Calm amidst Labour

Mercy* a midwife, was as cool as a cucumber on the day she was due to have her own baby She sat in front of the television with a bowl of ice cream and enjoyed watching movies, waiting for the time she could hold no more! She narrates her story to Pregnant.

I believe it is a joy for every woman to be able to hold a child in her arms at one point or the other. I, for one, had longed for the moment I would hold my baby around the expected due date of 12 November 2007.  My husband had already named him Ian Mbugua. My pregnancy was uneventful up until 9 November when I woke up at 4 am with nagging dull stomach pains.

I was sure that I was going into labour. I woke up my husband and told him how I was feeling. My husband had asked for two weeks off, beginning 13 November since he believed the baby would come as planned. I knew otherwise. I was mentally prepared and somewhat excited. As a university student, I had unremitting energy, attending all my classes. I was prepared to go to class later that evening but my husband refused saying he wanted the baby born in Nairobi Hospital and not at the University of Nairobi! He left for work saying he would be back later that morning. I was not particularly worried about labour since I had been mentally prepared for this by the midwives in the antenatal clinic.

In fact, I got myself a big bowl of ice cream and lounged in front of the television. I called my mother to tell her how I was feeling. She asked me to check into hospital immediately, which I did not—I wasn’t prepared to be sent back home on grounds of false labour, a common experience.

By 10am my pains were increasing in intensity and I kept feeling an urge to urinate. I went to the toilet and noticed blood on my underwear. I knew that this was the bloody show that had been described by my doctor. My husband was back home by 11 am as promised and was of the opinion that we should check into the hospital but again I refused. I asked him to relax and rub my back as the pains came. I told him that I wanted to go to hospital at 4 pm in the afternoon, something he was not comfortable with, though he agreed to it anyway.

Before we knew it, we had watched two movies and it was 4 o’clock in the afternoon. My pains were now coming regularly. The events that took place from when we left the house still amuse me to this date; though my husband just says he believes I had lost my mind. He could not understand why I was so calm. We boarded a matatu to town, that normally goes down Langata road via Nyayo stadium into town. Being a Friday the traffic was atrocious. Traffic was building up. At Mbagathi roundabout the matatu driver changed the route and decided to use Mbagathi Way.

My pains were getting worse to the point of making me feel dizzy. Fortunately the matatu tout had realized I was pregnant when we told him that we wanted to alight at Kenyatta Hospital’s bus stop. Even more fortunate was the fact that the matatu was allowed through the staff gate into the hospital. I guess my abdominal cramps helped. We checked into the maternity. A nurse came to check at what stage of labour I was in. I was six centimetres dilated and was asked what I had been doing at home. My husband left to pick up my hospital bag. I had told him that we might not need it and left it at home.

I was given a room. The pains had by now started in earnest: coming at intervals of 20 minutes. Anne, a nurse walked into my room and told me that they had been trying to call me. That is when I remembered I did not have my phone. All this time, I was experiencing pains. At 9.30 pm I called for a nurse who gave me pain medication. I dozed off for 10 minutes. At 10 pm I felt a cramping pain; like I wanted to go for a long call. My waters broke and I was taken to the delivery room and asked not to push unless I was in pain. I pushed the first time with my husband encouraging me. The nurse was supportive too. telling me she did not find it necessary to have an episiotomy. I pushed the second time and by now the baby’s head was visible. My husband actually saw it! I held my breath, pushing with all my might and out came the baby boy who peed first, then cried. It was beautiful. I just remember asking my husband whether I had done good (my exact words) and he said I had. That was all the reassurance I needed before I relaxed and got cleaned up. I know that this is not always the case having heard many horror stories about the labour ward. I can say that I had the best labour experience and would not mind a second baby.

END:PG15/18-19