The VBAC of Eve Carmel

• It started very suddenly
• Forget the cassette player!
• It was a pretty brilliant VBAC
• Where to next?

Labour started very suddenly at 6.00pm on 3 February, just after I had put my daughter's dinner on. I needed to go to the loo then started having very frequent (but initially fairly mild) contractions. I wasn't quite sure what was happening as the baby wasn't due for another 13 days and, after a 24-hour labour culminating in an emergency Caesarean for failure to progress last time, I had imagined that I would have a long way to go yet.

I called my husband at work but he was busy so they said they'd get him to ring back ASAP. After 15 minutes things were hotting up, so I called back and said I was in labour could I please speak to him! They went and got him and he started home straight away. I also called my mum who set out but wouldn't arrive until 9.30pm as she lives a few hours away.

In the meantime I put on the Teletubbies DVD for my daughter and she kept climbing up on my back whilst I leant on the sofa. My husband arrived at 7.00pm and we grabbed some of the bags - me telling him to leave the cassette player and all the batteries we had bought for it behind and just get in the car. We got to the hospital at 7.30pm and my husband and daughter went home to wait for my mum to arrive.

My midwife from the Sure Start scheme met me at the labour ward and I was given gas and air and put on a monitor. I had only just seen her for a routine antenatal appointment at 11.00am that morning so she was very surprised to see me again so soon! I was in a LOT of pain and I asked for an epidural, so she examined me and said I was 8cm dilated and asked if I wanted an epidural or for them to break the waters and see what happened. I opted for the second and almost immediately felt the change in sensation of bearing down.

It seemed to help the pain but was still very uncomfortable. They said not to push and kept moving me around onto my side but I couldn't really listen and pushed anyway. After 12 minutes our baby was born at 8.02pm! She was given straight to me and I saw she was healthy and lovely and that she was a girl.

I kept hold of her for over an hour before she was checked, weighed and dressed and it was a lovely time. She managed a small feed and we were left to enjoy the time alone just as I had wanted. Unfortunately Ed couldn't be at the birth but I rang him straight away and he heard her first cries and then I spoke to my mum just as she was arriving and told her the news too.

I didn't need any stitches although there was a small tear which is pretty stingy when I wee. The only other thing are the after-pains, especially when I feed her. Other than that a pretty brilliant VBAC. We stayed in overnight and went home at 12.00pm next day after all the checks had been done.

Where to next?

• Read the full birth story
• To read more birth stories, click here!
• To talk to others considering a VBAC, visit our forum