"Amazing Midwives & Doctors"

I gave birth a week ago after being induced at 42+3 as my body was not going into spontaneous labour. I was so anxious about being induced for many reasons and had my heart set on a natural water birth at Perth Midwifery Unit. 

After having a cervical ripening balloon fitted for 12 hours, it was time to head down to the labour ward. Caitlin was our midwife. She made us feel so at ease and thoroughly explained the process. She had a good sense of humour too which also helped calm my nerves! 

I was put on the oxytocin drip for a couple of hours but the contractions were coming too close together so it was turned off. My body then took over. I was in a lot of pain so decided to get the epidural as the gas and air was no longer helping the pain. Megan had now come on shift around this time. The epidural procedure was straight forward and the relief was incredible. I believe I was about 5/6cm at this time. 

After having a check, Megan told me she could no longer feel my cervix and thought I was now fully dilated. When it came to the second stage of labour, Megan had to coach me through pushing as I could not feel the contractions due to the epidural. After a period of time, i was tiring and we were no closer to meeting baby. He had gotten himself into a very awkward position, facing my side from what I remember! 

It was all a bit of a blur for me from hereon. Megan called the doctor through and it was decided that an episiotomy/Kielland forceps delivery was required for safety of my baby and I. My husband was told to put scrubs and we were taken through to theatre. This is where things got really intense for both of us. We were both terrified. All of the surgeons, anaesthetists and other staff in theatre couldn’t have been kinder. They tried their best to keep us calm. Megan was amazing(!) She held both my hand and my husbands, she showed immense compassion and knew all the right things to say. I honestly don’t know what we would have done without her and we can’t thank her enough for all she did for us and our son. Megan went above and beyond for us. 

Once the procedure had finished, we headed back through to the recovery ward. I felt absolutely dreadful, exhausted and very nauseous - not to mention completely numb from waist down. I was definitely in a bit of shock from the whole ordeal. 

We are so grateful that Megan was on shift that evening. We will never forget the compassion, kindness and support she showed us in a time when we felt so vulnerable and scared. So we really just wanted to say a huge thank you from the bottom of our hearts to Megan, Caitlin and all the rest of the labour ward who helped to safely deliver our baby boy into the world. 🩷xx