Johanna’s Positive Birth Story: A First Birth That Stayed Active, Even With an Epidural
“I could still feel the contractions, just not the pain, so it did not feel passive at all… Oskar was born with no instrumental birth and no emergency caesarean, which I am so glad about.”
This positive birth story comes from Johanna, who joined my Body Ready Birth workshop on the Gold Coast with her partner Robert. She laboured amazingly well using tools and movement, and even with an epidural at almost 8cm dilated, she was able to continue to move through different positions with support and use the peanut ball. All the work she did in the lead-up prepared her body so well that when it came to the pushing stage, she avoided an instrumental birth that so often follows an epidural. Johanna’s story is a beautiful example of what preparation can do. With her body and her birth partner ready, she stayed calm, felt supported, and looks back on her birth as a really happy experience.
Birth Story by Johanna
In the weeks before Oskar arrived, I kept waking up at night thinking, maybe this is it. It never really was, and there was no sense waking Robert, so I would just go back to sleep. Most labours start at night or early in the morning, so if nothing had happened by morning, I would tell myself, ok, another day.
The day before he was born, Robert still went to hockey and I chatted to my mum on the phone. I even swam until two days before Oskar came out.
Then one morning I woke up and thought, maybe this really is it. I checked the clock on and off, nothing crazy. In the shower I lost my mucus plug with a little blood, which I had not had before. That looked like solid evidence. Robert was making coffee and I told him, I think today is the day. My mood was still too good for him to be sure. I said, why don’t you just start working? These things go on and off. So I went for a walk, did the laundry, had another shower and did my puzzle.
At some stage things got more intense. By 11am or 12pm I did not want to get in the car anymore, so I figured that was a good moment. We left around midday, arrived at 1pm, and they let us in straight away. I was already 5 to 6 centimetres, so we went straight through to the birth suite.
I tried the bath, and that worked well for an hour or two. Kate was right, you really do not care about being naked, or about sitting on the toilet with Robert right next to you ha ha.
I had always thought that between contractions you would feel nothing, but you are not actually comfortable in between, and the breaks get shorter. Around 3pm I asked for the epidural. I wanted to take something positive away from this and at least feel a little comfortable. The anaesthetist came around 5 or 6pm, and by then I was already 7 to 8 centimetres. My waters had not broken, so they asked if I was happy for them to be ruptured, since an epidural can slow labour down. I said sure, go ahead.
The Body Ready Birth workshop we did with Kate really helped me. It prepared my body, and it helped Robert know how to support me throughout. The midwives even commented on how great he was. I kept mobile even with the epidural. I lay on my side with the peanut ball and other positions. I could still feel quite a bit, so it was not too bad at all. The rest was actually quite nice. We just hung out and chatted with the midwives while things took their course.
Pushing didn’t take too long. I could still feel the contractions, just not the pain, so it did not feel passive at all. They had me do a couple of pushes on my back just to get a feel, and then I was happy to try on my side and other positions, but within one or two more pushes he was already there. Oskar was born with no instrumental birth and no emergency caesarean, which I am so glad about.
They left the cord for a while and Robert got to cut it, which was nice. Our midwives were all super nice, not overly medical and not pushing us towards anything. We had a bit of feeding trouble at the beginning, so we stayed an extra night in hospital, but it all worked out.
I know quite a few people around me whose births were less than ideal, so I am really happy that ours went so good and smooth, and that the time after did too. I was really happy with the whole birth.
Here’s what my couples say
“We really enjoyed your Body Ready Birth workshop, especially as it was really a hands-on, a lot of movement so I feel that I have a lot of practical things to actively engage in labour. My partner was also really impressed and his idea of our upcoming birth turned from ‘what do I do’ to ‘I suddenly have so much to do’, which he is really happy about.”
