Here are some writing prompts that we prepared in readiness for some struggles that might come up for you during your story-writing process.
Below are some readily prepared sentences that can help explain some difficult parts of birth to small children. These are here to support your story writing. Read through to find some inspiration if you get stuck, or copy these word-for-word, we don’t mind.
These will always be here if you need them.
Stitches, tearing-
“On your way out of Mum’s vagina, you accidently made a tear that left some blood. The midwife put a stich in the tear, to help Mum’s vagina heal.”
Episiotomy-
“You were coming down and out of Mum’s vagina, but you needed some more room. A Dr made a little cut called an episiotomy and helped you to be born. Afterwards, Mum got some stitches to help her heal”
Gestational diabetes, GD, GTT-
“When I was pregnant with you, I did a test and found out my body wasn’t making the right amount of insulin to be growing your body too! It was really hard to try and manage my blood sugars, but I got the hang of it”
PPH, hemorrhage, postpartum hemorrhage-
“After your placenta is born, the rest of the blood that was in Mummy’s womb has to come out. When your placenta was born, a little too much blood came out. A Dr came in and gave mum some medicine to slow it down.”
Low blood sugar-
“We tested your blood sugar a few times after you were born, it was a bit lower than ideal so we had to keep an eye on you and make sure we fed you often.”
Pre-eclampsia, high blood pressure-
“At Mum’s next appointment, she did some tests and found out she had pre-eclampsia. We kept a special eye on you with the help of the Drs until you were ready to be born”
“Mum’s body was doing a great job growing you and preparing for you to be born. Her body developed high blood pressure/preeclampsia, and she had to take it easy and rest until you were ready to be born.”
IUGR, Intrauterine Growth Restriction-
“When you grew inside of my belly, you were a bit smaller than ideal, this is because you had Intrauterine growth restriction”
Breathing difficulties, oxygen given at birth-
“After you were born, it took you lots of energy to take your first breath. A Dr gave you some oxygen to help you.”
Premature baby-
“You decided/we decided/Dr decided that you would be born earlier than we expected.”
C-section, cesarean section, cesarean birth-
“You were going to be born by a surgery called a cesarean-section. It wasn’t part of our original plan, but we felt happy to be finally meeting you.”
“Mummy’s body was working so hard to help you be born. It seemed like you might have become stuck inside of Mummy’s vagina. We organised for you to be born another way, by a c-section.”
“We planned with the Dr the day you were going to be born. It was the _____ and you were going to born by a surgery called a cesarean-section.”
“Instead of being born out of Mum’s vagina, you were born from a special scar on Mum’s tummy.”
“Some babies are born from their Mum’s vagina, and some babies are born from their Mum’s tummies. You decided you wanted to be born from Mum’s tummy.”
Vacuum assisted birth-
“You were working really hard to move down and out of Mum’s body, but it looked like you needed a little bit of help. A Dr used a vacuum with a cap on your head, to help guide you out into the world.”
“There was a special tool we could use to help you be born called a vacuum. The Dr attached the vacuum to your head and helped Mummy guide you out.”
Forceps assisted birth-
“You were working really hard to move down and out of Mum’s body, but it looked like you needed a little bit of help. A Dr used forceps, kind of like tongs, to help guide you out into the world.”
“There was a special tool we could use to help you be born called forceps. The Dr attached the forceps to your head and helped Mummy guide you out.”
Induced, induction of labour, augmentation of labour-
“Towards the end of our pregnancy together, Mum started to get sick. Her body was doing such a great job and working really hard. Mum decided that she would birth you earlier than you had planned, and we organised an induction.”
“We used a medicine called syntocinon to start some contractions in Mummy’s body. Soon her contractions became really strong and regular and you were on your way.”
“Mum’s body was working really hard to open up for you to be born. We used a medicine called syntocinon to give Mum’s body a little boost.”
Shoulder dystocia-
“We could see your head, you were nearly here! Your shoulders become stuck in Mum’s pelvis, and Mum had to do some different moves to help unstuck you.”
“The midwife helped wriggle your shoulders out after they got a little stuck.”
Nuchal cord-
“We noticed your umbilical cord wrapped around your body and your neck. We gently unwrapped the cord and gave you a big cuddle.”
Nuchal hand-
“When you were born, you had your hand on your face. Mum and Dad thought it was so funny that you were already trying to wave and say hello.”
Cord prolapse-
“You were ready to be born and Mum’s body had started contracting to help you. Instead of your head being born first, your umbilical cord decided to try and come out!”
Placenta previa-
“Your placenta, the special organ that lived with you in Mummy’s womb, was covering up her cervix. This meant you couldn’t come out of Mummy’s vagina. We were going to have a cesarean section and you would be born out of Mummy’s tummy!”
Complete breech presentation, complete breech position-
“You found your own comfortable spot inside of Mum’s womb. You were in a complete breech position with your bum down and your knees bent up towards your face.”
Frank breech presentation, frank breech position-
“You found your own comfortable spot inside Mum’s womb. You were in a frank breech position with your bum down and your legs up and feet near your face.”
Footling breech presentation, footling breech position-
“You found your own comfortable spot inside Mum’s womb. You were in a footling breech position with one foot hanging down below your bum.”
Posterior, posterior position, posterior labour-
“At some point in our labour, you turned into a posterior position. This meant that your back was facing my back and that I had to work extra hard to help you be born.”
“When you lived in Mum’s tummy, you preferred to be in a posterior position, with your back facing Mum’s back.”
Retained placenta-
“After you were born, it was your placenta’s turn to be born. Some of your placenta became stuck inside of Mummy’s womb. Mummy went into surgery with the Dr’s so they could help the stuck placenta come out. You had special cuddles on Daddy’s chest while you waited for Mummy.”
Abnormal heart rate, continuous fetal monitoring, CTG monitoring-
“When your big labour started, your heart started beating fast and slow. We used some extra monitoring on you so that we could see how you were feeling on your way out.”
NICU, NICU admission-
“After you were born, you needed some help adjusting to the world and learning how to feed, the special nurses in the NICU helped us to take care of you.”
“Because you were born early, you needed some time to grow and adjust to the outside world. You spent ___ days in NICU learning and growing.”
“Your time a NICU helped you to become healthy and strong.”
HG, hyperemesis gravidarum, nausea-
“Mum was very sick when she was pregnant with you in her tummy. She had hyperemesis gravidarum and her body worked so hard everyday to feel well and have energy.”
Cholestasis, cholestasis of pregnancy-
“Towards the end of our pregnancy, I became really itchy! No amount of scratching eased how itchy I felt. I found out I have cholestasis, and decided that we would organise for you to be born a little earlier.”
Jaundice-
“When you were born, you were so perfect. You had some jaundice colouring that we needed to clear up, so we fed you regularly and kept a close eye on you.”
Birth under general anesthetic, C-section under GA, cesarean birth under GA-
“The Dr gave Mummy a medicine to put her to sleep and help you be born out of Mummy’s tummy. When Mummy woke up, she got to meet you for the first time.”
“It was hard for Mummy to not be able to meet you when you were born. As soon as Mummy was awake she came to cuddle you for a long, long time.”
“Mummy was asleep when you were born, she was resting and didn’t feel any pain.”
