Birth stories - Very quick second natural birth

Birth stories - Very quick second natural birth ^Featured

Jacqui Beytel (37) thought she had everything well-planned out, she thought she was well-prepared.

She had already birthed a child naturally, but she didn’t take her baby’s hastiness to be born into account.

“I wanted a home birth, but my husband wasn’t keen and we also felt our home didn’t have enough privacy,” says Jacqui, explaining they lived in a garden cottage at that time. “I thought I was well-prepared as I already had a natural birth with no interference, but the second birth was very different. It was so quick and nothing went as planned.” She advises women to prepare for the second birth just as well as they did for their first.

A Hasty Baby

Jacqui says that she went to bed at 23:00 after they spent the day at Zoo Lake. Just as she got into bed, the labour pains started. “I was in active labour almost immediately, contractions every five minutes. It was 23:10 and I got my stuff ready, did my makeup between contractions and searched the plat for perfume. At midnight my husband insisted that we leave for the hospital.” But Jacqui didn’t want to go. She was adamant. They arrived at 00:30 and the midwife came not long after that. “She looked at me and told me that I could push and the baby would be out. I was petrified! I wanted music, I wanted my orange scented candles, I wanted a calm birth and wanted to be in labour experiencing it all.” She was too scared to push as she knew what was coming. She got into the birthing bath, but never heard any music in the room and the smell of the candles made her nauseous. “I refused to push and then got out of the bath, went to lie down on the bed and told the midwife that she could book me a C-section and wake me when it had been arranged. My husband followed her out of the room and told her that I wasn’t going to push and that she should book it.” However, the midwife told him not to worry as the baby would be there within the next ten minutes. And she was. “As soon as I lay down on the bed, the pushing contractions were there, very strong. Megan arrived at 02:35.”

A Quick One

Jacqui says that she was surprised at how quick it all went and how uncontrolled she felt. “All I could think of was that I just wanted the baby out. I was tired and just needed it all to be over.” Looking back, she wished that she had more control over her three and a half hour labour. However, she feels proud of the fact that she did it in the end without any inference or drugs. - Zanri Kotzé

Birth Art: Holding Life by Amber

Birth stories - Very quick second natural birth Featured

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Birth stories - Very quick second natural birth ^Featured