I’ve had such a happy time writing my birth story and reflecting on the whole experience. It really has been incredible, and I can’t believe how I feel about this tiny human in my life already. When I signed up for your classes, I felt totally unprepared for the whole thing as I’d never seen myself as the ‘maternal type’ and spent the best part of a decade pushing my body to its limits on the running track, rather than listening how to work with it. I have loved every minute of the journey you have taken me on – from the classes, the course, and all the help you’ve given in-between. It must be incredible to change people’s lives on a daily basis and I will never hesitate to recommend you to other pregnant people I know!
After our 12-week scan and blood tests, I was sent a letter from the hospital saying I’d been categorised as ‘high risk’ due to low PAPP-A. I was a bit worried at first as I’d never heard of PAPP-A, but after some research I learned that this was a hormone that may be associated with an increased chance of having a smaller, or earlier, than expected baby. It meant I would be under consultant-led care and would have extra growth scans. Since there is absolutely nothing you can do to increase your PAPP-A levels, my levels were only just below the threshold, and we knew our baby would be well monitored, we decided not to worry.
Thankfully, every scan we had showed our baby’s growth was well within normal ranges, so I was a little caught off guard when, at 37 weeks, my consultant said she would be booking me in for an induction at 38 weeks. I told the consultant that I doubted I’d feel ready to give birth in a week’s time and that I wished to delay the induction. I asked for more information to help me understand why she thought an induction would be necessary, and she said it was simply a procedure for low PAPP-A. She agreed to book me in for 39 weeks instead, and I could delay it if I still didn’t feel ready for one by then.
I was booked in for a scan and a consultant appointment a few days later, and I went alone because my husband Rich was working. The sonographer looked at the scan straight away and said everything looked normal with baby’s growth. It was still measuring within average ranges, and the blood flow from the placenta looked fine. I was told to wait for an appointment with the consultant, and about 3 hours later, I was shown into a room by a midwife who said the consultant was on his way.
When he arrived, I heard the midwife explaining that I was opting to delay my induction, he entered the room with a junior consultant, to my knowledge he hadn’t looked at my notes. I don’t think he even knew my name or what week of pregnancy I was in, or bothered to ask why I was choosing to delay the induction. He simply started explaining that delaying my induction could lead to brain damage or stillbirth for my baby (note from Better Birth Company – this is clearly medical coercion and completely unjustified for someone who’s PAPP-A levels were just under the safe threshold) and he would like me not to leave the hospital today. He said if I chose to do so, I would have to medically discharge myself, and I was made to feel as though it would be a seriously irresponsible thing to do.
I felt upset, confused, and at a loss as to what to do. This was the first time I’d heard of an increased risk of brain damage or stillbirth after 37 weeks with low PAPP-A, and I asked the other consultant who remained in the room what she advised I do. She said she could only offer the advice she’d been trained to give, and that delaying induction could increase the risks for my baby. I asked her if there was anywhere I could read up on it before making a decision, and she suggested the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology website. I asked her what my options were and what she would advise I do, and she said I could have an examination and a cervical sweep that day instead and then come in for regular foetal monitoring to keep an eye on things. I felt like I had no choice but to agree to this and I was told to wait in another room for a midwife.
In the meantime, I called Rich in tears and asked him to check the Royal College of Obstetrics & Gynaecology website, where it didn’t seem to say anything about induction of labour due for low PAPP-A. I was physically and emotionally uncomfortable during the sweep, which lasted around 10 minutes. I left the hospital in tears, feeling period cramps shortly afterwards, and headed back home to Rich. We processed the experience together, and I got straight in touch with Donna, which was a huge help. I felt far calmer and ready to come to yoga later that evening, but I was still very angry and upset to have been treated this way by a consultant. Sure enough, my body was not ready to be forced into labour and it took a further 5 days for our baby to arrive.
I went for a second sweep at Wexham with my lovely midwife, Stacy, at 11am on Monday 14th August, two days after my due date. Despite ideally wanting to give my body a chance to go into labour naturally, I went into my appointment with a clear, confident mindset. I’d been practising your yoga and doing my daily scripts and meditations, I felt physically and mentally prepared for birth. I had my husband, Rich, and a trainee midwife in the room, and it was a happy, calm atmosphere. I left the hospital feeling as though I’d be back there soon and headed home to relax.
I carried on my day as normal, and at around 3pm I started to feel some sporadic period like cramps. I carried on doing some yoga, staying calm. Suddenly, around 6pm, the sensations started ramping up, so I started timing them on the Freya app, had a shower, and got dressed into some comfortable clothes.
The contractions were lasting around 35 seconds and coming consistently every 3-4 minutes, getting gradually more intense. We then knew this wasn’t the usual Braxton Hicks, so we called a friend to collect our dog and finished getting the hospital bag together. I managed to have a bounce on my ball between contractions, but they were starting to get intense enough for me to want to be on my knees, leaning on a heap of cushions – upright, forward, and open!
Rich called Mamma’s line at 7pm to let them know I was in labour and my contractions were about 3 minutes apart, lasting roughly 45 seconds. As expected, they advised us to stay at home for as long as possible. He tried calling them again at 8.15pm to say that they were really ramping up and I couldn’t talk much between them, but he couldn’t get through to them for a full hour.
At 9.15pm, we got into the car and drove to Wexham, arriving at 9.45pm. I must have looked pretty well established as I jumped the queue and went straight in for monitoring. The midwife said I was already 6cm dilated and that my room was being prepared. As we anticipated, the Birth Centre wasn’t open, but they did have a room with a pool available in the labour ward, which they had set up with the positive birth box. It was lovely to find myself back in a dark, calm environment—even though I was far too hot to even contemplate using the pool by then!
I kept having contractions for a further hour and a half in this lovely, relaxed environment without any knowledge of who was in the room, other than Rich by my side. He was brilliant and totally understood my need for complete silence so I could focus fully on the job at hand, just like I had with all my running races.
Then, at 11.15, I suddenly felt the urge to push, and I spoke for the first time since entering the hospital (Rich had done all the talking up until then!). This was when I first became aware of the midwife, who was very reassuring and told me just to go with the urges of my body. At first I was fearful of the intensity and not knowing how long it would last (unlike a running race) but I soon realised my mind could cope with each and every sensation.
Since we had opted for a ‘ hands-off’ birth, the wonderful midwives kept quiet, stood back, and watched the show! 42 minutes later, at 11.57pm our beautiful baby boy made a peaceful entry into the world, with no need for any pain relief or intervention. I was still on all fours by this point, leaning over the bed, and it was the most magical moment seeing our little baby appear under my belly and into my arms.
We were able to sit there holding each other for several hours while I birthed the placenta naturally 50 minutes later and had some minor internal stitches. I put the fact that I didn’t need any pain relief down to your hypnobirthing course and yoga, and the fact that my perineum stayed intact down to the use of the EPI-NO balloon device every day from 37 weeks—not fun, but worth it! Rich was an absolutely incredible birth partner and, thanks to your course and me relaying your birth stories after each yoga class, was totally on board with Hypnobirthing.
Reflecting back, it really was the best birth experience we could have hoped for (minus the sweeps) and I couldn’t be more grateful to have found you and your courses when I did. I’ll never forget weeping my way through the birth story in my first class because I’d never heard one before and it all became so real. Pregnancy yoga is SO much more than physical movement, and I owe so much to your classes. Thank you, Donna, and best of luck to all the ladies in class. It really is worth putting the prep work in and your body does the rest!
I felt upset, confused, and at a loss as to what to do. This was the first time I
had heard of an increased risk of brain damage or stillbirth after 37 weeks with
low PAPP-A, and I asked the other consultant who remained in the room what
she advised I do. She said she could only offer the advice she had been trained
to give, and that delaying induction could increase the risks for my baby. I
asked her if there was anywhere I could read up on it before making a decision,
and she suggested the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology website. I
asked her what my options were and what she would advise I do, and she said I
could have an examination and a cervical sweep that day instead and then
come in for regular foetal monitoring to keep an eye on things.
I felt like I had no choice but to agree to this, as it was a far preferable option
than not leaving the hospital again before having my baby if I opted for the
induction, and I was told to wait in another room for a midwife. In the
meantime, I called Rich in tears and asked him to check the RCOG website,
where it didn’t seem to say anything about induction of labour due to low PAPP-
A. The midwife explained that she would check my cervix to see if there was
any dilation before giving me a sweep in the hopes that I would go into
spontaneous labour soon and therefore not need to worry about induction. I
was still very upset, so she gave me some time to gather my thoughts and
consent. She was very nice, but I was physically and emotionally
uncomfortable during the sweep, which lasted around 10 minutes. I left the
hospital in tears, feeling period cramps shortly afterwards, and headed back
home to Rich.
We processed the experience together, and I got straight in touch with you,
which was a huge help. I felt far calmer and ready to come to yoga later that
evening, but I was still very angry and upset to have been treated this way by a
consultant.
Sure enough, my body was not ready to be forced into labour (despite several
‘
false labours
’
in the following evenings), and it took a further 5 days for our
baby to arrive.
Labour/Birth
I went for a second cervical sweep at Wexham with my lovely midwife, Stacy,
at 11am on Monday 14th August, two days after my due date. I had previously
been given an
‘
on the spot
’
sweep five days earlier, which did nothing, but by
the time Monday came around, I was feeling far more ready to accept the
consultant
’
s advice to do everything I could to go into labour due to low PAPP-A
levels, including a second sweep.
Despite ideally wanting to give my body a chance to go into labour naturally, I
went into my appointment with a clear, confident mindset, knowing that the
sweep would only do something if my baby was ready to arrive. I
’
d been
practising your yoga and doing my daily scripts and meditations, and I felt
physically and mentally prepared for birth. I had my husband, Rich, and a
trainee midwife in the room, and it was a happy, calm atmosphere. I left the
hospital feeling as though I may well be back there soon and headed home to
relax.