Beautiful, gentle water birth in hospital for second-time mum, Amy

Everyone’s birth story is beautifully unique, here Amy shares her experience of giving birth to her second baby. She provides insight into her beautiful, gentle water birth in hospital. Amy gave birth on her own terms, with quiet confidence and a calm mindset, letting her body guide her through the experience.

Amy enjoys the weightless feeling of labouring in water during her positive birth in hopsital.

In her own words…

Preparing for birth with hypnobirthing

With it having been 11 years since my last pregnancy I was keen to refresh my understanding of the birth process and how I could best prepare my body for labour. To help with this, I attended Emily’s classes when I was around 6 months pregnant which was perfect as it gave me time to practice the techniques and to spend some time researching my birth preferences.

Avoiding an induction

Unfortunately as I turned 40 whilst pregnant, the hospital considered me to be at higher risk and were pushing for an induction. Emily’s classes helped me research and ask the right questions to understand the risks and benefits; I agreed to a couple of sweeps in week 39 but pushed back on an induction.

Accepting a sweep to initiate labour

At 39 + 6 I’d been having the occasional surge (contraction) but they were sporadic and inconsistent. I was booked in for a sweep at around 11am and the midwife confirmed that I wasn’t in labour yet but that she didn’t think it would be too far off. Upon leaving the midwife we went to the supermarket for a food shop, where I started having much stronger surges that were pretty close together. It must have been a strange sight to see with me leaning over the trolley every couple of minutes and breathing slowly!

Early labour at home with family

Back at home we cooked a Sunday lunch and played some games with my eldest, all the while breathing carefully throughout just as Emily had taught me. Knowing exactly what my body was doing and being in my safe place at home allowed me to stay calm and relaxed. As the surges became stronger, I focussed on my breathing, shutting everyone out and just counting in my head to distract myself. By around 5pm the surges were very close together so we decided we should head to the hospital.

Arriving at the hospital - in active labour

Once I’d managed to walk to the delivery suite (stopping every minute or two to breathe through the surges) I was asked if I wanted to be examined. They were happy for me not to be, but having considered the pros and cons I was keen to know how things were progressing. In hindsight I don’t think the midwife believed that I was in active labour yet with me being so calm, so she seemed quite surprised to find I was already 6cm. My husband had understood his role in advocating for me and had already asked if it was possible for me to use the birthing pool and for us to have as minimal intervention as possible - which the midwives seemed really accepting of. They even found some low level calm lighting for the room instead and we put on my birthing playlist of calm Hypnobirthing tracks. 

Entering the birth pool

By the time I’d been examined and the pool was ready it was around 6pm. I got changed and climbed into the pool, continually stopping to breathe. The midwives were great whilst I was doing this, truly respecting my space and peace, and my husband made sure that I wasn’t bothered by anyone. Once in the pool, the warmth was lovely and it was great to feel weightless, it really helped me to move my body into different positions to keep as comfortable as I could. At this point I also started using a birthing comb as things felt like they were really ramping up. The midwife left me to it, just using a cordless Doppler every 20 mins or so to check the heartbeat, but she didn’t speak to me other than to get consent, nor did she make me change position. Just before 7pm the surges were so close together and intense that I didn’t feel like I was getting much chance to breathe in between, so I asked for some gas and air. Combining this with the breathing really helped give me focus whilst things were getting harder.

The pushing phase - meeting my little girl

Only a few minutes after getting the gas and air the surges became relentless and I felt the need to push. The midwife was meant to be changing over shifts but stayed to see the birth and told me to go with what my body needed. With just a few pushes my daughter was born, and lifting her out of the water myself was so special! 

Final thoughts on my positive birth experience

The whole experience was pretty quick overall but also very special, and I was so glad to have spent the time working on my breathing and to understand the importance of staying calm. Emily’s classes were a huge help with this and I’m very grateful to her! 

If you are expecting a baby soon and would like to feel prepared, take a look at what my birth programme offers and get in touch if you’d like to chat – I’m here for you.

LOVED this story and want more? Check out Rhiannon’s story of giving birth to baby Austin here.