Can anyone share any positive NHS hospital births?

[PeggyLee123]

I'm due next week and totally bombarded by the latest news i am hearing about mothers traumas etc I'm literally so petrified to go in to labor & was just wondering if anyone had any good experiences of child birth (particularly first child)

I'm having (hopefully ) a natural birth, but some of my mates too have given me horror stories and now it just feels like I am too petrified to go in to labor!

My first was slightly chaotic but overall a positive experience. There were concerns over baby's heart rate (resulting in them being hesitant to give me pain relief), and I pushed for two hours before they pressed the emergency buzzer and lots of nurses came in. One episiotomy and 2nd degree tear later, with the help of suction he was born. Turns out his head was huge and he was at a bit of an angle (which they didn't kbow at the time) so I ran into problems. So not a straightforward birth, but not traumatic.

I have nothing but good things to say about the hospital and maternity care in general - they were absolutely fantastic and both looked after and put me at ease.

I had a really positive experience, midwives were lovely and couldn’t do enough for us, I was given lots of pain relief to take with me at home too (make sure you take them, it massively helps with pp experience) I wouldn’t hesitate to do it again tomorrow. I didn’t have a textbook ‘straight forward’ delivery, yet this didn’t stop me from having a positive experience.
My advice would be to take no notice of other birth stories, they have no bearing on your own experience, you are unique as is your birth story. The truth is that a lot of it is about your mindset, no matter what comes your way choose to stay calm, and choose positivity. One person might have an ‘uncomplicated’ birth and hate it, another might need intervention but enjoy it, it is hard but it is 100% what you make of it, in most cases. Keep an open mind, don’t get caught up on delivering a certain way or refusing pain meds, just go with the flow, trust your body and remember that ultimately all that matters is your baby being safe in your arms at the end of it all. There are no prizes for a natural birth/going without pain relief/no intervention etc… all that matters is you and baby are healthy.
Listen to/read ‘practical ways to make your birth better’ by Siobhan Miller, it will come in so handy no matter your experience, and help you to stay calm and feel in control (just ignore any parts of it that aren’t relevant to you personally).
Also, sadly a lot of people love to be negative and so other mothers often feel they can’t speak positively about birth out of fear of being shutdown. Many women have glared at me in irritation when I have said I loved every minute of birth and have never felt more powerful and in awe of the female body. Enjoy it, be excited about it, it’s such an indescribable experience.

I had a placental abruption (woke up to what I thought were my waters going but it was a bleed) so had to get an ambulance, spent a bit of time in triage/labour ward and then straight in for emergency section. What was a very scary time was made completely bearable by the attentive staff on all wards (postnatal was a different story!!!) and in theatre; I honestly could not have been looked after any better.

Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy and all the best for next week! ♥️

I had a very good experience. I know a lot of women would rather have homebirth and stay away from hospitals, but I personally need all the medical experts and drugs that are available.

I think some of these "horror stories" include mothers who had a very strong idea how they want to give birth and it didn't go as planned.

For me, getting the baby out safely what mattered, nothing else. If you want a water birth, that's good, but don't be stressed if it doesn't happen. Giving birth is very risky, a lot of things can happen, and the medical professionals job isn't to make this a "magical experience" but to deliver your baby safely. Be open-minded, and it will be OK.

I had a fantastic (albeit a bit dramatic) birth in November 2021 in an NHS maternity unit in Scotland. Home birth originally planned with our midwife, but Storm Arwen meant midwives couldn't attend home births for their safety. Made it to midwifery unit and was in delivery room straight away. Baby born about 3 hours later (after a nearly 2 day labour at home).
Ambulance was called as baby had pooed inside me so there was a risk of infection, they arrived just before baby was born but midwives delivered baby girl safely at the maternity unit, no complications and ambulance was sent away.

Was home the next day.

Had 3 babies and every hospital visit I couldn't complain about treatment and care. Doctors, midwives and the ward team were amazing every single time.

I was nervous too, but you have to remember you only ever hear about bad experiences in the news.

2 positive birth experiences here - Homerton Hospital in London. I’m sure the fact that I was lucky enough to have quick and easy vaginal deliveries helped massively, but both times I had a lovely calm waterbirth and good care afterwards.

Sadly the aftercare was not so good either time - wasn’t delivered through Homerton because we were out of catchment and it was shit. Make sure you advocate for yourself and get them to check you over thoroughly post birth and check your baby for tongue tie if you are planning to breastfeed.

Hi @PeggyLee123 I had both my babies via vaginal birth in our local NHS hospital, my last was born 8 months ago. Both times I had wonderful care from midwives and felt really well looked after. Genuinely no complaints! Don't worry, you only get told the horror stories, there many more good ones we just don't talk about as much! Good luck with it all!

I had baby number one in the middle of Covid and baby number two when a few minor restrictions remained. They both had little hiccups that could have gone badly but luckily I had excellent care and so everything turned out well.

Baby number one. Natural birth that went perfectly until the very end when he got a little distressed and his heart rate dropped. Luckily the team were quick to act and I was taken from the birthing centre to a delivery room very quickly. They used the ventouse to get him out quickly and luckily it worked. This was all done on gas and air but I don’t remember that much pain. I needed an episiotomy but I didn’t feel it and it healed very well and very quickly.

With baby number two I had high blood pressure from 34 weeks and the decision was made to be induced, which I was dreading as I’d heard many horror stories but mine was wonderful. They broke my waters at 11pm and my girl was born at 2.10am. Again all on gas and air. They’d tried the hormone pessary before breaking my waters but baby didn’t like it so they changed tact. Again, I felt like I was well monitored and decisions were quick with my input listened to.

I would happily have either experience again

I gave birth last year in the midwife led birthing unit at East Surrey hospital and had a fantastic experience. The midwives I encountered were all extremely kind and I felt very well listened to. Unfortunately I had to be readmitted to the postnatal ward after five days due to issues with breastfeeding, which had resulted in my baby becoming dehydrated. However, the staff were once again extremely kind and supportive. My advice is just to make sure that you have a realistic expectation of birth. A few of my friends arrived at hospital armed with essential oils to manage the pain and although there is nothing wrong with using natural methods such as this to help you feel calm and relaxed, they then left with the view they had let themselves down because they needed to use pain relief.

Mine wasn't a horror story but not easy either but I don't think giving birth is ever truly easy!
It's a very long story as it was about 60+ hours of labour until she was born and I started at a birthing centre where I wanted to have a water birth and was transferred to the hospital and put on a drip and given an epidural, neither of which I had wanted.
Baby was born with minimal pushing but we were all bloody exhausted!
I found that everyone at the birthing centre was absolutely amazing apart from one midwife who had sent me home early in my labour and who was then also the one who pushed for me to be transferred.
I think it does depend on the people. The birthing centre was very much about explaining what was happening, the options and what I wanted. The hospital was very 'this is what we're doing', though it wasn't an emergency.
Overall I'm happy with my birth experience, the initial stages were long but relatively calm. The hospital was frustrating but short and my baby arrived safely and I was okay as well so its hard to look back and be too upset about it.

I've had 3 positive experiences. The first was very very long but I can't fault the treatment I had and everything went well.
My second 2 were inductions but quick and treated well both times.

I planned a homebirth and did everything I could to resist/avoid going into hospital and being induced despite being two weeks over due date.

When I went into labour unfortunately there was meconium in my waters meaning I needed to be admitted.

I laboured for a long time but with excellent midwifery support and a fantastic anaesthetist.

Unfortunately in the end there was a complication that meant i needed a c section.

I was incredibly well looked after by an excellent, professional team.

I'm sharing this to say even though almost nothing went to plan, i still had a very positive experience and felt very well cared for. I think it helped that my partner and were educated about the process of birth and knew the questions to ask which meant all our decisions were informed and i felt empowered and in charge of what happened to me.

20 & 17 years ago, but had 2 uncomplicated vaginal births, couple of stiches each time, healed beautifully with no complications. Breast fed them both imeadiately after birth and neither of them dropped below their birth weight. Not even close to being the most unpleasant, difficult or most painful experience I have had.

I’m due in august first time mum and was totally petrified too, but trying hard not to be. I’ve realised I need to change my mindset because birth HAS to happen and the best place for me to be in when I go into labour is calm and feeling prepared. That’s not to say to ignore risks but I’m (politely) shutting friends down when they bring up scary stories or birth and I’m avoiding news like that out yesterday as, for me, it makes me more scared without any benefit. Also, I started listening to The Positive Birth Stories podcast on Spotify. I love it and it’s made me so excited for birth. Of course there are challenges (the podcast recognises that) and births aren’t easy. But it’s made me realise there’s nothing to fear and the vast, vast majority of people come out of birth firstly with a gorgeous little baby but also feeling like it was an overall positive experience. If other people can do it, you can do it!

I gave birth last year and had a really positive experience. (NHS - north-west of uk). It was my first baby and I had a relatively quick labour. Baby born approx 7 hours after my waters breaking. The midwives were fantastic and listened to all of my needs. If you're worried about pin relief I'd recommend buying a tens machine. I got one from boots. That really helped me relieve some pain. I also tried to walk around and stay stood up for as long as I possibly could.

For my second child I had a long labour with an epidural, which was allowed to mostly (but not totally) wear off for the pushing stage. Not too bad at all, and no tears. I'd suggested this approach to my midwife and it worked for me. She said it was the best managed labour she had attended.

My two births were fine, both inductions with epidural, no problems and no interventions. I healed well with no physical after effects and had healthy babies. That is ultimately the best end result. The second birth felt a little more scary because the labour ward was SO busy, but the midwife said it was just an extremely busy time to have a baby (!). The majority of the midwives were kind and thoughtful, the doctors were great too. The anaesthetist came quickly and did the epidural competently. My advice would be to MAKE A FUSS. Be the squeaky wheel, speak up if something doesn't feel right, get your partner to advocate for you, don't be embarrassed or feel like you're pestering. Unfortunately if you don't, the midwives are so busy that you might not be seen to in a timely manner. I had a positive experience because I did this, and it was tough going sometimes. Even with making a huge fuss, there were things that shouldn't have happened, so I dread to think what could have happened if I'd sat back uncomplainingly. Your life and your baby's life are the most important things so it's essential to get over any fear of making a fuss. Sorry not entirely positive reply but hopefully helpful. You will be fine. The vast majority of women have unremarkable births and healthy babies on the NHS x

My hospital birth was fine, straightforward, didn't take all that long. I felt in control the whole time, had no drugs. I did have a small episiotomy and stitches but most people I knew had that and it didn't bother me. I have pleasant memories of the birth. However, I realise I was fortunate in having no complications so am not smug about it.

2 brilliant experiences. One elective caesarean, one VBAC. No complaints whatsoever. Even the food was pretty good

I follow a Facebook VBAC group which has a lot of Americans in it and I can't believe the way some of them have been treated AND they pay for the privilege.

Positive experience here although it didn't go to plan at all. My contractions never settled into a proper rhythm despite being extremely painful, so I ended up almost 10cm dilated when I first got to hospital. I didn't progress naturally from there so ended up on a drip (take the epidural!) and my baby was eventually born by forceps. Not the water birth I had wanted! I was listened to, my options were explained to me and I felt safe. Due to the forceps delivery, it was standard procedure for a paediatrician to be present for the birth but I remember having an inner confidence that my baby would be absolutely fine, and she was. The following week I had a severe bleed at home and had to go back to hospital by ambulance. I was seen by a consultant almost straight away (on a Saturday) and I was in surgery within 2 hours of arriving at the hospital.

Yes there were some staff I didn't like, their manner wasn't so good or whatever, but they were bit parts. All the people who were involved when in mattered were excellent.

I was the same as you OP. I kept reading tragc news stories but I had to keep reminding myself that those experiences were not my experiences, or the experiences of the vast, vast majority of women. Go in with an open mind and focus on the bigger picture.

Enjoy your baby when he/she arrives.

Both of my birthing experiences were fine. However the post-natal care after my second child was appalling and still upsets me years later.

Both of mine were a positive experience. Went in to labour naturally with both, both born in the birthing pool and was sent home the same day.

Had gas and air on both. Felt that they listened to me. On DD2 they suggested breaking my waters as I wasn't progressing but I said no and about 4 hours later she started progressing again on her own.

No stitches with DD2 would thoroughly recommend the naked dula account on Instagram.

Please don't be afraid people only tend to share the really awful stories. Although this does happen and these stories should be told there are also lost of people with positive experiences x

I had 2 positive births on the NHS.

One was an EMCS in very risky circumstances (placental abruption) but I felt supported and safe under the care of the team at all times.

It wasn't the water birth I had imagined but goes to show you can feel you have been very well looked after even if things don't go to plan.

Most empowering experience I've ever had. Wonderful midwife both times. Hurts like fuck but I was in awe of how strong my body was.