Stacey’s Preterm Birth Story

Love reading positive birth stories, you’re in the right place…. This positive birth story is a preterm birth story with first-time-mum Stacey. Stacey went into labour at 36 weeks and 2 days. She had precautionary IV antibiotics in case she had an infection, used EBRAN to help with decision making, and gave birth to her baby boy just a few hours after arriving at the hospital.

Signs of Early Labour

After waking up on the 4th January I found I had lost my mucus plug and was having Braxton Hicks. I was 34wks pregnant at this point. I remembered in the videos Beth had mentioned labour could start anywhere within 2 weeks of this happening so I decided to bring my maternity leave forward. The weekend before my baby arrived I found I had a very upset stomach. I knew this could be another indicator he was on his way soon. We went for our 36wk scan on the 18th January and baby was measuring well (estimated to be 6lbs). On the 19th January at midnight (2wks after the mucus plug had gone) I woke to a very bad period cramp and felt a pop. My waters had broken. My contractions came on very quickly after this, every 5 minutes and lasting for about 60 seconds.

Calling the Maternity Unit

We called MAU and they thought I might have an infection. They asked us to come in for an assessment. We had already packed the car over the weekend with the hospital bags so we were ready to leave after about an hour. We would have left sooner but I ended up vomiting. My husband wasn’t allowed in to MAU for my assessment initially. As soon as I got into the examination room they realised very quickly I was in labour and asked me to call him in.

Early Labour

I was put on continuous fetal monitoring as we were preterm and given IV antibiotics in case I had an infection. When I was examined at about 01:30 we were already 3cm dilated, the midwife was very surprised as I was dealing with the contractions very well thanks to the breathing techniques I had learnt from this course. We were just waiting to be transferred to the delivery suite at this point. After a few more contractions I told the midwife I couldn’t stay on my back. I needed to move around. She was very accommodating to this, helping me off the bed but making sure my monitors stayed on. At this point I asked for some paracetamol. We were transferred to the delivery suite at about 2am. It felt like everything was a blur after this point.

Using EBRAN to make informed choices

I remember needing to pee. My contractions were so close together I couldn’t get to the bathroom. The midwife put a bed pan on the floor under me so I could go. I had gas and air to help with the contractions but after a while this lost it’s effect and ended up being thrown on the floor. I laboured on the bed on all fours, still with continuous monitoring. At one point they struggled to find the heart beat and suggested we had a clip put on the babies head. My husband was a super star and used our EBRAN tool as this was something we discussed as not wanting. The midwife tried again and the heartbeat was found so we didn’t need the clip in the end.

Welcoming our baby

By about 3am I was examined again and was 7.5cm. After what felt like seconds I asked for stronger pain relief as I felt like I couldn’t do it anymore. Then I had a big urge to push. There wasn’t time for anymore medication and at 04:16 my son was born weighing 5lbs15oz.

We had decided to go with a natural delivery of the placenta. It was born 10mins after my son arrived. I ended up with a second degree tear and a graze.

We didn’t get to stick to our birth plan as our labour and delivery was so fast but I managed to let go of what I couldn’t control and found we had a very positive birth experience. The midwives also commented on how amazing my husband had been and that was all because he watched the videos with me so he also knew what was going on and what to do.

I can’t thank Beth enough for creating this course.”

Click the link for more information about The Bump to Baby Chapter’s Hypnobirthing and Antenatal Online Course. Know what you can do to stack the odds in your favour for the birth that you want. Videos, checklists, audios & a support group all created by a midwife to get you feeling excited, prepared and confident for birth.