Here is the tale of Emma Elizabeth Hayward, born 17th January 1995 at 3:20pm at Heatherwood Hospital, Ascot, UK.

I was 8 days passed my due date, and terrified of induction and all that might mean, when I woke up at 6am with a funny feeling in my lower abdomen. As I sat up, my waters broke! I rushed to the toilet, and sat there with water and blood pouring out of me. The blood worried me a bit, and I debated what to do (the plan had been to wait until the very last minute before going into hospital, but things didn't feel quite right to me). Anyway, I decided to ring the hospital 'just for advice'. Ofcourse, they asked me to come in as soon as possible, and when it came to it, I was quite relieved. I started getting a period-type pain, but no contractions as such.

I arrived on the labour ward at about 7.30am and I was immediately put on a CTG machine, to check the baby. I was not in labour and I was surprised that they didn't do an internal examination. In fact, they seemed very laid back about everything. They decided I'd be better waiting it out on the ante-natal ward, but I was warned that because of the danger of infection, I would have to be in labour at the end of 24 hours or they would 'augment' the labour.

The ante-natal ward was at one end of the post-natal ward, and everything was very relaxed. We were allowed to wander about as we pleased, have meals in the dining room and make coffee for ourselves in the little kitchen. There were 4 of us girls in the same predicament, and one poor soul on bedrest, so we tried to support one another. My only criticism was that we were a little ignored by the midwives, and they didn't explain that it was basically up to us when we went down to the labour ward.

Early Labour

All day I had intermittent contractions. I was wearing a TENS machine, so I used the 'booster' button every once in a while, so I never experienced real pain and thought I was not in labour. However, when they did a CTG at about 5pm, I turned out to be having regular but weak contractions. As the hours passed, they told me to rest, but I was convinced the I would have the baby any minute and was so excited, I couldn't rest.

At 7.30pm, I was chatting to one of the other girls when I had a very strong contraction. She joked about '129 more of those, and you'll have your baby' (based on something she'd read about the average number of contractions needed to give birth). 20 minutes later, I had another strong one and after that they were pretty regular. However, what threw me was that I occasionally missed one, or two would come ten minutes apart. I asked the midwife if I was in labour, and she said 'probably', which wasn't certain enough for me. She told me to 'get some sleep'. Some hope! The pain was not unbearable, but impossible to sleep through, even with the TENS machine. As the night progressed, they became more and more frequent, but I still didn't think I was in proper labour. At 3am, the midwife did a CTG test and the contractions were 10 minutes apart, but I was still skipping them and still had a very low level of pain. At 5am, I fell asleep for about 45 minutes, with the CTG machine strapped on me. To my horror, the contractions stopped! I was convinced that come 6am, they would induce me, but the nurse told me that was unlikely, as I was in labour! (?) About half an hour later, the contractions started up again, this time 5 minutes apart and quite strong.

I continued to walk around the ward, and when I was offered breakfast at 7am, I refused - the pain was getting really strong by then and I didn't feel like it. At 7.30am I was trying to convince a new girl that labour wasn't that painful when my acting ability failed me. I decided to seek out the fabled 'gas and air' machine but when I asked for it, the midwife said 'Do you mean you want to go down to the labour ward now?'. I had expected them to tell me when I was ready to go down, not the other way round! Having been told I was in labour, I gave in, and had to be taken down in a wheelchair while someone got Julian (who'd been sent home when visiting time on the ward ended, and was expecting no action until the next day - which was quite an accurate assessment).

"Real" Labour

In the delivery room, I was giving the gas and air, which I discovered not to be a pain killer but a good tranquillizer! The midwife asked if I wanted to be examined to see how far I was (my birthplan stated no unnecessary examinations). It was uncomfortable being examined, but good to know I was completely effaced and 4cm dilated. I didn't spend much time on the bed, but walked around, wiggling my hips during each contraction, which was now about every 3 minutes. I lost all sense of time after that. I am told it was 10 hours, but it seemed much quicker. Periodically, the midwife would hold the electrode of the CTG machine to me to hear the baby's heartbeat, but I was basically left to get on with it.

The pain was mostly back pain (the baby had turned round in early labour so that its back faced mine) and it didn't feel like a 'contraction' - just severe back pain. The midwife suggested going on all fours, and my husband tried massaging my back, but the best thing was leaning my back against the edge of the delivery bed and pressing hard with my fists.

The pain began to get bad. At one point I was asked if a medical student could observe my labour and birth as I had expressed an interest in helping in this way before my labour and the student was desperate to see a normal delivery, but I didn't even acknowledge her, I was in so much pain. The contractions were about 45 seconds apart and my resolve for a drugless labour began to crack. I asked for pethidine and the midwife gave me some, but I found out later she only gave me a tiny amount because I am asthmatic and said on my birthplan that it made me sick. Although it didn't really help the pain, it did actually cause me to sleep for about 20 minutes (an age when you're in labour) and after that I felt I could cope 100 times better. In fact, after that the contractions got stronger and more effective which the midwife says can happen if a small amount of pethidine is used at the right time in labour. It certainly worked for me.

After some time, the contractions became very frequent until they all blurred into one and I started writhing about and screaming that I was in agony (my husband reports that the air was blue at this point, but I can't remember saying anything). I was about to demand an epidural and was screaming about being allowed to die ;-) when I vomited. This encouraged me, because I vaguely remember someone saying this was 'a good sign' but I couldn't remember how. The midwife then asked to examine me again, and shortly afterwards announced that I was ready to push.

Unfortunately, I had other ideas. I was in terrible pain I the thought of pushing the baby out did not appeal. I decided lie on my back because I heard that this is the worst position to give birth, and I didn't want to give birth at that point! After half an hour, the midwife took the gas and air machine off me, and told me I had to do some work. With some 'persuasion' from her and my husband, and the medical student, they got me sitting up with my knees up and my chin down. What really did it for me, however, was when the medical student said "You have to get this baby out, you can't walk around with it stuck halfway out for the rest of your life!" Many a true word is said in jest! Up until that point I think I'd forgotten the aim was to actually have a baby.

The Birth

When I first tried pushing, it was a disaster. I am badly coordinated at the best of times, but now I was terrible because I was so exhausted and the Pethidine had befuddled my brain. I decided to follow the midwife's promptings and eventually got the hang of it. The baby started to be born, and it felt exactly like going to the toilet, but having been told to expect this, I carried on regardless. At one point I felt a terrible burning pain in my perineum, and then the head was born. I was told to pant so the midwife could check the cord was not round the baby's neck, and I was supposed to continue whilst she guided out the shoulders which were a little large. However, in my enthusiasm I gave a mighty push and the baby came out, slightly tearing my perineum in the process.

Emma was lifted up and put on my chest, and the midwife wrapped us both in a large warm towel. Emma looked straight at me, with a kind of curious expression and we must have sat for ages looking at each other, whilst the afterbirth came out and they cleaned up down below. Emma was 8 pounds 4 ounces and I was thrilled that she was so alert when she was born, but didn't cry at all (except when they later weighed her).

The medical student who had observed the birth was in tears - it was the first 'normal' delivery she had seen in 8 births and she was overwhelmed by seeing a woman give birth without interventions. She came to see me later to thank me and told me that she couldn't believe I didn't need forceps, or an episiotomy until Emma was actually out. Apparently she was not supposed to be present at my birth because I didn't need any 'medical' care for her to observe, but she had managed to persuade my midwife because my birthplan specifically mentioned that I was happy for a student to observe. I hope she goes on to be an obstetrician!

After the birth I needed a few stitches and I felt like a large mule had kicked me up the backside, but other than that I recovered remarkably quickly. Getting breastfeeding going was a bit of a nightmare, and I was greatly hindered by the midwives, but that's another story! Emma is now 16 months old and a great kid. No.2 is due in September, and I am really looking forwards to the birth, which I hope to be a home birth this time.

P.S.

Births number two and three were indeed at home, and both turned out very well. Of course they ( Alice and Sam) are other stories...

- JMH.

Compiled by Anna Hayward (c) 1996.
Disclaimer: This document has not been compiled by a medical professional. Any opinions expressed are personal and should not be construed as medical advice. I am not a representative of any of the companies discussed, nor do I receive any form of commission.