What happened during my first birth?

[3ormoredogs]

I know nobody can tell me exactly but I am pg with DC2 and have been thinking a lot about DC1 birth and what happened during it.

I will discuss it with my midwife when (if) lI ever get to speak to her although last time there was no continuity anyway!

I woke up at 3am at 37w bleeding quite heavily but mildly contracting. Blood running down my legs type bleeding. Soaking through a pad.
Phoned delivery to be told to wait until my contractions were closer together and stronger before coming in.
Waited at home another hour or so but the bleeding was getting worse and so I went in and they reluctantly admitted me however I was 6cm and allowed to stay.
None of the midwives were bothered about the bleeding at all so I presume it’s fine but next time should I insist on going in again if it happens again? Or do I stay at home like they say
Is it normal to bleed so much during Labour? I thought bleeding=emergency?

The actual birth part was okay and DC was fine but they did tell me that I had no waters at all and that the baby was born ‘dry?’
I had a midwife appointment the day before Labour, should this not have been noticed and Is there anything I can do next time to try and monitor for this? I 100% had no waters breaking that I’m aware of!

Oh and finally and probably the least important but pain relief wise I was given one shot of diamorphine which was amazing but wore off just as pushing started. That was the worst part and I was desperate for some more pain relief at this point but they didn’t allow me any. Why can’t you have pain relief for the worst bit of Labour does anyone know

I’m very lucky, my Labour was fast and my baby fine and my midwife in delivery was lovely. As you can probably all tell I’m reliving it and hoping to put some of these worries to bed so I can concentrate on next time and wondered if anyone can shed some light on if these things are normal?

So in terms of bleeding, running down your legs yes I would class that as an emergency which would need to be assessed. So if it happens this time I’d strongly suggest that you really explain his much blood there is. When you’re dilating you often have a bloody show but this is mostly mucousy mixed with the blood. You can also have blood stained waters but it’s not fresh bright blood it’s more watery red.

It is difficult to know when your waters went. I hate the term “dry birth” there’s always a little bit of water surrounding baby where baby is peeing and drinking. It’s not necessarily something that your midwife would have picked up the day before unless you told her you were having some watery loss/discharge

Pain relief wise they don’t like to give diamorphine or pethidine too close to baby being born if they can help it as it crosses the placenta and can effect baby after birth. Sometimes it can’t be helped but if they sense baby won’t be long it’s best not to have diamorphine/peth
You can however have an epidural earlier on in your labour, or continue to use gas and air.

Second labours tend to be quicker than the first.

Good luck. And definitely speak to you midwife and ask her any questions you have

sorry typo- how much blood not his much blood

Don’t know that any one on here can really tell you what happened at your birth and I would definitely have a proper chat with midwife and maybe gp.
I can tell you that my DD was born with no waters around her and that was a textbook birth with no issues and no concerns. I would think it happens fairly often. I had no signs that I was losing water.
The thing with the pain relief may have been to do with how close you were to giving birth. Did they not give you gas and air? Quite a lot of other things might not have been going to be effective quickly enough to make it worth while. Looking it up it says diamorphine can take up to 30 mins to be effective. Quite likely they’d expect your labour to be over in that time.

@3ormoredogs I don't really have much to add about your particular story, but I just wanted to say I am expecting #3 and recently contacted the hospitals where my first two boys were born and requested my labour and delivery notes. About 2-3 weeks later I received full copies in the post of all the midwife and consultant notes etc. Includes all the progress and observation notes etc that the midwives wrote down during delivery.

Might help you get an idea of what went on? Could always book in to review them with your midwife if it would give you more confidence and make you more comfortable going into your next labour?

Thankyou everyone!

It’s just nice to write it down I suppose. I’m not traumatised or anything and think I had a ‘good’ birth as far as births go. I’m just worried about this second one being worse and how I can make it better.

I had gas and air but thought it was rubbish. I just vomited and ended up doing the whole end bit with nothing

It was def fresh blood, not waters.

I think I will request my notes!

Can you get hold of your maternity notes? I took my sets of notes home with me both times when I left the hospital (although I wasn't supposed to!) and it was reassuring to read them afterwards.