4. My Healing Hospital Water Birth Story: From Trauma to Triumph

Ever wondered what it’s like to have a hospital water birth? Maybe you’re considering a water birth yourself! You totally should be!

This episode is all about my second hospital birth story. It was the most amazing, redemptive experience, I wish everyone could feel this good about their hospital birth. And you totally can, friend. Water birth or not!

You'll hear me share my own experience, what happened differently, how I felt completely in control of my birth, and why water birth should be something worth considering!

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👋 WHO AM I?

Welcome, friends! I am Beth, a certified nurse midwife, doula, and childbirth educator. My philosophy is rooted in autonomy, informed decision making, and positive mindset to help expecting parents plan for a beautiful, stress-free birth. I am here to provide value to YOU through tips and practical advice, either to guide you through pregnancy or to help you prepare for childbirth, postpartum and beyond. There’s no fluff here - only info that adds to your positive experience and saves you stress and uncertainty.

Transcript

Hey there! I am Beth Connors, a midwife and mom of 2, but also, Your Birth Bestie. In this podcast, we’ll dive deep into everything you need to feel confident, prepared, and in control from baby bump to delivery room. From practical tips to personal stories, we’ll cover it all so you know exactly what to expect every step of the way. Let’s get into it!

Welcome back to Your Birth Bestie podcast and thanks so much for all your support last week as I officially launched the podcast. If you haven’t followed the show, be sure to subscribe to get notifications every Tuesday when I release new episodes! But today you are listening to episode four! I am so excited to share with you my redemptive hospital water birth experience after my first traumatic birth I talked about in a previous episode. 

If you’re not sure what you want your own birth to look like, or if you’re already planning a hospital birth, I hope listening to both of my stories gives you a peek into what hospital birth should absolutely NOT be and what it absolutely CAN be with the right preparation and support.

In this episode, I’ll share my experience with having a hospital water birth and how I was able to feel completely in control of my birth, really starting in pregnancy too. I love sharing my story and maybe by the end you’ll even consider a water birth yourself!

Okay!

So, if you listened to episode 2, you’ll notice some similarities with this story, but thankfully there are way more differences!

Because I chose to birth at a different hospital and was actually cared for by a group of midwives I had worked with. Shout out to Anna, you seriously were the best support and I’m so glad my labor was less than an hour and your shift hadn’t ended yet! I was so excited when she was on call when I was admitted but was bummed her shift was almost over. The twist was my entire labor was less than an hour so that was eventful and I’ll tell you how exactly it went down!

At exactly 39 weeks, I was feeling contractions every 2-3 minutes and they were uncomfortable, but not too bad. They went on for like 10 hours and I got ready to go to the hospital, arranged childcare for my oldest daughter, and waited. I tried to take a nap thinking it was the real deal, but fell asleep and woke up in the morning with no contractions. So that was a strange experience because mentally I was prepared and my husband and I were literally ready to go.

I was actually pregnant for another week, so that wasn’t how it started. I went to my clinic appointment that I didn’t think I’d make it to at 40+2 and because I was contracting, I was curious how dilated I was. Especially with the first labor experience, not knowing I was in labor. 

Honestly, I’m pro cervical checks in labor if you’re curious or if it will help your mental health knowing the information, but I’m also team no–cervical check if that stresses you out and you will be discouraged. If you want one go for it, if you don’t I respect that 100%. There’s no black and white or one-size fits all approach with pregnancy or childbirth.

Because I was contracting, feeling lots of pelvic pressure, and had an almost 11 pound baby with my first, I felt good about doing a membrane sweep at my due date if I was dilated. So my midwife checked me and I was again, seriously just like last time, 6-7 cm dilated with a bulging bag of water so she did the membrane sweep. The contractions were definitely doing something, but I wasn’t in labor.

So guess what?! I was NOT rushed to L&D. I was NOT forced to be induced. This is what changed my experience for sure! It was like I had a redo.

So I went home! It was the best feeling! But also a little unsettling because I had like 3cm left to go before having a baby and that was weird. Usually second babies come quicker than the first, so I was anticipating less than 10 hour delivery, but I really had no idea what I’d be in for.

But I was home and the conversation with the midwife I had was offering an induction at any point because I was so far dilated. They’d just admit me, break my bag and we’d have a baby. 

I chose to wait and see if labor started after that membrane sweep where I was 7cm dilated at that point.

I went to triage that next morning for an additional membrane sweep, often times a couple in a row help stimulate those prostaglandins and soften the cervix to prepare for labor. I wasn’t uncomfortable at all the the membrane sweeps were super tolerable. About a minute of cramping during the sweep and some light cramps ands spotting for about an hour after. But for me, it didn’t kick start my labor.

I went home again with the option of coming in for an induction later that day and it was a hard decision to make. One thought was that I wanted a spontaneous, hands-off birth and no intervention, but being so far dilated with a very soft, favorable cervix, having all that pressure, and really having already birthed a baby, I was a great candidate for an elective induction.

Something I wouldn’t typically recommend, especially for first time moms at 39 weeks or something like that, but this is why decisions are so individualized. 

So I chose the elective induction and was admitted. 

I should also say too that I was accepted into the hospital water birth study for that midwifery group since I had been 28 weeks, which I was so excited about. I was chosen as the experiment group and was able to use the tub.I had always wanted a water birth, but knew it wasn’t usually offered in hospitals where I live, but this was the perfect opportunity and the tub was set up for me and ready when I needed it.

My induction started at 5pm and I agreed to have my bag of waters ruptured. It was the same experience as the first time, but I was the one in control. The midwife had made it clear that I was able to call the shots and it wasn’t at all forced upon me at all. 

When they did this, there was that initial gush of fluid, but then I felt a huge movement from my baby and instantly an even more intense feeling of pressure and strong contractions back to back.

I stood up and labored with my elbows on the bed that was raised up for me to lean on, for about a half hour. I remember saying to my husband, “I dont remember it being this bad… I can’t do this for 10 hours…” And then if not 2 minutes later I said… “She’s coming!” as I’m standing next to the bed trying to get into the tub for delivery.

I was helped into the tub on hands and knees squeezing my husbands hands in front of me. Honestly I was a bit panicked because I had my labor playlist ready and affirmations and labor positions I wanted to try and minset/pain coping techniques literally all flew out the window and I’m in transition in what felt like moments after starting the induction.

A quick delivery was something that wasn’t new to me as a midwife, but I never thought it would be me! 

Literally just a few pushes later at 5:45pm she was born at 9 pounds 2 ounces, much smaller than my first, thankfully!

And after she was born, I was helped back to the bed while holding my baby and delivered the placenta. 

And the best part of it all was that immediate skin-to-skin with my baby! I don’t think anything beats that moment seriously. And if you listened to my first birth story I did not get to hold her until an hour after she was born, literally for no reason other than they did all their assessments and medications and things literally straight away. 

But this experience was much different. I held my daughter for two hours skin-to-skin. She nursed right away. I had only my husband, midwife, and good friend who was a labor and delivery nurse and actually came in special for me, she wasn’t scheduled to work, to help me have my baby. So Nikki, you’re amazing that truly meant the world to me! 

I didn’t tear, the pain was seriously so minimal compared to the first time and it was like a euphoric feeling. I wish I could’ve just gotten into my car and went home, it was incredible. 

I actually felt comfortable caring for my baby and prepared for postpartum. I had done it before and helped many, many moms through this experience also, so there were no unknowns or fears. Such a great feeling!

After she was born, I stayed the 24-hours for her to get her newborn screenings and left the next night to be with my other daughter and that transition to having two kids was so much better than I could have imagined. 

A few things I want you to takeaway from this story before getting into the benefits of water birth are:

Understand interventions and recommendations. Don’t settle with generic info. Why does it apply to YOU at that exact moment. You don’t deserve standardized care, everything should be individualized and your birth plan should be taken seriously.

Protect your birth space. You have the right to know who is caring for you and limit people involved, always. Also ensuring your comfort is the most important. Things like dimming the lights, playing music or having complete silence, eating and drinking, moving as you feel is best… there are so many ways you can control your birth experience just by how your birth space is setup and how other people know how to support you. 

This is where birth partners being involved is so important to and can protect your space for you and really make sure your wishes are being respected.

The last thing is embrace unpredictability, don’t be afraid of what hasn’t happened yet. If seen this anticipation consume the minds of too many women, and I definitely don’t want this for you! If you’re maybe nervous about labor emergencies or are worried you’ll need an epidural but really don’t want one, or there really are a million other things that may pop in your head right now… the best thing to do is really be specific about what your fears are and work through them. 

This is so important and transformative in the birth space that I have dedicated an entire module to releasing your birth fears. From breaking down birth fears to preventing unwanted outcomes, it is something I think is important for all expecting moms. 

You can find more info about the comprehensive hospital birth course at. bethconnors.com/birthcourse and join the waitlist to get updates. Presale starts May 22nd for course access in July!

And because I had an amazing water birth, I’m biased and now think everyone needs to try it! 

But hear me out! I can answer some of the most common questions I’ve gotten.

When people ask me what a water birth is and how is it different from a traditional land birth, I will tell then that a water birth is when a mom gives birth in a tub or pool of warm water. Mom can choose to get in and out the water at any point during labor or can stay throughout the entire birth process if she wants. And that water births are known for being a more relaxed and natural experience for mom

There are also many benefits of having a water birth! They can help reduce contraction pain and pressure from being submerged in the water and it can also help decrease anxiety.

An amazing perk to of being in the tub itself is having greater control over the birth process in terms of how to move into a comfortable position in the water. For me, it also created a sense of boundaries because I was the only one in the tub and I could do my own thing. I didn’t feel trapped in the bed like I did during my first birth and subjected to all the interventions like frequent cervical checks, pushing on my back, vacuum assisted delivery… that ended up happening. 

Being in the water also promotes relaxation and lowers the changes of tearing or having an episiotomy.

As for baby, it is completely safe for them to be born in the water. They will not drown, or inhale water when they are born, because they are used to being surrounded by fluid and have never taken a breath before using their lungs.

Fun fact that’s related to this… is I am 6 feet tall so the standard birth tub was a bit short when I was in the pushing phase and leaning over the side of the tub. At one point I slightly stood up, but because I am so tall the water was only filled as I as it could be, but my daughters head was born in the water and as I stood she was exposed to the air so I could not go back into the water.

So because this happened I had to deliver standing up, but it all worked out. She actually came so fast she cried before she was completely born, so that was a wild experience! 

But typically if you deliver in the water, the warm water is a gentle transition for baby because it mimics the environment they just came from in your belly.

This helps reduce the baby’s stress levels and makes for a smoother transition into the outside world.

Babies born in water tend to be more alert and have better oxygen levels too, which is really amazing!

The last thing I get asked a lot is if it’s an option for everyone or how to know if you can have a water birth in the hospital?

And it totally depends on where you live, the providers, and the resources around you, which I know is unfortunate that it’s not more widely available, but this is also why it was so cool to be part of this water birth study that is working to prove safety to increase access in more hospitals!

So if this sounds interesting to you, definitely see what options are available for you because it can absolutely be a positive experience.

Thank you so much for listening today! I appreciate you so so much and hope you enjoyed this episode. If you have any questions, I’d love to hear from you over on Instagram @bethconnors_cnm. And if you enjoyed the show, leaving a review on your favorite podcast platform would mean so much! I absolutely love the feedback. I’ll see you next week and remember, you deserve an autonomous hospital birth, and I’m here to support you through it all.