Baby Barnaby and refusing Induction
Barnaby was my second baby and labour my first baby was born at 41 weeks, so when I got to 41 weeks with this pregnancy I started to get impatient that labour hadn't started. I was booked with the homebirth team and they scheduled an appointment at the hospital to discuss induction for when I was 41+ 6.
I was still hoping for a home birth and was concerned induction would mean a heavily monitored hospital birth. I spoke to my midwife and she told me that they would still support me having a home birth if I went over 42 weeks.
I asked Katie for her advice and she recommended a great book and reassured me that refusing induction was a valid decision based on my circumstances – I weighed up the risks. At 41+ 6 labour still hadn't started so I headed into hospital for the appointment. I was sure I didn't want an induction, I had gone ‘overdue’ before and we were feeling confident in our decision. I still found it difficult when I had to sign a form saying I was going against medical advice!
I agreed to be booked in for an induction a few days later if labour still hadn't started. Thanks to the hypnobirthing course and reading I had done I managed to focus on what was important to me if I was to induced - I requested use of a birth pool as well as telemetric monitoring so I could move around during labour. I also consented to a vaginal examination and stretch and sweep. I was already starting to get cramps and wanted reassurance that labour wasn't far off - sure enough I was already a couple of centimetres dilated.
We left the hospital feeling relaxed and positive about our decisions after three hours of discussions. By 4:30pm the light cramping I'd been feeling started to ramp up. I decided to go for a short walk to get some fresh air and to take my mind off the contractions, I thought it would be a while before I was in established labour. By the time I got home around 5pm I could hardly stand during a contraction. I told my husband, Henry that it was time to take our toddler down to his grandparents for the night. At that point I thought he would still have time to take the dog for a walk before I needed him for birth support. A few minutes later I changed my mind so toddler and dog were sent off for the night.
By the time Henry got back from dropping them off I knew it was time to ring the hospital. We got a call back from the home birth midwife around 5:45pm and she was with us at about 6:15pm. By this point I was focusing on getting into good positions and breathing through the contractions which were coming in thick and fast. When the midwife arrived I was standing bent over the bath and she encouraged me to walk down the corridor to where we had the birth pool set up. Fortunately, Henry had just about managed to get it filled in time and with a bit of encouragement (I wasn't sure I could face moving at this point!) I got in, the relief was amazing. My body took over with pushing and I knew baby was going to be here soon. Around about this time the second midwife turned up, just in time to see baby being born at 7:12pm!
It was the most amazing feeling being at home in the pool cuddling my baby. I got out of the pool to birth the placenta then stayed on the sofa eating toast, drinking tea and feeding Barney for an hour or so before moving to spend the night in my own bed. While it all happened quickly, and was intense, I am so happy with the birth I had and know I couldn't have had that without the confidence to refuse being induced. That confidence came largely from the support and knowledge gained through doing the hypnobirthing course with Katie for which I'll always be grateful!
