Leah’s birth story
I was advised to write out birth preferences rather than a plan before I went into labour. By having a preference rather than a plan, I knew I would be mentally prepared for any shift to how my story turned out, but I wasn’t prepared for the sheer length of time it took to get my beautiful baby girl here!!
If you could write a story the total opposite to what I would have preferred (secretly wanted, but I’ll get into that), then that is what my birth story is!!
My due date was January 10th 2025. The day came around and still no twinges, no movement, no dropping of my belly, no mucous plug. Nothing! A quick chat with my midwife led me to booking an induction for 3 days after my due date. I took the weekend to think about it and after some talking it out loud with Leah, I decided to delay my induction to 10 days after my due date. Leah never told me what to do, she just helped re-cement everything that her antenatal course had taught me. It’s my pregnancy, my choice. She was an invaluable support during the whole experience.
Fast forward to January 10th and still absolutely no signs of baby or my body getting ready to deliver, but now I felt comfortable that I had given my body the time to work naturally and now I wanted to get this baby here!! We were admitted on the Monday and our first attempt at induction was with the pessary. After 24 hours, still nothing, so induction number 2 and another pessary it is. Still no movement. A third attempt at induction saw me try the prostin gel. Drumroll please…you guessed it!!! STILL NO MOVEMENT.
The midwife then requested a doctor to come and speak to me to go through all my options. I remember Leah telling us to use the BRAIN acronym when being given options for treatment, but I must say my experience with the midwives and doctors at Leeds General Infirmary were phenomenal. I was well informed of all options at all points.
The doctor basically said we had 2 options. The first would be to try the dilapan pods but I was told that because my cervix was still fully closed, this would result in pain so excruciating that it would likely traumatise me. The second option, which brought on the waterworks, was a C-section. I had always said from the start that if it came to it I would be happy to have a C-section, as long as me and baby were safe and healthy, but when the option was given to me I was devastated. Upon reflection I think it’s because I wanted to feel what labour felt like at least for a moment before a C-section was an option. But I never had a contraction, tightening, nothing.
The process leading up to the surgery was scary. I had less than 24 hours to wrap my head around this major surgery I was going to have, but on the other hand I was so grateful to have that time rather than it turning into a last minute emergency. Getting in there, the whole experience was nothing short of magical. My whole surgical team were incredible. They could see how scared I was and walked me through every step to make me feel better. We had our favourite music playing and when our baby girl arrived we were just overcome with emotion. To have the special skin-to-skin moment just after her birth whilst they stitched me up was unreal. It’s like we had a bubble over just me Nina and Jovan that everyone in the room just let us soak up.
As much as I did want to experience natural labour, my birth story ended up being everything I needed and more and I’m so glad it all worked out the way it did. The preparation I got from Leah’s antenatal classes helped equip me with the knowledge and power of choice that I needed to deal with a birth experience I wasn’t expecting. She empowered me prior to the birth, leading me to have the most wonderful and positively surprising birth experience that I’ll treasure forever.
