
Birth: there's nothing quite like it, and it's clear no two birth stories are the same. Which is why we're asking everyday women and some of our favourite celebrity mums to share theirs, in Mamamia's My Birth Story series.
This week we profile emergency department nurse Brie, wife to Shane and mum of two boys, William and Jack.
Brie met emergency doctor Shane at work in a busy Perth hospital in 2010, and the pair married in 2017.
Brie’s closeness to her family, especially her sister, informed the couple’s plans for a big family.
Questions about childbirth, answered. Post continues below.
"I have always wanted four kids because I am one of five siblings," Brie says.
"Shane is pretty easygoing and I adore kids so we couldn’t wait to start our own family!"
Brie had a fairly straightforward first pregnancy, apart from a few weeks of morning sickness followed by shortness of breath.
"I had some additional check-ups along the way and towards the end was told my baby boy was getting a bit big. They decided to get me in a little early for an induction."
As it was Brie and Shane’s first baby, the couple didn’t really know what to expect. The only thing on Brie’s birth plan was that she wanted to avoid a c-section due to her plan to have four babies, and she absolutely wanted pain relief.
"I expected that a natural delivery could go two ways in terms of pain management and I knew I wanted to be as comfortable as possible, meaning I definitely wanted an epidural!"
On the evening Brie arrived at the hospital, induction gel was applied and the obstetrician also broke her waters. The doctor stayed in the room for close to 15 minutes before being called away to check on other patients.
This coincided with Brie starting to feel very uncomfortable.
"By now it was about 10pm and the contractions were coming on very strong. I rang the bell, and the midwife arrived to give me some fluids. I pleaded for the epidural as the pain was getting intense and after a quick examination, she said that I had gone from 2cm to 6cm dilated in about 30 minutes!"