"A positive and empowering experience"

I recently gave birth to my baby at the Dundee Ninewells Labour Ward. I had an induction of labour at 42+1 weeks after waiting for labour to start naturally. At 42 weeks I had reached the point where I was not comfortable with the risks involved with waiting any longer. My midwife for the day, Anne, gave me a call in the morning, saying that a room was free for my induction and we made our way over.

It became clear quite quickly that, because I had waited until this late in the pregnancy to be induced, there were a few requirements from the medical staff that went against what I had imagined my birth to be. I was going to be monitored continuously, restricting my movement to a small radius around the bed and there were some time constraints placed on how labour needed to progress if I wanted to avoid further intervention. Anne was great in discussing my options with me and finding I compromises where possible. She heard me out on my initial concerns regarding having a fetal scalp electrode placed (found the thought of this being attached to baby's head horrible) and she acknowledged my wish to stay as mobile as possible. She advocated for me to have a little bit of extra time to mobilise after my waters were broken in the hope that that would bring on labour, she even bargained for me to come off the CTG monitoring for a while to be able to move more freely.

Labour did not start after my waters were broken and I did end up with a fetal scalp electrode fitted because the CTG kept on losing contact and I had to admit that the electrode was going to be the best option for monitoring. After a failed attempt at fitting it by one of the doctors and some technical difficulties I believe the consultant midwife Becky, who was a competent and caring presence whenever she came into the room, managed to get the fetal scalp electrode monitoring working which was a relief to me since the CTG had to constantly be adjusted, including during contractions. This experience has definitely changed my view on fetal scalp electrodes and I was so glad once it worked! Anne meanwhile talked me through how the oxytocin drip was being adjusted and coached me in using gas and air to cope with the contractions that had set in in response to the drip. She was very patient and calm throughout and added to the positive atmosphere in the room (I was also listening to meditative music with a Bluetooth speaker that we had brought).

There was a bit of a crisis with baby becoming distressed and me overcontracting whilst Anne was on her break, the details of which I don't remember too well but I do recall that Becky made an appearance again alongside others and I never felt scared or anxious since I knew that I was in safe hands.

I managed to reach the second stage of labour under gas and air only and ended up having a little breather with the oxytocin dialled down before starting to push my baby out. Half an hour or so into this, Anne's shift ended and she left me in the capable hands of Erin, who brought student midwife Amy and an obstetrics student whose name I've unfortunately forgotten. I am glad I said yes to allowing all three in because it meant I had a whole cheerleading squad going through each contraction with me. Erin found the perfect balance between being positive and supportive whilst also giving firm instructions, guiding me through the whole process. I managed to push my baby out just within the timeframe that was called for by the induction process (the mention of forceps potentially having to come into play provided some valuable motivation!).

After my beautiful baby was born I was given plenty of time to cuddle her and give her her first feed whilst the midwives cleaned me up and sutured the two tears I had. There was another consultant midwife involved in stitching me up whose name I can't remember but who was lovely and talked me through everything she was doing, warning me of when I might expect a little bit of pain and prompting me to use gas and air at the right times. As per my birth plan, I got delayed cord clamping and got to see the placenta with Erin and Amy talking me through what I was looking at. My husband also got some skin to skin time with our baby and cut the cord. Anne and Erin even managed to get us to the DMU postnatal ward since there was space available, the birth had been reasonably straightforward, and up until the induction my pregnancy had been low risk throughout.

All in all, my induction was a great experience and the midwives who took care of me during the day had a huge part in that. Everyone introduced themselves and I feel sorry that I don't remember all the names (to be fair, I had other things on my mind). The doctor's rounds were by far my least favourite part of the day and the only time when I truly felt that I was on a labour ward. However, the doctors did not disturb us for long and I appreciate them coming in to introduce themselves. In the case of an emergency it would have been good to have seen their faces before.

Thank you Ninewells Labour Ward team for helping me in making my birth a positive and empowering experience, despite the necessary interventions! And thank you to the DMU team for taking us in postnatally and showing us how to change a diaper and checking my baby's latch a few times!