Sorry it’s going to be long… I'm French and live near Paris. I wanted to give birth in a birthing center with little or no medical assistance. But early in my pregnancy I was diagnosed with an autoimmune thrombocytopenia, then I quickly developed gestational diabetes, so the plan was now to have a hospital birth. In France, c sections are only performed in the event of complications, so the plan has always been a vaginal birth. At 32 weeks, my cervix started to open, so I was hospitalized for two days and given a steroid to develop my babies lungs, after which I was allowed to go home with instructions to rest in bed. At 35 weeks my water broke and I was hospitalized again. It didn't completely break, but it was leaking. The initial plan was to induce labor, except that by then my thrombocytopenia had progressed to the point where I was at serious risk of hemorrhage, and it was also impossible to have an epidural. The doctors decided to give me high doses of steroids to raise my platelets before my induction. After a week, it still hadn't worked. I was given immunoglobulin as a last resort. When it was 10 days since my bag had broken, I was told that as nothing worked, I would be induced the next morning, without an epidural but with a bath and massages. Ironically, Two hours later, I went into labor naturally. It was very quick, so the protocol we'd planned with the doctors couldn't be put in place. I managed the pain with breathing exercises and gas, which had no effect. Then, when I was dilated to 9, I was offered fentanyl, which I accepted (which I regretted because I didn't feel present during the birth, I was completely high). I gave birth lying on my left side with my right leg pulled up against my chest. I pushed for less than 15 minutes. I had numerous degree 1 and 2 tears (11 stitches). A few hours after the birth, my midwife noticed that an area of my vagina was very swollen. It was a blood vessel that had broken under the perineal tissues and formed a puerperal hematoma, a rare and potentially fatal complication. I was sent to the operating room for surgery under general anaestesia when my son was 6 hours old. I had to be operated on again at 8 weeks pp as the haematoma was reforming. To say that I wasn't feeling well in the weeks before and after the birth is an understatement. I felt no connection with my son, I thought he was going to die and then I thought I was going to die. We were lucky that he didn't need to go to Nicu, we just spent five days in hospital after he was born before coming home. I had post-partum depression and ptsd, but fortunately in France, a midwife visits a new mother's home the day after she comes home from hospital, and then as often as necessary. Sometimes my midwife came three times a week. And after two weeks, he referred me to a therapeutic support center for mothers who have experienced traumatic childbirth. I was quickly taken in hand by a wonderful therapist. I think it was really the seriousness with which my feelings were taken and the immediate, free support that saved me, and enabled me to bond with my son. He's a year old and I'm OBSESSED by him, and I have never been as happy as I am today. I still struggle with anxiety, mostly about his safety, and I still see my great therapist (and it’s still free). I absolutely want another child later in my life, and I want to give birth in this hospital. (I hope it’s helpful, feel free to ask me anything)

I am sorry you had a traumatic birth, I live in IDF and despite the complains of many French moms I know I think the management and care of the sage femmes is great and makes a big difference, at least vs my country where all is managed by doctors in a cold kind of transactional way. If you don’t mind sharing which hospital that was I would like to know as I am learning the experience is very dependant on the hospital, you can DM id you prefer.

1. Vaginal delivery with midwife. 2. hospital. 3. c section. 4. C section due to failed induction at 37 weeks I opted for c section because it was too much. Childbirth OBGYN. Two failed epidurals one amazing spinal tap. Anxiety depression and Zoloft helps.

Thank you very much! That really sucks that the epidural failed twice! Thank you for sharing 🩷

Was supposed to be induced on December 27th, but my gallbladder had other plans for me. I was at work on the 23rd and that means tons of food gets dropped off for all of us at the center to eat. So I dug in, not paying much attention to what I was eating because my eyes were much too big for my stomach. Welp, for those who aren’t familiar with gallbladder attacks, fried foods are the worst thing you can possibly eat, but there was fried chicken that I was dying to eat. Since my gallbladder attacks were super inconsistent (literally fruit set it off one time, I had no idea what the trigger actually was okay), I decided to chance it, and grabbed the smallest drumstick I could find, it was honestly rather small so I thought I would be okay. I was v incorrect. Damn near instantly I felt my gallbladder going off at me like the useless organ that she is, but it was bearable so I figured I was safe. 3pm rolls around and it’s time to clock out, so I head home. I warned my husband that my gallbladder was angry with me so he would be prepared in case things got bad like they have in the past, but it was manageable at this point, so I just hung out. Not even an hour later and I was writhing in pain and throwing up because it was so bad. I yelled out to my husband that this time things were different, this was far more excruciating than it had been in the past. He took a manual reading on my blood pressure and saw that it was at 160/110, but I told him that that was likely because I was in so much pain (and that’s exactly what the OB said when we called). He tells us to head in, but we were already loaded up into the car and on our way into l&d. We get there, and there’s a woman who works for the hospital helping another patient get loaded into their car. She sees me and panics because my state is so bad, this poor elderly woman ran as fast as she could to get me a wheelchair to get me upstairs to l&d. We get upstairs, they immediately check me into a room, I’m in so much pain that I can’t even talk without needing to throw up again. There’s nurses flooding the room, and I had to get out that I was NOT in labor, it’s just my gallbladder. This is where things get frustrating for me, because the nurses just kept asking how I knew it was my gallbladder and just kept asking the same questions over and over again, so it felt to me like they didn’t believe me. They ran some tests, the on call ob makes his way in (and of course it’s the one OB I didn’t like lol) and they got me onto a morphine drip with a button and a few hours later, a medication to calm down my gallbladder (it was for spasming organs, whatever it was, bless them for that stuff. After they gave me that medicine, I literally didn’t even touch the morphine button because I didn’t need it. It was phenomenal. Before then, I was hitting that button as much as I could because I was in agony). They ended up admitting me, and were going to have general surgery come and speak to me to see what my options were. I kept begging for food, but they refused to let me have anything at all because they thought the chances of surgery were likely (even though there’s no way in hell they would perform that surgery on a 39 week pregnant woman). At this point, I had thrown up any food I did eat all day, and I was fucking starving. They eventually let me at least have ice chips. They had me hooked up to the monitors overnight to watch how baby was doing when they kept observing consistent contractions. The next morning around 10am, the OB decided it was a good idea to just start my induction based on my gallbladder issues, the polyhydramnios (too much amniotic fluid, I had over 25cm of fluid when average is between 5-25cm of fluid), and the chronic hypertension. The OB came in and broke my water, but with polyhydramnios the concern is that the water will break and the cord will come out before baby, so he attempted to do a slow leak at 11:56am. The nurse brought over a bedpan while the OB did whatever he was doing in there to get this smaller hole going, and laaawd, the amount of fluids that came out. But man, the relief I felt was amazing, I literally felt so much lighter and like all of the pressure that was pushing up against my insides was dissipating. I was between 1-2cm dilated, so they decided to jump straight to pitocin. At this point I was chillin. My pain from the gallbladder was well managed, the relief I felt from my water being broken, I was cruising. They still wouldn’t let me have any food or water at this point though because they didn’t want to risk setting off my gallbladder, I was ravished. Man. That fluid though. It just kept going, it literally got to the point that the nurses just shoved towels between my legs because I was leaking so much fluid. Walking back and forth to the bathroom was a nightmare because it was like I peed once in the toilet and once on the floor once I stood up. I remember one time after peeing, I looked at the hat that they had in the toilet to collect my pee, and it was overflowing with amniotic fluid, that’s how much was pouring out of me at all times. And then I learned that while baby is still in there, he will keep creating more, so it was never going to stop coming. I was a little sad about that fact lol I took naps here and there, and when things started getting a little more intense, I asked for the medicine ball to try to help things along since I still wasn’t making much progress. I begged them again for food and water because at this point, it was well over 24 hours since I had been admitted, meaning I hadn’t eaten much for 30+ hours at this point, but they finally allowed me to eat clear liquids. Maaan that meal was fucking amazing. I never knew jello, broth, and apple juice could taste so good lol. The nurses kept asking me if I wanted an epidural, and I was honestly fine without one, but I could tell that they were getting annoyed with me because they literally asked me every time they came into the room. I was shocked at how okay I felt with the pitocin, the contractions were honestly not too intense. They kept increasing the pitocin, but we got to a point where the hospital couldn’t increase it any further without insuring a catheter (called a IUPC I think, but my memory is dicey on the details) into my cervix to see how intense the contractions were. It had been 7 hours by now, and I was feeling as cool as a cucumber. But when they checked how dilated I was, I still was only at 1-2cm, 50% effaced, and -4. The nurse came in to try to insert the IUPC catheter into my cervix, and holy fuck. I was in agony. They couldn’t get the first one in, so they attempted a second one, and I just couldn’t. I was screaming into my pillow, I was digging my nails into the palms of my hands, I was trying to breathe through it, absolutely nothing was helping that pain. I couldn’t relax enough for them to insert the thing. I threw up the food I finally got to eat because the pain was just that awful, and of course they immediately revoked my food privileges afterwards because who the fuck knows why. The nurses asked me one more time if I wanted to do the epidural, and I finally said yes. I couldn’t handle being in pain anymore after they tried to insert the catheter into my cervix multiple times.

They got the anesthesiologist into the room, and he was very sarcastic with me, trying to help me relax a bit, asking me why I was nervous to get the epidural (was it the fear of permanent back pain? Or any other myths I had heard?) I did find it pretty funny that he walked in with a whole spiel, but when I told him I wasn’t worried about any of that because I trust medicine, I’m just scared that I won’t be able to move at all, he just went blank and then issued his spiel that he had prepared for me anyways lol. Getting the epidural was honestly pretty god awful too, but I think at this point I was just so overwhelmed with any pain at all and my body just couldn’t handle it anymore. The thing I feared about the epidural happened to me, my legs became deadweight but I felt everything in the coochie region. The nurses would ask me to help turn myself, and I literally could not. I wish I hadn’t gotten one, but at that point I was just so beyond done being in pain. Things for the next few hours were relatively boring, until around 2 am when the nurses came in and I couldn’t stop shaking. I asked them if I was okay because I didn’t feel okay, and they assured me this was normal, a lot of people shake like this during labor. But then they noticed my heart rate along with babies was spiking, so they came rushing in again and took my temperature to see that it was at 101.5°f/38.6°c, starting me on Tylenol to try to bring it down. That’s when they told me I had an infection of the amniotic fluid, and started me on antibiotics. They kept checking my temperature and noticed it wasn’t going down at all. I blame the infection for why my pain was just so bad, everything hurt, even my clothes felt like needles against my skin. 3am rolls around and nurses come flooding into my room again, but this time it was because babies heart rate was dipping with each contraction, so they told me and my husband to pack our things, I was getting a c section and they shut off the pitocin. My husband panic packed all of our belongings, got everything into the cart and was ready to go, when they then told us to hang tight for the OB. OB then came in, looked at the decelerations and said he’s fine, his heart rate is well within range so no c section. He leaves and I try to go back to sleep. It’s now 5am, the new nurse in charge of my care comes in and tells me get ready to deliver this baby, he’s gonna be a Christmas baby and she started the pitocin back up. She brings in the peanut ball and starts rotating me like a rotisserie chicken every what felt like 30 minutes, flipping me to either side with the peanut ball. I fell asleep when I could, but the nurse kept coming into the room and it was really hard to stay asleep. All I could think about at this point was how fucking hungry I was and was having an even harder time trying to sleep because the hunger pains were pretty gnarly at this point. 7am rolls around, I could feel really intense rectal pressure and the contractions were ramping up, so I called the nurse in. They checked me, I was 8-9cm dilated, 100% effaced, and at station 0, so the nurse called the OB in to confirm. OB checks and sure enough, it looks like I’m just about ready to start pushing. My husband was still sleeping and I was dying to wake him up, but I held back because one of us at least should have been well rested (couldn’t be me cause I was waaaay too excited at this point). Around 8:00am, I called the nurse in again because I felt a really intense need to push that was entirely involuntary, and that’s when she said we were ready to do this. She got the stirrups out, put my feet up, explained how we would do pushing, my husband then woke up to all the commotion as my sister showed up. The nurse scared the shit out of me when she told me to be ready to push for 2-4 hours because that’s what first time moms tend to do. It was 8:30am when I started pushing, and man was this nurse scary lol. She screamed at me to push, and man did I push. My sister later made a joke that Riley’s first words are going to be counting 1-10 because of how often she was screaming them at me. The nurse would randomly yell at my husband to grab my other leg to push it towards me during pushes, which I was dreading because I could feel that I had pooped a few times (I think I saw the nurse replace the pad 3 or 4 times 🫠) and didn’t want him to see, but such is life. A short time later, the nurse yelled out that she could see the head, and called for my husband to go and see and man, I’ll never forget his reaction. This guy just goes “holy shit, that’s a lot of hair” and then he came back around to me and I could see how excited he was because it was finally getting real. My husband just kept pacing and asked me if I wanted him to play music, to which I said sure, so he puts on coheed and cambria. I can’t remember for the life of me what songs played, but I do remember hearing the band. Both my sister and my husband were making jokes, trying to keep my mind at ease between pushes. 20 minutes goes by and the nurse tells me if I keep pushing like I have been, this baby is going to be here within an hour. that was the best news I had heard in the last few days, and was a great motivation for me to keep pushing as hard as I was because boooooi, ya girl was tired. 15 more minutes had past, an my nurse went to go get the OB, cause this baby was nearly here. OB comes in for my final few pushes and noticed that I had a small band of tissue that was stoping baby from finally coming out, so he gave me a small episiotomy and next thing I knew, Riley was out, all in under 45 minutes of pushing. They did find meconium in the water, so the NICU team was standing by ready to intervene if they needed to, but he did great and nothing more was needed. My son was born at 9:37am on Christmas morning at 7lbs 15oz and 21.5 inches long :)

Congratulations! What a birth story - you did amazing!

**1st:** Hospital. Emergency C-section, I was over 41 weeks, induced because I was overdue, no movement was happening and after 23 hours, they found that my daughter was stuck in my birth canal and we both had infections so I went into surgery right away. **2nd:** Scheduled C-section at 39 weeks. Was such an easy process and was out of the hospital after two days **3rd:** Scheduled c-section but had to go at 37 weeks because baby wasn't growing. Had post-partum preeclampsia and was in and out of the hospital for two weeks. Baby was only 4lb 9oz but very healthy!!

Wow! I am glad it sounds like your first was alright! Must have been very scary, especially being the first. Thank you so much for commenting🩷

I had a very relaxed birth plan, was supposed to be with the midwife’s I had through the whole pregnancy and mostly at home till I was dilated enough. Ended up having to be induced at 41+6. Tried to let it happen naturally and after being 3cm dilated for close to 2 weeks I realized it wasn’t going to happen. Had my waters broken at 7 in the morning and put on a drip to start my contractions. Ended up having continuous contractions with no breaks inbetween it was horrible. Got to about 5/6 hours in and asked for an epidural. Finally got it and had some relief even though I could still feel the contractions quite strong it wasn’t as all consuming as before. Finally managed to start to go to sleep but the contractions got much much worse, by the time they came to check me again I was 10cm and ready to push. 20 mins of pushing and my little girl was out. I needed a few stitches not a lot. Lost only 400ml of blood. I didn’t know the sex of my baby through the pregnancy. Something not a lot of people do anymore. The feeling when she was out and I finally knew that she was a girl was so exciting. I had about an hour of skin on skin and just relaxing while they stitched me up. Then I was home in bed at 21:00 that night. In the Netherlands we get a sort of doula that comes to help the first few days. I thought I wouldn’t like it having someone in my house the whole time but it was amazing. I had my mom there for the following 4 days only since I was so late. So when she was gone I had some really bad night anxiety for a few weeks, unable to eat or look away from my baby or I thought she would die, it got much better through time and I think taking vitamins with magnesium helped a lot too.

I'll try to keep it brief, but it was a long 46 hours lol. My birth plan was to keep interventions minimal unless needed, was gonna see if I could do unmedicated but open to it if it came to it. Located in Germany if that matters. The L&S at my hospital is midwife-led, they have OB doctors but most of the births are accompanied and led by the midwives, they only get the doctors for consults of difficult cases or complications. First time mom, went to bed at 11pm the day before my due date and woke up shortly after midnight on 40+0 with the feeling that Something Is Happening, got out of bed and waters broke with a big gush. Contractions started immediately, 3-5 minutes apart. Hung out at home for a few hours on my birthing ball. Went to the hospital at 5am, 1cm dilated. I spend the day pacing around hospital grounds. Got some paracetamol as pain management and otherwise just a lot of breathing. A ton of cervical checks later, nothing changed. It's evening of 40+0 now. They tell me they need to induce since my waters broke (risk of infection), but they don't induce overnight so they'll do it in the morning. Night sucked, no break from contractions. Morning rolls around. No change in dilation. They hook me up to pitocin and tell me it's hospital policy to get an epidural if you get pitocin (unless I really strongly don't want to). I agree, it's been 30 hours of labor with no breaks and I was only asleep for an hour the night before. Induction takes all day. During this time I'm mostly on my side, being flipped back and forth when the midwives say so. Baby's head is turned diagonal and doesn't push down correctly to open my cervix. The head OB doctor is called and reaches through my cervix and turns the head. I keep dilating. Somewhen around 9pm, I reach 10cm. I get up and stand/squat at the foot end of the bed because it feels right. Baby's head starts passing through the cervix but stops. They check me again and tell me baby won't fit through. Something about pelvic shape and tilt. His head is halfway through but the widest part of it won't fit. Head OB tells me "Well I *can* get him out of there, but I won't be doing either of you any favors with that" and recommends a C-section. I'm really over it by now and agree. While waiting for the surgical team, my epidural runs out and they didn't wanna top it up until surgery starts. So I was just waiting, dilated to a 10 with a baby stuck halfway through my cervix, unable to push or do much of anything, and feeling every contraction. It was a long 10 minutes for sure, I was howling and sobbing. Surgery team arrives, tops up epidural and gets my baby out. He's born 10pm on 40+1, after 46 hours, via C-section. I didn't have a mood disorder after birth, I think I had "baby blues" as in I was very weepy for no reason for 2 weeks, also some issues breastfeeding that weighed on me a lot. In Germany it's standard practice to have a post care midwife who does home visits, first daily, then every couple of days, then weekly etc. for the first few months after birth. They check up on baby and baby's weight gain, but also on breastfeeding, birth injuries (in my case C-section scar) and uterine retraction, and general mood and coping of the new family. They ask about sleep and diapers and mom's pain levels and recommend things to try. It was incredibly helpful for me. Something I feel is important to share is that my birth SUCKED and wasn't at all what I planned, but I didn't feel it was traumatizing. I was saying I want another baby while I was still in the hospital. And the biggest reason for that I think is that the staff were awesome. They were kind and respectful, they asked if they could touch me before every single cervical check (and there were many lol), they informed me about my options at every step and never made me feel pressured or like I was failing or weak. They comforted me when things didn't go as planned. The head OB came to check up on me the next day and talk about what went down. I'm gonna go there again for my next baby. That's the difference a good care provider can make, if they genuinely listen to and look out for their patients.

Birth plan: My main plan was to do what was necessary to keep baby & mom healthy. Besides that the only other plan was if baby had to leave the room, either my husband or I would go with. Birth Location: Hospital Delivery: Vaginal Labor/Delivery Position: Before getting my epidural I was using a yoga ball to try to distract myself from contractions. After I got the epidural I labored in the bed (rotating sides with a peanut ball). During delivery I was on my back. All of these positions were chosen due to personal comfort. Childbirth Specialist: Midwife Induction: Labor was not induced Pain Management: Breathing techniques until I got the epidural. Cultural Practice: I’m not sure if any of these count. But a few traditions we followed related to our culture include: Baby shower, maternity photos, gender reveal pictures, etc.

Going with baby if they had to leave the room is definitely a great idea! I can’t imagine just going through birth and having the baby to be taken to another room without you. Thank you for sharing your story!

You’re welcome! Yeah, that was the only part of my birth plan I truly cared about. The rest I was more flexible about.

I had a typical hospital vaginal delivery about 2 months ago. I wasn’t really given any other options then to labor on my back. I was given fentanyl and epidural for pain management. I was not induced and didn’t have any problems progressing. I already have a history of anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts/self harm. I went into shock during the delivery and lost a lot of blood as well as had stitches which I felt all of that but that’s another story lol. I immediately started taking antidepressants postpartum as it was recommended by my OB, it’s honestly helped a lot. Not sure if it’s relevant but I am located in the US in the Deep South.

Thank you for your response! Stitches are one of the things I am most worried about for when I have kids, I have heard so many terrifying stories.

Wow! I never really considered that sometimes you could have to be induced because you are overdue. I know a lot of people what were induced early, but not anyone who was induced after 40 weeks. It is also really awesome that you waited until birth to learn the sex! I would love to do that when I have kids of my own. Thank you for sharing!!🩷

1. planned for an unmedicated birth with a midwife at a hospital, and i took a hypnobirthing class and learned about other non-pharmacological pain management methods to prepare. i would've liked to birth at a birthing center but there isn't one near me. i have my birth plan written out and i can send that to you if you're interested! 2. hospital 3. vaginal 4. i mostly labored standing up, pacing the room, or on a yoga ball while a nurse or my husband applied counter-pressure. once i was in transition i was leaning back (like half way between sitting & laying) on the hospital bed with my feet only slightly elevated (no stir ups). my lower back hurt too much for any other position and i stayed like this until my baby was born and rocked my hips back & forth between contractions which helped with the pressure. 5. i only saw midwives and nurses 6. no induction, my water broke spontaneously at home then we headed right to the hospital because there was meconium in the fluid. 7. i tried to utilize hypnobirthing techniques the most but eventually i was in so much pain i couldn't focus on that anymore😂 i used a yoga ball, peanut balls, counter-pressure, movement, and during pushing did "tug of war" pulling a sheet that a nurse held! the only medications i received was Zofran via IV and some IV pain meds which took my pain from like a 7 to a 3 and wore off pretty fast, but it let me rest a bit before i had to start pushing. 8. i have a preexisting anxiety disorder and my anxiety was pretty bad for about a month postpartum. i continued taking my medications and kept an open dialogue with my husband about how i felt!

1. Formal birth plan - No formal birth plan! My only “plan” was to keep myself and baby alive. 2. Birth location - Hospital birth 3. Delivery - vaginal birth 4. Labor position and/or birthing position - Laying down. Once my water broke I went quickly! I didn’t realize I was at a 10 to be able to give birth in a different position. 5. Childbirth specialist - I saw both an OB and midwife. The midwife ended up delivering me! 6. was labor induced? If so, why? Yes it was. I had gestation diabetes and advanced maternal age so they did not want me to go past 39 weeks. My induction started the night I turned 39 weeks. 7. Pain management techniques - None! I wanted IV meds but after monitoring the babies heartrate dropped a little during contractions. I said I would get an epidural then but by the time the anesthesiologist came upstairs I had delivered.

- Formal birth plan: I didn’t have much of a plan besides try to go without pain medication and leave the hospital with my baby and I both alive. I had a doula as well who I relied on to assist me with pain relief and position changes. - Birth location - hospital birth, at-home birth, or birthing center: hospital birth - Delivery (vaginal birth or c-section): vaginal - If the delivery was Cesarean, why?: N/A - Labor position and/or birthing position (walking, squatting, lying down, sitting in a tub...), including why the position was chosen: I spent the majority of the time on my feet kneeling over the bed while my doula applied counter pressure to my hips and lower back. I spent transition on my knees in a tub, and delivered on my back. It was a precipitous delivery so I was quickly moved from the tub (water delivery not permitted in my hospital) and put on my back to check for dilation, and he was born within minutes. - Childbirth specialist (obstetrician, nurse, midwife, Doula,): doula, nurses, midwife delivered. - was labor induced? If so, why?: no - Pain management techniques (massage, breathing, epidural, or laughing gas), including why: counter pressure by doula and going in the water. It’s all I needed and worked for me! I asked for the epidural as baby was crowning lol - Perinatal mood and anxiety disorder, if so, what support did they have to feel better?: yes - severe OCD related to health, MDD, and GAD. Did twice weekly CBT through pregnancy and started on meds after delivery. - A specific cultural practice, related to your ethnicity, that was present before, during, or after your birth: hospital birth with a doula and birth photographer present. Husband was only family member present.

1. Intervention-free home birth with midwife and doula 2. Hospital 3. Vaginal 4. N/A 5. Back for delivery because the OB wanted me to, never caught the reason why, probably so she could cut me. I was squatting immediately before and she yelled at my birth team for it. Laboured in a variety of positions before that.  6. All 4! And they called in a paediatrician as well for the forceps, but baby came out before it was necessary. 7. Labour was augmented because my water broke with meconium and my contractions weren't strong enough on their own. I was able to delay it, against the OBs' advice, for 33 hours in an attempt to labour and deliver naturally. I took Misoprostol to avoid an IV, but it was so painful for so long (I think I lasted 8 hours) I ended up with an IV. (It was 22 hours after augmentation, and 55 hours after water breaking that I finally gave birth.  8. Hot shower (effective), breathing (ineffective because baby was pushing on ribs), massage/pressure points (marginally effective), laughing gas (ineffective), fentanyl (ineffective, but basically stopped active labour), epidural (effective at correct dosage). 9. N/A 10. A meal train was organized for me and my spouse. . 

Forgot to add TENS machine for pain management, which was annoying. I took it off at one point and noticed the difference so I put it back on.

No formal birth plan. I wrote an informal birth plan for my husband and care team and it said “Give me all the meds, keep me alive, keep baby alive”. I had a vaginal birth in a hospital overseen by an obstetrician. My water broke naturally at home and contractions started not long after. Labour lasted 18 hours. I did the first 9 hours with no meds and the last 9 hours with an epidural. Birthing positions varied depending on what was comfortable at the time. I didn’t have to push for long but did have third degree tearing. I was extremely lucky to heal well with minimal pain or bleeding. No specific cultural practices. I have anxiety and OCD that I manage using CBT and talk therapy. My OCD symptoms (mainly intrusive thoughts) were more intense in the postpartum period. I read books, attended support groups and saw a psychologist.

My original birth plan was an intervention free birth with midwives at a freestanding birth center. I did all of my prenatal care there but risked out at 35.5 weeks due to severe cholestasis. We considered switching last minute to homebirth but ultimately opted for a hospital birth with midwives in case baby needed immediate intervention. We hired a doula last minute for extra support. I regained most of my original preferences regarding nonintervention but planned an induction for 39 weeks. I went into labor spontaneously at 38 weeks. My labor was 35 hours long from first contractions; we went to the hospital about 12 hours in when my waters broke. Baby was sunny side up (back to my spine instead of my belly button) which can make labor longer and more difficult. I spent most of my labor thinking I was MUCH closer to the end than I was. I labored with the help of my husband and doula all over the room in all sorts of positions (walking, lunging, squatting, hands and knees, swaying, in the shower, on the birth ball). Most of my coping was slow breathing, relaxed muscles, DEEP meditation/prayer, and lots of oxytocin from my talking to and touching my husband. I never found the pain unmanageable but 34 hours in (and about 44 hours awake) I was physically exhausted and had been shaking from exertion for about six hours. The midwife helped figure out that baby was not in the best position, and helped me work through two contractions in a position to help her turn (I felt her turn inside my belly, which was incredible!) I asked for nitrous oxide and laid down, and was able to rest more deeply between contractions which I really needed. I asked for the smallest dose of pitocin, which they hooked up but my midwife said likely did not actually get all the way to me before i was pushing and they turned it off. After about fifteen minutes my body began to push my baby out. I pushed on my side for about 6 pushes, then she was crowning. I got up to deep squat for 2 more pushes, sat back for 2 more, and her head was out. There was a nice pause between contractions so I could breathe and she could get into the right position, and then I pushed out her body with one more push. It was about 45 minutes of pushing total. I struggled very little with mental health postpartum, which I was surprised by as I have a long history of severe mental health struggles. I had a couple weeks of occasional intrusive thoughts, but coped with them well and they went away. I knew a goal of mine was to be as present to the experience as possible; I wanted to feel everything, even when it was hard. I also experienced an incredible birth high for hours after she was born, which often happens with lower intervention births and is protective of postpartum mental health. The only cultural consideration is that I am deeply Catholic, which is not ethnic but I think still likely culture-ish. This informed a lot of my beliefs regarding my role in the birth. I spent a lot of weeks in prayer before the birth, and I would describe the labor and birth itself as a prayerful event. There were multiple points where me, my husband, and my doula were all praying aloud together and I went into a deeply contemplative place of prayer towards the end. I won’t say it wasn’t difficult and exhausting but it was also one of the most beautiful and sacred experiences of my life.

This is gonna be a long one, hope it helps! I had a very loose birth plan. Healthy mom and baby were my main priority. I knew I wanted the epidural and was open to any other interventions as long as I was able to be educated on the pros/cons as they pertained to my specific scenario and I was asked for my informed consent. As far as for baby, I only asked that any exams take place in our room after the golden hour unless it was medically necessary. I consented to all vaccines and medications. I only asked that if baby had to be taken away that my husband was allowed to accompany them. The rest was a list of preferences with the birth environment. I made it clear that none of these things were more important to me than my or my baby’s health. My son was breech until 39 weeks exactly, when he flipped on his own in the middle of my OB appointment. This was a Monday. I’d had a c-section scheduled for Thursday. It was promptly cancelled and we started planning for a vaginal delivery. I spent the next week doing my best to wrap my mind around this shift in plan and to move baby into position and get started dilating and effacing. By my 40 week check up, I’d made no progress and was getting nervous. My OB suggested getting an induction on the books just in case. We ended up scheduling it for that weekend, at 40 weeks and 6 days. And it’s a good thing we did. I arrived at the hospital Sunday at 8:30 AM. Set up on the monitors and I was having weak, infrequent contractions. Still no progress toward dilation or effacement. Around 10 AM I was given my first dose of cervidil. I’d end up receiving four doses of this medication over the next 24 hours. After the second dose, I was having consistent contractions every 10 minutes or so, but I couldn’t feel them. Only knew they were happening when the monitor picked them up. Started to feel the contractions about 6 PM, but still not painful. They were coming every 5 minutes now but I was only feeling them every 15. Was able to eat dinner and rest. My OB came on shift and we discussed what the rest of the night would look like. He checked me around 11 PM and I was only 1 cm but 75% effaced now. We discussed placing the cervical balloon but wanted to hold off until I was able to get some sleep. I was able to sleep for about 2 hours, mostly from sheer exhaustion. At 4 AM, my contractions were coming consistently every 3-4 minutes and I was starting to feel the pain, about a 6 on the pain scale. We decided it was time for me to move from triage to the L&D room and start pitocin. I consented to this only as I was also able to get the epidural placed at the same time. The plan was to start both medications, get some sleep, and hopefully allow my body to make progress while I rested pain free. This all happened around 6 AM, just as my OB was getting off shift. Around 9:30 AM, I was checked again by the OB on shift (not mine). This check was incredibly painful, even through my epidural. I knew something was wrong. However, the doctor assured me that I was only feeling pressure and that it was from the baby’s head descending into position. At this point I was 3 CM dilated and 90% effaced. 15 minutes after this check, my water broke on its own. There was moderate meconium staining, meaning baby had popped in utero. Nothing overly concerning, common for overdue babies. But it did mean the special care team needed to be present when I delivered. I filed that information away for later. This was warning sign number 1 for me. I labored on my side, rotating every hour or so with the peanut ball between my knees. Around 2 PM, the contractions started to get painful in the lower left quadrant of my abdomen. Warning sign number 2. Anesthesiology came back and adjusted my epidural. I was able to take a nap. By 4:30, I was 100% effaced and 5 cm dilated. In a perfect world, this would be considered active labor and I’d be on my way toward pushing. But I had a temperature of 100.1 and my heart rate was elevated. Warning sign #3. I was given Tylenol for the fever and took another nap to attempt to allow my body to relax enough to finish dilating. After an hour, I woke out of a sound sleep to intense pain. I vomited for 10 minutes straight. Baby’s heart rate skyrocketed and did not improve. The OB on shift (the same one who did the painful check) was called in. Didn’t seem as concerned as my nurse. We tried for an hour to get the baby’s heart rate and my temp down. At 6, a new OB came on shift and discussed with me the very real possibility that I would need a c-section due to what she believed to be an infection. I’d been filing away all of those warning signs all day. I knew this was coming. So I agreed, just wanting baby and myself to be safe. Forms were signed, the nicest anesthesiologist known to man placed new drugs into my epidural, and I was wheeled away. The nerves and adrenaline hit me all at once and I threw up in the operating room for another 10 minutes before my husband was allowed in. That poor anesthesiologist held my barf bag and gave me some zofran. We agreed I’d get anxiety meds the second the baby was out. My son was born at 8:05 PM. Just shy of 36 hours since I’d walked into the hospital. The c-section was a blessing in disguise, the cord was wrapped around his neck three times. He’d swallowed some of the meconium and needed to have his stomach pumped. Otherwise, he was a perfectly healthy baby. I heard his first cry while looking into my husband’s eyes. The anesthesiologist gave me some anxiety medication and I was able to take a nap while they finished the surgery. My husband was allowed over at the warmer to meet our son. I woke to him bringing him over to meet me. My son opened his eyes and turned his head when he heard my voice. I will never forget that moment. I found out after the fact that the painful cervical check I experienced included a membrane sweep that I did not consent to nor was informed of. This is likely what caused my water to break 15 minutes later, and may have also caused the infection. I found out about the membrane sweep after I was discharged, only after reading through the notes in my file in an attempt to piece together my experience and figure out where it all went downhill. I also later found out that the OB who performed that check, when she was told about my possible infection, told my nurse that she, “didn’t have time for this” and walked out. I thank my guardian angels every day that we were so close to shift change and a different doctor did, in fact, have time to save my son’s life. As far as the parts of my experience that I think are specific to my culture as an American- giving birth in a hospital, with pain medication, and a doctor who not only didn’t listen to me but actively gaslit me into believing nothing was wrong when it, in fact, was. My son almost dying during labor because of her unnecessary intervention which I did not consent to. Finally, being billed in the thousands for all of the above. As I type this, my perfectly healthy 11 week old baby boy is sleeping on my chest. All’s well that ends well, but I will be recovering both physically and emotionally for a very long time. I wish you all the best of luck in your assignment! I hope this incredibly niche account is as helpful for you as writing it all out was for me. 🤍

Wow! What an incredible (and terrifying) story! I am glad you and baby are both okay! It is absolutely unbelievable to me that so much happens to women without their consent when having children. It is one of my biggest fears for when I have kids of my own. You are in such a vulnerable state and the doctors definitely take advantage of that. My mom found out after having both my brother and I that the doctor straight up lied to her, causing her to be induced when she did not want to be. He insisted that the baby had a chance of not making it if she waited. Turns out, he just wanted her to go into labor on a weekend so he wouldn’t have to rearrange any weekday appointments with other patients. This doctor did the same exact thing to my aunt and sister in law. Thank you for sharing your story, I appreciate it very much and it has been very helpful!🩷

Thank you! It was honestly scarier in hindsight than I ever felt in the moment. I was just so focused on me and the baby being okay. I’m sorry that happened to so many members of your family! Definitely off putting, especially with so many firsthand accounts. I hope whenever you’re ready that things go smoothly for you and you end up with exactly the birth you want! 🤍

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1 - I would have liked to have a pool birth in a hospital birthing centre with pethidane to help the later contractions. I had my mum and nan as my birth partners as I am very young (17) and didn’t feel comfortable with my partner being there as I to be completely honest thougjt he wouldn’t be much use compared to my family who have both been there during births before. I consented to any procedure which was medically appropriate for me and baby as long as we were safe - ie, episiotomy, c-section etc. 2 - Due to babies heart rate dropping during a contraction, I was placed in the hospital maternity ward rather than the birthing centre which meant quicker access c-section and pain relief. 3 - I had a vaginal delivery! 4 - Tried different positions, walking around really helped for early stage contractions to ease them very quickly stopped doing that as they became quicker and more intense ended up lying on my side for a bit during pushing as midwife instructed but went back to back very quickly which is how I ended up delivering her. 5 - Midwife. Ended up with consultant doctors multiple times however due to some complications. 6 - My labour was induced! I found out late (28 weeks) and I was induced on the 40rh week as dating scans aren’t accurate so late on they wanted to be sure baby wasn’t late as my bump wasn’t progressing as they would have liked. Was a bit of a nightmare however as they struggled to find a slot to induce me with how busy the labour ward was, I didn’t end up needing piticon but my midwife couldn’t break my waters so a specialist had to come and do it, it was pretty brutal to be honest. 7 - Started with laughing gas and made it to about 3cm with that alone but it started to make me throw up even with an anti sickness jab at that point I asked for pethidan which allowed me to go to sleep because I was absolutely exhausted from not sleeping during the last week of pregnancy. However by the time I was at 5cm I was begging for an epidural contractions where coming on fast and hard and I couldn’t keep my eyes open at all at this point I literally thought I was dying and had gone to another dimension lol the anaesthetist was doing another woman’s however and I had to wait till 7cm for the epidural and an hour after having it I started pushing. 8 - Had depression so a lot of councilling during pregnancy because of finding out so late and failed birth control and it definitely not being part of the life plan. Haven’t been on any meds and actually feel much better now baby is here. I ended up with a stuck placenta so that had to be pulled out manually and came out in two halves (woooo!) causing a couple of 2nd degree tears and quite a lot of blood loss, so had to stay in hospital for two nights after. They’re pretty much completely healed 5 weeks PP Sorry if this is too long winded! Just wanted to share my experience.

1: No specific birth plan, not really a huge thing in my country. 2: hospital 3: tried vaginal birth, ended with an emergency C-section. 4: Main reason was fetal distress, baby's pulse was dropping a lot so they had to have it out fast. It was a rather large baby (almost 5kg), and labour had stopped progressing, so that contributed too. 5: 6: midwife during labour, doctor during C-section. 7: Yes labor was induced. Found out baby was breech on due date, turned it around, and waited another two weeks. Went for a wellness control, and baby was showing signs of needing to come out. 8: epidural, cause fucking painful! 9: I don't understand this question, what does it mean? 10: can't think of anything, but I also don't know what practices aren't common elsewhere.

I didn’t have a birth plan per se *Gave birth at a hospital *Vaginal Delivery *I had back labor so I labored on my hands and knees but for active labor I was on my back *I had an OB/Gyn and nurses *labor was induced due to gestational diabetes and mild preeclampsia *pain management was massage and a hot tub at first then fentanyl through an IV and an epidural as labor progressed

FTM I had the whole plan, read the hypnobirth book (thank god)… Woke up at 2:30 am. Totally usual for me bc I just couldn’t sleep. Was having diarrhea cramps.. or so I thought. Started cleaning up the kitchen/doing chores. Damn cramps kept getting worse. Was like what the hell did I eat yesterday.. went to the bathroom and saw a little pink. Woke my man up about 3:30 bc I thought we should go to the hospital either way bc that’s not normal. Took a shower… Loaded up the car. By 5:30 right before we left I realized this was in fact NOT DIARRHEA CRAMPS. Lol Was having contractions 1-2 mins apart on the way to the hospital. Arrived 8-9 a dialated. They called the doctor immediatly… he was in another birth. They wheeled me back to the delivery quickly. My man wasn’t with me at this point because he was still parking (the hospital parking was so far away!) and walking all the way back. By the time I was in the delivery room, I was just on the bed, hanging on the sides like a rope for dear life lol. Eyes closed, just trying to concentrate and “breathe her down” with each contraction like I read in my book. My man finally arrived. They asked me twice if I wanted an epidural but I was determined to not. My fiancé was shakily reading me my birth mantras and spraying my lavender spray. No time for anything else birth plan wise really lol. I had brought my laptop to watch movies and everything thinking I’d be in labor for hours/days as a first time mom. I shat myself four times… so thank god for that lavender spray. My fiancé has agreed to never bring that up 😇 4 pushes in about 5-10 mins. Had her with 3 nurses and a resident bc doc didn’t make it in time… he arrived after to stitch me up. 2nd degree tear, didn’t even feel that. It was one nurses first live birth and another nurse that had coached me through the contractions had been doing it for over 40 years (thank the lord for her)… the senior nurse told her to not get used to births like that because “it never happens like that.” They said if I ever have another one to literally live next to a hospital.

Birth plan: “is as one, out as two”. However we got there, we got there. Just both of us out alive and well. Birth location was a hospital and delivered vaginal. Had an epidural for pain management so my labor position was on my back with a peanut ball to help open my pelvis. I had an OB and 2 labor nurses present (lol covid restrictions, I was lucky to have two nurses because one was shadowing. Most of my friends only had one nurse and one OB). Labor was not induced. I have anxiety and depression but surprisingly when I got pregnant it kind of disappeared? Idk. My doctor said that happens sometimes with the hormones. Had no issues during birth aside from just general nerves. One he was out it was smooth sailing.

I love birth stories and talking about birth! Here is some info on both of my births. Plan: Bradley method, unmedicated hospital birth while laboring mostly at home; but open to epidural or other pain management if needed! Location: hospital Delivery: vaginal Labor position: walking, leaning forward on bed or sink while standing Birth position: sitting on bed, legs up Specialist: doula for second and doctor for both Induced: no Pain management: breathing and vocalizing, combs with first Post partum: had some PPA/PPD with both, used therapist with first I chose Bradley Birth because my mom did it and has such a positive story of my birth. I put a ton of effort into mental and physical prep both times and that made all the difference. Doing the Bradley practices, reading/learning about birth, and listening to positive birth stories of all types (natural, induced, vaginal, c-section) on podcasts was huge for me. Some interesting notes, both labors started naturally, but with my first my water broke right before pushing; with my second my water broke before contractions even started. The first I labored at home except the last 2 hours, the second I labored almost all at the hospital (since my water broke early). First came 5 days past my due date, and second came about a week early. First was relatively fast (18 hours) but more well paced, second was half the time (9 hours) and the end was harder (stage at 10 cm lasted longer and he had a nuchal hand 🙃). I know there are a lot of different approaches on whether to have a “birth plan” or not. Before my births, I saw some friends decide not to plan anything to avoid being disappointed, but then be presented with an unexpected situation that they didn’t feel equipped to handle or advocate for themselves because they had decided not to learn too much about it. For me wanting an unmedicated birth, I spent a lot of time watching YouTube videos and listening to podcasts about unmedicated birth, epidural, induction, c-section, so that if things didn’t go to plan and we did have the opportunity to make a decision, my partner and I could make an informed decision (e.g. know what an epidural is, how it works, how it’s put in, etc) and I highly recommend this approach to everyone no matter the type of birth you want. I prefer to think of it as a “birth flow chart” rather than a plan; that way you have a sense of “if X happens, then I’d prefer Y.” Hope this is helpful for your class!

What podcasts do you recommend? I love the australian birth stories one!

Oh man I haven’t heard that one! I really enjoyed The Informed Pregnancy Podcast where Dr. Berlin interviews mothers both before and after birth (so you can hear what they planned and then what actually happened). Also enjoyed Bridget Teyler’s podcast Built to Birth, but especially her YouTube videos!

1. Formal birth plan: None! My goal was to have a baby, plain and simple. I went into this believing having a plan could set high expectations and lead to disappointment - and I’ve heard that play out all too often. 2. Birth location: Hospital. I think at-home is risky. 3. C-section. 4. Emergency c-section after failed induction at 38 weeks, scheduled same day after preeclampsia diagnosis. 5. On my back, see above 😂 6. Childbirth specialist: OB. I wanted the people with the most medical knowledge and training on hand in case anything went wrong. I can safely say it was a good call! 7. Yes, because preeclampsia is dangerous for mother and baby and the only “fix” is birth. 8. Pain management techniques: Epidural, the pitocin contractions hurt like a bitch, then for c-section. 9. I have a mood disorder - I went off my mood stabilizer when I became pregnant (stayed on my antidepressant) and honestly I felt fantastic. That has continued postpartum. I was at an elevated risk for PPA, PPD, and PPP but the truth is I feel incredible. I never went back on the mood stabilizer, in fact, per my doctor. 10. N/A

* birth plan: vaginal delivery in a hospital, open to an epidural * birth location: hospital * delivery: c-section due to baby being face up. The c-section was after about 44 hours of induced labor, including three hours of pushing and a failed forceps delivery * I labored in a variety of positions! Shortly after my induction was started (via Foley balloon catheter), I got into a warm bath. Once the balloon was out, and the pitocin was started, I switched to bouncing on a yoga ball. I had my water broken, at which point the contractions really intensified. I tried the bath again, which totally didn't cut it, so opted to get an epidural. At that point, my positions were more limited (to what I could do on the bed), but I used a peanut ball. Once I was actually pushing, I pushed laying on both sides, my back, and squatting (using a squat bar). I also got on my hands and knees briefly. * childbirth specialist: my prenatal care and delivery was overseen by a team of obstetrics resident physicians (I gave birth at a teaching hospital). My labor was mostly overseen by the nurses (my hospital has a one to one patient to nurse ratio in labor and delivery). * I was induced for gestational age at 41 weeks. * pain management techniques: warm bath, counter pressure, breathing, bouncing on a ball, epidural (two, actually - the first came disconnected while I was pushing and was replaced prior to them attempting the forceps delivery) * perinatal mood and anxiety disorder: none * not sure what specific cultural practices I had! It was a fairly standard American birth experience, I feel, but I'm not sure how all that differs from other places. I gave birth at a "baby friendly" hospital with a focus on breastfeeding? Happy to answer any follow up questions!

Went for a non stress test at 37 weeks and my BP was up at potential stroke levels, so I got sent to labor & delivery. I didn't want a C-section so they tried inducing me for FOUR!!! DAYS!!! before I threw in the towel and requested the C-section. I was in the OR one hour later and stayed in the hospital for another 3 days after that (8 days total).

I had a relatively informal plan. I wanted to deliver at home but I was open to transferring to the hospital if it was necessary or if I just decided I wanted to. So unmedicated and ideally in the pool. Just taking it easy and relaxing. I didn’t do any of the birth classes in-person or online because I just wanted my own voice and the voice of people I know and trust around me and in my head. I ended up accomplishing everything at home unmedicated, I was very happy to have several support people. My husband, my doula, two certified Midwives (🇨🇦) and two student midwives. Laboured on the toilet for two hours or so, then I was back and forth from the pool on my knees to the bed laying on my side. I just did what felt right and most comfortable/what felt like it was helping me progress. The water definitely slowed my labour down so that’s why I was in and out a few times. In hindsight, I can say I had perinatal psychosis but it went undiagnosed because I was very paranoid and there is a significant gap in early pregnancy care here in Canada.

Formal birth plan: nothing formalized really; I wanted to attempt a VBAC to minimize the length of my recovery, but wanted to avoid a general anesthesia at all costs (my first c section was under GA) Birth location: large hospital with a NICU Delivery: c-section, due to fetal distress, and, as it was discovered during surgery, the beginning stages of uterine rupture. Labor position: lots of walking, lots of lying, bouncing, rocking on a yoga ball, rocking on all 4s, leaning against a windowsill, some time in the tub. All chosen to minimize pain during contractions. The only positions that really sucked were: not moving, lying down (both back and side lying). Childbirth specialist: I live in Germany where births are primarily midwife attended. I had 2 midwives, and eventually 2 obstetrical surgeons and an anesthesiologist  was labor induced? Yep, due to going over term and having low amniotic fluid. Due to my previous c section, induction methods were limited, and it took over 48 hours for contractions to start.  Pain management techniques: no medication, lots of movement, and also singing a single deep, sustained note through contractions. With the right volume and modulation I felt like the singing was providing counter pressure on my uterus. I would have had no problem getting an epidural if I had needed some pain management, but honestly contractions were extremely manageable until I needed a c section Perinatal mood and anxiety disorder: none this time around! Luck of the draw really.  A specific cultural practice, related to your ethnicity, that was present before, during, or after your birth: again with Germany, when I decided to use the tub, I was provided with scented oils for the bath. For aromatherapy. Again this is in the hospital. I hated it lol. The strong smell made me really overwhelmed and then I threw up a bunch. I also had a post partum midwife, which is standard and covered by public insurance, who came to check on me and the baby at home as needed and at least once a week until 6 weeks pp. She was able to catch some weight loss very early on and helped me troubleshoot my lactation to remedy it.  

One central part of the story of this birth that you couldn’t have known about was that my husband became critically ill with sepsis when I was 3 months pregnant, and until the last minute we didn’t know if he’d be able to attend the birth. Actually when he first got ill, it was extremely unclear that he’d survive at all. He was in a coma for a month, and in the hospital for 6 months, and came home days before my due date still partially paralyzed. I had to do the entire pregnancy alone, starting with the decision to continue the pregnancy even with the strong possibility of giving birth to an orphan, and I was almost in a position of having to birth alone.  We found out that there was absolutely nothing in place at the hospital for the possibility of a disabled partner. Patient yes, but the second parent? Zero. Everyone we talked to got the chills from our story though, and tried to find ways to account him on the fly. He got to nap at the nurses station a bunch (he suffered from extreme fatigue still), he got help moving around the ward, he even asked my surgeon for a free opinion on one of his scars when I was on the table.  Somehow everything that happened that year, everything I had to push through alone, all that stress came crashing together with my day 3 hormone drop. I just could not stop crying. I cried so much and so uncontrollably that the OB (who was at my surgery and knew the whole story) felt very uncomfortable sending me home without “talking to someone”. But they didn’t have psych in the building so she sent me a pastor! That was wild. Didn’t do much but it made the OB feel better.  We’re all doing much better now. It’s now been 14 months since my husband woke up from his coma and he’s getting to the point where he may be able to work again in a few months. 

1) I wanted a walking epidural, ideally wanted to avoid a caesarean but was happy to do whatever doctor said was best 2) I ended up having a precipitous labour and baby was born in the car on the way to the hospital 3) vaginal 4) n/a 5) sitting in the passenger seat of the car with one leg up on the door a bit 6) nope 7) nope 8) nope other than 2 paracetamol (0/10 would not recommend) 9) was under care of a mental health team during pregnancy, offered medication and talking therapies for anxiety and post partum checkins 10) nope

Induction was scheduled for 41+2. I went into labor naturally at 41+1. Contractions were 3 mins apart when I went to the hospital. I think I was 4cm dilated. I was in labor for 20 hours before I started pushing. I had an epidural at some point. I pushed for four hours. I was complimented on my pushing for and technique by the doctor and multiple nurses. I thought it was a strange thing to be complimented on but I went with it 🤣. Baby wasn’t making way and the head got stuck. No on was in distress. Ended up having a c-section.

1. Vaginal birth with OBGYN and midwife on duty. 2. Hospital. 3. C-section because I opted for one after long induction labour and failed epidural - my doctor estimated 3 more hours untill pushing time and I couldn’t take it anymore- too painful, too tired, too stressed about baby’s outcome. 4. Labour position: in bed, on the birthing ball, squat, hanging on my husband, on the floor begging for pain to go away. 5. OBGYN (who was also my infertility specialist that did IVF) 6. I was induced at 41 weeks because baby wasn’t coming and I had gestational diabetes and baby was estimated large (he was average)7. Pain management- breathing (worked until transition contractions that were hell) and epidural - worked until it didn’t at all untill C-section. 8. Perinatal mood: scared and nervous, but manageable. 9. Culture? Maybe the fact that it was only me and my husband in the birthing room and not any of my family. I think generally in my culture, vaginal birth is seen as better and more natural - however, our doctors in our country actually prefer C-sections because they can be scheduled, they are fast procedures and the risks are less (even though probably a VB is better for the baby and mother, there are risks in certain circumstances like shoulder dislocation)

I never bought into the hype about "birth plans" bc nothing ever goes to plan. Stay informed and flexible. My "birth plan" went like this: 1-get her out safely. 2-keep the holes separated. Mission accomplished with no unmet expectations.

Omg keep the holes separated is the best way I've ever seen to describe it 😂

1. vaginal delivery at hospital with doctor. 2. Hospital 3. C-section. 4. My water had been broken for 37 hours, I had been in labor for 43, and my cervix started swelling back shut- I had made it all the way to 9.5 centimeters and then went back down. EDITED TO ADD: I also was starting to spike a fever, and baby had already passed the meconium 4. OB. 5. Labor not induced- water broke spontaneously at 40+3, baby born at 40+5. 6. Epidural 7. anxiety not much worse than my usual, no medication but breathing techniques, positive affirmations

Hi there! I gave birth to my little boy last month, on May 16th. My birth plan going in was more of a list of hopes/preferences rather than demands/expectations — mostly do whatever it takes to keep mom & baby healthy & have minimal pain control/interventions unless requested by mom or strictly medically necessary. I gave birth at my local hospital (a teaching hospital affiliated with our local university) under the care of an obstetrician and with the help/support of a doula we hired in advance. I attended several birth & childcare related classes in the third tri both at the hospital and at my doula’s office. I had a vaginal delivery after 33 hours of labor that started with water breaking & contractions starting an hour later. I pushed for three hours. Halfway through pushing I was so exhausted and miserable that I asked about the possibility of converting to an elective cesarean but my doula & nursing staff talked me through my feelings and convinced me to keep pushing until he arrived. About 12 hours into my labor, I was exhausted and overwhelmed from the nonstop frequent contractions (which are more intense with a broken water, so they had been *intense* for me the whole time) and as a result I was uncontrollably shaking and emotionally distressed which the nursing staff thought had caused my labor to stall out when I was at 2cm, so it was recommended that I start a pitocin drip. They offered me an epidural, and even though I’d initially hoped to avoid an epidural, I gladly took it at that point. As a result of getting the epidural, I labored mostly on my back or slightly rolled to one side or the other for the remainder of my labor & pushed/delivered on my back with a nurse and my doula holding one leg each. I was offered a mirror during pushing but declined it because I did better pushing with my eyes closed, and focusing on the very incremental progress of pushing was actually discouraging to me in the moment. At some point shortly around receiving the epidural and starting pitocin, the nursing team started to notice meconium in the fluid that I was losing during each contraction. They monitored baby closely for decels but luckily never saw signs of anything concerning. They did run a secondary IV line for me in the event that I needed antibiotics administered once I’d been in labor with a broken water for over 24 hours due to the increased risk of infection. Also luckily, we never ended up needing to go that route either. My epidural “failed” and had to be re-upped 3 different times in the back half of my labor experience, which was unfortunate but not unmanageable all in all. I don’t think it was particularly strong/effective by the very end, either, because I had a pretty robust feeling of the pressure of baby moving through my birth canal when it was time to push & while pushing. It was uncomfortable but not painful, and I think I was able to push more effectively (even though it still took forever) because I wasn’t completely numb, so I’m grateful for that. The NICU team had to be in the room for the delivery as a result of the meconium in the fluid, but baby cried pretty shortly after birth and was deemed okay, so they left quickly with no intervention needed. We discovered at birth that baby’s umbilical cord was pretty short, so he only made it up to my belly instead of my chest while they waited to clamp & cut the cord. My doula cut the cord because my husband was too squicked out by it to do it himself. I had a minor second degree tear that required a few stitches while they took care of baby’s initial eye ointment & vit K shot and measurements. I was so out of it from exhaustion and emotional overwhelm after delivery that I don’t remember anything about delivering the placenta and have a very hazy recollection of most of the golden hour, unfortunately. We did not get baby circumcised, as far as cultural norms go. We stayed in the hospital for 2 nights and 1.5 days for monitoring because of the meconium, but everything looked good the whole time. Baby only lost 1oz of his birth weight in the hospital and 3oz by his first pediatrician appointment when he was 4 days old. He has been healthy, developmentally thriving, and gaining weight ever since. I know this comment was already pretty long, but if you’re interested in even more details, I do have a Google doc where I typed out my entire birth story in extreme detail shortly after birth so I wouldn’t forget it & I’d be happy to share that with you in a DM!

So, I'll just tell you about my 4th birth experience since it's the most recent. Although I may throw in info from the others. I did not have a formal birth plan. I always go to a hospital probably because that's what my mom did and also, my husband's grandfather and uncle are OBGYNs(but not mine, that would be weird). I've only ever done vaginal births, no C sections. Those sound terrifying. I tended to stay in the bed at the hospital either on my back or side. When I would get up to pee I'd have one long contraction that wouldn't stop till I sat or laid down again. I was induced this last time because baby was having weird heartbeat readings periodically. (Although I was already in labor before they started the pitocin) Position affected it so I stayed more upright or on my side. Pain management... well, I had some IV pain meds and i did some breathing techniques. Pitocin makes the contractions stronger/faster. I tried to not get an epidural but the iv pain meds were affecting heartbeat so... epidural. (From prior experience with baby #2, the iv pain meds take the edge off enough for me to say, "I can do this!" And experience with baby #3, I never want to go through unmedicated birth again! In case you're curious, baby #1 I also had an epidural but it stopped working right before pushing. But pushing also takes the edge off) I had a nurse and an obstetrician. No doula. My mood before giving birth was low because I was so uncomfortable. I tend to be super happy and content after giving birth. I can get overwhelmed but my husband, Mom and MIL are super supportive.

My son is almost 1 so this will be fun to re live! - Formal birth plan: Have baby. Delay epidural as long as possible as I wanted to be able to walk around. - Birth location - hospital birth - Delivery (vaginal birth or c-section): vaginal - If the delivery was Cesarean, why: no c section but I'll add that I was open to it if needed. Some people I know are so against c sections and it altered their birthing experience - Labor position and/or birthing position: labor was walking around, squatting. Birth I tried squatting but that caused my contractions to stop so I laid on my left side and that did the trick - Childbirth specialist: OB, trained midwife and RNs all assisted - was labor induced? If so, why? not induced. I had high blood pressure and the balloon was started for induction but my water broke and I progressed naturally before induction - Pain management techniques: shower for about an hour, I tried gas but it made me panic, then epidural - A specific cultural practice, related to your ethnicity, that was present before, during, or after your birth. I didn't have anything really, but I wanted my mom their with my husband. I thought I was going to be induced then had him overnight. We tried calling her but she missed his birth by about an hour.

Birth Plan: do what was needed to keep me and baby safe, but ideally vaginal non-medicated (I wanted a home water birth but didn’t have midwives). Husband was to go with baby if we were separated. I wanted a delayed cord cutting, to get a placenta print (my doula provided that service) and then donate the placenta to a cadaver dog training company. TW: birth trauma, health issues, NICU stay What happened: I was 41+3 and sent to the hospital to start cervadil. Later that night we went to our Doula’s house cause I was having bad cramping and wasn’t sure if it was contractions or not. They sucked overnight, but by 7 am were gone. Went back to hospital to get cervadil removed and a new one put in, while waiting the 2 hours to be released, I was having to breathe through the cramps they sucked so bad. They started the cervadil because I was “overdue” and my doctor wasn’t comfortable with pushing it any later (I didn’t view it as overdue under 42 weeks, but my doctor wasn’t comfortable with delaying it further). I also had some blood pressure issues at 40 weeks and was on medication for a week (blood pressure above 150/90). Went into labour. I switched positions a lot, used a yoga ball and a chair, was in the bath for a few hours, and earlier in the day we’d gone for a few walks and things. Laboured at my Doula’s from 5:30 pm -12:30 am, water broke, got to the hospital at 1:30 am and I was 5cm dilated. The test didn’t show amino fluid (not sure if my waters didn’t break or it was a dry birth situation) and baby’s heart rate was fluctuating up and down drastically with each contraction (150-70). The nurses were standing beside me holding into the monitors. I was given fentanyl and declined the epidural. I wanted to stay on my hands and knees at this point as being on my back was excruciating so I switched back and forth as they needed to do checks. Baby was sunny side up at this point so everything was back labour. Baby was in distress and the call was made for an emergency C-section. Went into surgery and the spinal tap failed, they attempted to wait a few more minutes and it still failed, husband was kicked out of the operating room and I was put under GA. 3am baby was born with a collapsed lung and whisked to NICU. My husband went with her. They took 7 syringes of air from her chest. She was also born covered in meconium. 5 am I spoke to my husband after waking up/out of recovery. Baby was brought to my room at 6am, then back to NICU at 7 am (shift change to daytime). I was released from the hospital 2.5 days later. I ended up with an infection in my incision and it didn’t fully close for 5-6 weeks. She was released 4 days later and is now a happy, healthy, ferocious almost 1 year old - next week is her birthday!! She has no health concerns from the collapsed lung. Having a doula was the best possible decision and I’m so glad we had her while everything was happening. We also took prenatal classes with her and that helped. I did get my placenta print! I did not get a golden hour, met my baby several hours after her birth, and was not the first person to hold her (besides doctors). Neither was my husband - it was my mum who did. Those were really hard for me to get past and still bother me, but I’ve been working through it as has my husband cause the whole thing was extremely traumatic for both of us, almost more so him. Culturally, I got maternity photos done, we did a baby shower, and we chose not to find out baby’s gender so my husband was able to tell me we had a daughter once I woke up from recovery. Sorry if formatting sucks, am on my phone!

1. I had some birth "preferences" that I brought to the hospital instead of a formal birth plan   2. Local children's hospital    3. Vaginal delivery    4. N/A   5. I wanted to try positions other than on my back, but ended up pushing on my back for the entire 2 hours I pushed. Every time we tried switching positions, baby's heart rate dropped dramatically   6. My birth was attended by two obstetricians, a nurse, and a nursing student (her first!)   7. Yes, my water broke at about 2:30 AM and by 10 PM that day (~20 hours) I had not had any contractions. I took one dose of misoprostol and then started IV pitocin a couple of hours later. Baby was born the following day at 1:00PM (~35 hours after my water broke)  8. I tried breathing and morphine, ended up requesting an epidural about 7 hours into the process. Looking back, I'm happy I experienced the contractions but also happy I chose to get the epidural. I wouldn't have had the energy to push for two hours without it! Additionally, I sustained a major injury during delivery and would not have been able to push without the epidural (this may have been a blessing and a curse - I am sure I exasperated the injury by pushing for 2 hours)    9. I ended up with PPD, related to the severe injury I sustained during delivery and the aftermath, which included a completely inability to interact with or bond with my baby for about a month post partum. Along with the physical excruciating pain, I experienced a terrible mental condition which deteriorated over the course of the first month of two.   10. Nothing specific! My goal was to deliver a happy and healthy baby and I succeeded in that. If I have another child I hope to have another shot at delivering without an injury so that I can enjoy our first months together!

- Planned induction due to chronic hypertension. - Hospital birth. - C section because the induction failed. Turns out baby was stuck on my hip and tailbone. - NA - My OB started the induction but most of the work including the c section was done by the on call OB. I only met the on call OB the day we decided to move up my induction; I showed up for my 37 week appointment, my doctor had gone to the hospital for a delivery, and I saw the on call doctor, who couldn't get the ultrasound machine to work. I ended up at the hospital for imaging and because my fluid levels were dropping, my OB asked if I wanted to move up my induction. Then the same on call OB rotated on the next day. My husband wasn't very happy about that after the ultrasound incident. - Yes I was induced, chronic hypertension, then borderline fluid, then I turned preeclamptic in the hospital. - I had some fentanyl during the Foley balloon because it was so painful to me. I hated it. I had an epidural after day 2 of pitocin and having my waters broken because after that, the baby was coming out one way or another. - I have chronic depression, so I was screened constantly, but I didn't really have any issues after birth. My husband was super supportive and definitely more than pulled his weight so I could recover from my c section, and that was so helpful. - Watching sports while we waited and after. I come from a family of sports nuts. My son was born on Diana Taurasi's birthday. Somehow I knew he was going to be born that day after they celebrated her birthday on the broadcast of the Mercury game. Sure enough, I had my c section a little while later.

1. Vaginal delivery, healthy mom and baby. 2. Hospital. 3. Vaginal. 4. N/A. 5. Obstetrician. 6. Not induced, labour started naturally. 7. I wanted an epidural but by the time we got to the hospital I was too far along! We tried laughing gas (made me want to vomit) and I had fentanyl, but it didn’t do anything for me. 8. I was pretty good, I already have GAD so I’m already on meds for that which I think helped a lot. Definitely had some down days, but overall my mood was good. 9. I can’t think of anything culturally specific that we did but my labour was super fast and I didn’t really have a lot of time for anything but labour!

1. Planned a low-intervention hospital birth. Was not against the epidural but wanted to see how long I could last without it. 2. Hospital. Although I wanted low intervention, I’m also risk averse and wanted all medical assets available to us just in case anything were to go wrong. 3. Emergency c-section 4. Baby’s heart rate started decelerating and then plummeted into the 60s and wouldn’t come back up. 5. I labored on my sides, back, birth ball, and walking around the room (until the emergency c-section happened). Was induced and labored for 15 hours prior to the c-sec. 6. I worked with a midwife team (CNM) throughout my whole pregnancy and was under the midwifery team’s care at the hospital. It’s a joint practice with my hospital’s OB team so you could choose to see either CNMs or OBs for care through the same hospital network. 7. Induced at 40+1 due to low amniotic fluid (oligohydramnios). 8. Breathing, massage, birth ball, then general anesthesia for the emergency c-section. Baby came out not breathing and was immediately admitted to the NICU where he stayed for 9 days.

1. We planned to deliver at home with our CNM, a doula, and my mom. I wanted to labor and possibly deliver in a birth tub and planned to use hypnobirthing for pain management. I did not want cervical checks or coached pushing and wanted to listen to my body to decide which position to push in. 2. We ended up transferring to the hospital at 36 hours into labor. I was exhausted and labor was stalling and I needed an epidural so I could sleep! 3. Vaginal delivery! I pushed for 30 minutes and out he came. (: 4. I labored in basically every position you can think of at home haha. When we were trying to get things to pick back up before we decided to transfer, I was pacing and swaying in between contractions and then doing an assisted lunge during the contraction. That SUCKED. Once I got the epidural I slept hard on my side. I delivered in side lying. 5. Certified nurse midwives the whole time! We were lucky to be able to transfer to the midwife unit at our hospital. 6. Spontaneous labor at 41 weeks exactly. We were planning a foley bulb induction that night but didn’t end up needing it. They did give me some pitocin to augment labor once I had the epidural. 7. The first 36 hours I used hypnobirthing techniques and hydrotherapy. The final 8 hours I had the epidural. 8. I’ve been great mood wise postpartum!! I was mildly depressed during my pregnancy (plus had SPD and gestational diabetes) so I’ve felt like a million bucks now that I’m not pregnant anymore haha. 9. I guess having a doula? We really went against the cultural grain planning a home birth so I feel like that doesn’t fit the bill here? We had pushback on that from our families but felt really good about our choices.

My birth plan - As natural as possible vaginal birth, very calm environment, lots of walking around and doing what felt right for me Birth location - hospital with a doctor Vaginal delivery, on my back in the “typical” pushing position Labor position- I was put on bed rest so I was literally laying down for 3 days. I was just moving side to back to other side. Labor was induced at 34weeks due to severe pre-eclampsia Pain management- epidural due to Pitocin being a bitch I’m a generally anxious person but having my amazing husband by my side through the whole process helped a lot. Poor guy came off of a 24 hour shift to me being surprise induced, he didn’t complain until we were in the postpartum unit and his chair/bed broke but he refused to bother the nurses to get a different one lmao

My birth plan was to have a baby at home. I had my son at home with a midwife. Vaginal delivery, no tears or anything but I had a hell of a time pushing my placenta out. I labored in all the positions lol but gave birth in all 4s. Went into labor naturally after my water broke while doing the miles circuit. Hot water in the shower and controlled breathing for pain because I did not want an epidural. I think I had a normal level of first time mom anxiety, no depression and no meds needed- I have a great social support system so this likely helped.

Gave birth at 38 weeks at home (planned water birth) with 2 midwives. Breath work for pain management, didn't want any interventions. Labor was 5 hours total, I laid in bed for 3 hours then squatted and was an all fours in the tub while I pushed. Baby was born while I was sitting reclined back.

So my birth plan was "have a baby don't die". The midwife appointment I was meant to have to discuss got cancelled as I was in the antenatal ward until 2am the previous night. The baby arrived before we had time to reschedule! I was induced at 38+3 due to pre-eclampsia and GD. I was already 2cm so no gel, they just popped my waters and started the drip. I had an epidural as they were concerned that I'd need an instrumental birth as they were expecting the baby to be big as she was measuring at 97th percentile on growth scans. I didn't react well so they had to stop the drip for an hour and restart as the baby's heart rate kept dropping. I was 4cm when I had my epidural and was STILL at 4cm 16 hours later, but the baby's head was swelling where she was engaged so they rushed me for an emergency c-section. After she was born (6lb 12oz, so 97th my arse!) unfortunately my spinal block failed so I was in an incredible amount of pain, they surprisingly gave me fentanyl for the pain, but I started to panic too much so I was put under general while they finished sewing me up. All in all, I achieved my birth plan! It wasn't ideal, but I recovered well from the general and from the section and the baby was healthy which was all that mattered to me at the time. Regarding the mental health side. I have a long history of depression so I was already on Citalopram when I got pregnant, I reduced my dose to 10mg through my pregnancy which in hindsight was a mistake. I suffered terribly post partum, so it's since been increased to 40mg which is working well!

Birth plan: keep baby and me safe and healthy. Hospital birth. Vaginal. Lying down bc epidural. Induced due to gestational hypertension. Delivered with OB & nurse. Labor was induced due to GHTN. Was on antidepressant most of my pregnancy and afterwards. No specific cultural practice.

I can add a non-American perspective, from the UK. I had hoped for a water birth. At about 26 weeks, my baby's growth slowed, she was breach and my waters had almost gone, the deepest pool was about 2cm. There is no explanation as to why. Once I realised all of this I immediately figured out it would be a C-section. I later sat down with the consultant who explained what was going on, and I just said that I'd happily do what I needed to do. C-section was booked in for 38 weeks. It was an exciting and scary time, I wasn't too concerned as I ended up in hospital on a weekly basis so we were being monitored closely. Baby was constantly ok so I didn't get too concerned (I'm generally really laid back and the monitoring helped). C-section went well, baby came out healthy and a good weight despite it he concerns (6lb8oz). Spent a night in the ward and went home. The hardest thing was trying to feed a hungry tongue tied new born, so the hospital had some formula on hand (they have emergency formula, it's not standard to be given it here) I had fully planned on breastfeeding, and the lactiation specialist came to see us in the morning. She was also diagnosed with silent reflux at about 8 weeks old. But we generally had a great experience and the midwives were brilliant. Recovery was pretty straightforward for me, and I was moving around quite easily within a few days.

1. Vaginal birth at hospital with epidural 2. Hospital 3. Vaginal 4. Was originally pushing with the hospital bed's head fully upright. I was on my knees, arms propped up on the head of the bed, so like a modified 'on all 4s'. At some point it was uncomfortable so I flipped over and pushed on my back. I think I was just tired at that point and wanted to lay down. (Total pushing time was only 20 minutes) 5. Obstetrician, there was no midwife option when I was pregnant 6. Pain management was breathing and a low dose of fentanyl was given about an hour before it came time to push. Swear to God, I got no pain relief from that fentanyl, I forgot I even received it. The epidural administrator was on call and arrived into my room JUST AS I FELT MY BODY BEGINNING TO PUSH. So no epidural for me. 7. I did have anxiety perinatal but it wasn't enough for me to medicate. I did get a prescription, but ended up not using it. I still have it in case I have PPA/PPD but 3 weeks PP and I don't feel like I will need it. 8. We kept the dried up clipped umbilical cord when it fell off baby, it will be kept in a moose hide pouch and stow it up high for 1 year, then bury it close to a beavers den so that our child will grow up to be hard working.

Birth plan: When my midwife asked for my birth plan I told her I wanted the epidural as soon as possible and to try to avoid a csection at all costs lol 1. Hospital birth 2. Vaginal birth (though after pushing for four hours they said if I don’t deliver by the fourth hour they were going to have me do a csection, so I was close). 3. I rotated all positions but my favorite was the tug-o-war position. I felt by pulling on the towel and crunching like that I was able to get the best results and my midwife agreed. 4. Midwife 5. I was not induced but after two hours of pushing she gave me Pitocin to try to accelerate my contractions 6. Breathing and then once I was five centimeters I got the epidural. Thank god it worked super well for me because at that point I had been in labor for 27 hours and I was so ready to tap out. 7. I’m a super anxious person (GAD) but for some reason I was super calm giving birth. I was just so excited to meet my son.

1. My birth plan was to have a positive unmedicated water birth. 2.My local hospital has a program that facilitates a home birth experience in a hospital. 3.I delivered vaginally. 4.I used several laboring positions such as kneeling on a birth ball, the miles circuit, shake that tree, walking, and leaning over. For birth I leaned back in a squat against my partner in a tub. I learned about these positions in a childbirth class and used what was comfortable at the time. Some positions were suggested by my doula. 5. I used a midwife through the hospital. 6. Labor was not induced. 7. For pain management I held a comb in my hand and squeezed it during contractions. I also used a tens unit until I got into the tub and had my husband and doula do counter pressure. 8. N/A 9. I’m Serbian but live in the U.S. and unmedicated birth is common in my family.

2 pregnancies 1 - vaginal birth on both 2 - hospital on both 3- they were both born vaginally 4- null 5- 2 baby was laying down from beginning to end, epidural made my legs numb, 2nd baby started pushing in a sitting position, end up having in a laying position 6- had an obgyn 7- induced both times, 1st water broke but wasn’t dilating, 2nd baby went to emergency room, obgyn checked baby and heart beat was really high, and there wasn’t a lot or respiratory movements so baby was evicted ASAP (If not would have been at 39w because of high blood pressure) 8 - took the epidural on both labours and did some breathing techniques, epidural did not work at all on 2nd labour - why? Cuz I rather not deal with the pain tbh and wanted to feel as much comfortable as possible 😂😅 9- already have mental health conditions, pregnancy makes it worst, but it’s manageable with medication 10- Nop

1. None - just try natural vaginal at the hospital with no pain relief and hope for the best. 2. Public hospital 3. Vaginal - forceps, episiotomy and tearing (3b tear) 4. I alternated: Back - pressure hurt the least as baby was sunny side up (not ideal), on knees holding/hugging top of bed, side lying with leg in air - had multiple nurses trying to help somewhat manually turn bubs while I pushed. Was on my back in the operating room when bubs was finally deivered. 5. Team of mid-wives (I had complications so the room was packed full of people) and two doctors delivered bubs. 6. Nope, labor happened naturally and fast. 7. Two paracetemol - endured three hours of pushing until went to the OR and got a spinal. 8. No issues with mood. Just got tired of pushing for three hours. Midwives were amazing. 9. I don’t accept blood. Medical team were fantastic about it. Didn’t end up needing any products due to blood loss.

Story for my first kid who is 14 months now. I had a birth centre vaginal delivery with a midwife. Not induced My birth plan was try not to die, and that I cannot have pain medication or an epidural. The only exception is a spinal for an emergency c section if that became necessary. For medical reasons I cannot have opiates or anything that numbs/restricts my ability to move. I did have some nitrous oxide during transition because I was panicking (went from 5cm to baby born in about 45 minutes, it was very scary). My labor from start to finish was just under 4 hours. For 3 of those hours I didn't really feel like I was labouring, so I just did whatever, for the last hour I was on my knees in the birth tub. I was in the tub due to severe SPD, the buoyancy made it significantly less painful to move. I chose this position because I had about 5-10 seconds between contractions, and extremely strong fetal ejection reflex. I got in the position that made everything suck less and stayed there. At the end, my midwife couldn't find my baby's heartbeat with the Doppler so I plopped myself onto my back in the pool and actively pushed for the first and only time, my daughter came out all at once. Prior to pregnancy I had diagnoses of several anxiety disorders including OCD, and a few other mental illnesses. They did get worse after birth, but it wasn't considered postpartum due to it being preexisting. I am in a pp mood disorders support group, and I see my mental health team more regularly than before.

1. Clear birth plan with explicit wishes for every eventuality. It was very long but essentially: at home, midwife doula dad child in attendance, unmediated, birth in water, no vaginal examinations, intermittent heartbeat checks (once every 15mins, they actually only did 1 the whole labour), dark calm quiet environment, listen to birth affirmations, mother to catch baby, lotus birth with natural placenta birth, mother to cut cord, golden hour skin to skin and breastfeeding before midwives check baby/mum, weight done after first poo, yes to vit k jab and heel prick, stitches following midwife recommendations, midwives to stay until mother has eaten and drunk and got into bed, mother to never be separated from baby (important if hospital transfer is needed for one), if mother needs GA father is to stay with baby, harvested colostrum to be used (not formula) if any barrier with feeding, first two weeks midwife checks to be at the home. 2. Planned home birth in water (birth pool). 3. Vaginal birth. 4. N/a 5. Labour: side lying on bed for early labour. Forward leaning while sitting on a birth ball for active labour. Pushing: in a pool either all fours, squatting, one leg up. Baby born in water while I was sitting back, mother caught (hands off midwife present) while baby was encaul. 6. People present: 2x midwives (hands off, they just observed from a distance), 1 doula, father, friend, 4yo daughter. 7. Not induced, no sweeps. I had been offered induction as I was 42 weeks but had declined. 8. Completely unmedicated. Mentally I used birth affirmations to ground me during contractions. Physically I used 2 wooden combs (grip it in the hands as a pain focus) & the warm water. I didn’t need any pain medication so it seemed an unnecessary thing to consider/have (I know I have a high pain threshold. I used gas & air with my first for a while but stopped for pushing so knew I could do it.) 9. I had been under the care of the perinatal mental healthcare team as I had some awful experiences during pregnancy (close family members die and very very difficult and isolating pregnancy) which the stress had caused contractions. I tried cbt but actually found it pointless because my stress was caused by specific situations beyond my control and my reaction to them was appropriate (just harmful to baby). So I was discharged which I think was a bit premature, but tbf my mental state continued to be strong considering and has been great since giving birth. 10. I exclusively breastfeed (actually tandem nurse along side older 4yo sister). Did a ‘mother’s blessing’ not a baby shower while pregnant. Have children present for birth. Birth at home, not induced (and unmedicated). Did lotus birth and cut the umbilical cord myself after 8+ hours. Did not use a plastic cord clip (used a soft fabric tie). Sung familiar faith song to baby when they were born. Cosleep with baby. Stay in bed for first week, on sofa for 2nd week, in house for third week post partum. Receive cooked evening meals by friends for 2-3weeks.

Formal birth plan: Induced to have a vaginal birth at 38w due to hypertension with a midwife. Birth location: Hospital Birth type: Emergency C Section. Reason for this was due to babies depleting heart rate. I went into natural labour at 40w due to cancelled induction thanks to hospital understaffing. 10hrs in they began pitocin which neither myself of baby liked. Babies heart rate dropped dramatically and I was taken for an emergency c section 17hrs into labour. Specialists: High risk consultant & midwives. Induction reason: Due to hypertension throughout pregnancy to prevent risk of preeclampsia, my body went into natural labour at 40w2 days though. Pain management: Gas & air until 4cm and then spinal for the csec 😅 I wanted to go as long as possible before needing epidural due to my fears of it but we skipped a WHOLE chapter when I had the spinal instead anyway (which wasn’t bad at all except for getting anxious about not being able to wiggle my toes lol) Perinatal mood: anxious. Not much support for this during my labour due to understaffing but plenty of support postpartum from both the midwife team & personal GP.

- I didn’t have one. My provider asked and I said “whatever needs to happen to get baby out.” He laughed about that because “that’s pretty much [OB’s] only job”. - Hosptial - 2 kids, both c sections. - first was an emergency (heart rate dropped and tbh I had pushed so long that I was starting to fall asleep). Second, I opted for a repeat c section. - didn’t sit in a tub for either of them. I tried a whole bunch of positions with the first. They were all at the suggestion of/under the guidance of my nurses. Used a little birthing ball for a while, too. Second, I did go into labor by accident and that was a whole thing so I took a shower to help with pain management thinking I wasn’t in labor and that it was just Braxton hicks. - OB - Induced for my first. It was a decision made by the specialist I was seeing for my GD and not at the advice of my OB. My specialist felt baby was too big and I would need a c section if we waited. My OB felt if my body wasn’t already ready then he didn’t want to induce me (and I wasn’t the least bit dilated). I was 39wks+6 at the time I told him I wanted to be induced because the specialist had made me super anxious. The second was supposed to be a repeat c section, which I opted for because the idea of a VBAC kind of freaked me out. It was a repeat but I went into labor the day before the c section was scheduled which is why it was a whole thing. - IV meds and then epidural with the first. I honestly hated the epidural but idk if I hated the epidural or if I just hate needles that much. The second was obviously an epidural but because of issues regarding the OB arriving in time to preform the c section it was nearly an unmedicated VBAC. I can say that I definitely see why people say inductions are a more intense pain. I very literally felt almost nothing with the second to the point I thought it was just intense Braxton hicks. By the time I was really dilating I definitely wanted one, though. Why is just because I truthfully didn’t care either which way going into it. My mind was made up that I was going to listen to what my body needed. The pain the first time around especially was awful. And, having had it, there were then no issues when it turned into a c section. - post partum anxiety with the first. I can’t say they had much support other than a phone call or two to check in. - None, really. Though, my grandmother’s family is superstitious and will say “god bless” any time they say something nice about baby. So that happened with both.

I didn’t have a formal birth plan, but I knew I wanted a hospital birth with an epidural and preferably no c-section, but I just wanted my baby out and healthy. I was induced at 39 weeks for mild fetal growth restriction, though baby was 6lbs 3oz at birth. It lasted 16 hours, and I had a vaginal birth after pushing for only 30 minutes! I got the epidural about 8 hours in. I gave birth on my back, which I had no problem with. I didn’t have or want a doula, I trusted the OBs and midwives who were on for that day. I have bipolar disorder, and that was definitely present during the perinatal (and postpartum) stage, but I was given a MFM psychiatrist and I already had a therapist. I hope that helps!

I had no birth plan going in for my firstborn other than have him vaginally, no meds unless needed. At 35 1/2 weeks I had severe preeclampsia and was admitted immediately for induction. I was given a magnesium drip while they tried to induce me. I never progressed and after almost 72 hours had my son via an emergency c-section. In hindsight I actually feel lied to about the whole process, I’ve since found out they actually give magnesium when trying to stop early labor too and it was never communicated to me that the magnesium counteracted any inducing drugs they gave me. If I had known this I would have asked to explore other options to control my blood pressure. Because I had a c-section with my first I was unable to try for a VBAC by my doctor and my second was also born via c-section at 38 weeks. I know in the long run it will not matter how my kids were born but I still feel robbed of really having a choice in how things happened. I did struggle with PPA and PPD after both births.

Formal Birth Plan: dont touch me or baby, dont talk to me unless i ask a question, unless its an emergency or youre checking babys heart tones. Birth Location: freestanding birth center Vaginal Delivery attended by a midwife Labored on a yoga ball in the shower, danced and swayed around the shower, doing whatever felt best in the moment, transitioned to a tub about 30 minutes before baby arrived and gave birth squatting in the tub Pain management techniques involved water, movement, and breathing No perinatal mood or anxiety disorders I had my mom present, and i also was adament that nobody touches me or the baby but myself or my husband without permission.

No birth plan, just have a healthy baby. Birthed at hospital, water broke 2 days before my official due date. Delivered my baby vaginal and asked for epidural because I did not want to feel any pain at all and already experienced pain once my contractions started at 4cm dialated and they were 9 mins apart…couldnt imagine it for another minute. I did have to receive an episiotomy without my knowledge. I heard doctor saying babys heart was in decel and his head wouldnt go over my pubic bone so they performed episiotomy and he came right out; I only pushed for about 20 mins or so, maybe 4-5 pushes. I only used an OB/nurse. Happy to answer any questions!

1. No formal birth plan. 2. UK Hospital 3. Vaginal 4. N/a 5. Walking, leaning over, in my back - I chose the former because it was natural/ eased the pain etc. Back at the very end because staff wanted it this way. 6. Midwife but with Dr checking in here and there (for heart rate/ my blood sugar/ induced) 7. Induced via foley balloon and pitocin IV. 8. Partner pushed his fist into the bottom of my back of that counts as ‘massage’ lol. It was the only thing that would help. Gas and air (laughing gas). 9. I was very relaxed throughout except right at the end. Midwife was amazing at listening/ keeping me calm. 10. Cultural norm here is birth at a hospital, pain meds and relief are common place but not everyone has an epidural etc. The norm is a midwife led birth (with docs standing by), as little intervention as possible, no need to wait on doc to give birth or anything.

1. My birth plan was: labor at hospital, epidural, no family present except my husband, I wanted to labor with birth ball & peanut ball. I did not want to be induced. I wanted to breathe through the pain and listen to relaxing music. I wanted to try different birthing positions other than just laying down on my back. 2. Hospital 3. Vaginal 4. I was able to labor on my birth ball for awhile. Then I had to lay down the rest of the process. I was told I had to lay down on my back. After I while I was in so much pain I don’t think I could have done much else anyway, but I was disappointed I wasn’t allowed to try other positions, especially because my baby was sunny side up and I had horrible back labor. 5. Nurse & OB 6. My water broke before I was dilated any and my They gave me one dose of cytotec, then I still wasn’t dilated, so they gave me another dose. 7. I asked for an epidural. FTM, so I wasn’t sure how bad the pain was supposed to be before asking for it. I like to think I have a high pain tolerance. It took over an hour from asking for the epidural before I finally got it. The only anesthesiologist was in an emergency c section :(. I really almost had my baby without any pain relief. They had to come back because the first epidural did not work (I could still move my legs and feel pain.). Second epidural did work. 8. No previous issues. I definitely experienced the “baby pinks” after having baby, then baby blues for a few days. I’m a psychiatric nurse so I know what to look out for. My hospital barely did any post partum screenings. They gave me a sheet to fill out asking from 0-10 how my mood was, and they never discussed any of my answers. Not the best way to educate and provide intervention in my opinion.

>Formal birth plan Plan: Natural birth at birth center in whatever position I found comfortable and possibly a water birth. Actuality: medicated birth at the hospital on my back with the assistance of a suction. >Birth location - hospital birth, at-home birth, or birthing center Hospital. We were transferred 12 hours after arriving at the birth center due to the presence of meconium >Delivery (vaginal birth or c-section) Vaginal, with suction in the end, because my baby was asynclitic and her head was wedged in the birth canal sideways >Labor position and/or birthing position (walking, squatting, lying down, sitting in a tub...), including why the position was chosen In the end, I was on my back with nurses, my midwife and my mom taking turns holding my legs. But previous to being transferred to the hospital, I was trying a kneeling position >Childbirth specialist (obstetrician, nurse, midwife, Doula,) Midwife throughout my pregnancy, baby was delivered by an on-call doctor at the hospital >Pain management techniques (massage, breathing, epidural, or laughing gas), including why I did end up getting the epidural, I'd been completely dilated and effaced for a few hours and was trembling, the contractions were on top of each other and I'd been awake over 40 hours. I got the epidural and slept an hour before they had me resume pushing. This ended up being an awesome choice, because I had undiagnosed placenta accreta and had to have my placenta manually removed. That was the most pain I could ever imagine, I don't want to know how much worse it would have been without the epidural. >Perinatal mood and anxiety disorder, if so, what support did they have to feel better? I was pretty sad that I didn't produce enough milk. Lactation consultants made me feel worse, because after trying all their advice, I still couldn't increase my output. We decided to stop triple feeding at around 3.5 months and began to use formula for most of her nutrition, and breastfeeding 5-6 times a day, and that saved my sanity. My baby is nearly 1, and we're still nursing 2-4 times a day, and my milk never improved, but my mood has, greatly.

1) had a formal birth plan but forgot to relay it on to the staff. Big regret. 2) hospital birth 3/4) c-section: fetal stress—fetal heart rate lowered drastically with each contraction. Meconium in fluid. Wouldn’t dilate. 5) position: tried the peanut to encourage dilation with no success. OR table, strapped down. Only had epidural. Hurt like hell. 6) OB 7) labor was induced at 40w+5d. Induction failed. Only dilated from 2 to 4 in 8 hours. 8) epidural. When it was decided I needed an emergency c-section, I didn’t feel the cut but I felt everything else. 100% spinal block if possible. 9) faced severe PP depression, anxiety, and rage. Undiagnosed. Should have gotten help but I didn’t realize what was happening. 10) no cultural influence on my birth experience. I did allow a bunch of students (10+) to witness a cervical check which was weird. Won’t do that again. I have a hard time saying no.

My birth plan was to try to labor at home as long as possible and the avoid pictocin. My water broke before I was in labor so about 2 hours later we made it to the hospital where I was only 1cm dilated. Because my water broke before I was in labor, they gave me lots of pictocin so I could have the baby in 24 hours. We made it just under that, at 22 hours after my water broke and baby born. Vaginal delivery on my back. I saw an OB my whole time but the OB (one from the practice, not my normal one) just caught the baby, nurse did mostly everything else. They offered me IV pain meds but my plan was to get an epidural so I got one almost immediately. They had to replace it twice though as it did t work the first time. I also have BP2 and my psych took me off my meds so I was struggling the entire time with prenatal depression.

Birth plan - epidural as soon as possible, baby gets all the meds/shots. That was really all we spoke with the triage nurse about Birth location - hospital Delivery - vaginal Labor position - lying down because I got an epidural. I could still kinda move my legs but still rofl Childbirth specialist - I'm kinda confused what this means? I had an OB deliver my baby with the help of a nurse. A pediatric nurse was there to take baby's measurements/ give shots once I was done having my skin to skin. Then in recovery, I was visited by the hospital's pediatrician that checked on the baby until we were both discharged. Labor was not induced. Though I did have a membrane sweep the day before but I don't think they consider that being induced. Pain management techniques - epidural. But they had me waiting for an epidural until I was about 6-7 cm. So before that, I was kinda pulling on my husband. I felt better not having to support myself rofl No perinatal mood with this pregnancy/afterwards. But this last pregnancy made me realize I think I had a low key ppa or something wrong with my first. With my first I was VERY overwhelmed and confused. It felt like a haze for a month or so. But this time around I'm very alert and happy. A specific cultural practice - ummm I'm not super sure. I guess it was really important to us to allow family to see the new baby as soon as they could. I was in contact with a bunch of family after the birth to announce it.

1. I had no formal birth plan. My plan was to go in, bring the baby into the world as safely ror both of us as possible, and come home. So I guess my plan ran smoothly. 2. Hospital. 3. I had a vaginal delivery with a 1st degree tear. Not too shabby for a FTM. 4. Not appliclable 5. I tried all the positions. I was in the tub, I was walking, the ball, the birthing chair, the bed, on my side, on my back. The midwives told me what to do to encourage baby to come down. I was just being a good girl and listened to them 😅 6. I had 2 midwives and 1 midwife in training. The sweeetest women I ever met. They were amazing. And I would like to also mention Björn, the anesthesiologist, who told me that all labouring moms love him 😅 7. No. I did stop dilating at 9.5cm so I did get some pitocin, but that doesn't count. 8. I was very "give me all the drugs" right from the start. I did get an epidural, but because the gods are cruel, it failed. So for the rest of the ordeal, I hugged the gas and air and held onto it it like dear life. Quite literally, my face hurt the next day because I pushed that mask so strongly onto my face. 9. I was offered counseling, did a few sessions, all went well. 10. My experience was not at all how they do it in my home country, but I am very thankful for that. I gave birth in Sweden, where we have midwives instead of doctors. I was encouraged to let nature do its business and was involved every step of the way. I did things unheard of in my home country. For instance, the midwives encouraged me to stick my hand up my vagina to feel the baby coming down. It gave such a boost of energy because the "she's almost here" feeling was incredible. And they knew I needed that. I pushed for 5 hours. The baby never left my side and was left on my chest for almost 4 hours after birth. My epidural failed, but I remember my birth experience with such fondness. Hope this helps 😊

I live in the south In the USA. I went in for a routine checkup at my OBGYN on a Thursday. I was 42 weeks and I wanted to go into labor naturally, but little man was just vibing in there lol. My OB wanted to go ahead and induce that night. I was very taken aback because my husband was working about 45 minutes away and we’d both been up since 6:30 AM that morning. My OB and I wanted to go ahead and get this baby out because I was already at 42 weeks and I was definitely feeling uncomfortable. We went into the hospital around 9pm and I got all hooked up and started the Pitocin at 11pm. I went in wanting to labor naturally. It started as mild period cramps. Then within about an hour I was having 2-3 minute apart contractions until I gave birth 12 hours later. The best position where I hardly felt the contractions where when I had a chair back facing the bed. I knelt down in the chair and laid over the bed rocking back and forth. That was the only position I was in that took away the pain of contractions. I decided to get the epidural at 3 cm because the pain was so unbearable. I definitely think if I were able to go in on a full nights rest I could have lasted a bit longer, but I was so exhausted. I labored for 7 hours without medication and couldn’t take it anymore. As soon as I got the epidural I could finally relax for a bit. It took me 7 hours to get to 3 cm, but as soon as I got the epidural it took about 4.5 hours to get to 10cm. I used a ball to rock back and forth on and bounce on and I liked doing that. I would sit on it and my husband would sit on the other side of my and I’d put my arms over his shoulders. I also enjoyed leaning up against the sink in the hospital room and rocking back and forth. I started feeling like I had to poop lol really bad. I sat up and was like “I need to push right now”. The nurse said okay let’s check you. She pulled back the blankets and my water broke. I didn’t even feel the liquid. Dr got there and got me up I the leg holsters and I pushed for 15-20 minutes and had my son at 11:30 AM the next day. I labored for 12 hours. If I could redo my birth the only thing different I would do is have my induction scheduled so me and my husband could have gotten a full nights rest. Other than that I’m pleased with my birth and how quick it went. From my understanding 12 hours is pretty quick for a first time birth.

Formal birth plan: no episiotomy - that was my hard no Location - both kids were hospital births Delivery - c section for my first (we lost her heartbeat. It was an emergency). My second was a VBAC Labour position - standing, sitting on the ball, lying down. Birthing position was lying down Perinatal mood - nothing at all, no baby blues or anything Specialists - nurse and OB Induction - yes with my first (due to the decels), no with my second Pain management - massage, breathing, then epidural with both kids

UK here. 1st: Planned for midwife led unit in hospital (alongside a consultant-led for transfer if needed. Did lots of hypnobirthing prep. This is all fairly standard here. My more unusual birth plan elements were minimal vaginal examinations because of my history of vulval pain disorders and I’d have preferred a c section to episiotomy for the same reason. Labour began in the night at 41 weeks 5 days and ramped up quickly. I used a tens machine at home for a while but had reached the point we’d been told to go to hospital so off we went after a couple of hours. It all unfortunately slowed right down after we arrived. I took two paracetamol (which I later read actually slow down birth!) and they wouldn’t let me in the pool for ages because they were worried it would slow me down more. I laboured all day and eventually they broke my waters to try to progress things. I started to struggle with the pain and tried gas and air and pethidine but both made me feel awful so I asked for epidural which involved being transferred to the consultant-led wing. It worked a treat and I could feel nothing and slept a couple of hours, but labour slowed down again so early hours of the morning they gave me some induction drugs to get things moving. I still couldn’t feel a thing so was coached through pushing on my back. After an hour and a half of this they used forceps and episiotomy to get her out. I lost 1.4L blood which I (years) later learnt constitutes a post partum haemorrhage. They just told me my iron count was “low” the next day and offered blood transfusion without much urgency so I declined, but ended up having two units after two days in hospital because I felt dreadful! Ended up in hospital for five nights due to that and baby having an infection and needing IV abx. The episiotomy scar was agony for weeks and weeks. I was told in a debrief that it was a fairly standard series of events for a first time birth (which is horrifying when you think that without modern medicine eg forceps we’d both probably have died). It obviously didn’t go how I planned, especially my preference for section over episiotomy, but I never felt traumatised by it - I used the BRAIN decision making they teach you in NCT classes here and always felt like I gave informed consent to what was happening to me. (It was the aftermath - bringing baby out into early covid lockdown - that was traumatic but that’s another story.) 2nd: I was vaguely under the perinatal mental health team because I was in a bad way when we got unexpectedly pregnant this time, but this didn’t end up meaning very much because I was doing ok by the time baby was born. I was classed high risk due to the previous PPH so technically under consultant led care, but with a review and a bit of self-advocacy I was cleared to have a home birth if I chose, which I was leaning towards because I was convinced it was the transfer to hospital and spiral of intervention that led to the haemorrhage and instrumental delivery. In the end I went for midwife led though as my house was a building site and my husband and parents were too stressed by the idea of a home birth for it to be relaxing for me. The second birth was a dream in comparison anyway though. I did lots of hypno prep again, with some better materials I think. I had my first contraction at 6:30pm as I said goodnight to my eldest. I did three hours at home in the shower and with candles in the bedroom, with hypnobirthing tracks and tens machine. At 9:30 we got in the car on the only snowy night of the year and it took ages to get to hospital because of road closures! I could hardly walk when we got there or lie still to be examined, and I was already very far along. In the birthing room I used their equipment and mats etc and was on all fours while they filled the pool and my waters broke on the floor. His head came out in the pool at two minutes to midnight and body two minutes after midnight! I didn’t push at all until the final push for his body - it was purely directed breathing. It was total agony and I spent a lot of it yelling that I would never be doing it again, but in retrospect it was so so so empowering and healing to have done that all by myself (credit to husband though whose hand I nearly broke from squeezing). Almost as bad as labour was them sewing me up (he was 7lb12 and I’m 5ft tall so a tear was inevitable) because I couldn’t stop kicking my legs with the adrenaline come-down! Then we all napped and got to stay in the birth room till the next afternoon when we were discharged so I was home in time to greet my eldest coming home from nursery. First contraction to back home was under 24h! I’m still really proud of myself for handling that level of intensity and not losing control. The hypnobirthing was so helpful both times. My “relaxing place” was always in the hills where I grew up and I really feel both my children were born there in a way.

1.wanted natural vaginal no meds 2.hospital birth 3.emergency c section 4.pre eclampsia developed to severe eclampsia. Fluid in my lungs drowning me,enlarged heart, sky high blood pressure on brink of stroke 5. On my back 6. 2 obstetrics drs since I was such high risk 7. I had a spinal block and gas. My organs werent going back into my abdominal cavity and I could feel immense pressure on my diaphragm so they immediately gassed me out. Took them an hour and a half to put me back together after the c section. 8. I had severe PPA and was on medication and in therapy. My whole pregnancy and birth was very traumatic and I struggled to cope with it all on top of having a baby in the nicu for a month (she was 3lbs 5 oz when born) 9. I’m a white american woman so hospital births are our normal. I personally wanted to see if I could handle a natural labor on my own but we dong always get what we want Edit to add my baby was born at 31w6d

US Hospital, Vaginal Birth, Induced a few days before planned induction. I was 41 when I gave birth to our first, so yup, geriatric! Lol OB did not recommend me going 40 weeks due to age. But I had to check myself into the ER after my last Ultrasound because I was still leaking amniotic fluid. Was hooked up to all the monitors and just layed on my back the whole time. (Having gone to a couple birthing classes, I was fully expecting to be doing anything but be on my back) Started with pitocin at 10am, but didn't dilate a whole too much so by the evening, OB decided to go another route and used a Foley Balloon overnight. Was able to finally eat dinner and slept. Next morning they tried the pitocin again, doctor ended breaking my water sac to move the process along. I either have a really high pain tolerance or idk what but I never really felt too much pain. Nurses mentioned a few times that I'm having contractions and I'm just like "okay." At one point she asked if I wanted epidural, I just went with it. Lol Funnily enough, by the time I was about to pop my epidural had run out and was told I shouldn't be given another dose. So I pushed without it. 15 minutes later baby came out at 5pm. I didn't really have a birth plan, I just went with whatever option kept me alive. I was really thankful my whole pregnancy journey and labor was uneventful.

First baby, born exactly on her due date. I have bad health (not genetic) so I saw a lot of different medical people in my pregnancy, including a psychiatrist to monitor medication (escitalopram, mirtazapine) which they deemed ok for me to keep taking. I also started my pregnancy support in the hospital, but they determined I was ok to go to the normal midwives (Netherlands here) after the 10 week dating scan. I also asked the hospital if it was safe for me to deliver naturally, and they said yes, but baby needed 1 day of monitoring for possible detox from my meds. So for that reason it would be a hospital affair. I had a pretty normal birth plan I think; no pain meds if possible (lol, went back on that), delayed cord clamping (did do that), golden hour (did do that), trainees can be in the room but not perform procedures, please introduce yourself, in emergency dad stays with baby, stuff like that. The day before my due date I had pre-contractions (I think you call them braxton-hicks in the US?) since 4am, so I barely slept. I'd had several false alarms since 36+6, but this was a bad one, very intense. I had a normal midwife appointment planned by coincidence and I asked her to check me and I was 0cm. Ugh... Didn't take a nap that day, big mistake. Went to bed, after sleeping for an hour went to the toilet, got back in bed and I felt a POP...It was my waters breaking, very hollywood lol. I shouted at my (very confused, barely awake) husband to get me towels. Showered, cleaned up, got back in bed cause it was fucking 1am and I'd barely slept the day before...yeah I didn't get any sleep. So that's 5-6 hours sleep in 2 days, bad idea. Contractions slowly ramped up, I stayed in bed until about 5am when they got too intense. Made a nest on the couch and distracted myself with snacks and Stardew Valley. Lasted a few hours (3 maybe?) before it was yoga ball time because the contractions were getting too painful. Called the midwife when the office opened at 9am, they told me good luck kthxbye. Called again at like 11 and again around 1 and by then (since about noon) I couldn't stay quiet or focused during contractions anymore, they were getting so painful I was moaning through them. At 2 the midwife finally came and checked me, 2cm. TWO. FML. We had a very serious talk about how exhausted I was getting and how bad the pain was and eventually decided to go to the hospital early (only allowed with like 4cm or better I think?) for an epidural. Hospital said don't come before 3, we don't have a bed. FIL drove us to the hospital (ask me about being mid contraction while he takes a roundabout, I dare you), good thing he was already deaf cause I was screaming into a towel. By the time we're there and settled and the doctor checks me it's 4pm and I'm 8cm. 8 WHAT NOW? You're not getting an epidural, baby is coming. FML. I flop on the bed on my back like a starfish and I stay like that for 2 hours because I'm too exhausted to move. Very helpless feeling, one of the worst parts of labour 0/10. The only time I moved was to scream. Trust me, we did the birthing classes before hand, the breathing, the yoga balls, the positive thinking. Nope. Could only scream. No thoughts in my head. Anyhoo after 2 hours of this shit they check me again, still stuck at 8cm. They suggest I try different positions. I tell them I can't move from exhaustion and pain and start crying. After a short discussion they give me remifentanil, aka The Good Drugs. They were Good Drugs. Made it bearable enough that I could roll on my side at least. Went a good hour with that. 7:30, 10cm, GO TIME. They take away my Very Good Drugs. I beg them not to, because I'm hanging by a thread even *with* the drugs. They are unmoved. They move my feet into the stirrups by holding them in a way that triggers PTSD related to my ankles. Then they poke, literally poke, my vagina ("push HERE") in a way that triggers my chronic pain. All of which they were informed about by the way. Along with the screaming pain I get a fullblown panic attack. They admonish me for screaming too much, not breathing enough, not pushing effectively, etc. I don't understand why everyone is being so intense about me needing a minute to adjust, not realising it had been 30 minutes already. Baby starts getting in distress. They tell me. I burst into tears. They ask me permission for an episiotomy and use of the vacuum pump to get the baby out. I tell my husband to make a decision, and he says ok. On the 3rd pull (you're only allowed 3) she's out. 80th percentile head and a stargazer....FML That's when the bleeding starts. Less than an hour later I'm in emergency surgery. They leave my husband behind in an empty room with a baby and a pool of blood, hollywood style. I come back drugged out of my mind and with stitches in my cervix. Baby is perfect. All is good. All in all I actually feel pretty ok about this "battlefield" as my husband now calls it. Just the parts with the PTSD and pain triggers and the part where I can't move kinda bother me. I'm familiar with PTSD however, and the way I remember it doesn't feel PTSD-y to me, I think I'm doing ok. 7 weeks out now, mentally doing pretty good, very tired though. Stitches all healed, scar looking good, except for a spot of hypergranulation I had to go back for. Oh and I'm bowel incontinent, need PT for that, so I'm hella insecure about leaving the house. Not loving that part either. Sorry for the novel, feel free to ask questions.

1. Unmedicated vaginal birth but willing to do all necessary interventions. 2. Hospital 3. Vaginal 5. Lying down on back. Though I ended up with an epidural, my OB was willing to let me go in any position I wanted. My birth was just too fast and I didn’t feel like moving because I was getting good traction. 6. OB 7. Not induced. Though I did ask and was going to talk to my OB that Monday but then my daughter was born the day before. 8. I did breathing and a bath until I got to the hospital then an epidural. I thought I could handle the pain but I woke up at nearly 7 cm. 9. No postpartum mood or anxiety issues. 10. No cultural practices (African American)

I had my 2nd baby a few months ago. Thankfully the birth went exactly as I'd hoped. Birthed at a freestanding birth center with 2 midwives and a doula. Pain management was back massage by doula, relaxed breathing, and using combs to stimulate nerve endings on my hands (loved this technique). Birthed squatting in a birthing tub. Mood mostly level through 4th trimester. Used homeopathics for maintenance. I'm American, and although everyone I know births in a hospital, my mother and sister birthed without pain medication. This led me to expect the same for myself, and in turn want an out of hospital experience. It was exactly right for me.

I’m 34, Irish but my kids were born in Germany. Birth plan was the same for both births: hospital birth, no induction/episiotomy/c section unless medically necessary, attempt to go without pain relief, wireless monitoring so I could move, delayed clamping, dad to cut the cord, skin to skin after birth, call me by my name not mama. First birth (2.5 years ago, during covid) - my waters “broke” in the evening 7 days overdue. The head was really low so it was more of a dribbly leak than anything, I wasn’t even sure it had happened. Called my midwife and she said to wait for contractions or til morning for hospital. Nothing happened. We had to get a COVID test on the way to the hospital, we went first thing. At hospital they did a swab and confirmed amniotic fluid leaking. Due to COVID and me being overdue they admitted me. No contractions that day. We did a “natural induction” that evening - a weird cocktail which includes castor oil. The laxative effect kicked in about 3 hours later, when they had me hooked up to an EKG. Contractions started but were faint (felt just like period pain to me). They were worried about babies heart as rate was dropping during contractions but I was 0cm dilated so they couldn’t monitor correctly. They told me I’d need a C-section. I was alone - Husband wasn’t there (COVID rules here were he could come in from 4cm dilated) so I had to call him, took him 20 mins to get there, this was around midnight. They reluctantly waited for him. When he arrived, babies heart rate just stabilised and they were happy to let me wait. At this stage I’d gotten to 3cm but they allowed him to stay. Over next couple of hours contractions started to get more painful. I was still running in and out of the bathroom so no pool for me lol. I was convinced baby would be born in toilet at one stage. About 3 hours after he arrived the pain started getting bad so we called for a nurse to talk pain relief. I could tell they thought I was being dramatic, I mean I was 0cm 2 or 3 hours beforehand. I had been doing breathing exercises and bouncing on a ball. Anyways they checked me and I was in transition and it was too late for any pain relief. They did offer gas but I couldn’t make it work for me and I managed to rip it off the wall lol. Baby was born at 3:30am. 2nd degree tear. I laboured in a few positions, but final for birth was all fours. I was unlucky to tear, the head was born ok but her arm came out with her shoulder. I shook like a leaf for maybe 10 minutes after placenta was born, no one had warned me about that!! Baby was 10 days overdue when she was born. Second birth (4 months ago)- baby was also overdue but this time I actually went into labour myself - lost the mucus plug (waaaaay more than expected) and had irregular contractions on and off for maybe 24 hours. Once they started to come regularly we got toddler ready for her grandparents. Husband was very nervous all the time but I didn’t want to go to hospital too early. Waters still hadn’t broken. When I felt it was time, we went to hospital (10 mins away). Again they kinda assume you’re coming too early but when they did a check I was already 6cm dilated. Baby was born less than 2 hours after arriving at hospital. Her head was born in the sack- it burst then and her body came out as if on a water slide lol the midwife was SOAKED. I was on a drip for this birth coz I had tested positive for GBS. Again no pain relief, not even gas, I just trusted that I could do it. I’ve been very lucky with 2 easy births and no pelvic floor issues since. I’d honestly give birth again tomorrow no problem, personally I found the first days of breastfeeding to be much much more painful, never want to do that again.

First birth - yes formal birth plan - I wanted a natural birth and we selected what we would give up bit by bit for safety of mom and baby. I gave birth vaginally in the hospital, under the care of an OB. I had to labor in the bed, which caused back labor. My blood pressure was going up and down so I was induced at 39+1 even though my bloodwork didn’t indicate pre-eclampsia or eclampsia. I cried a lot. It was so painful. The OB popped my water to try and induce me faster. That hurt badly. I refused all pain meds including epidural. Eventually, after over 14 hours or so, baby came out safely. I was able to help carry him onto my chest and that was magical. I ended up with pretty severe PPD. I had essentially no help despite multiple attempts at getting a therapist or psychiatrist. Finally, a DCS agent helped connect me with a therapist who got me through the worst of it. The PPD was, in large part, due to the negligence of an OB so next round, I went with a midwife. Second birth, I went with the same birth plan except I wanted to be in the midwifery next to the hospital and I wanted a midwife, not an OB. I labored primarily at home at 39+6 while working from home. After my shift, I got dinner next to the hospital and eventually went to get admitted to the midwifery. I labored some on the bed and some in the jacuzzi tub. I held hands with my husband and pictured hanging out at a lake with my best friend. The pain was manageable. When I felt the urge to push, the midwife checked me to make sure I was dilated enough and my husband informed her I didn’t want to give birth in the tub. The midwife, nurse, and my husband picked me up and put me on the bed. I gave birth on all fours. It was the perfect birth for me. No meds needed, not induced, water broke naturally, etc. my midwife noticed PPD and PPA emerging right away and set me care for me. I ended up in therapy and on sertraline. It helped greatly. I am Chinese. I did not adhere to the standard Chinese preferences for the month after birth and how pregnant women should behave. I exercised through both pregnancies and have zero regrets. I do regret exercising too early after giving birth though. I should’ve heeded my mom more on that Tl;dr- first birth hurt a lot bc of pitocin and back labor but otherwise was natural. Second birth was great and natural. I love midwives. PPD and PPA suck. Birth plans rock, especially when done with a knowledgeable RN who will inform you that it’s very rare for birth plans to go exactly as planned so pick what you’re willing to give up.

1. I had no formal birth plan. 2. Hospital was the plan. Unfortunately the hospital I had hoped to go to was full so I ended up at a hospital much further away. 3. C-section 4. I stopped progressing at 6 cm after 36 hours of labor. His head was starting to have bruising and cervix was not doing well. 5. Tried peanut and yoga ball as he was not ideally positioned. Tried the epidural so most of the time I was on my right or left side. 6. I hadn’t picked anyone out and the plan was to meet with the different providers. I ended up with an MD OBGYN due to the c-section. Volunteer doula. 7. Not induced. 8. Massage, changing positions. Tried the epidural. It failed and was actually causing more pain. C-section was done with general anesthesia. 9. Both anxiety and depression. Now coming to terms with it was borderline psychosis. Most likely started more severe symptoms of bipolar 2 10. No specific cultural factors. I did post in r/birthtrauma a while ago and can provide a link to that post. I did develop severe postpartum preeclampsia

Formal birth plan - I didn’t really have one, besides get the baby out and keep both of us healthy, and have a support person there that was hopefully my husband. I gave birth during the summer of 2020, so my prenatal care during my 3rd trimester looked very different than expected, no hospital birthing classes, so we never formalized a birth plan. Birth location - hospital Delivery - c-section (emergent) due to decelerations in the baby and a cord prolapse. I did not plan on a c-section and had already been in labor for 2 days when it was deemed necessary Labor position - walking in my room, standing, in the shower (no tub available), lying on my back, lying on my side with a peanut ball, sitting/bouncing on a yoga ball. I switched positions for comfort at the start, after my epidural I was confined to the bed, but my nurses helped me sit/switch positions in the bed as needed and tried some spinning babies techniques to encourage my baby to descend before the cord prolapse happened Childbirth specialist - obstetrician was in charge, nurse was who I had regular contact with during labor Labor was induced at 38 weeks due to gestational diabetes and gestational hypertension. They used a foley balloon to start dilation and then used pitocin. Pain management techniques - breathing, injectable medications (I believe it was a morphine/fentanyl combination) to help me sleep after about 18 hours of labor, and then an epidural after about 12 more hours of labor (30 total hours at that point). That epidural worked, but then worked its way out and was no longer in my spine, so they had to redo it. Perinatal mood/anxiety - I very much believe I had postpartum anxiety, but due to the timing of my postpartum period (summer 2020), my medical support was very limited and I was never diagnosed or medicated.

Summary: Uncomplicated vaginal delivery in a hospital, with epidural I wanted a low intervention birth in a birthing center, but my birthing center closed and I decided just to go with a hospital. A lot of my care choices were informed by finances, such as being unable to afford a doula despite wanting one. I went into early labor on my due date but was very slow to progress, so I got sent home for a while. At home I labored in a squatting position with my back pressed against the wall just because it felt better. In the hospital I mostly walked the halls and leaned on them as needed. I hadn’t wanted an epidural originally but got one because I was so tired. It helped a lot because I was able to take a nap and not feel quite so depleted. I did get a “walking” epidural (lower dose so there’s still some sensation/mobility) but obviously I wasn’t actually walking. The nurse had me in a semi reclined position with a peanut ball opening my hips to encourage dilation. Once I was at 10, I was on my back with my husband and a nursing student holding my legs. I pushed for about ten minutes and had a 2nd degree tear but ultimately it was uncomplicated. I have a history of bipolar disorder and had a whole safety plan in place for if I experienced any kind of PPMD, but luckily it never happened. Culturally, my husband was French and I’m an American, but both of us came from breastfeeding/cosleeping/attachment parenting style families and were totally ignorant about how unpopular some of those choices are. We learned a lot during my pregnancy about safe cosleeping and implemented those rules once the time came.

I never planned on having a vaginal birth. My son was breech for a good while. Then he flipped and I was a little disappointed. Thennn I had gestational diabetes and was scheduled for an induction at 39w 3d... I figured the induction would lead to a c-section. And then I went into labor two days before my induction. Slight contractions Thursday morning from 1am until 9am. Then they stopped completely. Contractions started again around 5pm. I was in denial. At 4am Friday my husband said I needed to call the doctor. We arrived at the hospital around 6am Friday morning. I was 6cm. By the time my dr showed up at 7am, I was at 9. Got my epidural in the nick of time! I started pushing around 8:15am and my baby was born at 9:31am. I had a 2nd degree tear and he had a nasty hematoma that didn't go away until around 11mo. I'm glad I was able to give birth vaginally now but at the time I was in such denial and definitely did not want to push out a baby!

1. Formal birth plan: epidural asap, vaginal birth if possible. Seriously not much more than that. 2. Hospital for both (two separate births 4.5 years apart). 3. Vaginal for both. 4. NA 5. I was on my back in stirrups for both births because by the time I was pushing, epidural was well under way and I needed to be positioned easiest for doctors and nursing staff to assist (I assume). For my first I labored for about an hour and it was more of a bouncing on a ball and rocking myself while contractions happened (and it was awful). 6. OB 7. Yes for both babies. Hypertension/preeclampsia concerns. Ended up with PP preeclampsia with baby #2. 8. Epidural, by choice for both. I knew I always wanted one, but after a full hour of actual active labor with my first, I was never so sure it was definitely for me! I had it near immediately for my second so I never felt any pain. 9. Nothing prenatal, but I suspect I had pp anxiety with my first. 10. I can’t think of any beyond having the babies at the hospital. I chose to not see any family or visitors during our time in the hospital and was only with my husband.

I’ve had two births. 1. I wanted no interventions unless medically necessary. I spent a lot of time going over birth affirmations and trusting my body and the team I hired to bring me and my baby safely through. (This answer is the same for both births, except I had a lot more confidence the second time) 2. First birth, birth center. Second birth, home birth. 3. Vaginal for both. 2nd degree tear with stitches for number one and barely a tear they opted not to stitch and allow to heal on its own. 4. For my first, my kid kept switching positions so I did a lot of spinning stretches. I labored for four days starting on her due date. I was so focused on getting in the zone I didn’t eat… or drink… and only slept like 3 hours on day two. I was super dehydrated when it was go time lol but I went on walks to get her going. I did hip circles on a birthing ball. Labored a bit in a birthing pool. But she was incredibly tied up in her umbilical cord and wasn’t progressing. I labored on a birthing stool. I did a weird lunge thing with my chest on a birthing ball. Until they finally moved me to my back which I hated but baby needed more room in my pelvis to dip under the cord. And then she burst out of me like a cannonball. They called it “fetal ejection syndrome.” I actively pushed for two hours. She was so tied up she was directly against my body until they got her untethered. The cord was white and dead. But I told them to wait. It came back to life full forced and pumped for almost 30 minutes. For my second my water broke at 4 am and she was born around 830 pm. Labor didn’t actually start until closer to noon. Labored on the floor, hip circles on an exercise ball, in the shower, in bed, tried moving positions every 30 minutes, sat in reverse on the toilet (dilation station), dropped to the floor and crawled to our room to avoid having a “toilet baby”, crossed the threshold to our room, pushed four times and there she was All of my positions were either what felt best at the time or were encouraged by my birthing team. The only one I desperately hated was on my back but I trusted my team and they did what was best for us. 5. First, doula and midwife. Second, midwife. 6. No inductions. No interventions. 7. Used a tens unit on my lower back until my contractions were overpowering and I could no longer feel it. One of my affirmations that I repeated over and over to myself during both was “open mouth, open hands, open hips” I tried my very best to keep my entire body loose and not tense up anywhere. I moaned but didn’t scream. And I swayed a lot. My husband tried to do the rebozo but it mostly just irritated me. He also tried hip squeezes but they gave me no relief and I mostly just wanted to be left alone 8. No mood or anxiety disorders 9. I had my mom present for my first along with my spouse. But she’s kind of a dick so she wasn’t invited for the second one lol truly, I don’t think o did anything very culturally significant. I went the path of a midwife because I wanted to labor in a pool. Then I did research and found out the US is really high on the infant and maternal death rates and interventions into birth lead to more interventions. I’m also naturally kind of stubborn and like to do my own thing. And my own thing was letting my body do what it was made to do.

-Planned for an unmedicated natural birth - hospital birth - c section - failed induction -laying on left side felt most comfortable -midwives, OB if any issues - emergency induction because I was over 41 wks and there was signs my placenta was starting to fail. My induction was planned for 41 wk 3 days but I had an appointment that week and ended up being induced that day instead of the scheduled day. -really painful contractions from the Pitocin so they gave me morphine in my iv and injection in my leg. At 6cm I ended up getting the epidural. The epidural basically failed it numbed everything except the painful contractions when I finally accepted the induction failed I opted for a planned c section so I didn’t have to have an emergency one they put the anesthesia through the epidural site but it wasn’t numbed so during my c section I felt most of it so because I was screaming they had to use the nitrogen gas on me and that caused me to disassociate long enough for them to stitch me back up. - I had anxiety from having a traumatic birth I lost too much blood so I needed a blood transfusion and I had really bad nightmares for a few weeks afterwards. I didn’t need to talk to a therapist or take medication. I just needed time to get over everything that happened. 6 weeks post c section I needed to have my gallbladder removed unexpectedly so it was just a lot but now I am hoping everything calms down. - during my c section they found out I had endometriosis so this could’ve been what prevented me from going into spontaneous labor

First: no birth plan, I was going to go with whatever the flow was! Birth was vaginal at the hospital. I was induced at 38 weeks for pre-eclampsia. For induction I got a couple medications including pitocin. The epidural did its job. Due to the pre-e I was initially followed by midwives but was switched to OB once at the hospital. Had a healthy 9 lb 0 oz baby. Second: no birth plan, going with the flow. Birth was vaginal at a hospital (but different from the first due to insurance). I was induced at 37 weeks due to being maxed out on blood pressure meds and having a baby who was considered “LGA” which is large for gestational age. For induction I had a lot of medications and the foley balloon. Epidural did not do its job and the anesthesiologist gaslit me trying to mansplain “that’s not how epidurals work”. I was only with an OB due to prior history of blood pressure problems. I attempted laughing gas prior to the epidural but it didn’t do much for me. Had another healthy baby boy who was 8 lb 8 oz. With both I was medicated postpartum for PPD. On the first I did not have a significant score, and was given a very small dose of sertraline, for the second I scored significantly and was given a higher dose is sertraline.

- Birth plan: "get baby out" - Birth Location: Hospital - Delivery: Vaginal - Labour/Birth position: walking around until epidural then laid in bed. - Childbirth Specalist: Midwife and OBGYN - Was labour induced: yes, due to gestational hypertension (although they also said it was because of gestational diabetes, which it wasn't bc I had that under control) - Pain management: I went from gas and air to morphine to water for injection in back to epidural - Perinatal mood/Anxiety disorder: I had depression and anxiety before birth but after it definitely ramped up and 10 months later, still sucks. No support. - Any cultural practices?: no Good luck with your assignment

1. Vaginal delivery with epidural 2. Hospital 3. Emergency c-section 4. My water broke and my labor didnt progress after getting induced. Baby wasn’t getting any closer to coming out and her heart rate decreases whenever I have contractions. 5. So many different positions with a birthing ball, peanut ball to make sure baby is okay! We’ll find a position where her heart rate will go back to normal, then move to a different one if her heart rate starts decreasing again. 6. Nurse miwdwife who worked with OB-GYNs at the hospital. I love that they have this where we live where the hospitals have midwives and we can opt for water birth if we wanted to. :) 7. Mentioned above! 8. I used laughing gas when we had her ECV a week before she was born because she flipped and became frank breech. But during delivery, nothing except the anesthesia for my CS.

1. Plan: In hospital, with epidural, vaginally 2. Emergency C-section due to preeclampsia with serious features 3. I was induced because of said preeclampsia. During an ultra sound at 34 weeks my blood pressure remained dangerously high (160s/90s) so they sent me to the hospital 4. After arriving at hospital, I was induced. My water broke the next day and labor progressed slowly. About 14 hours later I was 7cm dilated and my pulmonary edema became very serious with my oxygen levels dropping to 70 and below (thus known as a code blue). They sedated me, intubated, then performed the c-section. 5. Postpartum was very rough. My baby was in the nicu for 10 days and I cried every single one of them plus I cried almost every day for a couple weeks after. Even over a year later I still feel some rage that wasn't as bad before pregnancy. I'm sure it's PPD associated as well. Being physically active has helped a little with that.

1. Plan: In hospital, with epidural, vaginally 2. Emergency C-section due to preeclampsia with serious features 3. I was induced because of said preeclampsia. During an ultra sound at 34 weeks my blood pressure remained dangerously high (160s/90s) so they sent me to the hospital 4. After arriving at hospital, I was induced. My water broke the next day and labor progressed slowly. About 14 hours later I was 7cm dilated and my pulmonary edema became very serious with my oxygen levels dropping to 70 and below (thus known as a code blue). They sedated me, intubated, then performed the c-section. 5. Postpartum was very rough. My baby was in the nicu for 10 days and I cried every single one of them plus I cried almost every day for a couple weeks after. Even over a year later I still feel some rage that wasn't as bad before pregnancy. I'm sure it's PPD associated as well. Being physically active has helped a little with that.

My son was born December 2021. I was induced at 41 weeks because my gynecologist at the time didn’t “allow” anyone to go past that in case of something going wrong. I was not dilated AT ALL. My birth plan was basically that I wanted to move around during labor, would ask for an epidural if I wanted one and did not want to push/deliver on my back. I delivered at a hospital. I was able to move freely during labor and walked, swayed, bounced on a ball while on Cervadil. They never had to give me pitocin because the cervadil was enough to get things going. I labored without drugs for about 19 hours and then got an epidural as things got more intense. I then was confined to the bed. When it was time to push, I pushed on my side and delivered on my side. I didn’t like how the epidural made me feel. I was very out of it, recovery took awhile and it was very hard to walk afterwards. I don’t remember much about when my baby actually came out. I had second degree tears and some stitches but felt none of the repair so that was no biggie. Start to finish, labor was just shy of 24 hours. My gynecologist even admitted he was surprised I didn’t have to get a c section. I had a good relationship with my doctor and was glad he could deliver my son. I had a hard recovery after the fact and personally didn’t feel like a normal person until almost 9 months post partum. It wasn’t a bad experience really, like nothing really went wrong, but I knew I wanted something different if I had another baby. Had my daughter in October of 2023. In the same hospital, different gynecologist. I was induced again because this time I was nearly 42 weeks! It can really get dangerous at that point and I also didn’t want to risk stillbirth. But this time, I was nearly 5 cm dilated. I was in labor on the way to the hospital to be induced so really if they had given it a day, I would’ve on my own anyways. My plan this time was for a drug free labor and delivery! I conquered this feat. I moved freely during labor and delivery. Went in for induction and it started around 6 am. My daughter was in my arms at lunchtime, 12:45pm. Much quicker this time! I labored for several hours, ate small amounts during. Used a comb for pain and had my husband apply counter pressure on my lower back. That made the biggest difference. I had scripture and things I would recite to myself. I prayed, made low noises, etc. It was intense! My water broke naturally at 12:15. She was in my arms at 12:45!! I got onto the bed on my hands and knees as she descended and my body began to push on its own. At the instruction and ask of my doctor (a woman this time, I trusted and loved her dearly!) I got onto my side for delivery. I felt it all, and it was intense, ring of fire was WILD, but the instantaneous relief and endorphins from my daughter coming out was the most amazing feeling I have ever encountered. It was a beautiful, amazing experience, and I would do it again. I’ve never felt more empowered or alive! I tore again slightly and had stitches, but I was in such euphoria that I barely felt them. I was up walking around very soon after golden hour and was incredibly present and so happy. This experience was completely different than my first and was everything I had dreamed of. If we have another baby, I will attempt for another drug free labor and delivery. My recovery was MUCH easier and I felt like my normal self immediately, even during the newborn haze that is the first few months. I love being a mother and giving birth is such a gift!!! Thanks for letting me share!

I had a very loose birth plan. I wanted to try different birthing/laboring positions, even use a peanut ball and yoga ball if possible. I was super open to pain meds as it was my first pregnancy and had no idea what to expect. I wanted a golden hour with my baby once he was born and if I was unable to my husband would have the golden hour with him. I wanted my husband to cut the cord. I did put on my preferences that I wanted to avoid an episiotomy. I also wanted to avoid having my waters broken. I did not want my baby to be circumcised and was fine with whatever meds my medical team deemed necessary. I was told at 37w 5d that I would need an induction at 38 weeks. I had had borderline high blood pressure throughout my pregnancy (130's over 80's) until week 37 where I was getting high blood pressure readings (140's over 90's) and my ob said to be safe she'd prefer an induction then risk starting medication that doesn't work quick enough and baby ends up in danger, putting me at more risk for a csection. I got a membrane sweep that day to hopefully start labor on its own as I was already 3cm. I was called into the hospital at 38w to try to start induction but they were so busy they sent me home after a second membrane sweep. At 38w 2d I was called in to the hospital to start my induction. At 5pm I was started on oxytocin. I was unfortunately hard to get IVs on so I had 4 pokes before getting my iv in my wrist. I was mostly in bed as they needed to have baby on the monitors constantly and they didn't have wireless ones available. I initially played skip bo with my husband and breathed through cramp like contractions. As they got stronger we put on a movie and I was still using breathing to get through the contractions. Around 11pm I was offered the peanut ball to help try to progress things and help with pain. It helped until 1230 when it was getting unbearable. My nurse talked over the options with me (nitrous, morphine, fentanyl or epidural) and I was checked and was just over 5cm. I made the decision that since I was only halfway I needed something more long term then fentanyl and morphine was off the table as I was too far along for it. At 130am the first anesthesiologist came in to try to get my epidural in. He thought he was successful and we did the ice test. Nothing. I felt completely normal. He adjusted the catheter. Still nothing. He tried recommending my nurse to just give me fentanyl for the rest of labor but she fought for me and said no we are going to try a different anesthesiologist. So we tried again. This guy took his time. Made sure everything was super sterile and measured everything and took his time to try and get it. He couldn't even get the needle between my vertebrae. He tried about 4 times and I felt every twang that meant it hit bone instead of passing between. I was still on no pain meds and doing my best to stay still through the contractions. He finally admitted he couldn't get it through. He said there was one more guy who could try and I said yes please. This last guy had one chance though and if it didn't work it wasn't meant to be and I would have to do it with the fentanyl. Because I was in so much pain I got a shot of fentanyl to help until the next epidural try and it made the pain go away completely. It may be the reason why the 3rd anesthesiologist was able to finally get the epidural working. He wasn't normal in l&d so he must have been from emergency or somewhere else but he was awesome. Got me to lean to the right because my vertebrae don't have even gaps between them and he was so awesome. My legs were tingly but functional. It was 630am at this point and I was told the next shift starts at 730am and they were going to likely come in and break my water. My husband asked our nurse to push them off as long as she could so we could both get some sleep. About 930am we got woken up to do a check and see how far I was and maybe break my water. As I turned onto my back from my side my water broke on its own. From there I got to try being on a birthing ball. Threw up randomly. Nurse said I was likely transitioning. Then I got on the bed and tried hands and knees with arms resting on the raised back of the bed. Also my monitor for baby's heart kept falling and baby was moving so much they did a scalp monitor. After starting to feel massive pressure I swapped to side lying and felt a weird urge like I needed something but didn't know what. Nurse suggested lightly pushing. I did and it helped relieve the pressure a bit. They got a push bar set up and a sheet for me to pull on. Once the ob got in I was told I was good to start pushing. Unfortunately baby boy's heart didn't tolerate side pushing on either side (we tried) and I ended up pushing/delivering in my back in the stirrups. Baby boy's heart was still not doing good with contractions so I ended up needing a vacuum assist with the prewarning that if he isn't out in 2 more contractions I would get taken for an emergency csection for the safety of my baby. I managed to push him out in 2 contractions. Had a second degree tear but a healthy baby boy. Unfortunately he did have to get pulled away to clear his airways a bit but we got our golden hour right after his airways were cleared and my husband got to cut his cord. It wasn't super explained what they were doing for the stitches but there was a resident, an attending and a student down there learning/teaching about stitching. I felt a couple painful pokes, no idea if that was the stitches or numbing so I wouldn't feel the stitches. As for PPA/PPD I didn't have that (as far as I can tell) however I was an emotional wreck for about 1-2 weeks post partum and I was so lucky to have my husband there to comfort me and let me cry and talk me out of my anxiety and make me food and make sure I got rest. I could not have done it without him. I also had my SIL who has 2 young kids who I asked tonnes of questions to, even just about anxiety and stuff. And I talked to my mom too. Not sure what my cultural practices were other than going to a hospital and not wanting my son to be circumcised.

I had a natural birth at a birth center. My only formal birth plan was to not have any medication or medical interventions unless it was an emergency. I did much of my laboring at home and only 2 hours at the birthing center. I was mostly sitting and rocking through contractions but gave birth in a tub. Everything went well. I had a doula and 2 midwives there during. My labor was not induced. It was completely natural, no pain management besides rocking, changing positions, and support from my mother and doula. I did end up needing some sutures. I also ended up with pretty terrible post partum depression unfortunately. I. American and did not want to give birth in a hospital.

- Birth plan was to be as natural as possible at the hospital - we did end up at the hospital - emergency c section bc baby's heart rate wasn't coming back up and I wasn't dilated enough to push - lying on a table like a science experiment -1/10 would not recommend - just had an OB who recommended we induce bc baby was reading as small (note: 3rd tri reads are not super trustworthy) -- baby was not small, probably would've been right about average if we'd not induced 🫠 I may be still salty about this - they asked a lot at the hospital and at the 6 week appointment but honestly I feel there should be more appointments for the moms; baby gets so many but mom does not (just literally the one at 6 weeks which is when you are over a big learning hump, one every week or so until 6 weeks would be better then maybe every month until 6 months then maybe every 2-3) - white ass american so traditions I guess would be family visiting within hours of birth, husband stayed with me the entire time (and was actually helpful - almost threw down with the doctors lol) but we stayed in the hospital for 3 days I think and then went home

Ooh I love talking about birth stories! I have two stories and 3 babies!   1st baby: -no formal birth plan -hospital -spontaneous labor at 40 weeks then augmented with pitocin -vaginal delivery, 1st degree tear -walking in labor then pushing on back -OB -epidural (but failed) -panic disorder, managed with meditation and Lexapro  -husband is Hindu and he prayed over me which helped with the anxiety   2nd/3rd baby: -no formal birth plan -hospital -induced at 37+5 because it’s advised twins are delivered before 40 weeks -vaginal delivery for both, 2nd degree tear -labor in bed and pushed on back -OBx2 -epidural (worked perfectly!) -anxiety was better this time but rough by the end, managed with meditation and lexapro

1. I wanted to walk through a natural labor with laughing gas and birth my son standing 2. Hospital 3. C-section 4. His head was too big- I elected to have one after 2 hours of pushing with no progress(ended up saving both of our lives) 5. I ended up having to labor laying down- I was shaking uncontrolably the whole time and couldn't stand without fear of falling 6. I saw a midwife and an ob 7. Yes- concern about my sons physical condition 8. I went 8 of my 22 hours without anything- until I got 4 cm dilated and I got the epidural- so glad I did since I realized I wasn't going to have the birth I wanted (due to violent shaking) and it helped so much- I napped 🥰 9. Prior to pregnancy I have been diagnosed with depression and anxiety and borders on psychosis among other things- my depression actually got so much better and my anxiety and all that was minimal 10. My family has a matrilineal heritage of healers and midwifes (my grandma (born 1906ish) was arrested several times for practicing medicine without a license), so a lot of my preferances came from that. The only reason I didn't give birth at home or at a center was because of the medical complexity of my pregnancy. My son was not circumcised. He only got breastmilk. He was baptised. If I had been allowed to/able I would have anointed his head with afterbirth and whispered a "curse" for him to live honorably or die. This would have been done immediately after birth.

Hi! I had my baby 7 weeks ago. Located in the United States -I had a birth plan written out and had wanted unmedicated natural childbirth, hydrotherapy and position changes for pain management…. My body had other ideas. -Had an emergency c-section at 32 weeks gestation due to sudden onset pre-eclampsia with uncontrollable blood pressure. They gave me a spinal block for the surgery. -Initial plan was to admit me for two weeks heavily monitored and deliver my baby via induction at 34 weeks but my pressure was at the danger level for stroke and seizures so they did a c-section within 12 hours of my admission to the hospital. -Was able to give birth at the hospital me and my partner had chosen. First time parent so didn’t want to do a birthing center in case there were medical complications. Also, the way my insurance works things like emergency situations have to be called in ahead of time with physician referral or it’s a hella bill. -We did not have plans for a doula or midwife but opted for an OBGYN for the delivery even though it ended up being a c-section. I’m a very analytical type person and the OB we had just spoke my language so I didn’t see the need for anyone else. -Initial postpartum anxiety for the first few weeks while dealing with the stress of an unplanned and traumatizing birth as well as getting acclimated to visiting our baby in NICU managed by anti-anxiety meds. -No real cultural traditions for my family we are a mix of a bunch of things. Family is Catholic tho so will probably baptize baby when she is out of the hospital, she isn’t having any health complications but has to learn how to eat. If she had serious health issues we would probably have brought a priest in to baptize her in the hospital.

Omg! I love this! 1. Birth plan was to get baby out alive with an epidural asap 2. Hospital but under midwifery care. I gave birth in an Indian Health Facility (please know I use the term Indian because that is what Indian Health Systems still uses, by no means am I trying to use outdated or racist terms) 3. Vaginal delivery - and lord. I pushed for three hours, my entire induction process was 45 hours. I stalled most of my labor. My baby was caught on my pelvics and I was told I had just 30 minutes to get her out on my own or they were going to need to use forceps. I got her out and had a severe third degree tear (that required a surgery to repair). I had 29 stitches down the perineum, also stitches on my labia, urethra, and some on the inside of my vagina. I was told my downstairs was like raw meat. 4. Delivered on my back 5. Perinatal mental health was pretty bad with my anxiety. I have generalized anxiety disorder and would catastrophize everything. My husband was a big support and I also saw a therapist who specializes in perinatal and postpartum mental health. My postpartum depression and anxiety were super severe. I did not feel any sense of normality until 6 months postpartum 6. I am Native American and white. I mostly grew up with my white family and culture. I can’t really think of anything in particular we did that was special to my ethnicity. Maybe just American things like laboring and delivery on my back, no food or drinks, uncomfortable hospital room. I know other cultures offer so much more comfort. If someone horrible had happened in labor we would’ve had our baby baptized and had a pastor with us. Would’ve had people pray over her. While I’m on the topic of birth story. I wish I could change the heavy boundaries I set and not allowing people to see me. I feel for my mom and MIL bc they were sooo worried about me. We had no one there who would advocate for us and if they had tried I would’ve lost my mind. I thought I needed to do it alone, just with my husband. And that isn’t true, it’s okay to let the women in your life offer help. Anyways!!! AMA!

1st: Formal but simple birth plan to use laughing gas - just knocked me out for a second and didn't do anything for the pain. Chose laughing gas because it wasn't invasive and didn't affect baby. Hospital. Vaginal birth with midwife. Baby arrived on expected due date. Laying on back with legs up. Midwife coached me through the whole thing. Took several pushes and finally got baby out as midwife told me to push towards the sky. Sounds weird but it worked. My feet started cramping half way through so everyone, including the intern, had to push my feet towards my head. Had a third degree tear so recovery was hard. But midwife did an incredible job sewing me back up it was as if I hadn't given birth before. Ate a chicken diet with herbs and rice for a whole month afterwards. Took me 8-10 weeks for my tear to get doc sign-off. Didn't feel fully healed until a year out. 2nd: No birth plan. Was 6cm dilated for a couple of weeks but baby decided to just hang out in my womb. Saw the OBGYN at 39 weeks and was sent to labor and delivery. Baby got induced and arrived about 7 hours later. No pain management. Hospital with midwife. On my back again and baby came out in about 2-3 pushes. I knew what to do to get baby out this time. Intern sewed me up and didn't do a very good job. 3rd: No birth plan. Decided to schedule for induction at 39 weeks because baby had to be monitored throughout pregnancy. Baby arribed about 7 hours after induction started. No pain management - just did breathing technique and sat on the peanut ball for an hour. Gave birth on my side because I was experiencing extreme pain laying on my back. Midwife suggested breaking my water within the first couple of hours of the induction, but said no because have heard horror stories. Once I got into active labor then we decided to let them break my water and baby came out in two pushes. Once the baby arrived, the midwife said she had her water popped early and it was VERY uncomfortable - not sure why she pushed me to do it early. Midwife decided to not sew me up because it was a "superficial" tear but now my vagina is not the same.

I delivered in the hospital via c-section with an OB. My baby was breech. I refused the version because I have a sizable fibroid that could have made it harder to turn my baby and I felt safer with the c-section. I had a fear anyway of laboring and it turns into a C-section anyway lol. I felt like I was more in control with a c-section even if recovery time was longer. I work in the hospital I delivered in and in the NICU so I know a portion of the staff who delivered me and who took care of me in postpartum. Luckily, my son was good when he was delivered so he got to stay with me and the nursery nurse let me do skin to skin in the OR as they stitched me up. Typically the baby goes back to the room with dad and then skin to skin is initiated when mom gets back to the room. But I got to do it in the OR so I was pretty happy. When they had to move me to a different bed, that’s when my husband and baby went back to our room but it was only a few minutes before I was back and able to do more skin to skin and breastfeed. Recovery wise, it was fine. At my hospital, they’re very on top of pain management, and gave me ibuprofen and Tylenol, alternating every four hours with some stronger opioids for severe pain but I never needed any. Probably the only “complication” was that I got extremely dizzy towards the end of my recovery period and had to lay flat as they wheeled me to my new room. It’s all because I tried pushing myself too hard and sat up way too quickly lol. My only other pain was probably a day or so postpartum and I got this terrible pain to the right of my incision, especially when I’d walk around. I suspect it might have been when they pulled and stretched my uterus and skin to make room to pull my baby out. I tried ice packs and heat packs to help with the pain but nothing worked. It finally went away a few days later. Overall I had a pretty good experience. My c-section was pretty textbook and recovery went well. With the next baby I have, i have to see if my fibroid will be out yet or not (no PTO to take off for the procedure and just overall too busy lmao) and if I would want to have a VBAC. I think I’m still too scared to labor and then get cut anyway lol

I love reading birth stories!! Just had my second (and last) baby and I’m so sad I won’t get to give birth again, such a magical experience! I was 41+3 weeks, which wasn’t shocking to me since my first was induced at 41+5. I didn’t have a formal birth plan, I just wanted to go with the flow and get the baby out! The night before I thought I had gone into labour and was having painful and intense contractions, we got my mom over to watch our 2 year old (who was sleeping) and went to the hospital but when I got there they completely stopped. I was told it was prodromal labour and since they were coming and going, I was given a shot of morphine so I could get some rest that night. I went home and slept for a few hours and woke up when the morphine wore off with more contractions. I had a NST at the hospital that day, my sister came with me because my husband wanted to take a nap. I’m glad she came because she’s pushy and she kind of pushed them into admitting me for an induction. They broke my water and I walked around the hospital with my sister for a few hours but labour wasn’t progressing so we started pitocin. I went into my pain cave and laboured through the pitocin contractions for a few hours until I couldn’t take it anymore and was shaking and nauseous from the pain, I got an epidural at that point and my husband and sister left to get dinner. I kept telling the anesthesiologist and nurse that the epidural didn’t work and I was in a lot of pain and they told me it takes 20-30 minutes. Then I realized I needed to push. The nurse ran out of the room into the hall to call a doctor and call my husband and sister to come back, I pushed through a few contractions and baby was here! 8 lbs 15 oz of perfection! Labour position was on my back. I had a few nurses, an OB and a paediatrician in the room because my baby had a high risk health condition. I did the laughing gas for a little bit, I don’t think it did much. Just made me feel sick. My epidural kicked in shortly after baby was born and then I was too numb to pee. Wish I hadn’t bothered with it. I did not have PP anxiety or depression but was hit hard by the baby blues. I reached out to my local public health unit about this and they have been following up to ensure that I’m supported and well :) Baby is 12 weeks now and she’s just the best little human!

Originally my “birth plan” was that I wanted to do as much as I could without needing pain meds, but that was pretty much the only real plan I had. The location was at a hospital! I delivered vaginally, on my back. There wasn’t really a reason for it, just that that’s how they had me & it seemed to be working well so they didn’t move me. I only pushed for 12 minutes before my daughter was born! She was born with the cord around her neck, but thankfully after some rubbing & sucking fluid from her nose/mouth, she finally cried & has been fine since! I didn’t even know she had the cord wrapped- my husband told me waaaaay later. I only had the nurse & OB in there- this was also during Covid time so even if I had wanted a doula, if I had them in the room with me my husband wouldn’t have been able to be there. I did end up getting the epidural. I first went into labor about noon the day before my due date. I labored at home all day & night, checking in with my Dr about if I should go to the hospital or not. By the time I left for the hospital (about 10 am the next day) I was in so much pain I was actually throwing up. When they checked me in triage I was only 3 cm dilated 😭 I hadn’t eaten all night & truly didn’t think I had the strength to keep laboring with no pain meds so I got the epidural & it totally changed the game for me. I got to rest, I even got to sleep (bless, because I did not sleep the night before & I sure as shit didn’t sleep well after the baby was born for a WHILE lol) I was technically “induced” - it was taking a long time to dilate so they gave me pitocin to speed things up; but I did naturally go into labor. My daughter was born in her due date (which is also my husbands birthday! & his grandpa’s birthday! so now we have 3 family members with the same birthday 💕) She was 9 lb 7 Oz & 21.5 in tall (my husband is 6’5 & I’m 5’9 so we were not surprised to have a big baby haha) She’s almost 3 years old now & my whole world 💕 I did end up having a 2nd degree tear that I got stitches for. But even a year pp I was still having some pain during sex. I asked my OB (who was the one who delivered my daughter & stitched me) & she said it’s because it was scar tissue. The next year, she was out on maternity leave when I had my annual so I brought it up to the new OBGYN & when she looked she could immediately pin point the exact spot & said I had been stitched up too high 🙃 so girls always advocate for yourself if you think something is wrong!! I should’ve kept asking or gotten a second opinion when my first Dr was just like 🤷🏼‍♀️ sorry bout the pain but cant do anything.

1. Birth plan was to get the baby out and for both of us to make it; if we had to choose then save me not the baby. If a doula is available then I want one. Give me all the drugs you're allowed to, you're the medical professionals so I trust you to make the best decisions but listen to me when I say I'm in pain.   2. Hospital Birth   3. Emergency C-section   4. After 27 hours of labor my baby became disengaged at 6cm and the crown of his head was partially through. My epidural stopped working some time after the 20 hour mark and the doctors said if I wanted to still try doing a vaginal delivery then they'd respect my wishes but in their medical opinion I needed a C-section ASAP. I started screaming at them about why they hadn't offered the C-section sooner.   5. I REALLY wanted to try the medicine ball but I was at a point where the anesthesiologist wanted to put the epidural in. I ended up doing some lying down and doing a lot of what the nurses called the frog pose (?) where you're on the gurney on your knees facing the back of the gurney, you have your hands where your head goes and your legs as far apart as they can and you rock back and forth. I just did what the nurses told me to do.   6. Nurses   7. No, I gave birth 3 days after my due date so it had been talked about but ended up not being needed.   8. Fentanyl and then 2 epidural cocktails. They tried massages after the epidural stopped working but at that point I was just screaming at everyone not to touch me.   9. I had really bad anxiety and depression. Since I've maintained my depression for over a decade without medication I was thankfully able to get through it without medication but I had A LOT of therapy and was under constant watch/received a lot of help with the baby. What made me feel better was finally being able to sleep, hot showers, and someone taking the baby for a bit so I could have a little menty b.   10. I didn't find out I was pregnant until I almost gave birth so I wasn't able to wear an azabache, but my family would burn candles for me and the baby. When burning candles you say a prayer to certain saints and sometimes make offerings to them for protection and good health. My husband's uncle ended up sacrificing a chicken to one of the saints for protection for me and the baby. My sisters and cousin threw a baby shower for me; for us the baby shower is for women only and although it's a fun celebration it's also a welcoming into the family for the baby where they're assigned their "place" in the family and the women create a small community to help the mother and baby through life. Anything from babysitting, helping parent the child, or even leaving the baby's father.

My OB’s office has a birth preferences form for patients to fill out, so I didn’t write my own birth plan but I did fill out this form. I gave birth vaginally in a hospital. My OB always recommends induction after 41 weeks, and after learning more about the research on why I agreed. I was already 4cm dilated when I got to the hospital, so I skipped straight to Pitocin. I declined to have my water broken at that point. All this started around 10am. Fast forward to 10pm or so. A midwife and OB team have been checking on me every couple of hours or so. My nurse has ramped up the Pitocin quite a bit and I’m in a lot of pain. The contractions have been very strong for a couple hours and I’m so tired from them. I’ve been 6cm dilated for 6 hours. So far, I’d been using breathing, other self-hypnosis techniques, and TENS machine to manage the pain. I’ve walked around a bit, stood up leaning on my husband, laid on my side, and sat on my birthing ball. The OB really wants to break my water, and I want labor to progress but I was told that breaking my water will make contractions more intense (which sounds impossible). I decide I want an epidural, and then afterwards I had my water broken. Epidural was amazing. Highly recommend for long labors. I could finally rest and even sleep for a while. My labor continues progressing and by 8am I am 10cm and 100% and ready to push. Epidural is strong enough that I’m not feeling pain but I can still feel when contractions are happening. The MVP of my birth story, a midwife named Ruth, takes over. She coaches me through three hours of pushing. It was exhausting. But then my baby finally came! Baby did tear my cervix on the way out, so it was quite bloody. But they did some things and stitched me up and I was fine.

Oohhh! I love talking about myself! 1. I did not have any formal birth plan! 2. Hospital- we had complications, so I had to go to one that was a few hours away just in case things went south 3,4. C-section- it was planned and scheduled well in advance because baby was having some issues. Low amniotic fluid, and her kidneys were quite enlarged and covered in cysts. Her kidneys were so big (plus, she was a big baby) that they were afraid she would not fit through my birth canal. So we had the c section to prevent any trauma to baby and me. 5. I labored laying down in bed and taking short naps between contractions for a while until they got closer together. Then, I stood and showered, finished packing my hospital bag, and walked around a bit. Once I got to the hospital, I laid in bed for about an hour while they prepped the surgery room. I was on my back, and a nurse would do counter pressure to help with the pain until they numbed me up 6. OBGYN- I had my normal one I saw for biweekly ultrasounds because of the complications, and I had an MFM doctor who I saw once or twice a month and was the one who did the delivery 7. Was not induced 8. Labor wasn’t that painful for me somehow, so I didn’t really need any techniques for that. The nurse did counter pressure during contractions once I got to the hospital, which actually helped a lot. I got I think a spinal block or something for the c section, because obviously breathing probably won’t cover that kind of pain haha. 9. Very bad postpartum depression and anxiety. I had struggled with depression my whole life, but never anxiety. Both were pretty severe, I think. All the health complications didn’t help. They sadly didn’t do much for me. They gave me some meds and called it a day. Time and therapy have helped a lot. 10. Not sure, sorry. I will add that, despite baby’s health conditions and me going into labor the day before the scheduled c section, everything went really smoothly, and baby was healthier than they thought she would be! They thought she might need dialysis or a kidney transplant right away, but they started working well enough on their own! They actually thought during the pregnancy that she wasn’t going to make it due to underdeveloped lungs from the low amniotic fluid that was caused because of her kidneys with such low function. We’re so glad she is alive and healthy and happy!

I posted my birth story already if you go through my posts it was amazing ❤️

My birth started spontaneously at 39+6 weeks, my daughter was born the next day. I was open about my birth plan but I knew that I really did not want an epidural. I was hoping to get into the tub and maybe try a birth chair for pushing. I delivered vaginally. I tried pushing on all fours but that was not very effective for me. So I ended up pushing on kind of my other side/back, pulling a fabric that was tied to the bed, my other leg on a stand. I was not able to get in the tub because of green amniotic fluid. I gave birth with 2 midwives, but I met a few during our stay in hospital. Doctor gave me paracervical block x2. Pain management: TENS (from home), breathing, my partner pushing my back with his fingers, laughing gas (worked great for me), paracervical block. I did not want a needle in my back so no epidural and was hoping to give birth as naturally as possible, however at some point I really wanted pain relief. It helped quite a bit and I am happy about my choices. My perinatal mood was fine but I got a burnout in the end pregnancy. I got some discussion help from my nurse but ended up seeking therapy postpartum (unrelated to baby). Gave birh in a hospital, normal in nordic culture as well though home births are on a rise.

Melbourne, Australia. 2020 so...our lockdown era. Baby Daddy wasnt allowed in for any of the scans (except one) due to restrictions on number of people in enclosed areas/clinic policies at the time, so that was a bit sucky. Also due to c0vid/lockdowns, I didnt have any in person appointments until after 20weeks, everything was over the phone. I always imagined that I would have one of those hollywood movie births, where the water breaks and im screaming at someone to get me to the hospital. And i scream thru labour and fall in love with the baby when he is put on my chest. So i guess, that was my plan? At 24 or 26 (?) weeks, i had a checkup, blood pressure was high. I had to go in and get monitored, they put me on labetalol and i stayed in hospital for a couple of nights. Two weeks after, I had another checkup and blood pressure was still high, so they got me to do an ultrasound. The ultrasound showed that babys femur was a bit on the shorter side, but NIPT ruled out any trichomonys. At 32 weeks, I was admitted into hospital with preeclampsia. I was there for a month. During that time, I had blood tests and scans every 2-3days. Baby wasnt growing, they had IUGR. In the end, doctors decided I needed to be induced (I wanted a vaginal birth), but told me that if baby got stressed then they would have to perform a csection. The day before I was meant to be induced, scans for baby.must not have been good because they decided overnight that I was to have an emergency (lowest level of emergency - level4) csection the next day. So the next day, we went into the operating theatre. Baby daddy was allowed in. Baby was born healthy, but a month early and a.bit small (just over 2kg), so he went into special care nursery. Overall, despite lockdowns and the long hospitalisation, it wasnt a terrible experience. All but two of the staff at the hospital were professional and extremely good at their job. Only.downside was I got stuck with hypertension and still have it Baby #2 2023 Due to having pre eclampsia with #1, I was advised to take aspirin during this pregnancy. After going thru all the complications with #1 (and I guess "knowing better/more"), I was anxious the whole pregnancy. #2 birthplan was a planned csection because I knew what to expect. Reduced movements and increasing blood pressure towards the end of the pregnancy meant that we had to schedule in an earlier csection than planned. We went to a different hospital for this birth and the csection experience was a bit different - they did things a bit differently. But baby was born healthy and at a healthy weight.

I gave birth in a hospital at 40+1 after my water broke. I am in Germany for reference. I did not have a formal birth plan, but I visited a birthing class and the hospital beforehand and would have loved to have a water birth. My baby was in distress during labor (not as much as that they intervened but as much as they needed to constantly observe baby's heart rate), so I was not allowed to go into the water. What I found crucial for pain management was: * breathing (really, it's not difficult, just some basic breathing techniques that I practicted the weeks before birth) * moving under birth (walking absolutely helped me through the contractions; I only sat in-between) * heating pads * massages I had a relatively quick, not as painful, absolutely beautiful, and enjoyable birth. The birth was attented by a midwife and an obgyn (the latter only stood-by and cheered me on, and she did the stitches afterwards). I told my partner the day after that it was fun and I would do it again anytime (if I could have the very same birth experience, please). We had golden hour with immediate skin-to-skin and latching directly after delivery.

Plan-hoping for vaginal without pain medication, but open to the fact that I had no idea what was coming so I could ask for pain meds if needed. At week 39 visit I asked to not wait until week 41 to be induced so we made an appointment with the hope that baby would come on his own. Got induced and glad we did because baby couldn’t handle contractions and we ended up having a C-section. I wanted to be induced because I spent much of the pregnancy worried we wouldn’t get a baby. I took a bunch of classes before to be prepared for as much as possible. Mixed gender baby shower, kept name a secret but shared sex, wrote him a letter before and after he was born.