‘I didn’t find the delivery painful’

Beautiful, moving and special: every birth story is unique. Prolonged and rapid deliveries, at home and in hospital, with and without pain relief, caesarean sections and vaginal deliveries: everything is covered in this section.

This week you can read Femke’s birth story.

Birth story: the statistics

Mother: Femke
Start of labor: Spontaneously
Gestational age: 37 weeks
Duration of delivery: 7.5 hours
Place: At home
Pain relief: No
Way of giving birth: Naturally
Particularities: She didn’t find it painful
How many child: Second

How the birth story began

“I was just 37 weeks pregnant when I woke up at 6:00 in the morning with wet underpants. I went to the bathroom and saw that I had lost my mucus plug. Not much later my water also broke. The whole bathroom floor was wet. I had to laugh because it was like in a movie. I called the midwife to tell her that my water had broken and that I would keep her informed. Then I decided to go back to bed and wait for my contractions.

Femke’s birth story

“Three hours after my water broke I noticed that I felt some rumbling in my stomach for the first time. I was very excited and couldn’t wait to hold our second son in my arms. I called my parents to ask if they could pick up our eldest two-year-old son. That way I could only focus on my birth and not have to worry about him. I wanted to give birth at home anyway.

10am

After my son was picked up, I could really relax. I noticed that the contractions got stronger and lasted longer. My husband took my yoga ball into the living room and I sat on it. That way I could move back and forth quietly during the contractions. This was not only good for my back, but that way I could also absorb the contractions well.

12.00

After two hours on the yoga ball, we noticed that the contractions were already coming every few minutes. My husband called the midwife and told her the contractions were coming in quick succession. Fortunately, the midwife lives and works in our street, so she was there within five minutes. At that moment she told me that I was already seven centimeters dilated. The maternity care was called and everything was prepared for the birth.

13.00

Although the contractions got worse and worse, I didn’t find it painful. Anything but even. I had done a lot of yoga in the months before giving birth and I could puff away the contractions well. Of course I felt something, but painful? No, I couldn’t call it that. I had headphones with quiet music on, so that I could focus on myself. This helped me a lot. My husband’s back massages also helped a lot. He knew exactly what to do, which I really liked.

1:30 pm

I was fully dilated around 1:30 PM. I found the pushing the most annoying during my last delivery. That was also the only thing I dreaded during this delivery. I soon noticed that it was much easier during this delivery. In fact, it went really fast. Within fifteen minutes of pushing, our second son Luca was lying on my chest. I looked at my husband and we thought exactly the same: we are complete.”

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