What was your experience of childbirth ?

My first was a 15 hr labour -not allowed to get out of bed- with pethidine and an episiotomy. My second 20 months later was 2 3/4 hrs walking around and no pain relief

Ditto Daisymae, don't even want to start thinking about it, too many horrendous memories but did result in a lovely son, could not have asked for better.

First- horror show - 6 hours screaming induced agony .
2nd - 10lbs- face up- at home
3rd - 8 lbs at home- arrived in 33 minutes - nearly had her on the stairs !

I’ve only had one, my DS. 2 hours in the first phase of Labour, 40 minutes in the second stage.

There wasn’t enough time to discuss pain relief.

All went smoothly but breastfeeding was painful. I soldiered on breastfeeding for 7 months, then he was on the bottle after that.

48 hour start-stop labour starting with waters breaking at 4am Sat morning (I thought I'd wet myself!). Eventually given something to get the labour going properly. I supposed all that was bearable, but what sticks in my mind was that I tore, and had to be stitched up. Ah OK you probably think, except that it was a male student who did the stitching and his embroidery skills were somewhat lacking, as the midwife in charge looked over his shoulder, told him he'd done it wrong, to unpick it all and do it again!!

Not so bad that I didn't do it again, even if I did spend most of my pregnancy in hospital!!
Then, when I did do it again, I had a similar experience with the hospital stays, and then afterwards (when youngest was about 12 months old) I had to stay in for nigh on 2 months!!
And I still wanted another a few years later, but mother nature decided 2 was enough for me!

OOOOOw it brings it all back, foetal distress and mismanaged are two phrases that sum it all up, the air was blue during the delivery! Son arrived eventually but with very low Apgar scores. A day later I was told by the pediatrician that my son may have sustained brain damage during the birth they wouldn't know to what extent until later on. This was all in Hong Kong in the 1990s. Luckily son met his developmental milestones and has flourished with just some Aspergers and dysgraphia so show for it. I do wonder if that is a result of genes or birth trauma, I will never know. We deal the hand we are dealt and have to live by those choices. Needless to say we also only had the one child.

My first was 2.5 hours and my second 1 hour only just made it to hospital but no problems during the pregnancies.
Both my girls have had their own now all grandsons aged 3.5 years, 5 months and 2months but both girls had pre eclampsia, one whizzed into surgery immediately after giving birth and the other had an emergency c section at 29 weeks. Stressful for me as well as them!

Reading other experiences, I feel very lucky that both my deliveries were only a couple of hours. I had gas and air for both but I kept forgetting to use it as it didn’t seem to do much and made me feel a bit nauseous. Both my boys were early, born at 36 weeks and 34 weeks. Both stayed in the SCBU for 10 days but I was allowed to stay in hospital with them. I lost my mum 2 years before my first son was born so I had no one close to ask for help. The time in hospital was beneficial to me to learn how to bath and handle my son but I have to say I found it came very easily and I loved every moment.

Awful for both ☹️.

My experiences are of the doctors and midwife standing at the foot of the bed and me being left to get on with it; OH was watching TV in the relatives room and didn't put in an. appearance until the. event was over asking, and I quote him, "has she had it yet and what is it?"
Being birthing partner for my daughter showed how far things have come since,

4 C-sections due to a fused spine so the pelvis under strain might have torn it apart. The first was a shock to the system as I wasn't expecting it to be as painful as it was. In my innocence I thought, no labour, no pain! The last 3 were fine because I knew what I was in for pain wise and was able to use mind over matter a lot more.
I couldn't complain about the care for the first three confinements but the last one was absolutely dire. It is the first time I have ever told the hospital I was discharging myself. There were signs on the wall that said that the babies weren't the patients and we were expected to look after them. Unable to move after the op? Tough luck, we'll put baby in bed with you. On morphine so worried that the baby will roll out whilst I am comatose? We'll put the sides of the bed up. Mum vomiting? No problem, baby won't worry about that. He's yours so look after him. Why aren't you asking for pain relief? Because all the advice says don't sleep with baby if you have been drinking or using drugs! IT WAS DIRE!
Fortunately, because of my insistence on going home I was moved to a mother and baby unit and treated so well with all the help I needed with service which was akin to the best hotel. I was so grateful. They also ascertained that baby's weight had been recorded wrongly at the hospital so he hadn't lost half his birth weight in 3 days!

exactly the same for me-both times

1982 Breech birth. Caesarean would be automatic now but not then although in the last stages a female doctor did threaten me that, if I didn’t get the baby out quickly, I’d have to have an emergency caesarean. At some point my husband was kicked out and not invited back for the birth or told for some time that he had a son. Also had a row of students watching at some point although by then I was beyond caring. I also, as a result and for other reasons, have only one child. Our experiences are determined by the times into which we’re born. I imagine a breech birth would be better handled now but way back maybe I and/or my son might not have survived.

I was playing cards with my hubby in hospital at 9.30 and had a baby by 12.20pm no labour or pain a planned caesarian under general anesthetic brilliant!

I was I labour with our first child for more than 36 hours. I was in hospital most of that time and progress was slow. I can hear the Irish midwife telling me to ease off on the has and air as she didn't want me away with the fairies! Then everything ground to a halt. I remember the dr coming in and saying that if I'd not given birth by a particular time, about 30 minutes later, i'd have to have a cesarean & I was willing the time to go quickly. Of course, it was an emergency by then so I had the full works and our DD was safely delivered 38 years ago. 2 years later, the obstetrician allowed me a very brief "trial of labour" after which DS was also born by C section. The first experience was pretty traumatic but the second not so much and the staff were very kind and sympathetic.

Late 70s, U.K. hospital, forceps delivery with epidural, I had no complaints. Was grateful for expert obstetric intervention. In for a week.

Early 80s, hospital again, but Middle East this time. Forceps and no complaints again. Only 4 days that time - the British matron apologised for kicking me out early because there were local women who (she thought) didn’t know how to look after themselves, or didn’t have e.g. the means, like running water on tap. I shared a room with one such (it was a converted hotel) and gathered that she was a Bedouin, still apparently in the clothes she’d arrived in.

She evidently thought I was a clueless mother - just before I left she took my baby (wrapped in a shawl) from me, saying, ‘Laa, laa, laa!’ (No, no, no!) and re-wrapped her in a very tight swaddling fashion, like a tiny little mummy!

Were not we’re, another word the ipad doesn’t like.

I was booked into the small GP maternity unit ( a small bungalow) I was in Labour 3 hours, no pain meds. All was fine. MzOops was 2 weeks overdue. I was in there for 48 hours and had an ambulance to get me home! Those were the days.

For MissOops I was booked into the maternity unit again but after my waters broke at home out she popped, she was late, but the placenta broke up and shot her out, no Labour pains so pain meds not needed.

It wasn’t without its problems immediately afterwards, but she was fine, I was in my own bed and the GP and Midwife were both very close by and we’re brilliant.

I wouldn’t recommend my second birth ‘plan’ to anyone though.

My first baby was small for dates DD born at one of the big London hospitals in the late 60's I was well cared for but never had any explanation of what was happening or why she was small. I believe I was one of the first people to have a scan at Queen Charlottes, I was taken in an ambulance and had the strange sensation of seeing DD on screen.
DD2 was in a small local hospital, she arrived on her due date, quickly and easily and I think lulled me into a false sense of security, unfortunately the birth of my DS two and half years later, was prolonged, 8 weeks in hospital beforehand, and distressing with an awful midwife at the end. I cannot write more about it as it has affected me more than I would wish.

I was really lucky - the NCT were helpful in advising that I didn't have to go to the nearest hospital, which back then was the worst in the country for midwife ratios - 1 to every 40 women! I had a lovely water birth at a midwife run unit, own ensuite room etc, although the gas and air didn't work properly as the pipe was broken! Second time around, went into labour so returned to the same place but as it was 4 weeks before due date, we had to go to a "proper maternity ward". This ended up as an emergency C-section as he was upside down.

I clearly remember a well-meaning nurse squeezing my hand on the way to theatre, saying "You're doing really well Sandra" - I'm not Sandra, but was in a slight state of shock that things were going differently to what I'd hoped/expected, so just said nothing!!

I did read years ago a comment that the bravest thing a woman can do is to have a second child. Reading some of these posts I think that I would agree

I had 2 born on England and 2 in Australia. No comparison. The experiences in England were totally dire. No doctors until after I had delivered and they didn’t believe me when I was ready to push. I gave birth to my second daughter during visiting time in the ward and they expressed shock and bundled me off to the labour ward. It was also filthy with cockroaches running around the ward and a man coming round with some sort of insect spray - in front of all the newborns in their cribs. Yuk. On top of that I had a retained placenta which they hadn’t checked. Six weeks later I was at death’s door. I told them about it in the public hospital here and they also said they hadn’t bothered to stitch me up properly and I should have sued them. No one sued in those days but these days I would have.

Prefer not to think about it !!!!!

But what a fascinating narrative Hellogirl1 Five babies! Wow!
I have so enjoyed reading all your childbirth accounts. No matter how many decades ago it was, the memories stay with most women.
Mine were all fairly straightforward, which was a huge relief as I am small. They were all born in hospital. I never considered a home birth as I wanted the reassurance of being in hospital with help on hand if needed.