"the birth of both my boys.Thank you Hull Women and Children's!"

My first son was 8 days over. I'd never been in hospital for anything apart from a broken wrist as a child, and with it being my first I was pretty blimming nervous! I had a lovely midwife called Sarah who thankfully didn't send me home despite me being borderline dilation as she had a feeling I would progress quickly (being 0cm at stretch and sweep the previous day). I went in at 8am and had my son at 3: 11pm. The birth was a really positive birth, Sarah responded well to my birth plan, stayed calm and encouraging/supportive without being patronising and responded quickly and confidently when I'd change my mind about positions, or my music or what I wanted etc. She was due to go off shift at 3pm but stayed to deliver my son who was born without intervention after 40 mins of pushing. It was the best feeling ever having my husband tell me the gender of our child. I had initially wanted a water birth but the birthing pool was full. In the end I think this worked best for me and was really happy with the birth. This was 4 years ago.

My second labour was quite different. I felt more confident going into late pregnancy due to my positive experience. However, my second son ended up back to back resulting in me having a week long on-off labour and no sleep. Initially I felt I could cope well with labour as I knew what was going to happen this time, however my contractions were very different with no sensation at all during contractions in my stomach. I was in much more pain with this labour. I went into hospital at 5am and the birthing suite was free! However by 8am I hadn't progressed past 2cm despite having very regular contractions that were excruciating. I had Amy as my midwife with Cat, a student midwife. Both were fantastic. I was given clary sage and supported at each stage superbly. They trusted me to follow my body's urges instead of reverting to textbook, when I felt urges to push I wasn't told "try not to push yet, keep it in! " they simply let me lead my own labour. When I wanted to change position but couldn't physically move myself they quickly and carefully helped me into the position I needed to deliver my son. I went from 5cm to 10cm in 30 minutes and after 11 minutes of pushing my second son was born; I was in total shock at the speed of the final stage after spending a good few hours with no progress. Once again they allowed my husband to give me the news on the gender of our child which was an amazing experience for him. They quickly sorted sheets etc. seemed genuinely thrilled for us and gave us peace and quiet to just enjoy our new arrival. They didn't seem in a rush to have the room etc. I didn't make it into the birthing pool this time either, although did make it to the suite! The staff here are in my opinion amazing; they are responsible for bringing the most precious things in our lives into the world and do it with compassion, patience, understanding and give us dignity and encouragement the whole time. I could not have asked for better experiences -unless they invent beam out technology for babies and remove all pain; -) I hope the hospital management appreciate how fantastic a team they have.