When I was pregnant with my first baby 11 years ago (wow where did that time go!!) I had all kinds of expectations of how the birth would be. This was before One Born Every Minute had been on TV so I only had Hollywood or Soap Opera birth experiences to go by which I think we all will agree do not even come close to the real thing!!
I went to antenatal classes, birth classes and planned what music I’d like to listen to, my biggest decision at that point was what I would wear to give birth! Now looking back from the other side (3 times in fact!) I realise that none of this is important and it only sets you up for disappointment if the actual birth isn’t as you’d hoped or planned.
My first baby’s birth threw a few big surprises in for us. On arrival at the hospital the midwife was asking what pain relief I’d like and whether I wanted to use the pool. However, on my first examination this all went out of the window as Lexi was in the footling breech position and she seemed to be in a hurry to come out that way!!
So the next moment alarms were ringing and at least 10 members of hospital staff came into the room to deliver her safely. She arrived very quickly and was totally unconcerned by the commotion caused but with very big, blue, swollen feet to show for her unusual positioning!
At that point with my baby here I couldn’t have cared less what music was playing or what I was wearing (the clothes I went into hospital wearing, no time to change!!) all that mattered was that she was here. So in my next pregnancies I went into the births with absolutely no plans or expectations and they arrived in a much more conventional way!
But what this taught me is that every birth is different, there are so many variables involved that it’s almost impossible to know how it’s going to pan out and that’s ok because you are in the hands of people who have seen and experienced hundreds or thousands of babies been born so trust in them and don’t worry about the minor details because those aren’t the things you’ll remember years down the line.
Find Cass’s classes at Kalma Life Beverley and East Yorkshire