When in labour were you allowed into your delivery room?

[rainylake]

I've realised over the last couple of weeks that although I on the whole had a positive birth experience, what happened in the first stage of labour was actually quite stressful and I've been suppressing it. Now 30 weeks with baby 2 and have realised this is why I've suddenly started feeling quite anxious about the birth.

Basically, went into hospital because waters broke at 39+6 - they didn't want to let me go home to see if for labour would start naturally as some worries about my blood pressure so put me on antenatal ward to wait. Busy, lots of women in there who had been in hospital for some time with complicated pregnancies and who were understandably pretty sick of the place.

Then labour started, but midwives were busy and overstretched so didn't really realise/acknowledge I was already in active labour, so ended up spending most of first stage of labour in a crowded room with lots of strangers in, no privacy or access to any pain relief (though DH managed to get me brought some paracetamol and a hot water bottle at some point). Felt I had to be as quiet and unobtrusive as possible through the contractions because there were so many other women right next to me who were trying to rest and was very conscious of being in a shared ward space. When I finally persuaded a midwife I really was in active labour she took me to this strange striplit room, put me on a monitor, then went away for another 45 min or so. Got the feeling she still didn't believe me and was doing it to humour me, as not sure why she didn't stick around at all. By this time the contractions started coming every couple of minutes and very intense. When she then came back, she then looked at the monitor, was clearly taken aback, did a vaginal examination for the first time, and then said "oh my goodness we need to get you to delivery suite right now". Had to be rushed in a wheelchair as I couldn't walk by this point. Was almost fully dilated by the time I got there, and that was the first time I got offered any pain relief beyond paracetamol.

Once I got into the delivery room everything was brilliant - had proper attention from midwives, felt someone was finally there to look after me, able to moan and groan as much as I wanted and move around, put music on and dim the lights, finally some privacy and space, and gas and air available. Baby born about an hour later. But the first part was really not great and I'm quite scared of having to go through that again and go through most of labour in this very medicalised sterile environment yet ironically without any actual medical care and with loads of strangers in the room with me.

So I guess I'm looking for some reassurance that this was just a random mess up because they misjudged how precipitate my labour was, rather than this is just what they do to you in hospitals. And some strategies for how I can avoid a repeat this time if my waters do go first again.

I arrived at hospital at 9am. I was sent to a waiting room with chairs, then to a brightly lit private room with a bed where I was left for my contractions to be monitored. I was told it would take 20 minutes but no one came back until about 10.30am. They then checked me and I was 8cm dilated. I was transferred to the delivery room at 11am where I was offered gas and air. Baby born at 1pm.

I was put on an antenatal ward while I was in early labour which had dragged on for days - painful, constant contractions but not dilating - and told that my husband would have to go home. It was truly awful and I can sympathise exactly with how you felt re not making too much noise. Not having my birth partner with me for support through the pain was just awful awful awful. I was then also put into a bright side room and they let him come back (after I cried quite a lot!) And then eventually on to delivery suite.

It must be difficult for them to juggle who can have a bed on delivery suite. but it certainly doesn't make for fond memories! It didn't happen to me with my second if that's any consolation for you - good luck

Your experience was almost identical to mine sorry to say.

Yes I have to concur with @Liz3891. I also had an incredibly similar experience.

I was in the triage room just off the pre natal ward and was also doing my best to not make too much noise. Was in a lot of pain and felt like I was pushing. Having never given birth before I wasn't 100% sure if that's what it was. Finally got seen by a midwife 45 mins later who said 'oh my god I can see his head!' And DS was born very shortly afterwards. No time for any pain relief and i didn't even make it to labour ward.

I was completely ignored and dismissed as 'noisy ftm who doesn't know what she's on about'. It was a very busy London hospital though and I could tell they were rushed off their feet.

Same. I was in labour for 6 hours in the antenatal waiting room and tied to be discreet. I didn't want to freak out others waiting for their 12 week scan results and a 9yr old boy looking at me with wide eyes.

I laboured in that waiting room until closing time and then was moved to post natal. I laboured there for another 6 hours and then a delivery suite became available. I was in the delivery suite for another 36 hours and went through several shifts of midwife. It was quite the marathon. All in all spent 50 hours in hospital trying to have a baby.

The issue was an oversized baby positioned the wrong way round, us too far past term to be sent home, a concerning scan and various methods to shift baby. Including induction. Fun it was not.

It made me anxious and unsettled and also extremely exhausted. I didn't eat for around 80 hours.

Yup. Same 3 weeks ago. Waters broke but no dice so went to hospital at 11am for induction the next day. Pessary at 1 then got put on the ward with vague noises about checking me at 7. I started contracting at 4.30 and politely tried to point out contractions had started but just got vague nods. I ended up saying I had reduced movement so they would monitor me. Turned out I was 4cm. I was moved into a weird little cupboard on delivery, again vague noises about the drip in a "few hours" while I was contracting away with my tens machine. Half an hour later they wandered back in, looked a bit worriedly at the monitor and asked me if I could walk to the delivery room next door, then checked to find I had gone 4cm to 10cm in an hour. DS was born 23 minutes later and it was too late for pain relief except about 5 puffs of gas and air.

I blame hypnobirthing and the fact I wasn't screaming in pain! It was ok though.

As for strategies, I found claiming I was contracting too much to monitor movements worked. Also if you do make a fuss I reckon they may be more likely to move you on from the ward.

I had this with my first, I would just be more insistent with the midwife this time round and explain why.

With my last baby I got to the hospital and was told I was only 2cm so they were umming and arhing about keeping me in. MIL really stood up for me (as I was in quite a bit of pain) and told them I had quick labours and insisted they take me in which they did! 2 hours later my son was born and the midwife actually said she was shocked and glad I had insisted as they would have sent me home and I may have ended up having baby there!

I had to be 3 cm dilated or over to be moved from the ward to the delivery suite.

When I was examined I remember her saying that I was more than three and I was just thinking I would get a go at the gas and air now (only available in the delivery suite).

Thank you for the replies. It's a bit worrying that most people had a similar experience but at least I know and as people have said can make more of a fuss this time and ask my DH to be firmer too. Perhaps my waters will go a bit later in the process and then I can labour at home for longer which would be much nicer. I'll also talk to my community midwife and see if she had any tips.

I did try signing up for an online hypnobirthing course as I thought some positive visualisation and guided meditations might be useful to have if it does happen again, but the first few lectures are all about how hospitals are a shit environment to give birth in and how clinical bright environment with strangers in will lead to more stressful and bad Labour's so at the very least you need to arrange your birthing space, and that message is really feeding into my anxieties so not sure whether carry on!

I was on the ante natal ward being induced. Lady next to me having baby number 5 induced (so you would think she knew what she was talking about) very quickly started asking for pain relief. Mudwife dismissed her several times. After half an hour the poir woman was practicalky screaming, on an open ward during visiting time. Finalky very sarcastic midwife came and examined her. Well never seen anyone move so fast.

Few minutes later HCA came in to strip the bed etc. Said the woman had given birth as they got onto labour ward.

When I gasped she said "no it's fine. Makes no difference to us where you give birth - corridor, lift. The midwives can manage"

Oh great. What about the mums though?

I was booked for induction at 2pm and began getting period pains at 4pm, laboured all night and day on ward until about 2pm, finally when I was 8cm was moved to labour ward, felt incredibly self conscious as the only thing separating me and other women was a few curtains, i wasn't happy about it x

I didn't go to the hospital until I was having about 3 contractions in 10 minutes with each labour. Was put in a first roomy, examined within 20-30 minutes and then moved straight to the delivery room.

I was induced with my second. Tried to be quiet initially but got to the point where I stopped giving a shit about any niceties when pethedine did fuck all apart from give me 30s sleep between contractions. Was 5-6cm when examined eventually, rushed upstairs to delivery, gave birth couple of hours later with a ventouse

But this time will be different because you're different!

If I were you I would be researching the different hospitals available to you, finding out what their policies are, how busy they get, whether being on a ward is likely. Making a detailed birth plan that includes what you want to do if a similar situation happens again with waters breaking early. Would it be an option to labour at home for longer?

I'd also make a plan for a worst case scenario if you do end up on the ward in labour. Don't be polite if you're in pain and need help. Tell the midwives you laboured quickly last time and they're more likely to take note. You also know what labour feels like now so you'll know when to insist on attention. Bring things that might help with the ward experience like headphones, thinks that look or smell nice, stuff that would make you feel at home.

If you can afford it, a doula might help. Or looking out some kind of counselling or service that helps process the last birth so you feel more at peace with it.

rainylake If you’re talking about the PBC online course I really recommend you stick with it.

I gave birth to DC3 in hospital this week using the techniques learned in the course and can really recommend it. OK so the environment was nothing like that advocated on the course: I was on the CTG the whole time, and whilst I had a lovely room with dimmable lighting, they had no blackout blinds and the baby arrived at noon! Still, I had an active labour with no pain relief at all. Baby arrived within 3.5 hours of me getting to the hospital and the midwives kept commenting on how calm I was throughout.

The most important thing about the course I found was the science part which teaches you about the birth process. This really helped me to understand what my body was doing and when. I knew to listen to and trust my body. So I knew for example when I arrived at hospital that I was in established labour (7cm as it turned out). I also felt when I was in transition, felt the baby turning in my pelvis, felt when I was fully dilated and ready to push. With this knowledge you’re in a much better position to argue your case if you find yourself in an unfortunate position where the staff are not listening to you.

Stick with the course, it really really is fantastic.

FWIW I was in a similar position in that i was induced with DC2 as my waters were leaking but I didn’t have any contractions.

This time with DC3 the contractions started first and my waters remained in tact until I was ready to push and begged the MW to break them for me!

So this time round may well be completely different!

I was 10cm and they could see her head before they believed me. They'd spent the whole evening telling me I wasn't in labour because the pain was in the wrong place. I was in to have an eye kept on me because my waters had broken at 36w, but they weren't expecting anything to happen.

@HoustonBess, thanks for the suggestions. You're right that I'm different and have more experience this time, and hopefully if I get it written into my notes that I had a fast labour (not sure anyone actually looked at my birthplan last time, so will try to get midwife to put it in her official bit too) and am more assertive, things will go differently. I guess last time I just assumed the midwives knew best and that it was meant to be like that in early labour, even though I did know the contractions were coming really fast and strong, whereas this time I'll have more confidence in my own ability to judge things. To be fair, I think the midwife on the antenatal ward did feel a bit bad about it when she realised how far along I was before they'd noticed, so possibly if I'd been more assertive about it, or I'd had previous history to inform them, things could have gone quite differently.

Unfortunately, there's no real choice - there is one (large, teaching) hospital 5 minutes drive away, and no other hospital for miles. It's always super-busy as it's a hub for everyone in the county, and also takes in complicated cases from further afield. And it's being reported in local media that it's now even more understaffed than it was when I had DD, because they were more than averagely reliant on EU staff who are now leaving, as well as general NHS recruitment issues. I'm pretty certain they won't let me into a midwife unit (including the one in the hospital) because a) it's an IVF pregnancy and so they treat me with kid gloves and b) whenever I go into hospital for a checkup my blood pressure spikes because I find the place and the consultants' attitude stressful, and so even though it's normal otherwise, it's bound to bounce up again when I do go in for birth. I will talk to the midwife about what the standard procedures are at that hospital, and what she thinks I can best do and best communicate in various circumstances, as she is really nice and sensible, and I'm sure will be able to advise me.

I would definitely be happy to labour for longer at home, and if I just go into labour I'll aim for that, especially as we're so close to the hospital that there's not much travel time to take into account. But if my waters go again first, they'll ask me to come in to be checked up, and the risk is that they then won't let me out again (I guess I could delay coming in for a bit if the waters are clear, as they were last time - not sure how that would go down and don't want to mark my card as being difficult before I even get there!) Not sure whether waters going first last time makes it more likely the second time, or if it's just random.

Out of interest, how expensive are doulas?

Why did you have to go in because your waters broke? Was it because you were already high risk?

I arrived at hospital 8am clearly in transition. Was left in the main maternity triage area in a barely closed cubicle for an hour before anyone examined me

• by which point Id stripped off all my clothes (transition madness), was fully dilated and they could see the head.

I delivered the baby an hour later in a delivery room that I walked stark naked into from triage- despite best efforts of midwife to make me put my clothes on - like that was the big thing to worry about

ExDP maintains it was the most awesome thing I’ve ever done.

I actually felt like I had a good labour and birth- not what I planned, but it went well, was peaceful until the chaos of the midwives realising baby was imminent- and we both survived intact.

But the key thing here is how did you feel? One woman’s great labour is another woman’s trauma etc

Glad to be helpful OP - I'm going through similar thinking processes, had non-straightforward birth with DD and terrible time in ward afterwards (felt imprisoned, unsympathetic midwives, horribly hot, BF problems etc), pregnant again and trying to think through ways to make it different this time. I think last time part of the awfulness was the difference between what happened and what glowy, hippy experience I'd pictured, that illusion was well and truly shattered!

Doulas vary across the country, I think anything from £500 to £1k. It sounds like a lot but they often do staggered payment plans or lower fees if you're on a low income, you get at least two sessions beforehand to talk things through, which might help you process feelings about the last birth. They can help assert your wishes during birth and keep you relaxed. To be honest I don't know what they do if you're on a labour ward for a long time. Most of them will meet up to chat without any obligation so you could just contact some and see how you feel.

It's also worth understanding why they would want you to take any particular action such as going in if your waters break and understanding the risk levels for yourself (so - making this up - if infection risk is 1 in 10 if you're at home, not a risk worth taking but 1 in 10,000 - maybe?)

I know what you mean about being marked as difficult, I see it as being informed and able to assert yourself a bit to find a suitable compromise if there's something you feel pushed into or something you suspect is more for their convenience than anything else. The bottom line is that it's your body and they need your consent for everything that happens in labour. You're right that in the real world they can apply pressure etc, but simply asking questions about why and what alternatives there might be won't hurt.

@Orlande, they tell everyone they need to go in if their waters break before labour starts, even if the waters are clear (which they were in my case), so that they can be checked over. Not sure if this is standard everywhere, but it's certainly policy here. They won't necessarily keep you in, and lots of people then get sent home again and told to come back later into labour, but you're meant to go to MAU (not urgently, but as soon as you've had a chance to shower, have a bite to eat etc) and be triaged.

It's for infection risk - they examined me at the MLU to confirm waters had gone and sent me home. They gave me 24 hours to start contractions and when that didn't happen I had to abandon my MLU plan and go to hospital to be induced.

I’ll start by saying I have very fast labours, but sounds like you do too

DC1 - arrived in triage and was 6-7cm. Taken straight to the birthing room where I gave birth 3.5 hours later.
DC2 - waters broke at home, was asked to go in to be checked. Whilst in the monitor my contractions started but I wasn’t believed. Sent home and delivered at home in the bathroom. 3 hours from waters breaking. So I never made it into the delivery suite!!
DC3 - I had a show and some slightly stronger braxton hicks so wanted to get checked. Was waiting to be seen for 15 mins or so at the mlu before my contractions went from nothing to full on. They were busy so advised I go to the labour ward (DH was demanding I be seen ASAP). Got to labour ward where they faded around with temperature etc. Examined me and I was apparently 3cm. I couldn’t believe it and said it was very intense and contractions were back to back. 15 mins later I said I needed to push but was patronisingly told my body wasn’t ready. When I started pushing (in triage) they panicked and urgently found me a room where I gave birth 5 mins later. 30 mins from first proper contraction I’d say.
I do think it would have been a better experience all round if I’d had my own space to move and make noise, rather than try to be quiet as there were other ladies being monitored next to me with only a blue curtain separating us. But it was so quick I guess they couldn’t know that.

My tips - get them to write precipitate labour all over your notes.
Get your birthing partner to fight your corner and be your voice. Despite my unplanned Home birth the second time, I was still not at all demanding or vocal during my 3rd birth, even thought I knew he was coming. I was ‘in the zone’ so to speak and DH luckily demanded I get seen.
If you labour quietly (like me), and are not a screamer, state this in your birth plan.
Good luck!