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

From British Birthing Stories by Georgia McGivern

June 8, 2026 · 45 min · Episode 41

About this episode

Charlotte shares her experience of her first birth, detailing the unexpected challenges and decisions made during labor.

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 was doing it. And then her waters broke properly, and in the space of a few minutes, everything she had prepared for changed.   Charlotte is a first time mum from Leeds who spent her entire pregnancy doing everything right. She hypnobirthed, she went to NCT, she went to the gym all the way through, and she was fit, healthy, low risk and genuinely ready for it. But the moment meconium appeared in her waters, everything shifted, and suddenly decisions were being made for her without anyone really stopping to explain what was happening or ask her what she actually wanted. And just like that, her birth stopped feeling like hers.   What followed was two hours of coach pushing with no urge to push at all. A retained placenta that would not budge. A trip to theatre alone while her husband sat in a room with a screaming newborn he had never held in his life. And a neurological exam on her toes while she was bleeding, because nobody could find the notes from the anaesthetist appointment she had attended specifically for…

People in this episode

Host: Georgia McGivern

Guest: Charlotte

Topics covered

first birth
NHS hospital birth
birth centre transfer
meconium
hypnobirthing
informed consent
birth trauma

Keywords

first time mum
meconium
coach pushing
retained placenta
postpartum haemorrhage
birth plan
hypnobirthing

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: NHS

Places: Leeds