Monday 3.30am I woke up in the middle of the night with a pain in my tummy that I hadn’t felt before. I was 10 days before my due date and hadn’t felt any Braxton hicks so I though this must be Braxton hicks. I went to the toilet and noticed a pink discharge and wondered if this was the plug that the midwives talk about. So I went back to bed and tried to sleep. Twenty minutes later I have another pain just like the last - so I woke my husband and said I think this could be it. We waited to see if there was another contraction and sure enough 20 minutes later there was. I wanted a drug free natural birth so I’d hired a labour TENS machine. I knew it would be useful as I’d used one previously with my physio for lower back pain. Soon the contractions were 15 minutes apart and then 10 minutes. By this time it started to get painful so I put the labour tens on. What a relief, I felt instantly more relaxed and it took my mind off the pain. I switched up the volume as the pain got worse and used the boost button when I had a contraction which helped distract me. By 7am the contractions were very close together so we rang the hospital and they suggested we came in. When we arrived I was already 5cm dilated. The pain was getting worse so I had gas and air to take the edge off. I was determined not to have pethidine or an epidural and coped well with the labour TENS and gas. Soon I felt pressure down below and an urge to push. By 8am our daughter was born –I couldn’t believe it –I though there was more to it than that! Even my obstetrician was amazed how easy it was.

J. Banks Westleigh