“I tried everything I could” Mum’s post about her birth plan is a must read
Birth plans are a brilliant way of setting the tone for your delivery, getting educated and sharing your hopes and dreams with those attending your baby’s birth. That said, things don’t always stay on course, with best-laid plans sometimes proving to be pencilled-in, rather than set in stone.
Best laid plans
Author and life coach Samantha Joy’s birth is a brilliant testament to this. Not only was her carefully crafted birth plan waylaid by the tiny person she welcomed a week ago, Samantha notes the revisions were meant to be.
Sharing her story via her Facebook page, she says her labour and birth diverted pretty wildly from what she’d planned.
“One week ago, I birthed a healthy baby boy. And not in the way I ever pictured it,” Samantha wrote. “I spent months intricately crafting a birth plan that allowed my son’s safe entry into the world. I read books, did daily affirmations and visualizations, practised optimal fetal positioning, exercised, did my hypnosis tracks. There was no way my birth wouldn’t go smoothly with the belief I put behind it.”
Read more about birth:
- Why do hospital staff say you’re NOT in labour – when you know you are?!
- Why emergency c-sections happen and what to expect if it happens to you
- New mum shares perfect description of final stages of labour
So far, so great
Or so she thought, as she went into labour in the dead of night (as is so often the case!)
“Everything progressed beautifully just as I had envisioned. I labored at home for 9 hours to 5 cm. We drove to the hospital greeted by soft voices and positivity. We were transported to our labor suite complete with dim lighting, calm music, and lavender burning. I went directly into the massive jacuzzi tub, where my midwife and nurse respected me declining IV’s and fetal monitors. They treated me like a person, not a patient, believing in my plan.”
“As I progressed to 10 cm,” Samantha writes, “I realized all the work I had done up to this point was coming to fruition. Before I knew it my body began pushing without me, just as I read it would. I was doing it.”
One week ago, I birthed a healthy baby boy ? And not in the way I ever pictured it.I spent months intricately crafting…
Posted by Samantha Joy on Tuesday, 18 September 2018
“I had to pivot”
Just when Samantha thought she was having the text-book gentle birth she’d hoped for, things shifted in a much more challenging direction.
“Little did I know, 26 hours in and 9 hours later of pushing would lead to zero progress and a baby in distress with decreasing oxygen levels. He was facing forward and refused to turn despite my efforts.”
At this point, this brilliant mum realised a change of plan was called for, and she adapted whole-heartedly, possibly surprising herself!
“I knew in my heart I had to pivot to bring my baby safely into the world. So I took orders from a doctor (I swore I would never be delivered by a doctor) to take an epidural, to get some rest and relax my body to allow the baby to turn. With this came the IV’s and monitors.”
30+ hours later …
She pushed for more than three long hours – but still no progress. Things moved quickly from here on in.
“Off I went to surgery for a c-section,” Samantha explains. “30+ hours in, our beautiful baby was born. He struggled to breathe which resulted in incomplete delayed cord clamping and delayed skin to skin. 10 min later we heard him cry.”
“Before this experience, the thought of this outcome felt like a failure, but at that moment I couldn’t be more proud.”
“I tried everything I could, never once felt fear, trusted the process, and got in the end what I TRULY wanted … Our little #LandonHail”
Birth Plan B
Other women were thrilled to meet little Landon via Facebook, empathised with his mum’s prolonged battle to birth him safely and had their own stories of implementing a birth Plan B.
“Little do the mamas know, it’s actually the babe that is in charge. It’s actually the babe that has the plan,” one follower commented.
“Our plan didn’t go the way we wanted or expected but Sam pivoted and wrote a new plan and out of that we got to meet our son. The most beautiful experience I’ve ever been involved with,” another posted.
“It never does go the way you imagine it would. Alex arrived 14 minutes after we pulled up to the hospital in triage! It was the biggest whirlwind of my life. But man, they are so worth it in every way,” another mum shared.
They really are. A big congratulations to Samantha and family on the birth of baby Landon.
