My birth was difficult for me. I found out my baby was footling breech at 36 weeks, which meant I was only given the options of a Caesarian section birth due to cord placement and risks associated. I was originally devastated as I had envisioned a totally different vaginal birth in the birth suite. My pregnancy was very normal though I kept getting kicks down low, which I now realise why, as her feet were first!

The caesarean itself was nice. We didn’t know we were having a girl so my husband got to announce the gender, the theatre sung her Happy Birthday (which was the cutest thing in the world) and she was safe in my arms and handed to me within a matter of minutes.

9 days later, I haemorraged due to 7cm of retained placenta not being removed. I then went on to haemorrage another two times due to incorrect stitching of my C Section incision, so it made my early post-partum journey really difficult.

I still feel teary at the thought, though the biggest blessing for any future kids I have is I now know better and feel more confident with my voice. 😊

What do you wish you knew before birth?

To trust your own instincts more and don’t focus too much on a labour bag haha

If you could, would you do anything differently?

I wish I had trusted my gut more about her movements/placement and changed care when I started having doubts!

What did your partner do that really helped during labour/birth?

My husband was insane. He was calming, told me (and the theatre) the gender of the baby which helped soften my sadness around the caesarean section and advocated for me when I wasn’t able to myself during the post partum dramas.

What advice/honest truth would give a mama-to-be about birth?

I wish there wasn’t as much stigma around C-Section births, as that bothered me, so my advice would be to block out peoples opinions and bring your baby safely to you however you decide. There is sadly no ‘easy’ way to birth your baby😊. Also if you require or choose a C-Section, to get up and move as soon as you can and know you still bleed regardless of how you birth your baby. 😊