Jamie’s Birth Story

There’s something incredibly special about being trusted with someone’s birth story. Not because birth has to look “perfect” to be worth sharing, but because every single story holds something another woman might desperately need to hear. Sometimes it’s reassurance. Sometimes it’s perspective. Sometimes it’s simply the reminder that birth doesn’t always have to feel frightening, chaotic or completely out of your control.

A few days ago, one of my lovely private antenatal clients sent me her story and gave me permission to share it here. As soon as I read it, I knew other women needed to read it too, because hidden inside her story is something I wish more women understood before labour begins: the moment you think you can’t do it anymore is often the moment everything is about to change.

This is her story…

I’d gone to my appointment hoping to avoid induction the following day at 41 weeks because I really wanted to give my body the chance to go into labour spontaneously. After speaking to the doctor, I asked for another sweep because my previous two had seemed to help. Before the midwife even had a chance to do it, my waters broke. I remember feeling so excited because I’d never experienced that with my first baby before. Suddenly things felt real. They offered for me to go home and come back the next day for monitoring, but wanted to monitor me before I left first, so I chose to stay because I knew that if everything was okay, I wanted as much time labouring at home as possible.

By the time I got home at around 4pm, contractions had started. I got into the bath and started breathing through them using the techniques Danielle had taught me, and later I sat on my birthing ball in the front room while my little boy sat beside me watching a film. Looking back now, that part feels strangely peaceful. Labour had started, but life around us still felt soft and normal. There was no panic, no rushing around, just this quiet feeling that things were slowly unfolding.

At around 7pm, I noticed my waters had turned slightly pink and rang the ward for advice. They asked me to come back in and honestly, I remember feeling a bit defeated. I’d only just got home and I think part of me worried it meant something was wrong or that my body wasn’t doing what it was supposed to do. But I tried to stay focused on my contractions and kept reminding myself that I’d be meeting my baby soon.

When I arrived at triage around 7:30pm, they monitored me for a while and examined me. I was told I was 4cm. I remember feeling really disheartened by that because after my sweeps I’d already been around 3cm, and by this point my contractions felt strong, intense and close together. In my head, I thought I should have progressed more than that. But they told me I was in active labour and moved me through to the ward, which instantly made me feel relieved that things really were happening.

When I got into the room, the lights were dimmed and there was just a lamp on in the corner. It immediately felt calm and peaceful. The midwives introduced themselves, left the call button beside me and told me to ring if I needed anything before quietly leaving us to it. It was just me and my partner working together while we waited to meet our baby. They brought me a birthing ball and raised the bed so I could lean over it while doing hip circles through contractions to keep movement flowing. As things intensified, I started using gas and air too.

Eventually sitting became too uncomfortable, so I stood leaning over the bed while my partner used the hip pressure techniques Danielle had taught us during our sessions together. I remember feeling so grateful in that moment that he knew what to do and how to support me. I didn’t feel alone in it.

Then came the point where I started doubting myself. I remember thinking, “What if I’m still only 4cm? How much longer can I actually do this for?” Everything suddenly felt intense and overwhelming and for a moment I genuinely questioned whether I could keep going. But then I remembered Danielle talking about transition during our sessions together and how women often reach a point where they feel overwhelmed or start doubting themselves just before things change. As soon as I remembered that, something mentally shifted for me. Instead of panicking, I started thinking maybe I was actually close to meeting my baby.

Not long afterwards, my body started pushing. My partner rang the bell for me and the midwives came back in. At 10:25pm, standing beside the bed holding my partner’s hand, I birthed my baby into the world and we found out he was another little boy. I honestly felt like I was on top of the world.

My partner cut the cord before we had skin to skin and his first feed together – exactly how we’d hoped for in our birth preferences. Afterwards, I also birthed my placenta naturally without the oxytocin injection, which had been something important to me during pregnancy too. An hour later, the midwives came back to weigh him and give him vitamin K while we sat there completely overwhelmed that he was finally here.

Looking back now, I think the biggest thing hypnobirthing gave me wasn’t a “perfect” birth. It gave me understanding. Because I understood what was happening, I never felt lost inside my labour. Even in the moments where I doubted myself, I still felt part of it. And I honestly think that changed everything.

I’m Danielle, the founder of The Mama Spring and mum to three girls.

A former early years teacher, I now support women through pregnancy, birth and early motherhood with honest antenatal education, hypnobirthing, and calm baby classes in Grimsby.