Chipapa
** TRIGGER WARNING. THIS BLOG POST INCLUDES DISCUSSION OF TRAUMATIC AND DIFFICULT BIRTHING EXPERIENCES WHICH SOME READERS MAY FIND DISTRESSING **
I’m a mother of 3 and I have had three completely different births. If I had known about the statistics that Black women are a part of during child birth, I would have definitely been more vocal.
My first son was born in 2008 via emergency caesarean. I was booked in for an induction 10 days after my due date and all methods of induction were tried to no avail. I did not dilate past 3cm. I was rushed into theatre at the very last minute when my sons heart rate dropped to double numbers. All was ok after the birth.
My second child was a vaginal birth after caesarean. I moved hospitals as a self referral and this time I was adamant about what I wanted. I wanted another c-section. The consultants were not keen and after numerous meetings I had to agree to a VBAC. My baby girl was born naturally and all was fine.
My third birth in 2018 was very different. I now wanted to go through a natural birth. I was well versed about my rights and this time I was adamant that I wanted a natural birth and no induction via hormone drips as my body didn’t take well to them. The consultants agreed. When it came to labour. I was taking a long time to progress. All observations were ok but it was dragging so consultants wanted to take me to theatre. I disagreed and cried but to cut a long story short their reasoning was, because the baby was doing great and I was doing great, let’s not wait until baby would get distressed. I agreed because I did not want a repeat of my first birth. I had the c section and all went well, until I was in recovery.
I was now suffering internal bleeding and this was due to the surgeon accidentally cutting a blood vessel and my womb. My family was told I had to be rushed into theatre and it would take 45 mins. I was in theatre for three hours. Thank God that all was ok in the end.
I lost 2 litres of blood and I suffered PTSD and anxiety alongside PND. It’s really important to own your birth plan. I could have asked to wait a couple more hours to see if progression would have occurred. The statistics seem to be facts because many Black women around me have had complicated births.
