"Two birthing experiences"

In October 2020 I delivered my second baby in daisy Hill hospital. The labour was a little dramatic as my waters broke at home and were full of meconium so I had to be induced as soon as possible. My midwife, Arlene, was fantastic and allowed me complete control over my whole labour. She kept me informed the whole time and my husband was with me from word go.

Unfortunately this experience was a far cry from my first labour in 2019 which was awful. Again I had to be induced as baby was 11 days over term. I was induced by pessary and was promptly ignored for the rest of the day. I asked for pain relief several times and was eventually given gas and air. I was told numerous times I was not in labour even though I was getting regular strong contractions every 3-5minutes. I also asked to be examined and was again told no due to the risk of infection. Unfortunately my baby ended up being born in an examination room on the antenatal ward, and I feel this was the fault of the staff involved. I then had to wheeled back through a packed antenatal ward after the birth of my son. I suffered severe anxiety postnatally which I linked to the traumatic labour. 

So thankfully i did have a far better experience second time round and it was a very healing process for me.