Everything turns out differently - and yet it was still good

Birth report Clinical birth at 42+1
Hamburg, January 2025

We would like to tell you about our experience of an unplanned clinical birth, as we had passed the 42+0 deadline.

During pregnancy, we did both the prenatal care, themed course (latency phase) & the birth preparation course at the Haus für Geburt und Gesundheit. (Team Nora / Irma)

Our absolute wish was to experience the birth in a birthing centre, but that didn't happen. Our pregnancy was healthy & unremarkable. We had routinely registered with the partner hospital / Marienkrankenhaus & attended an information evening. Simply to have seen & felt the place before. However, we hadn't done any more research on the subject of clinical birth, as we assumed 100% that everything would take place in the birth centre. (A clinical birth was of course very present in the birth preparation course).

And as it happens, everything turned out differently.
Our baby just didn't want to set off & so the opportunity to give birth at our favourite place passed. (Not without many tears flowing.)

The new plan was: we would go to the hospital the next day, 42+0, to have the induction.
At 42+0 early in the morning, my waters broke at home & we went to hospital at midday without any contractions.
We were admitted there, always with the comment that we were already very far along at 42+0 & were examined first.

Due to the mother's age (41 years), we were advised not to wait until the next morning to induce labour - should contractions still not develop - but to start in the evening.
In addition, antibiotics were started 12 hours after the bladder was opened.

We were also in contact with our birth centre team if we had any questions.

CTG, ultrasound, blood values, Doppler examination were unremarkable - that's why we were aiming for an induction in the evening - the admitting doctor only wanted to induce immediately due to the mother's age, but we didn't want that. The senior consultant also agreed.

We decided to go straight for a rooming-in / family room to promote a sense of well-being and relaxation. (costs 120€ / night)

We spent the rest of the day going for a walk, eating cake & preparing for the birth: Spinning baby, lift & tuck, pelvic exercises, perineal massage, abdominal massage, breathing exercises, affirmations (we prepared for the birth with a hypnobirthing course, etc.).

Unfortunately, the body did not develop any contractions of its own. At 7pm we were induced with Propess - regular & long CTG times followed. Unfortunately, 3.5 hours later, the insert fell off due to amniotic fluid. A discussion took place and the plan was made to continue with the gel, as it was not possible to administer Propess again.
This was immediately followed by CTG times. (30 minutes before induction, then administration of medication, 30 minutes again. Next CTG after 2 hours, then 4 hours apart)
After the 2 hour spacing control CTG (where there were still no contractions to be seen) we went back to the room.

There, however, the contractions started & became more and more regular & noticeable within 1.5 hours. We reported back to the delivery room with the news & another CTG was taken, this time with contractions & an examination was carried out. However, the cervix was only 2 - 2.5 cm dilated. The midwife asked us to come back for the CTG at 9am & gave us the choice of going to the family room or the pre-labour room in the delivery room. We opted for our family room on the ward.

We then stayed alone in the room until 7am, which was about 4 hours, and did our thing. Breathed, changed positions a lot & experienced labour contraction after labour contraction. The Tens device from the birth centre was put to full use.

At 7 o'clock I wanted to get into the bathtub, so we made our way to the delivery room. Also, the contractions had clearly taken on the quality of pushing along. (By then there were no further checks from the midwives or nurses in our room).

20 minutes later we arrived in the delivery room & were greeted by a great midwife. We gave her the note with our birth wishes, including no interventions. A further 23 minutes later, our baby was born. This was followed by lots of time for umbilical cord pulsation, bonding, arrival & breastfeeding. We were well looked after in the delivery room, simply left in peace & allowed to arrive.

In addition, the care and examinations were carried out from time to time. But all without stress. Finally, a paediatrician came to see us and complied with our wish to be discharged.

About 4 hours later we arrived in the family room, were able to pack everything & at 2pm we made our way home.

Our conclusion: Of course we would have preferred to have given birth in the birth centre as planned. But in the end, our birth at St Mary's Hospital was also very self-determined, calm & natural. Everyone was super nice & catered to our wishes - albeit with more medical guidelines. We had a quick & great birth & are very grateful for the experience.

The most important thing was that we communicated our wishes clearly, questioned medical advice and listened to and trusted our feelings.

Now we wish you a great birth too,

PS: And we would like to thank our midwife team & the whole team at the birth centre. See you next time*