From water births at home to surprise emergency c-sections and everything in between, every birth is unique and every birth is a significant and unforgettable experience in a person’s life.
Here, Christl tells us how she coped with labour pain using a TENS machine.
My labour started at around nine in the evening and I put on my TENS machine from the beginning. My contractions continued to get stronger each hour and at times I felt nauseous and was sick.
We arrived at the hospital at around 1.30am and at this point I was 5cm dilated and things were getting fairly intense. After an hour or so I felt like I needed something else to assist with the pain so I tried gas. Unfortunately it made me sick again and I found it really hard to breathe properly through the mouth piece so I gave up on the gas and stuck with the TENS machine.
By three in the morning I was ready to push. The pain was intense but I believe the TENS machine helped me cope with the pain. I didn’t use any other pain relief at this point.
After a time, progress slowed down slightly and there were concerns for our wee boy’s heart rate so at 5am they decided to assist his birth with ventouse first which was unsuccessful and then forceps. I had a local anaesthetic for this part.
At 5.33am on the 8th April our little boy Archie arrived! We are so stoked he is here.
I’m so pleased I had the TENS machine to help me. I managed to get through the majority of my labour with just the TENS for pain relief. I have already been recommending it to others.
Congratulations Christl and thanks so much for sharing your birth story with others.