"Very grateful to the lovely midwives and all hospital staff"

I always felt very anxious about giving birth to the point that it made me postpone family planning by a few years. In the end, my husband and I decided to start trying for a child.

I got pregnant and spent the next few months mulling over my birth choices. In the end, I ended up hoping for a water birth (if all went well) with a back up plan of elective C-section (in case of any complications). I was always extremely worried about induction and instrumental delivery due to the higher likelihood of them resulting in long labour and unplanned C-section which would further increase my anxiety. 

My waters broke 2 days before my due date. I was monitored and given the option of being induced or having a C-section if labour does not start on its own within 48 hours. I ended up giving induction a chance based on my conversations with the medical staff. Throughout the conversations they did bring up my previous wish to have an elective C-section and made sure I felt comfortable changing my mind and opting to be induced.

The induction process was not easy - labour did not start spontaneously, I was not dilated at all and had to have the gel followed by hormonal drip. This took a long time during which I was well taken care of by a lovely midwife who was incredibly chatty and reassuring and made me feel super comfortable. As a first time mother who felt very anxious, I was immensely reassured by her presence. Unfortunately her shift ended just as we were getting ready for active delivery but she passed me over to another team and made sure that I felt comfortable and was aware of what was happening.

The active second stage didn't quite go as planned - my epidural stopped working for a while during the process and I subsequently lost quite a bit of blood due to placenta delivery and tears. However, everyone did a marvellous job of caring for my well-being and making sure everything went as well as it possibly could given the circumstances.

I then spent the next 2.5 days in High Dependency Unit (HDU) and Postnatal Unit and never once felt that I was rushed out until all the necessary checks and tests were done to ensure both me and my baby were safe to go home. 

I am happy I chose St Thomas Hospital to give birth and would do it again. I am also very grateful to the lovely midwives and all hospital staff who do their absolute best while incredibly stretched.