Birth Story
Faye (first birth - 29 years)
My birth experience is far removed from what I thought I would have. I'd envisioned a relatively natural birth with as few interventions as possible e.g. epidural. I'd even booked myself into the active birth ward at the hospital. However, none of this was to happen.
During the 35th week of my pregnancy I went for my fortnightly GP check up, blood pressure, urine sample etc, only to be told that my blood pressure was off the scale and I had a very high count of protein in my urine, all of which indicated pre-eclampsia. Now this all came as rather a shock to me as my pregnancy had been a breeze, with no morning sickness or any other ill effects and even that day I felt really good and people at work had commented on how great I looked being pregnant. I rushed straight to hospital.
For the following 5 days my blood pressure was monitored every two hours and urine samples taken several times a day. The baby was in no distress and the staff and I agreed we should let the pregnancy run for as long as I was stable for the sake of the baby. The hospital staff were fantastic and did their utmost to make me feel comfortable. However, the biggest shock was yet to come, after a few days in hospital my consultant decided that they wanted to scan the baby to make sure blood flow to the baby wasn't being hindered. That is when we found out our baby had developed hydrocephalus (water on the brain) sometime between my 20 week scan and 35 weeks. Of course we were devastated, but the baby was fine and growing normally and all the consultants could tell us was that baby had suffered some brain damage but they didn't know to what extent it would affect the baby. The consultant asked me whether I would want the baby resuscitated if it had problems breathing after the birth. I won't go too far down this route so much as to say this was not an option and I couldn't believe they were, in a round about way, offering me a termination. This really upset both my husband and me and caused us needless heartache.
The news about our baby didn't help my blood pressure at all and within two days I was critical and had developed HELLP syndrome. My liver was not functioning correctly, my blood platelet count was very low and I was in pain. My consultant and the obstetrician agreed that due to my worsening condition and the size of the baby's head (very large!) that it would be better for the baby and me if I were to have a caesarean. I agreed to this, as I was so exhausted with the pain I couldn't see how I could get through a potentially long and painful labour. To be honest I was very scared at the prospect of having a caesarean as I had not researched it at all and knew nothing about the risks, what was involved, recovery etc. The midwives did little to help, however my consultant answered all the questions I had and put my mind at ease. Once the midwives knew about the problem with my baby, their attitude changed for the better. One of them was especially kind and printed off some material on hydrocephalus for me to peruse, which was most useful for my husband and me as we'd not heard of the condition before. The consultant did say that none of the staff were specialists in this area and the staff at Great Ormond Street would be more helpful, they did try and answer as many questions they could and I had an obstetrician and paediatrician come to talk to me.
Six days after first arriving in hospital I was admitted to the close observation unit on the labour ward after my stats reached a critical low. That evening my waters broke and the doctor looking after me said that I should try for a vaginal birth and would induce me that evening. I was very upset by this as it was not what I had discussed with my consultant and I knew I did not want to be induced. The midwife taking care of me that night was very kind to me and advised me to stick to my guns and not to let the doctors sway me if a caesarean is what I wanted. However the doctor was quite insistent, which was extremely upsetting for me but I insisted that I would wait until I could see my consultant in the morning to discuss this any further. I was exceedingly angry at how this was handled as I was in no fit state to argue with the doctors, luckily there were no contractions overnight and at 8am the following morning my consultant arrived and informed me that I'd been booked in for an emergency caesarean at 9:30am. My husband and I were so relieved. Unfortunately due to the HELLP syndrome I had developed I couldn't have an epidural as my blood platelet count was so low my blood may not clot if I bled, therefore I had to have a general anaesthetic. This sounded awful to me, I had always planned to be fully conscious during my birth and was devastated to be informed of this, however I had to accept this for my health.
All I remember once in the operating theatre was how kind all the staff were to me, they all knew how nervous I was and how worried about the baby I had become. The majority of the front of my body was covered in iodine, a nurse held my hand as they put the gas mask over my face and then that was all I knew until I was back in the close observation unit. My husband was not allowed in the theatre as I was unconscious, however he said that within what seemed like minutes of me being in there he could hear good, loud screams and the consultant let him peer through the window in the door of the theatre to see our baby girl screaming away.
Once I had come round from the general they immediately bought Ella up to me, I had 5 minutes with her. I couldn't move at all due to all the drips, drains and lines running into me so they just lay her next to me on the bed, before taking her to Great Ormond Street. I don't remember much at all of the first couple of days after the operation. I was heavily dosed up on morphine and kept slipping in and out of sleep. I remember my stomach hurting when I tried to move at all, so I gave up moving for the first day. On the second day the midwife helped me to sit up and by day three I felt much better. The midwives were excellent on the first two days after my operation but the midwives that followed were a different story. They didn't really want to help me out much at all and I had to push for things all the time, such as food, help with the catheter and blood drain etc. I hated the fact I was so dependent on them. My consultant was the one constant and he took great care of me. By day three he wanted me up and moving about, so I attempted to get out of the bed and into a chair, it felt as if my stomach was about to drop out of me, a very strange sensation indeed. The same day I managed a shower and by the end of the day I was walking (bent over) holding on to the rails up and down the corridor. The next day I was transferred to the general postnatal ward and was given my own room (it had been decided that it would be nicer for me not to be with all the mums and babies in the open wards).
I spent four days on the postnatal ward and was treated so well by the midwives. They were very attentive and helped me to start expressing milk that my husband then transferred to Great Ormond Street for Ella. I was checked regularly and always asked whether I needed anything, if I was feeling okay etc, the midwives were really fantastic. The various doctors I had seen beforehand all came to see how I was getting on and offered lots of support. I felt fine during those four days on the postnatal ward and kept pushing to be discharged as I felt so well and was walking without any pain. However my blood tests weren't coming back 100%, my liver still hadn't returned to normal functioning and my platelet count was still low. One week after having Ella my consultant discharged me begrudgingly, I had to come back for regular tests for the following two weeks and as my blood pressure was still high they discharged me with medication to control it.
I spent one week in Great Ormond Street with my husband and Ella after I was discharged and then Ella was discharged from hospital so we could all go home. It was wonderful being home together after 3 weeks in hospital and I could do everything a mother should, I was as mobile as anyone else, driving and breastfeeding without any problems. I stopped the medication after two weeks of being home and now 8.5 months later I have good blood pressure readings and no other ill effects whatsoever. My caesarean scar is still red, but doesn't give me any trouble. It was rather tight at around three weeks after giving birth and there was a period of a couple of months when certain areas around the scar were numb, but all feeling has returned and I haven't had any pain since. All in all the caesarean birth turned out to be much better than I could have imagined and if in the future I fall pregnant I would definitely do it again, although this time I would prefer an elective rather than emergency!
Faye's partner has also written his account.