Birth Stories as told by Real Women
My induction started at 8.30 am on Monday the 23rd of December with the 30 hour pessary. This kicked things off and I started getting contractions and dilating by that evening. They took the pessary out Tuesday afternoon and I was put on the list to go down to the labour ward, but because of… Continue reading Rebecca’s Birth Story
A year ago, we were preparing for a home birth. My waters had gone the day before and I was desperate for contractions to start. I had an induction booked for 10:00 am and was trying to work out whether the pains I was feeling were going to amount to anything. 9:30 am came and… Continue reading Scarlett’s Birth Story
Before I had Eleanor, I had no idea that a ‘traumatic birth’ even existed. I just thought that a birth was a birth no matter what happens. Yes, it will be painful and traumatic but that’s childbirth isn’t it? Even after Eleanor's birth I didn’t think of it as a traumatic birth, I just thought… Continue reading Amy’s Birth Story
I started having very, very mild contractions at 9:00 pm on Friday 20 December (this just happened to be Noodles' due date) and stayed awake with Kris (my partner) for a little while. I was able to time the contractions to be 10-15 minutes apart, each one lasting at least 45 seconds. I'd had nearly… Continue reading Ayla’s Birth Story
It was early in the morning on 23rd of December 2016 and I was out with my family to have an early (pre-birth) celebration breakfast. I was swollen to the point there were bubbles on my toes, I was struggling to breathe and I had a slight headache that wouldn't go away. I felt a… Continue reading Angel’s Birth Story
At 38 weeks I woke up at 1:00 am on Saturday morning with back pain and tightening of my stomach every 10 minutes. Thinking it was just pregnancy pains, I used a heat pack on my back but was in too much pain to go back to sleep until 6:00 am when it eased. I… Continue reading Beth’s Birth Story
Why should we share our birth stories? I think a better question is why not? Birthing your baby (or babies) can be an empowering, inspiring and surreal experience, but on the other hand it can also be traumatic, complicated and distressing for many women. The sheer unpredictability of birth means that as women, no matter… Continue reading Why Share Our Birth Stories?
