I first met Ruth when she was 20 weeks pregnant. It was her third baby and she was keen to have an independent midwife due to previous traumatic experiences during the births of her two children. Her husband Jack had also been very affected by the births, and was very keen to try and prevent any further problems.

Ruth's eldest son was born by Caesarean Section after a very long and gruelling labour, her second was born naturally but she suffered many complications and required counselling for post traumatic stress disorder in the months after the birth. Ruth and her husband, thought long and hard before deciding to have another baby. When we first met, Ruth was very nervous, and keen to avoid any interventions with this birth that might lead to complications. We quickly agreed that it would be helpful if I accompanied Ruth to the hospital for appointments with the consultant obstetrician, and that we would all agree a plan for the birth at the 36 week appointment. We also decided that we would do everything possible to ensure that she avoided an epidural this time and that I would go to the house for the early labour to prevent Ruth going in to hospital too soon. At the next appointment with the consultant obstetrician, we requested that Ruth be referred to the counselling service in order to deal with issues from the last births that were bound to arise during this pregnancy.

As the pregnancy progressed, we spent time at each appointment talking about the natural birth process, watched videos and talked through the possible risk of complications and how these would be dealt with. Slowly, Ruth's confidence grew and she began to look forward to the birth, and feel more relaxed. Together we wrote a birth plan. We obtained a copy of the notes from Ruth's first 2 births and together we went through them and tried to understand what had gone wrong.

At 36 weeks, we went to see the consultant together. Ruth had decided that she would like to use the birthing pool for pain relief as she was to avoid an epidural at all costs. We negotiated with the consultant that Ruth would get out every 2 hours for a brief period of monitoring of the foetal heart. Ruth was happy with this plan.

The due date came and went…….no sign of the baby. In the end we resorted to regular sweeping of the cervix and acupuncture, as well as the usual home remedies. The consultant obstetrician was keen for an induction to take place, but Ruth hung in and just when she was getting to the point of giving up, her waters broke spontaneously.

The contractions started within a few minutes, much to everyone's excitement. I arrived very soon after and found the atmosphere to be calm and relaxed. Ruth's contractions were still quite mild but gradually getting stronger. We used homeopathic treatments and breathing techniques to deal with the labour. Ruth walked around the house and up and down the stairs a few times and the labour became increasingly strong, all the time she coped beautifully.

Having built up a good strong relationship during the antenatal period meant that we didn't waste anytime getting to know each other, I knew exactly the approach to take with Ruth to help her cope with the labour, and she didn't have to spend any time explaining to me her history and particular anxieties.

After a few hours, we decided to make the journey to the hospital, Jack drove. Luckily we were only 10 minutes away, as Ruth and I sat in the back, she was on her hands and knees whilst I rubbed her back. We must have been quite a sight!

We arrived at the hospital and were greeted by a friendly midwife (I had rung ahead to make sure that we were allocated a midwife on the same wavelength and also to let them know about Ruth's history)

We went straight in to the birthing pool room and the taps were turned on, Ruth had a brief time on the foetal heart monitor whilst the tub was filled. Within 30 minutes, she was in the warm water, just in time as it was becoming very evident that the labour was rapidly advancing. She remained completely in control, Jack was helping with the breathing techniques and I concentrated on back rubbing and keeping Ruth informed and reassured.

Very soon Ruth was pushing involuntarily with the contractions, and just over an hour of arriving at the hospital, a very healthy baby boy was born and cuddled straight away by his Mum, and then by his Dad whilst Ruth got out of the pool.

I stayed with Ruth for several hours after the birth, as this had been when things had gone very wrong after her previous delivery. I only left when I was absolutely certain that there was no chance of a reoccurrence with this baby.

Ruth came home the next day, this was a completely new experience for her and Jack as she had to stay for many days after the first two births. They were both completely delighted and slightly disbelieving that the birth had gone so well. The postnatal period went with out a hitch. When I discharged them, they were still floating high and even felt that some of the trauma of the previous experiences had been healed by this positive experience.

Ruth's Comment.
"The trauma of my two previous births left me associating childbirth with fear and loss of control. I lost trust in the medical staff who were caring for me and felt completely unsafe which was terrifying. I hoped that my third birth experience would be better- I never expected it to be what I can only describe as wonderful. Kerry enabled me to feel empowered, to regain confidence in my own body, and I felt absolutely safe throughout. I would not contemplate giving birth again without the services of an independent midwife- Kerry being my first choice every time"