Using EBRAN to choose induction: Jemma’s Birth Story
Love reading positive birth stories? You’re in the right place…. This positive birth story is with Jemma and the arrival of her baby girl. Jemma had some issues in pregnancy that led her to choose to have an induction. Jemma had an incredible birth and felt empowered each step of the way to make choices that were best for her and her baby.
My pregnancy and my reasons to choose induction
I had been under consultant-led care throughout my pregnancy because of a kidney disease. By the last 4 weeks of my pregnancy my kidneys were showing signs of struggling, progressively getting worse. So, I was booked in for an induction of labour.
Initially I felt unsure about this and so used EBRAN to help me reach a decision which made me feel in control of the situation. After asking lots of questions and doing my own research, I came to the decision that to choose induction was the right decision for us. From that moment I felt like it was my choice rather than something that had been put on me.
The induction process
I went into hospital on Monday afternoon for the induction process to begin. I had been told on arrival that there was a significant delay due to staff shortages so not to expect a baby before Friday.
This initially made me feel deflated, but I used the positive affirmations – mainly that every day was a day closer to meeting my baby – to get through the wait.
The pessary was inserted in the early hours of 04/10 and I was reassessed after 24 hours. I was 1cm dilated. The next step was to wait until there was space to go down to the labour ward for my waters to be broken.
I started to feel irregular, small contractions, but nothing too exciting!
We were finally taken down to the labour ward at 5pm on 05/10. Here they talked us through what was going to happen. It was there I decided that I wanted to go for an epidural. Throughout my pregnancy I had been quite against having this, but after what felt like a long time of waiting and having time to thing, I felt like an epidural would help me feel more relaxed and less stressed.
We agreed to see what happened after my waters broke and take it from there.
Meconium in my waters
My waters were broken at 6.30pm and everything ramped up very quickly. There was also meconium in my waters. I very suddenly had very strong contractions which came thick and fast. The midwife requested the anaesthetist at 7.30pm. Unfortunately there were a few emergencies in theatre so I had to wait until midnight for the epidural, but managed to get through each contraction with the help of gas and air, and the breathing techniques I learnt from this course.
After the epidural, everything was very calm. I asked for the lights to be dimmed, and myself and my husband had a nap! I was examined again and was 6cm by 12.30am. My contractions were being monitored by the midwife. Because of the poo in my waters, they wanted to get me fully dilated asap. At that point I was given the hormone drip.
Fully dilatesd and ready to PUSH
By 3.10am, I was fully dilated. The midwife said that because the baby seemed happy, we would leave it another hour to allow the baby to get as low into my cervix as possible. At 4.10am we started the pushing process.
By this point, the epidural was starting to wear off a bit. Rather than use the boost button I was given to control the epidural, I decided I wanted to continue to feel the contractions because that helped me feel in control when pushing.
The midwife guided me through the pushing, and in my head was all the information from this course!
This might sound weird, but I actually enjoyed the pushing process.”
It felt like a proper team effort between myself, my husband and the midwife. And the epidural meant I went into it feeling calm and ready to go.
Hello baby
After an hour of pushing, the baby came out in one go with one big push at 5.10am. Hearing her cry as soon as she came out was the best most overwhelming feeling.
I honestly couldn’t have asked for a better birth experience. This course helped me to know how to make decisions that were best for me and my baby, and took away any pressure I may have felt to have a certain type of delivery. Our birth story was perfect for us, and at no point did I regret any decision I made. EBRAN helped me to feel empowered to ask the ‘why’ questions and the rest of the course made me feel I had all the knowledge I needed to do what was right for us.
Thank you Bump to Baby Chapter!
