Shows / British Birthing Stories
British Birthing Stories
A weekly podcast sharing real stories of childbirth in the UK, from labour and delivery to postpartum recovery. Mothers across the UK talk openly about their personal birth experiences, created to educate, inform, and empower women preparing for birth and the early weeks of motherhood.
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Episodes
- British Birthing Stories
Sophie: First Birth, NHS Hospital C Section at 30+5 for Preeclampsia, Premature Baby, NICU
In this episode I chat with Sophie, a wedding planner and first time mum, about how her son Cooper was born by C section at 30+5 after preeclampsia was picked…
- British Birthing Stories
Lou: First Birth, Positive NHS Hospital Birth, Precipitous Labour, Gas and Air Only, Gestational Hypertension, White Coat Syndrome, Continuity of Care, NIPT, Second Degree Tear Repaired in Theatre
Lou woke up at half twelve thinking her first labour was only just starting. By the time anyone examined her in triage she was 8cm, and her daughter was born…
- British Birthing Stories
Holly: Two Births, Emergency Caesarean and Positive NHS Home Birth VBAC, Obstetric Cholestasis, Induction, Home Birth After Caesarean (HBAC), Birthing Outside Guidelines, Declining Growth Scans, Second Degree Tear, No Stitches, Physiological Third Stage
Holly’s first birth was an induction for obstetric cholestasis that ended in an emergency caesarean. Eight years later the cholestasis came back, and this time…
- British Birthing Stories
Charlotte: From Forceps in Theatre to a Birth Centre Water Birth | Two Births, Back to Back Baby, Ventouse, Episiotomy, Blood Loss, Hypnobirthing, Tongue Tie
Charlotte’s first baby was born in theatre with forceps after 40 hours of labour. Two years later her daughter arrived in the birth centre pool after 15…
- British Birthing Stories
Stephanie: Two Births, Emergency Caesarean and Positive NHS Hospital VBAC, Induction at 41 Weeks, Epidural, Back to Back Baby, Birth Trauma, Consultant Led VBAC, Labouring at Home, TENS Machine, Forceps, Episiotomy
Steph’s first birth ended in an emergency caesarean after she’d pushed all the way to 10cm. Two years later she had the healing NHS VBAC she’d been quietly…
- British Birthing Stories
Alex: Two Births, Fast Premature Hospital Birth and Planned Induction with Ventouse Delivery
Two completely different births, one five weeks early and one planned down to the day. Alex works for a small legal firm and has two little boys under three…
- British Birthing Stories
Lisa: Second and Third Births, Two Positive NHS Home Births, Birth Before Arrival (BBA), Water Birth, Fetal Ejection Reflex, Physiological Birth, Home Birth After Third Degree Tear, Previous Postpartum Haemorrhage, TENS Machine, Doula
Today on the show, Lisa is back to share her second and third births: two positive NHS home births after a first birth that ended in forceps, a third degree…
- British Birthing Stories
Lisa: First Birth, NHS Hospital Induction at 42 Weeks, Gestational Diabetes, Oxytocin Drip, Pethidine, Epidural, Failed Ventouse, Forceps Delivery, Episiotomy, Third Degree Tear, Postpartum Haemorrhage, Doula
I spoke with Lisa, a birth doula and mum of three from Wimbledon, who shares the first of her three births: an NHS hospital induction at 42 weeks after a late…
- British Birthing Stories
Chloe: Two Births, Emergency Caesarean and Planned NHS Home Birth After Caesarean (HBAC) Born in an Ambulance, Induction, Membrane Sweep, Pethidine, Syntocinon, Failed Spinal, Consultant Led Care, Doula, Meconium, Fetal Ejection Reflex, Third Degree Tear
Today on the show Chloe shares both of her births. The first was an induction that ended in an emergency caesarean at Liverpool Women's. The second was a…
- British Birthing Stories
Erin: Second Birth, Positive NHS Hospital VBAC, Spontaneous Labour, Midwife Led Unit, Birth Pool with Wireless CTG, Back Labour, Breech Baby Turned, Reduced Fetal Movements, Anterior Placenta, TENS Machine, Gas and Air, 3A Tear
I had Erin back on the pod to share the birth of her daughter, her second baby and her VBAC. Erin lives in Glasgow with her husband, their two little ones and…
- British Birthing Stories
Nicole: First Birth, IVF Conception, Ghost Pregnancy, Positive NHS Hospital Induction, Failed Epidural, Ventouse Delivery, Episiotomy, Breastfeeding Challenges, Hospital Readmission
Nicole is an Australian mum living in the UK who welcomed her daughter Rosemary after a long IVF journey. Her pregnancy was smooth until a late scan flagged…
- British Birthing Stories
Steph: First Birth, NHS Hospital Birth, Preeclampsia, Gestational Diabetes, Induction, Failed Epidural, Dural Puncture, Failed Pushing, Emergency C-Section, Postpartum Haemorrhage, C-Section Infection, Birth Trauma
Steph is a first time mum from South Devon who spent her pregnancy hypnobirthing and hoping for a straightforward delivery. Instead she got appendicitis at…
- British Birthing Stories
Georgie: First Birth, NHS Hospital Induction, Coarctation of the Aorta Diagnosed at 12 Week Scan, High Risk Pregnancy, CVS Test, One Sided Epidural, NICU, Open Heart Surgery at 7 Days Old
At her twelve week scan, Georgie was told there was a problem with her baby's heart. The tests that followed gave her daughter a one to two percent chance of…
- British Birthing Stories
Gigi: First Birth, NHS Hospital Birth, Precipitous 3 Hour Labour, Pethidine, Ventouse Delivery, Gender Disappointment, Delayed Bonding
Gigi's labour moved so fast her body started pushing before anyone realised what was happening. Then the pethidine kicked in, and she was left alone in the…
- British Birthing Stories
India: Second Birth, Positive NHS Midwife Led Unit Birth, Four Hour Labour, 37 Weeks, Shoulder Dystocia, Healing Birth After Trauma
Four hours. That is all it took from her first contraction to holding her son in her arms. India is a yoga teacher, outdoor enthusiast and mum of two from the…
- British Birthing Stories
India: First Birth, Hospital Birth After Miscarriage, Planned Water Birth, COVID Restrictions and Forceps Delivery
She had planned a calm hospital water birth after miscarriage, but gave birth during COVID restrictions with no birth pool, continuous monitoring, an epidural…
- British Birthing Stories
Jazz: Second Birth, Positive NHS Birth Centre Birth, Home Labour, 12 Days Overdue, Low BMI, Self Advocacy, Membrane Sweep, Oral Morphine, Natural Tear
Jazz is a content creator and mum of two who shares her honest, informed take on birth. In this episode she shares the birth of her son Drew, a second positive…
- British Birthing Stories
Jazz: First Birth, Positive NHS Birth Centre Birth, 13 Days Overdue, Membrane Sweep, Full Labour Ward, Pethidine, Waters Broken, Birth Centre Transfer, Natural Tear
Jazz is a content creator and mum of two who has been sharing her life online for sixteen years. In this episode she shares the birth of her daughter Bluebell…
- British Birthing Stories
Kirsten: Second Birth, Planned NHS Home Birth, Hyperemesis Gravidarum, Fast Labour, Physiological Water Birth, Fetal Ejection Reflex, Physiological Third Stage, No Stitches, Healing Birth After Difficult First Experience
She had been awake for hours, then asleep for two, when she woke up to the strongest contraction she had ever felt. Her waters broke. She looked at the clock…
- British Birthing Stories
Kirsten: First Birth, Planned NHS Home Birth, Hyperemesis Gravidarum, Fast Labour, Hospital Transfer, Ventouse Delivery, Episiotomy Without Consent, Episiotomy Breakdown, Autism and ADHD
She planned a home birth and got one. Right up until she didn't. And what happened at the hospital, at the hands of a registrar who did not ask her permission…
- British Birthing Stories
Rhianna: First Birth, Positive NHS Midwife Led Unit Water Birth, Gestational Diabetes, Five Hour Fast Labour, Guided Pushing, Early at 38 Weeks
Rhianna is a first time mum who shares a fast and positive NHS midwife led unit water birth. She was diagnosed with gestational diabetes late in pregnancy but…
- British Birthing Stories
Bonnie: Two Births, Forceps Delivery, Missed Third Degree Tear, Postpartum Haemorrhage and NHS Birth Centre Water Birth with Gestational Diabetes
Bonnie went into her first birth with a detailed plan for a water birth. She left theatre with forceps, a missed third degree tear and a hemorrhage that was…
- British Birthing Stories
Lana: Two Births, First Birth NHS Hospital Birth, Meconium, Syntocinon Drip, One Sided Epidural, Baby Born Unresponsive, Retained Placenta, Postpartum Haemorrhage, Postnatal Depression, Second Birth Elective C-Section
Lana is a mum of two, a content creator and coach, who joins Georgia to share both of her birth stories. Her first labour with her son began with her waters…
- British Birthing Stories
Rebecca: Third Birth, Positive Home Birth, Ruptured Ovarian Cyst in Early Pregnancy, Over Ten Hour Labour, Cord Wrapped Around Neck, Managed Third Stage, Postpartum Constipation
Rebecca is back to share her third birth, another planned home birth in Devon after two positive home births before this one. She prepared exactly as she had…
- British Birthing Stories
Rebecca: Two Births, First Birth Unplanned Home Birth, Sent Home at 2cm, Fetal Ejection Reflex, Retained Placenta, Second Birth Planned Home Birth at 42 Weeks, Declined Induction, Physiological Birth
Rebecca is a mum of three from Devon, and in this episode she shares the first two of her birth stories. She had planned a calm water birth at her local birth…
- British Birthing Stories
Jess: First Birth, Planned NHS Home Birth, Hospital Transfer, Meconium, Lost Fetal Heartbeat, Category 1 Emergency C-Section, Suspected Placenta Abruption
Jess is a first time mum from Cardiff who planned a home birth from the moment she found out she was pregnant. She did hypnobirthing, joined antenatal classes…
- British Birthing Stories
Erin: First Birth, NHS Hospital Birth, Induction, Reduced Fetal Movements, Malposition, Fetal Blood Sample, Emergency C-Section, Missed Miscarriage, Birth Trauma
Erin is a first time mum and veterinary nurse whose son's birth started with an induction at 37 weeks after two episodes of reduced movement, and ended up…
- British Birthing Stories
Tash: Second Birth, Positive NHS Hospital Birth, Precipitous Labour, Waters Breaking at Home, Fetal Ejection Reflex, No Pain Relief, Born in 13 Minutes
Tash shares her second birth story, a precipitous NHS hospital birth that started with her waters breaking at midnight and ended just thirteen minutes after…
- British Birthing Stories
Gabby: Third Birth, NHS Precipitous Vaginal Birth After Emergency C-section and VBAC, Postpartum Haemorrhage, Manual Removal of Clots
Gabby is an American mum of three living near Cambridge who comes back to share her third birth, after an emergency C-section with her first and a successful…
- British Birthing Stories
Gabby: First and Second Births, US Emergency C-section After Failure to Engage, Miscarriage, Successful NHS VBAC, Hypnobirthing
Gabby is an American mum of three living near Cambridge. Her first daughter was born in Tampa, Florida after hours of pushing with no progress, ending in an…
- British Birthing Stories
Rebecca: First Birth, Positive NHS Hospital Planned C Section, Maternal Request, Large Baby Worries, Consultant Midwife Support, Tongue Tie, Delayed Milk Coming In
Rebecca is a first time mum to Harry, and she chose a planned C section for her first birth. She had lived with health anxiety for years before she even got…
- British Birthing Stories
Jess: Two NHS Hospital Water Births, Miscarriage Journey, Hyperemesis, Stuck Coil, Episiotomy, TENS Machine, Retained Placenta, Second Degree Tear, Gender Disappointment
She had wanted a water birth from the beginning. She had worked with families around birth for 13 years. She thought she knew what to expect. And then labour…
- British Birthing Stories
Jo: First Birth, Unexplained Infertility, Adoption Journey, Epilepsy and Chronic Kidney Disease, Consultant-Led NHS Hospital Induction, Five-Day Induction, Labour Stopped Twice, Forceps Delivery in Theatre, Episiotomy, Birth Trauma
Jo had been trying to conceive for years. She was told she had unexplained infertility. She decided not to do IVF. She decided to adopt. And then, completely…
- British Birthing Stories
Monika: Two Births, First Hospital Birth, Birth Trauma and PTSD, Planned NHS Home Birth, Precipitous Labour, Born Before Arrival in the Shower, No Midwife or Doula Present, Husband Caught Baby
Monika is a mum of two from Bedfordshire who shares two very different birth stories. Her first was a hospital birth that left her diagnosed with PTSD. A…
- British Birthing Stories
April: Third Birth, Positive VBAC After Two Emergency C-Sections, Water Birth, No Continuous Monitoring, Physiological Third Stage, Third Degree Tear
She had been told she would die if she tried to birth at home. She had been railroaded into a theatre she did not want to be in. She had lost 2.5 litres of…
- British Birthing Stories
April: First and Second Births, Two Emergency C-Sections, Failed Induction, Large Baby, Bonding Difficulties, Birth Trauma, Attempted VBAC
She planned a home birth. She hypnobirthed. She did everything right. And after two days of induction at 42 weeks, her son was born by emergency C-section at…
- British Birthing Stories
Emma: First Birth, Identical Twin Pregnancy, Termination for Medical Reasons, Chemical Pregnancy, MCDA Twins, Threatened Premature Labour at 27 Weeks, NHS Induction, Emergency C-Section, Blood Transfusion
She had already been through a termination for medical reasons and a chemical pregnancy before she ever got to carry her twins. And when she finally did, she…
- British Birthing Stories
Charlie: Three Births, Teenage Pregnancy at 17, Premature Labour at 36 Weeks, Ventouse and Episiotomy, Two Miscarriages, Positive NHS Hospital Hypnobirthing Water Birth, Positive Unplanned Lockdown Home Water Birth, No Pain Relief
She found out she was pregnant at 15 weeks. She was 17. She had not packed a hospital bag, had not read a single book, and had no idea what was about to happen…
- British Birthing Stories
Annabel: Two Planned NHS C-Sections, Breech Baby, Miscarriage, Secondary Infertility, Breastfeeding Challenges, Tongue Tie, Postpartum Constipation, Honest Postpartum Recovery
She always wanted a C-section. From the time she was a teenager. And when her son turned out to be breech, she finally had the reason she felt she needed to…
- British Birthing Stories
Zoe: Two Positive NHS Hospital Births, Epidurals, Gender Disappointment, Childhood Trauma, Delayed Bonding, Morphine First Birth vs Epidural Only Second Birth
Zoe always knew she wanted pain relief. But like a lot of women, she found herself surrounded by messaging that made her question that. Until a pregnant…
- British Birthing Stories
Charlotte: Second Birth, NHS Birth Centre Birth, Two Miscarriages, Prolonged Early Labour, Retained Placenta, Theatre, Informed Second Birth, Becoming a Doula
She had two miscarriages, a traumatic first birth, and a husband who said he could never put her through it again. And then she came back, did everything…
- British Birthing Stories
Charlotte: First Birth, NHS Hospital Birth, Birth Centre Transfer to Labour Ward, 9 Days Overdue, Meconium, Hypnobirthing, Informed Consent, Coach Pushing, Retained Placenta, Theatre, Postpartum Haemorrhage, Birth Trauma, Hypermobility
She was in the birth centre for the first time, on the beanbag, breathing through her contractions with her mum and her husband by her side. And honestly, she…
- British Birthing Stories
Lauren: First Birth, Positive Planned C-Section, Vanishing Twin Syndrome, NHS Antenatal Care, Breastfeeding Struggles, Scar Recovery
She never wanted a vaginal birth. Not once. She knew exactly how she wanted her baby born. And after a small battle with her midwives, she got it. A calm…
- British Birthing Stories
Shannon: VBAC After Three C-Sections, Hospital Birth Centre Water Birth, Fourth Birth, Shoulder Dystocia Concerns, Large Baby, Second Degree Tears, Postpartum Haemorrhage, Birth Coercion, Lockdown Birth Trauma
They told her she would bleed out. They told her her baby would get stuck and die. They told her she would traumatise the entire home birth team. Shannon had…
- British Birthing Stories
Polly: Two Positive Fast Physiological Births, NHS Midwife Led Unit Birth, Fully Dilated on Arrival, Second Degree Tear, Planned NHS Home Birth, TENS Machine Only, Tongue Tie and Breastfeeding Challenges
She woke up at 4.30am to contractions that were a minute on and a minute off from the very start. Polly had two fast, positive births. Her first at the NHS…
- British Birthing Stories
Jade: Three Positive Births, Sonographer’s Perspective, Water Birth, Fast Labour, Meconium Waters, Fetal Ejection Reflex, NHS Home Birth & Baby Born in the Pool With a Veil
Jade went into her first pregnancy thinking birth was something medical that happened in hospital. But after hypnobirthing opened her mind to a different way…
- British Birthing Stories
Frankie: Two Births: First Birth Obstetric Cholestasis, Emergency Ventouse, Second birth: Twin Pregnancy, Planned C-Section at 34 Weeks, NICU, Bonding Difficulties, Postnatal Depression
Frankie had a really tough first pregnancy. She had already been through obstetric cholestasis, a long induction, and an emergency ventouse delivery with her…
- British Birthing Stories
Kat: First Birth, Precipitous Labour, Turned Away by Hospital, 50 Minute Drive in Active Labour, No Pain Relief, Born in 24 Minutes
SUMMARY: At 3am Kat was in hospital being told by a doctor she was not even in early labour. She went home. Within 30 minutes she was screaming. When her…
- British Birthing Stories
Mil: Second Birth, Healing After Traumatic First, Water Birth, Shoulder Dystocia, Birth Centre
What does it feel like to go back into labour knowing everything that went wrong the first time — and come out the other side feeling like you got your birth…
- British Birthing Stories
Mil: NHS Induction at 39 weeks for reduced movements, forceps, episiotomy, Postpartum Haemorrhage, Blood Transfusion, Postnatal Depression and Anxiety , Breastfeeding Challenges
What happens when you've done the NCT course, made the birth plan, and gone into hospital as prepared as you possibly can and it still falls apart? In this…
- British Birthing Stories
Dani: First Birth, Positive Planned NHS Home Birth After Fertility Struggles, PCOS, Hypnobirthing, Doula Support, No Pain Relief, Placenta Encapsulation
She always knew she wanted a home birth. From the moment she decided she wanted children, there was never any question. Hospital was not even in her mind. Dani…
- British Birthing Stories
Chloe: First Birth, Positive Emergency C-Section After Water Birth 48 Hour Labour and Succenturiate Placenta
She pushed for five hours. Her baby kept getting stuck. And when she finally made the call for a C section, the medical team tried to talk her out of it before…
- British Birthing Stories
Vicky: Two Positive NHS Hospital Vaginal Births, Large Baby, Informed Second Birth
They warned her throughout her entire second pregnancy that her baby was measuring large and that there could be complications at delivery. He was out in two…
- British Birthing Stories
Hannah: First Birth, 36 Hour Labour, Failed Induction, Unplanned C-Section
She planned a natural water birth. She hypnobirthed. She researched everything. And after 36 hours in labour and a failed induction drip still stuck at 5cm…
- British Birthing Stories
Kaci’s Birth Story: From Obstetric Cholestasis to a Cord Prolapse and CAT-1 Emergency C-Section
In today’s episode, I speak with Kaci, who shares her first birth story, which unexpectedly ended in an emergency (Category 1) C-section under general…
- British Birthing Stories
Kailey: Third Birth, Birth Before Arrival (BBA), Freebirth at Home, Precipitous Labour, 42+4 Pregnancy & NHS Experience
In this episode I chat with Kailey who shares her incredible third birth story, including a birth before arrival (BBA) where she gave birth completely alone at…
- British Birthing Stories
Amanda: Two births, Hospital Induction, Forceps Birth, Home Water Birth, Physiological Birth & Becoming a Doula
In today’s episode, I speak with Amanda about her journey from a traumatic birth experience to a positive home birth, and how it led her to become a birth…
- British Birthing Stories
Jeanette: Two Births, Breech Baby, Attempted Vaginal Breech and Unplanned C-Section, VBAC and Emergency C-Section Under General Anaesthetic, Miscarriage, Tongue Tie, Breastfeeding Challenges,
This week I'm joined by Jeanette, who shares two very different births that both ended in unplanned C-sections. Her first baby turned breech right at the end…
- British Birthing Stories
Ellie: Infertility, Positive NHS Hospital Induction, 3B Tear, Retained Placenta & Fibroids
In this episode, Ellie shares the story of conceiving her son after two and a half years of trying, following years on the contraceptive pill and eventually…
- British Birthing Stories
Emma: Second Birth, NHS Home Birth After Caesarean (HBAC), VBAC, Water Birth, Physiological Birth
In this episode I’m joined by Emma, who shares the story of her second birth, an NHS home birth after caesarean (HBAC) and VBAC birth story. Emma reflects on…