Hospital birth stories: Liz's 5th birth : The Compleat Mother

I had planned a homebirth, but my new midwives (my previous midwives retired!) became spooked when my blood pressure began to elevate. As my due date approached, they began making noises about my having the baby at the hospital, rather than at home. I explained that I wanted a homebirth, but I was overruled. This was very disappointing, as I really wanted to experience the type of birth that I had had with my last child-a wonderful, gentle, and peaceful birth in the privacy and safety of my own bedroom. Unfortunately, this was not to be. :( I was annoyed as I felt that I had been misled by them about the blood pressure issue. Even at my first and then subsequent appointments, the blood pressure issue was not a concern vis a vis a homebirth. Now, they were changing the rules on me!

The midwives arranged for me to come to the hospital the following morning to have my membranes broken. I was upset about this turn of events as I have a history of very quick labours and deliveries and felt that I would be better off at home. All of my births had been rather quick. The longest was 5 1/2 hours and the shortest was a mere 40 minutes! Fortunately, I went into labour spontaneously in the early morning hours before I was scheduled to arrive at the hospital. At least I didn't have to worry about a potential induction with Pitocin if the breaking of membranes failed to start my labour.

From this point on, things happened in a blur. My husband dropped me off in front of the emergency entrance requesting that I wait for him while he parked the car. I refused to let go of the door handle as I was in serious pain by this time. My husband then went into the foyer and retrieved a PAEDIATRIC wheelchair and insisted that I get into it. Can you imagine a full term pregnant large woman attempting to squeeze into a kiddie wheelchair? It doesn't bear imagining about. As I heatedly discussed with my husband why I could not possibly fit into this wheelchair, an ER nurse noticed us outside in the dark and came to my rescue. She found me an adult sized wheelchair and directed us to the labour and delivery area.

My husband, Jack, raced down the hall pushing my wheelchair wildly. Things were progressing so quickly. We made a few wrong turns, but ultimately ended up at the right place. We rushed up to the nurses station and my husband blurted out that I was just about to have a baby! The nurses seemed almost bored and just waved us on to a room down the hall. We tore into the room as fast as we could. I literally yanked off my clothes and threw them across the room. My husband found a hospital gown for me to wear. I went into the washroom as I felt extreme pressure. I was having difficulty getting off of the toilet and the contractions were so close together and painful that I could barely move. Finally, I stood up and gripped the towel bar. At this point, my midwives hadn't arrived yet and there was no nurse to be seen in our room.

My husband insisted that it was time he found help for me. I was extremely fearful as I didn't want to be left alone on my own. Knowing the urgency of the situation, he set off in search of a nurse. I really felt out of control emotionally in this sterile hospital environment. I was unable to get to that calm place inside my head, the place where I needed to be, to push this baby out! I wished that I was home, in the comfort of my own bedroom. My husband tells me that he finally found a nurse strolling, ever so slowly and unconcernedly down the hall, cradling her cup of coffee. She obviously didn't believe us when we told her, upon our arrival, that our baby was due at any moment!

I was worried that my Mother, older daughters, best friend, and Mother-in Law wouldn't get there in time. In my haze of pain, I kept looking for the familiar feet beneath the privacy curtain. It seems that they HAD already arrived, but the nurses refused to let them enter. Finally, my best friend insisted that they were to be there to watch the birth, and the nurses finally relented. They made it into my room with just a few short minutes to spare.

I was given an internal examination, and the nurse was surprised to discover that I was fully dilated. Fortunately, one of my midwives and her apprentice arrived just after the nurse made her appearance. My midwife took over and I gave birth lying on my left side. All in all, my labour and delivery took approximately 45 minutes. I gave birth to an 8 lb. 15 oz. baby girl.

We remained at the hospital for two short hours. Our newborn daughter, Charlotte, was examined by the hospital paediatrician. Both he and the midwife noticed that our daughter was tongue-tied. I begged for him to clip the membrane as the tongue-tie went right to the tip of her tongue, pulling it into the shape of a heart when she tried to extend it. Having a good knowledge of breastfeeding (I am a retired La Leche League Leader), I knew that this could be a big problem. I was afraid that her nursing technique would suffer causing latch and feeding problems, and that she would hurt me with a poor suck. The paediatrician informed me that he didn't do this procedure, and that we would have to make an appointment to see an Ears, Nose, and Throat Specialist. Ultimately, this was a big problem, and I had to find someone to take care of this problem myself two days later. I was very disappointed and disillusioned to realize that they were content to send me home with a solely breastfeeding, tongue-tied baby.

Join our monthly newsletter mailing list! Once a month you will receive a short description of what's new at The Compleat Mother and recent news related to our topics. Thank you!

Enter your email address below,
then click the 'Join List' button:
(or if you prefer, just

me and I will add you to the list)

One Year Subscription $12.00
Two Year Subscription $20.00
One Year BULK Subscription $22.00
Two Year BULK Subscription $35.00