Maria wrote in with her birth story and shared how far along in labour she managed to get using just the Labour Tens Machine for pain relief. We thought her story was so inspiring, and wanted to share it with our readers – hope it inspires you too!
I hired a Labour TENS machine from you guys to use during my labour and I have written a testimonial/my birth story. On the morning of my due date, I woke up at three-thirty in the morning to go to the toilet and knew I was going to meet my baby later that day! I woke my partner up to tell him that I thought my labour had begun but as my contractions in the beginning felt like bearable period pain, we went back to bed and managed to rest for 2 hours (I couldn’t sleep because I was nervous!).
Once the contractions intensified, it was time to get out of bed, and just before six o’clock my partner hooked me up to the TENS machine and made me some breakfast. I hadn’t used a TENS machine before and hadn’t even practiced using it, but a quick look at the instructions told me everything that I needed to know – it wasn’t difficult at all! At this stage my contractions were irregular and so we called the hospital. The midwife we spoke to advised that it sounded like I was in early labour and that we should remain at home for as long as it was comfortable to be there.
As the next few hours passed, I had no concept of time – all I knew was that the pain from each contraction was getting stronger. With that, I increased the strength of the pulses from the TENS machine but just before ten o’clock it was time to make our way to the hospital. The fifteen minute drive wasn’t much fun but it would have been a lot worse without the relief of the TENS machine. The pulses took my focus off the pain and my partner and I were able to have a conversation almost like we were just on our way to a friend’s house and not to the hospital (almost!).
Once we had arrived at the hospital I was given a quick examination and from this the midwife determined that I was seven to eight centimetres dilated and that we should go to a birthing suite immediately! I couldn’t believe how far I had gotten at home (although this thought didn’t occur to me until labour was well and truly over!). In our birthing suite, the TENS machine was replaced by gas and so the next couple of hours passed with me biting down on the gas tube and my partner telling the midwife our life stories. At just after two o’clock in the afternoon, our beautiful daughter was born.
I believe that being able to progress so far with my labour at home with the help of the TENS machine played a very big part in being able to get through my labour without any stronger methods of pain relief which was my preference but we were not sure if we would be able to make this happen.
Many thanks,
Maria