppy but the others have always been happy to accommodate.

Good luck

yes!
I was induced with 2 pessaries with DD1, but the labour was quick and relatively easy/calm, DD2 was huge and badly positioned but born without interventions with the help of awesome midwives.

I had two calm straightforward non-intervention births in hospital. Helped that I had a doula who helped to fight my corner the first time with a MW who was rather stroppy about me not wanting to lie down (gave birth kneeling both times). Planning a home birth for no. 3 next month though!

I had a hospital birth that was very relaxed. I had a fairly quick labour so the pain was intense but made it to 10cm with just gas and air as I was able to use breathing techniques and positions I had learnt. I did end up with forceps when she got stuck (which was my worst nightmare) but actually it still ended up being calm in theatre and I surprisingly found it a positive experience despite it not being my ideal birth.

Yes Lister has a pool I was ambulanced from Bedford at 29 weeks as they thought I was having my twins then and Lister had just opened its new neonatal unit so I was talking to the midwives about how nice it all was - then I was kept in on the normal old ward lol.

Very easy, nice and natural birth (mw-led birth centre).

Hideous less easy after'care'.

It is entirely possible. I have attended many.

Yes. I had one and am hoping to have another one in about 2-3 weeks time . Shoot me if I'm wrong but aren't the NCT well known for making wide-sweeping statements?!

OMG I am FAR calmer in a hospital than at home!!! The minute I am hooked up to machines and surrounded by medical professionals I relax. Call me weird. :)

Actually, I was one of those who would have died if my mother hadn't had me in hospital (she had an emergency C-section under general, that's how little time there was to whip me out) and I spent a lot of time in hospital as a child, maybe that's why. I just feel reassured.

My last birth (out of four) I had an epidural, an induction (in that order) and it was awesome, mostly painless, mellow and beautiful in a lovely quiet room with the sun setting and very peaceful atmosphere. If I had been at home I would have been howling miserably and freaked out about 'what if something goes wrong?' so hospital is definitely more relaxing for me.