"My Labour Experience with our second daughter."

After a traumatic experience with the birth of our first daughter, as I approached my due date with baby number 2 I felt nervous about how things would go for us this time around. At 9 days overdue my labour finally began and as it often can second time around it quickly progressed.

Due to the current pandemic of Covid 19 my birthing partner was not able to be with me until I was in established labour something which admittedly scared me. However whilst I was on the antenatal ward I met another lovely mum to be who through getting to know I found out that our babies shared the same due date and little did I know would eventually share the same birthday. We supported each other through the first stages of labour whilst chatting about our little ones who were at home, previous labour experiences and what we would hope for this time around. Yes I wished my partner could have been by my side throughout this time but if he had maybe I wouldn’t have developed the friendship I have now with this lovely mum to be. I think the fact we understood what each other was going through pain wise helped us to support each other through this difficult stage.

Once in established labour I was moved onto the labour ward, my partner was now by my side and everything seemed to progress at a rate of knots. Soon enough we were ready to meet our little girl but not without some drama haha ( I can laugh now). Unfortunately my body just doesn’t seem to labour well and we needed a little bit of extra help to get our little lady here safely. An influx of midwives and doctors entered the room to help our baby girl safely into this crazy world, I’ll spare you the details but let’s just say not all superheroes wear capes ( more like masks, gloves and aprons ). I’ve never respected the NHS more than in that moment and I will be forever grateful for everything and everyone that helped me and my family that day! In a world of uncertainty due to Covid-19 I could not praise the staff enough for making my very dramatic birthing experience as “normal” as possible and for selflessly and wholeheartedly caring for me, my partner and our baby girl.  

Thank You will never seem enough for what they did that day!   Thank You for putting your lives at risk and for not seeing your families so that I can now spend my days with mine! We are so lucky to have such a wonderful NHS and I can hand on heart say that even in this crazy world the standard of care is absolutely second to none and we must make sure these wonderful people who devote their lives to helping others get the recognition they so deserve!

Thank You from the bottom of my heart to the staff on the Labour Ward and to the staff working on both Ante/Postnatal care for making my labour experience a positive one!