What can* happen when you don’t listen to your intuition

*Please remember that every labour is different, even for the same mother with subsequent children. This is not me telling you what to do during your own labour!
If you are reading this whilst pregnant, then remember that this isn’t you. Thousands of women find water to be a comfort to them in labour.
You must do what you feel is the right thing to do, taking your situation into account but if the medical staff are telling you that your or your baby’s life is in danger, then please listen to them.
Just make sure you have an advocate with you who knows your wishes, is informed about childbirth and can communicate with the medical staff throughout.

Lisa’s labour

I was listening to a pregnant client recently who was telling me about the labour and birth of her older child. It was an interesting insight for both of us, into how we can miss listening to our intuition, and what the outcome can be.  

It began well... she had learned and was practising hypnobirthing during the early stages, and described sitting on the birthing ball, feeling pretty relaxed, in the small midwife-led birthing centre.  

She’d been asked previously about whether she’d like to use the birthing pool during labour, to which she replied that she didn’t fancy it because she thought it would get her “hot and bothered.” A sensible refusal it would seem, from what happened next. I know when I was thinking about labour with my first baby, I was worried I’d be sick—something I can feel if I get too hot—so I understood what she meant.  

So, Lisa’s labour was going well... she was relaxed... she was told her baby would be born within the next couple of hours... exciting! Then she was asked again if she’d like to try going in the birthing pool (I wonder what was wrong with leaving her as she was... “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!”) and because she was feeling positive and upbeat (but relaxed), she thought, “Why not, let’s try it!” so they started to fill the pool and she climbed in. Within minutes, her heart rate increased, and so did her baby’s and panic ensued. The short version from then on, is that she was put in an ambulance and rushed to the nearby hospital.  

Sadly, her progress slowed and she overheard talk of forceps, which she was determined not to have. We talked about the impact that stress hormones can have on slowing down labour and she said she hadn’t thought of it like that before. That means none of the medical professionals had spoken to her about it. I wonder if they knew? No-one had considered that the suggestion of getting in the pool—an idea she had previously known wouldn’t be good for her—may have had an influence on the slowing of her labour. Or perhaps it was just the interruption of her labour and engagement with her ‘thinking brain’ (getting her to make a decision) that contributed, and/or caused her stress, panic and anxiety... the hormones for which are incompatible with those responsible for a smooth labour.  

On one hand, this story has a happy ending; both baby and Mum were (are) well, but it has left an impact on Lisa’s current pregnancy because she is feeling a bit anxious about the same thing happening again, and is therefore not confident to give birth in a birthing centre (at the time we spoke).  

It saddened me to think that the labour and birth could have been different if the medical staff, (although I’m sure they were doing what they thought best) had allowed Lisa to trust her intuition and stay out of the pool—if they hadn’t have kept offering it as an option—or getting her to make a decision during labour. Perhaps she would have been feeling very different this time—indeed, much more confident in her body’s abilities—to give birth in more relaxed surroundings.  

Hopefully I will be writing a Part Two to this case study in a few months, with a positive story of a happy Mum and baby number two!