Birth story from Rhia Stanger

I just wanted to say Thank You for creating your course!

I did the online version as I live in a remote community 2hrs from the Wodonga maternity hospital. My first birth ended in a C-section at 38wks due to vasa previa and minor placenta previa. I was devastated and determined to have a natural birth for my 2nd however during an appointment with the hospital I was told that I would HAVE to book in for another C-section as my pregnancies were too close together (17 months between birth dates)!

It was the knowledge that I gained during the She Births® course that gave me the strength to make an informed decision and find myself another option.

I ended up searching for and paying top dollar for an Obstetrician that fully supported my VBAC. It meant traveling 4 hours to Canberra for appointments and I had to relocate at 37weeks to appease the ‘just in case factor’. It was well worth it in the end, my Obstetrician met me at the hospital when I arrived in labour, and basically acted in my defence when hospital policies were against me (eg. they refused me a fit ball, a bath, and tried to make me lay still on a bed to get readings from fetal monitor for over an hour). I called my OB and he ensured I got everything I needed. I was amazed that in my search for an Obstetrician that the person I found that fully supported me was a man (not that I’m a man hater, it’s just I felt like having an all woman entourage with the exception of my husband). My midwife was also male. It was funny, I laboured for all of International Women’s Day, surrounded by men and couldn’t have felt more supported.

My daughter Siobhan was born on March 9th 2018 at 3:30am, after a successful VBAC after 29hrs of labour, the gestation was 40wks and 3days. Again, hats off to my OB, there was no pressure from him to induce. Additionally throughout the pregnancy I was asked by my GP, ‘how long will he let you labour?’. This was an interesting concept, my natural thought was, ‘well how long is a piece of string’, you know, doesn’t it just take as long as it takes?… Anyway, the comment made me nervous so I called the OB, he said that it was an archaic attitude towards birth, that I would labour for as long as I needed to. It is so interesting what an impact an ‘off the cuff’ remark can have, which is what I believe you were getting at in the interview that was edited quite noticeably, everyone has an opinion about pregnancy and birth and they seem to want to share these for better or for worse. Unfortunately pessimistic comments often result in undermining the confidence a women has in herself.

So again, thank you!. . . Thank you for helping me to realise that I have a voice; I can ask questions and I will make my own decisions!

Kind regards

Rhia