Anyone been alone in labour?

[georgarina]

Hi, I am facing labour alone and don't know what to expect!

This is my third baby.

I am nervous because my hospital in particular is extremely busy - in my first birth I was left in the waiting room for 4 hours in active labour, couldn't get through to the maternity emergency line for 6 hours etc. I needed my birth partner to be very proactive with the nurses. Obviously I can't do that if I'm by myself.

Any experiences or advice welcome.

Hello, do you have a friend who can be there for you? Can you speak to your midwife before hand about the possibility of being alone and the anxiety surrounding this. Hopefully they can make sure that doesn't happen again and if you can have some extra support during labour. Also congratulations

I was on my own before my DH arrived. My mum had her third baby literally on her own and always laughs about it.

I was induced for my 3rd baby, and DH was sent home. I’m the end, it was a very fast delivery and he didn’t make it back in time. Although I would have preferred him to be there, in the active labour stage, I found it easier not to have to focus on him at all, or answer his questions about contractions etc, and I could just focus on what I needed to do. I do feel it would have been good to have him advocate for me a bit more during the slower bits, but the midwives absolutely pulled out all the stops and supported me so well when things got going.
Please try not to worry. I found the thought of giving birth alone so much worse than the reality.

I was on my own for the third. I felt after two I knew what I was doing and the midwife's were more attentive.