the birth of rupert
A magical birth with induction due to Obstetric Cholestasis for second time parents sophie & shaun
I am overcome with pride and joy to be sharing this incredible birth story (with permission) from my bff sophie following the arrival of baby Rupert. I watched in awe as Sophie navigated her fertility journey with courage and strength since the birth of our daughters in 2016 (I met Sophie when we were both pregnant) and to see the beautiful Rupert finally in her arms is utter perfection!..I was so happy when Sophie asked me to teach her. After a pretty straightforward first birth, she could easily have thought to bypass prepping for birth this time around; instead her and Shaun chose to invest time, energy and commitment into arming themselves with knowledge, tools and power which eventually enabled them to approach this birth fully informed when a curve ball of Obstetric Cholestasis was thrown their way...Approaching 37 weeks, Sophie's rocketing bile levels were causing concern, so as a team, they took the decision to accept induction and change their path to have a hospital birth. Fortunately, they had an incredibly supportive midwife who arrived from crowborough birth centre (thank you continuity of care), and they worked as a dream team to welcome Rupert Earthside in just 2 pushes!
I always knew after needing medical intervention to conceive that I wanted to have a birth that felt as un-medicated as possible. For us, that meant opting to birth at Crowborough Birth Centre, and as a low risk pregnancy and having had a magical water birth the first time round, that was possible for this baby's birth place.
Having had our course with Katy we were freshly armed with knowledge when the induction curve ball was thrown our way. I had been diagnosed with Obstetric Choleostatis and my bile acid level had rocketed, so we surrendered to the induction and kissed goodbye to the birth centre, confident we could still navigate this path.
My labour was definitely a game of two halves! The first half started quite quickly after the hormone pessary. We embraced all of our oxytocin boosting tasks to help me relax into the surges, of which were quickly coming every few minutes. I spent the best part of 18 hours happily bouncing on the ball, applying my essential oils, walking up stairs, cuddling and being massaged, but when the 24 hours were up they had to remove the pessary. I found it excruciating, and my body seemed to immediately halt. That plus I heard the dreaded words “you’re only 1cm”.
The second half kicked off when my midwife from Crowborough birth centre arrived. Feeling a bit defeated by the stall, and having felt time was not on my side, her friendly face was a welcome sight. I’d had a good 8 hours sleep having waited for a birthing suite to be available to burst my waters, and thankfully with a bit of gas and air she was able to release my waters. Having my community midwife there meant she was fighting my corner based on my observations, rather than the risk led approach the hospital was taking. So after being monitored for an hour, it was clear babe was happy, as was I, so the monitor came off and I was able to mobilise again.
Within minutes of standing my first huge surge hit me, followed very quickly by another one and another one. The sudden onset of labour made my legs shake, and weirdly I could feel the baby moving down. I knew then he was in a rush. I felt the need to be on the bed, but preferred gravity on my side, so stayed on my knees leaning over the bed. In a brief moment I could smell peppermint oil. My head clicked - my husband had changed my essential oil blend and I remembered the peppermint one was for calming during transition.
I knew in that second that I was getting close. Now puffing heavily on the gas and air I could barely string a sentence together but just managed ‘where’s the water?’ My wonderful midwife had managed to convince the strict consultants to let me birth in water. Sadly, but also gladly, my body had other plans. The pool was a foot away from being deep enough when my body began pushing. In only two pushes my son was born, and we had done it!
