My Positive Warwick Labour Ward Birth Story: From Home Birth to Warwick Hospital

Background

✌️ Second baby (first baby born in hospital on labour ward at 37 weeks; it was a fast labour (<4hrs) with an overall positive experience but wanted more control second time around & to be at home due to previous fast labour onset)

🩷 Known baby girl

🗓️ NHS EDD: 11th March

🗓️ Arrived: 39w+2

⭐ Planned: Home water birth

🌟 Actual: Water birth on delivery suite (due to home support and MWL services being suspended as a result of low staffing levels)

🔵 Pain relief: TENS machine, water, gas and air

🔴 Risks: GBS+ swap at 35 weeks following suspected PROM

💚 Other pregnancy details:

• Low lying placenta at 20w scan (declined consultant meeting at this stage and opted to wait until later scan), which was the right decision as it was 7cm clear of cervix at 32w.

  
  

• Declined growth scan triggered when a new midwife (usual one was off sick) measured bump at 37w.

  
  

Can I still have a homebirth with Group B Strep?

At 35 + 4, I attended Warwick hospital labour ward because I thought my waters might have gone. I was also having regular tightenings shortly after this. Given the speed and gestation of my first baby, and the fact I wasn’t yet 37 weeks, I thought it best to have this checked. Thankfully, all was well. It wasn’t my waters, and the tightenings stopped with some paracetamol and sleep.

While in the hospital, they did swabs (I hadn’t realised what for and would have declined with hindsight). A week later, I found out I had a GBS+ result. This was annoying as it came with a call from the Bluebell Midwife Led Unit, Warwick advising that I needed antibiotics when I went into labour. They hadn’t even read my notes, which clearly indicated I wanted a home birth, having discussed this with my community midwife just the week before!

I expressed my desire for a home birth, but the midwife strongly advised against it. She tried to persuade me to go to the MLU, where they now give antibiotics for GBS, saying I didn’t need to be on the delivery suite. I politely said I wanted to discuss it with my husband and would email my wishes later.

The call with the consultant midwife was surprisingly positive. She went through all the options, including what antibiotics I could have since I’m allergic to penicillin. During this conversation, it turned out the original midwife was wrong. I would need to be consultant-led to receive the antibiotics I could take, as they were not the “usual” type. However, the consultant midwife confirmed that they probably wouldn’t get the antibiotics in time to have the necessary effect due to how fast I labour. They need a minimum of 4 hours to take effect, something I’d already learned from the home birth support UK Facebook group. It was nice to have that confirmed by her in a constructive and pro-choice discussion!

She understood my reasons for declining antibiotics and agreed to “sign off” my original home birth plan. She said it made little difference where I birthed, and that being undisturbed at home would probably be best for the baby. I felt relieved and hopeful! Or so I thought… 🤣

How to get labour to start?

Fast forward to 39 + 2, and there was still no sign of baby. I was getting more uncomfortable due to pelvic girdle pain, something I also had with my first! Given the previous gestation and signs at 35 weeks, I was surprised the baby wasn’t here yet. So, I decided to do the miles circuit to ensure the baby was in an optimal position. IT WORKED!

That evening at 10:30 pm, after curb walking earlier in the day, while watching TV with my hubby and our toddler in bed upstairs, my waters popped. Labour had started in the same way as with my first (waters going first). I decided to do the same things to get everything going. I took a warm shower while my husband set up our living room for the home birth. After my shower, I sat on my ball in the room. About 30 minutes later, the contractions started coming. Just like my first, they were regular and immediately 4 minutes apart.

At this point, we phoned the MLU to let them know I was in labour and to ask for midwives to be sent out. When we finally got through, I realised I’d been redirected to the labour ward. The midwife coordinating care told me the MLU and home birth support were suspended due to staffing issues. I explained I wanted a home birth, but she advised that there were no community midwives available due to them supporting patients in or on their way to theatre. I told her I’d call back in an hour to see if anything had changed and would call an ambulance if needed in the meantime.

At about midnight, I phoned again. I knew I had to make a fast decision as everything was getting more intense. My TENS machine was on max, and I was hoping for gas and air when I got into the pool. When I called again, the coordinating midwife said nothing had changed. She had one community midwife out of theatre, but no additional midwife available to send with her, which was required for their policy. 'FML,' I thought.

I reiterated my wishes for a home water birth. She said it would likely need to be supported by paramedics, as she couldn’t guarantee a midwife would be with me in time. However, she advised that the ONE pool on the delivery suite was available. If I came in, she could guarantee me this room, as well as a community midwife to support me. This way, I could still have the water birth I wanted, with the support of someone who usually supports home births (albeit not in my home).

It felt like a mini negotiation, as it would mean she wouldn’t have to reallocate midwives to facilitate my home birth. After a quick discussion with my husband, I could tell this was the option we both felt most comfortable with. Going alone or calling paramedics didn’t scream “relaxing home birth” to me!

At 12:30 am, we rang my parents. They jumped in the car and came to our house to be there for our toddler in the morning and do the nursery run. (It was World Book Day too, so they had a very important job of ensuring Elmer🐘 made it in!) 😆

At 12:50, we were on our way to the hospital.

At 1:15, after a slightly longer than planned journey due to a resurfacing road closure, we arrived at the hospital. I walked (when not having contractions) up to the delivery suite and met the coordinator there. As promised, she showed us to the pool room and explained how to change the room lights. Then, she left us alone to set up the room as we liked. My husband set the lights to pink (we knew we were having a girl, so it seemed appropriate) and put frankincense oil in the diffuser we’d brought with us.

After 10 minutes, my husband went to find her, as we hadn’t yet been allocated our midwife. I wanted some gas and air, so she came back, set it up for me, and suggested we start filling the pool, as I might want to get in soon.

At about 1:30, we met our wonderful midwife for the first time. She came in to check the baby’s heart rate and then read my home birth plan, which we had left out. She advised she would go with all my wishes, as they were still possible even though we were no longer at home. I felt more relaxed knowing I was in good hands and that she would be hands-off.

She asked if we would have a student midwife present. I agreed, as I had a lovely student midwife with my first, and I thought it would be a great experience for her to see (hopefully a very hands-off hospital birth)! The student midwife was invited in and sat in a chair in the corner of the room, just observing, while our primary midwife was in and out of the room (I didn’t notice this; my husband just advised me afterwards).

At 2 am, after a quick check-in with the baby on the Doppler, I took off my TENS machine and finally got into the pool. It was such a calming experience, and I felt in control and ready to have my baby.

At 2:25, my body started bearing down, so I advised the student midwife, who went to get our primary midwife for support.

At 2:30, I was saying, “I can’t do it” (the same as my first). It was obvious I was in transition! 🤣 My husband and midwife reassured me that I could do it and that I was doing it. They reminded me to breathe. At this point, I decided to stop using the gas and air, as it was no longer helping. My breathing instinctively turned to panting with each contraction.

The next 10 minutes were a bit of a blur, but I think two contractions later, her head was out. Then, at 2:41, she was here!

Her cord was wrapped twice around her neck, which I hadn’t realised until after I brought her up and out of the water! The baby girl was crying immediately, and our wonderful midwife stayed calm. She guided me to bring her closer to me in the water so we could unwrap it together. Despite one of the hospital midwives coming in, all panicked and saying, “Let’s clamp and cut,” I declined, as per my birth plan.

Once the cord was unwrapped, I sat back down in the pool and had skin-to-skin contact with my baby girl in the water for about 20 minutes. After that, I decided to get out in the hope that getting up would help the placenta come away naturally (something I didn’t wait for with my first). I sat on the bed with my baby girl wrapped up for another 15 minutes or so before my husband cut the cord, and we attached the cord tie with the support of the midwife.

Five minutes later, with our midwife supporting my tummy, I passed the placenta (without needing an injection). We were then left alone for an hour, as per my birth plan, for undisturbed family time, skin-to-skin, and my baby girl’s first feed.

At 4:30 am, our midwife returned to do the baby’s checks, weigh her, and discuss our wishes for discharge. We asked for a 6-hour discharge, which would mean we could go down to the MLU when it opened first thing and be discharged from there rather than going to the labour ward, and the midwife would facilitate this.

At 7:30 am, just before the shift change, our midwife took us down to the MLU. She got us settled with tea, toast, and biscuits and left us to it. The day shift midwives came on and did observations. Baby girl’s resps were a little slow, and as we’d had a GBS+ swab, we were advised to get her checked over by the paediatrician. I wasn’t concerned, as she was very mucusy (like my son was, likely due to the fast delivery), but I agreed since we were in the hospital anyway. This delayed our discharge slightly, but we went home exactly 12 hours after she was born, in line with policy for GBS observations.

We returned home to settle ourselves before my husband went to collect our toddler, who arrived home super excited to meet his little sister. It just topped off the most wonderful day!

Despite not being at home as planned, and not even getting the Plan B (MLU Bluebell), we had a wonderful experience with our community midwife in a hospital setting. Hopefully, this is helpful to those who want to navigate the system to ensure a positive hospital birth experience.

My biggest lesson (from the home birth Facebook page and speaking to Vicky a Beyond the Bump UK when I was pregnant) is that no birth is without risk. Yet the risks are often presented in ways that scare parents-to-be into making decisions convenient for those caring for them. Do your research, use trusted sources, and don’t be afraid to push back or present your wishes to those you are speaking to. I did this when declining appointments with the consultant for a low-lying placenta and also when declining antibiotics due to my previous fast labour.