Katie completed my group hypnobirthing course in Dartford and pregnancy yoga in 2023 for the birth of her first baby. She then came back to pregnancy yoga 18 months later in preparation for her second birth, a planned vbac at Darent Valley hospital.
My first baby was born in December 2023 via c-section at Darent Valley hospital. They told me Lottie was going to be a big baby, and I really didn’t want an induction so opted for a C-section instead. Although I did end up labouring and got to 7cm, a consultant still convinced me to go for C-section due to risks of a big baby.. she was, of course, not big!
For my second pregnancy in 2025, I wanted to prepare for a VBAC (vaginal birth after a caesarean). Baby girl, Edie, was born after a five hour active labour and I still can’t believe it did it!! This birth experience was amazing and everything I had hoped for and I really owe so much of it to Colleen at Bloom and Flow – your words each week in pregnancy yoga helped to keep me calm in pregnancy. Then during labour I kept thinking about you telling me to breathe in energy and breath out fear.
I have to say, Darent Valley hospital were so supportive of me having a vbac, and so the combination of support made me confident in my decisions. I was sure my body was preparing itself over the weekend before birth, and I wasn’t wrong. Fast forward to 2am Monday morning and I started feeling the odd contraction but told myself to stay in bed and rest as much as I could, so I did. Then my waters went at 4.30am so I jumped out of bed, got excited and went into hospital at 6am. Due to having a previous c-section and gestational diabetes this time round they wanted me in as soon as my waters went.
I was checked and sent straight to delivery suite as my contractions where there and I was 2cm dilated (I told myself not to listen to the number as it didn’t matter) I had Mark, my partner, and my sister with me for support. We turned down the lights and put on some music (Spice Girls, Ed Sheeran and Kate Nash – not everyone’s first choice for birth but made it me happy!) I also asked for the Bluetooth monitoring so I could keep walking around and using the birthing ball.
By 1pm I asked for an epidural as things had ramped up and I wanted to be more comfortable so that I could keep on enjoying the experience. I had the epidural at around 1.30pm. I was calm and continuously using my breathing techniques through each contraction, reminding myself each contraction was another step closer to meeting baby!
At around 4.30pm I was 7cm and then things took a slight turn as babys heart rate dropped, suddenly the room was full of doctors telling me I might be going to theatre. I kept breathing and remained calm, thankfully within minutes baby’s rate was back up and fine and I was telling them I wanted to push. I was told I had only just been examined at 7cm so it was too soon. I told her that I must be ready because I could feel the change, another quick check and sure enough I was given the green light to start pushing. Eight contractions later, my baby girl was born and placed on my chest at 5.04pm. A moment I will treasure forever!
Thanks to Colleen, I knew how to advocate for myself and listen to my body and tell the midwife what I needed to do. My recovery has been amazing and we are now soaking up all the cuddles as a family of 4!
I hope my birth story helps other ladies that are trying for a vbac birth, as I know hearing success stories did that for me.
