Wish Upon a Star

ed that Jake wasn’t Daisy’s consultant. Not that he was likely to get involved in a normal delivery, but at least it meant that she was guaranteed a day where she didn’t have to bump into him. A day to gather herself together after the conflict of the previous day.

‘No problem.’

‘Call me if you need any help. Oh, by the way…’ Ruth gave a quick frown ‘… she has a doula called Annie, with her. Nice lady. She’s been in here before.’

Miranda nodded, knowing that a doula was someone who accompanies a woman in labour, giving her emotional support during childbirth. “OK. Thanks, Ruth.”

‘No problem.’ Visibly stressed by pressure of work and lack of staff, Ruth hurried off to greet a woman who had just been transferred from the antenatal ward and Miranda walked down the corridor to find Daisy.

She was a woman in her twenties with a mass of curling blonde hair, and she was deep in conversation with an older woman who seemed to ooze calm and serenity.

Miranda introduced herself and Daisy looked at her anxiously.

‘I hope you don’t mind me bringing Annie, my doula. I know that not many women do, and—’

‘That’s fine,’ Miranda reassured her quickly. ‘Actually, where I trained in London, quite a few women used doulas. I think it’s lovely for a pregnant woman to have the extra support.’

‘It’s just that I wanted someone familiar with me,’ Daisy explained, ‘and my husband Callum is hopeless with anything medical. Useless. He’s downstairs in the shop, buying us a stock of magazines, because he couldn’t stand witnessing a contraction. How pathetic is that?’

Miranda smiled and picked up Daisy’s notes from the table. ‘It can be very hard for a man to watch his wife in pain,’ she said quietly, ‘and I quite understand the need for a familiar and friendly face while you deliver.’

She knew from past experience that doulas were there to ‘mother the mother’ rather than offer advice on delivery and she had no problems at all with Annie being part of the process.

‘I’ve read everything there is to read and watched everything there is to watch,’ Daisy told Miranda, and then gave a grin. ‘Don’t look like that. The one thing that the books warn you about is that labour rarely goes according to plan. Annie keeps telling me that I’ve got to stay relaxed and go with the flow. I’m glad she’s here because, to be perfectly honest, I find Mr Hardwick, the consultant, really scary. He always seems cross.’

Miranda put down the notes she’d been reading. ‘I haven’t actually met him, but I’m sure he isn’t cross. Perhaps just a bit serious. I see you’re hoping for a water birth?’

Daisy nodded. ‘I love the idea of being in the water. I swam every day in my pregnancy. One of my friends gave birth in water and she loved it. Do you think it’s possible?’

‘Absolutely, although we won’t want you to get into the water too soon or it might slow your labour down. And we might ask you to leave the water for the actual delivery.’ Miranda made a mental note to check on the hospital policy for water births.

‘That’s fine. I don’t care about that.’ Daisy screwed up her face and gritted her teeth. ‘Ouch. That’s really starting to hurt.’

‘Remember your breathing, Daisy.’ Annie put her arm round the younger woman’s shoulders. ‘Breathe through the contraction.’

Miranda slid a hand over Daisy’s abdomen to feel the strength of the contraction and talked quietly to her as she gave a little moan of pain and clenched her fists. Finally she relaxed. ‘It’s going off now…’ She breathed out heavily. ‘Why did it sound so easy during antenatal class? They made you feel as though you could cope with anything, but the truth is that the pain takes you over.’

‘Lots of women say that.’ Miranda stood up. ‘That was a pretty strong contraction. You might find the water comforting. Have you considered any other forms of pain relief?’

‘I just want to try the water to start with,’ Daisy said firmly, glancing at Annie for reassurance. ‘I know that I might need something more and if I do then that’s fine, but just for now I want to see how I go. I suppose I’m afraid that if I plan something else, I might grab it instead of managing.’

‘So…’ Miranda sat down on the chair next to the bed and gave a smile. ‘Have you painted the nursery?’

Daisy gave a dreamy smile. ‘It’s perfect. You should see it. Primrose yellow with such pretty curtains…’

They talked and Miranda monitored her, and halfway through the morning she slipped out to talk to Ruth about the hospital policy on water birth.

‘She’s five centimetres dilated and her contractions are strong and regular now. I think she could go into the water if that’s OK with you?’

‘No problem,’ Ruth said immediately. ‘Daisy is a perfect candidate, but none of our consultants like the mothers to deliver in the pool. To be honest, Mr Hardwick doesn’t like women to use water at all, but he’s had to agree to it because of the pressure from women.’

‘What about Mr Blackwell?’ Miranda couldn’t stop herself asking the question and then kicked herself when Ruth shot her a curious look.

‘Jake? Oh he’s perfectly relaxed about it. I’ve never met another doctor quite like him and I’ve worked with quite a few. He believes that women should labour in whatever way feels best for them. Such a contrast from a couple of his colleagues, who glance at their watches from the moment a woman walks through the door and then start reaching for the forceps.’ There was a weariness in Ruth’s tone that was hard to miss.

‘Because they want to get women out as soon as possible?’

‘Partly.’ Ruth shrugged. ‘And I suppose there’s an element of control there. They want the woman safely delivered in as short a time as possible. Some obstetricians are nervous of litigation and are less inclined to take risks than others.’