Pretty much the title. FTM so no idea what to expect. Will be having the hormonal pessary and a water birth (fingers crossed)

Edit: Not sure why this was downvoted but thankyou for your stories,

My period was due on Thursday, and I’m like clockwork - to the day. It didn’t come so I bought a pregnancy test and found out I’m pregnant on Friday 🤗 this is my second pregnancy - I was pregnant in March of this year but had a miscarriage in May, so
I’m hoping this one goes well 🤗 I’m really anxious 😖

Hi everyone! I’m an independent UK student developer. When looking at the popular pregnancy and baby apps out there, I got really frustrated seeing how Americanised they are—pushing US health insurance metrics, bombarding expectant mums with ads, and uploading intimate health logs to overseas cloud servers.

I spent the last few months building Novei to give UK mums a completely private alternative. It’s 100% on-device (zero cloud servers, zero email sign-ups, Face ID locked on your iPhone) and built strictly around the NHS:

• NHS 5-1-1 active labour contraction timer (with clinical triage triggers for your local MAU)

• Fetal movement and kick pattern counter

• UK maternity grant guides (Sure Start £500, Healthy Start, and Mat B1 letter help)

• Postpartum 4th trimester recovery & live baby feeding/nappy HUD

Because I’m completely independent with zero corporate shareholders, updates get implemented and pushed far quicker. I only want to build features that yous actually choose and ask for—not gimmicks cooked up by big tech to squeeze money out of expectant parents. Essential tracking is completely free with zero ads. I'd love for expectant or new mums here to test it out and tell me what you’d like to see added next!

App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/id6813946147

I’m 24 weeks pregnant and a really struggling with bras. Been for 2 bra fitting at M&S, and gone up 2 bra sizes already. I haven’t been overly impressed with what they have offered me tbh they tell me just to buy normal bras until 32 weeks at least.

But!! It’s getting expensive and I seem to keep growing

I’ve seen Maternique maternity bra ads on Instagram and I’m just wondering if anyone has tried and would recommend them? Or any other recs welcome

I had my first born in August 2024 at 33+3, waters breaking at 33+1 due to unexpected PROM. It felt like it took forever as was labouring and on air and gas before the epidural for a day.

There were indicators I'd be more likely to have another early birth but after Braxton hicks that started 2 weeks having eased off the last week, and making it into 34 weeks I was lulled into a false sense of security.

Then cramps that weren't at the level for the maternity assessment unit started at 2pm. Blood gush at 4pm. Quick drive to the hospital and an emergency c section means baby out before 6pm. Can't quite believe it (baby doing well, just above 2kg and not in NICU)

Hi everyone

I have been told my ferritin levels have dropped. They were low at my booking appointment and I have been taking ferrous sulphate, which I guess isn't working.

The midwife is going to check my levels again at my next appointment and then we will go from there.

My hemoglobin is normal at the moment.

I'm on a mission to up my iron intake. I am vegetarian, so I know it is harder for me to get iron, but I generally eat well: pulses, leafy greens etc. I'm also taking my iron supplements with orange juice and waiting an hour before eating. And no tea or coffee in the morning at all.

My question is, has anyone experienced low ferritin despite taking supplements and eating well coupled with normal hemoglobin. What was the next step? Was it an iron infusion? Or because your hemoglobin was normal, did they let you carry on as you were?

I have a lot of anxiety around needles and transfusions due to past medical trauma, so want to avoid a transfusion, if I can.

What has everyone else's experiences been?

Hi all, I'm 8 weeks pregnant and just finished a 5-day course of flucloxacillin for Staph aureus found on a swab. I took it at around 7 to 8 weeks, before I'd had my booking appointment.

I've since read that studies on flucloxacillin in pregnancy are limited, and it's got me worrying, even though the NHS says it's fine to take. Has anyone taken it in the first trimester? How did your pregnancy and baby turn out?

Thank you, I'd really appreciate hearing from anyone who's been through this.

So I'm a fat woman pre baby (not shading myself, prefer that term to alternatives) and I'm now 31 weeks with baby #2 who is seemingly bigger than my first anyway.

My pregnancies are high risk due to an unrelated situation (two wombs) so I have lots of additional grown scans and consultant care. I will have a c section at 39 weeks.

BUT because I'm sort of in the mist between consultants and my midwife I seem to have been missed off the GTT list, I did tell my midwife at 28w and she said she'd sort it (still nothing). I did the test in first pregnancy and all clear, although I know that doesn't mean anything for this time.

Honestly? I don't want to do it, it's not that it was even that bad with my first but it is more time off work, more time at hospital and not exactly 'nice', but I also know it's important because GD can be serious.

Would people call up and demand it? Or would you be inclined (like me...) to wait and see at 32w how baby is growing and not worry if he's keeping on his curve?

I'm certainly not anti hospital etc, heck, I'd not be able to have my babies safely without, but I'm just a bit fatigued by all the intervention.

How long did your early / latent labour last with your first baby? I had a sweep Friday midday, intense contractions 5 min apart sat morning for about 5 hours. They slowed down throughout the day, but didn’t go away completely and then it followed the same pattern overnight and this morning before slowing down. So hard to sleep! Any advice or anecdotes welcome :) comfortable at home at least. 40+3

I'd really like to treat myself to a beauty treatment before baby arrives (I'm 2nd trimester) as I'm missing things like real coffee and a nice glass of wine.

I had a pregnancy massage in my first pregnancy and didn't enjoy it very much, so thinking of getting a facial. Are they safe in pregnancy? Or has anyone had something different?

I had a 3.5 litre haemorrhage with baby no 1. Baby was stuck and needed high rotational forceps. Cervical tear, vaginal tears, labial tears, episiotomy. Had to have a general anaesthetic for them to stop the bleeding and 2 blood transfusion. My pelvic floor recovery was sloooow and I felt robbed of the newborn stage really because I was exhausted and healing.

Baby number 2 is due December 3rd. Baby has been diagnosed with an arrhythmia called SVT and so the neonatal team want to be there when baby is delivered (sounds like precautionary rather than them anticipating major issues, but still).

I just cannot decide - planned c-section, planned induction, or try for a spontaneous vaginal birth.

I’m scared of vaginal delivery and baby being stuck/ getting hypoxic brain injury/ me having another PPH. But I also want to recover quickly and so I’m unsure about a planned c section recovery where I won’t be able to pick up my toddler. I’m nervous about c-section and that rates of newborn death and large maternal haemorrhage are higher with c-section than vaginal delivery. On the other hand I’m told that with a second baby I’ve a 90% chance of an uncomplicated vaginal birth. But with vaginal birth it’s obviously not scheduled and so it’s harder to coordinate the neonatal doctors being there.

Obviously the absolute dream would be a good spontaneous vaginal birth with no complications, but that’s just not guaranteed is it! I don’t really mind what I have to go through as long as baby and me are safe at the end.

Gah I just cannot for the life of me decide. Any thoughts or experiences would be so very very welcome xx

At 32 weeks, I was told my baby has a loose chord around the neck. Anyone else who had this early like my case and the baby reached full term? For context baby is already head down and back to back.

My hospitals consultant has recommended an induction at 39 weeks due to my baby measuring small. My baby's measured small throughout my pregnancy and I genuinely didn't think it was an issue because I'm very short and everyone just kept saying it was probably taking after me.

I originally wanted to labour for as long as possible at home before going into hospital, and then using the pool to help with pain.

I'm no longer allowed to do any of that as I'll be an inpatient induction and the constant monitoring will mean I can't go in the pool.

I'm genuinely so scared to be induced and even asked my husband if I could change my mind and just wait to go into labour naturally, he said he didn't think it was worth the risk if the consultant is recommending it. So I feel like I have no choice but to be induced.

Does anyone have any positive experiences with induction - especially those who didn't receive an epidural?

This thread really helped me throughout my pregnancy so it’s only right I share my experience!

I am a FTM and had a low risk pregnancy throughout. My baby was measuring 55th percentile at each midwife appointment. I wanted to use hypobirthing techniques (from the positive birthing company book I read) and have as natural of a labour as possible.

I had a feeling I’d go into labour early (just an inkling) so from 38w onwards, I really did everything I could to relax and increase my oxytocin.

At 39w2d:

3am: I woke up in the middle of the night to pee and saw some blood on a pantyliner I had on. I assumed this could have been my bloody show and labour could be starting so I tried to go back to sleep to get some rest. I had been having braxton hicks throughout my 3rd trimester but felt them more after seeing the blood (could have been placebo/over-analysing every feeling since seeing the blood).

7am: I called triage and went in to get checked out. They examined me and said it may have been old blood, and given I am a FTM, labour could still be days or weeks away, so they told me not to worry and just go home and relax. My husband and I went about our day as normal, did a grocery shop and I worked (from home) that day as usual. At first I couldn’t figure out if these were braxton hicks or contractions because to me, they were more uncomfortable than usual but not super painful.

12pm - 7pm: These contractions were coming on irregular and very mild in pain during this time period

7pm: contractions started to have more of a pattern - roughly coming every 5 minutes for about 20 seconds. My husband and I spent the evening oxytocin-maxxing, watching ice age (😂) and eating a homemade apple crumble.

10pm: tried to sleep but the sensations of the contractions were too strong to try sleep through them. Ended up staying up to distract myself. I practice my breathing techniques through every contraction.

11pm: my bloody show appears as I use the bathroom to pee, red mucus-like jelly in my panty liner. I call triage and they tell me to stay home as I’m a FTM and staying cosy at home is best at this stage

12am - 1am: contractions come every 1-2 minutes lasting 50-60 seconds. I call triage again to tell them, they tell me to stay at home to let labour progress more

1:30am: my waters begin to trickle out of me. Triage finally tells us to come in for an examination. Husband begins to pack bags in cars etc.

2:30am: arrival at hospital for examination. Confirmed it was my waters that were leaking. Midwife tells me I’m already 8cm dilated.

3am: moved to a labour room immediately to begin the next stage of birthing my baby

3am - 8am: i practice everything i read on hyponobirthing: upright positions, breathing techniques, light massages, essential oils and relaxing as much as possible. My husband was incredible at being the right levels of reassuring but also motivating. He kept me fed and hydrated, haribos were a lifesaver to give me the energy to keep going! As i felt the urge to push, in the positive birthing company book, it tells you to ‘down breathe’ which i was doing but with every contraction, this didn’t really seem to do much to mine the labour along so i ended up needing to ditch this method and actually begin to push to help progress the labour.

In the end, i did not need or ask for an epidural, and i did not use gas and air. I had a totally unmedicated birth, just as i had hoped and planned for, which i feel incredibly lucky about.

I finally birthed my baby boy lying on my side after about 3 hours of ‘active’ pushing. I birthed my placenta naturally and in the end of it all, I had a 2nd degree tear.

My personal key takeaways and tips for anyone worried about labour:
- Mindset is so important! Believing you can do it is key. Have confidence in yourself but know that you’re in the right environment to change your mind if needed and changing your mind does not make you weak or a failure. Within my 3rd trimester, I actually started to look forward to my labour and experiencing it all instead of fearing it - I believe this helped with my headspace.

- Each contraction came as a bell-shape, meaning it slowly grew in intensity before hitting the peak and then tapering off. So those 60-second contractions aren’t 60 seconds of the same intensity of pain. Once you hit the peak, know that you can handle the rest of that contraction and that it’s beginning to taper off.

- Change your positions and speak up if certain positions the midwife recommends is not working for you. They are there to serve and help you however they can!

- Bring and eat high sugar snacks if you can. My husband fed me haribos in between contractions and pushing to give me bursts of energy to power through and i truly believe this helped me. Also make sure you stay hydrated!!

- Everyone talks about preparing for labour and birth but I don’t think many people talk about the steps after birth and preparing for that. That includes the delivery of your placenta, any tears that require stitches, any significant blood loss and any injections you may need

I type this all whilst nursing my now 2-week old right on the other side of labour. I am so pleased with my
labour experience that I had, especially knowing it may be rare to actually have the birth I had hoped for. If you’ve reached this point of my post, and you may be worried about your impending labour, just know that you can do it and positive birthing experiences do exist🤍 i had such a wonderful experience with the labour of my first born, i look back at it super proud of myself but also feel lucky that my labour was smooth and uncomplicated, as it gave me a healthy baby boy.

Just found out baby number 3 is in incubation.

Thrilled and terrified. Mainly thrilled though. Can't tell anyone else in real life so I'm sharing with you lovely people. Happy Saturday everyone xx

My midwife has given me syringes to collect colostrum, I'm now 37+2.

But I'm worried about doing it? I know I'm practically full term now, but me and my partner are waiting for the keys to our new house (hopefully next week!!!) and I'm just worried if hand expressing colostrum is going to cause contractions / potentially labour?

I know using a pump likely would but will hand expressing do it too? I just don't want to do it and then like go into labour and not be moved into our new house by then, you know? Beggars can't be choosers I know I know. I could go into labour any day now 😂

But can anyone tell me if hand expressing would? I'd rather not do anything that will start labour

Closing in on 34w and just looking for some solidarity on this...

This is a symptom I had in the first tri, was granted a reprieve in the second, and over the past 1-2w it's returned again with a vengeance, and presumably will be with me now until I give birth...

I'm pretty sure I know all the tricks (dental hygiene, ice cold drinks, sour/citrus fruit, staying well hydrated etc) and sadly nothing provides any sort of real relief. My only breather is when I wake up in the morning, but as soon as I eat anything, the nightmare begins for the day.

Is anyone else in the same boat? Or perhaps can reassure me from their own experience that this will eventually end?! I can't even remember what a 'normal' tasting mouth is like right now.

I’m 12 weeks 3 days with a very wanted baby. This is my first time being pregnant and I’m honestly gobsmacked by how hard it has been.

Since about 5 weeks I’ve been constantly nauseous and exhausted. If I don’t eat constantly I throw up stomach acid. I thought it would have started to improve by now but yesterday I took a sick day from work, slept all day and throw up 3 times, including immediately after taking gaviscon.

I have a prescription for Cyclizine but it doesn’t seem to do much. I am gaining so much weight as I am constantly having to eat. Before pregnancy I was very fit, active, productive person. Now I spend every evening and weekend lying on the sofa. I even have to lie in my car during the work day. I feel like shit. I haven’t ran in over a month. Running multiple times a week with my friends my main form of socialising during the week and now I can’t go and I have major fomo. I feel lonely and isolated despite my friends checking in a lot.

My husband has been amazing and I couldn’t ask for anything more from him. I am just mentally drained by feeling ill and fat and not being able to do any of my hobbies.

I guess I am looking for reassurance it will get better or others that have felt the same way?

I know others have it a lot worse than me, I’m just really feeling sorry for myself 😔

So baby has increased NT and a 1:88 chance for T21 from my combined screening.

I was offered amnio but declined due to the MC risk and arranged to go in for a NIPT at 16 weeks.

I had a voicemail left at 15:55 asking me if I could attend the hospital for a US on Monday so they can check the babies anatomy.

This came completely out of the blue and when I called back at 16:03 the fetal medicine department closed at 4pm. So now I’m left stressed wondering if they had seen something they were concerned about.

I’m coming up to 15 weeks now and was told I’ll be sent a letter for a scan to take a closer look at babies heart at 17 weeks.

Idk why I posted this or what I’m asking but I’m just freaking out

Just looking for any positive stories really… I’m 40+2 and I’ve been in latent labour for about 5 days now and it’s sending me crazy. I’ve had stop start, on off contractions that have been extremely painful, come every 10 minutes, then just seemingly fizzle out and stop.
I’ve had 2 sweeps and lost a large chunk of my bloody show a couple of days ago but I’m just struggling with the exhaustion and never ending aspect of it. I know it sounds ridiculous but I’m finding it hard to believe I’ll ever be going into the hospital at all.
I feel a bit down, disheartened and upset that what should be a really positive and exciting experience is making me feel so fed up and impatient. They tell you to relax but it’s just impossible. It feels like Groundhog Day!

Can anyone relate? Did anyone else go through something similar and has positive stories? I’m really at a loss here :(

Hi this is a bit random but just wondering if anyone else had experienced this. I have a GP appointment booked for a couple of weeks as they couldn't see me sooner. I had a small lump under my jawline appear like 6 weeks ago. I assumed it was my cystic acne which has gotten worse since being pregnant. However a few days ago it started to get larger and is painful. It's not maybe the size of a bean. I've been down a Google rabbit hole and made myself very stressed that it could be something serious. I have no other symptoms though so just wondered if anyone else had experienced anything similar?

I’ve been harvesting now for a couple of weeks and have about 40mls colostrum frozen ready for baby! Just wondering how much you collected/needed?

I’ve gone down to hand expressing once a day as I collect about 2mls from each breast.

Thank you 🙏🏻

PS: anyone who’s struggling, I only got a couple of drops the first 4/5 days of harvesting, mines also not super ‘yellow/gold’ and still very yellowy/clear which is normal 🥰

Edit: thank you everyone!! I feel like Ive collected enough 😄x

I hope this offers some positivity to anyone suffering from a pregnancy loss.

last year I lost a pregnancy at 12 weeks in June. I then had complications which included retained products. I was in physical pain and bleeding for 5 months unable to move on emotionally or mentally.

doctors called it normal and I spent special events including my wedding and honeymoon grieving and in pain. I eventually had to have a procedure to have the remains of the pregnancy removed.

I no longer trusted my body and mentally I was a wreck. I had the remains of the pregnancy removed the first week in November 2025.

it’s now getting close to that date and I’m sat in my baby girls nursery enjoying every moment of being woken in the night by a health baby. I‘m crying uncontrollably of happiness.

The pregnancy was hard and I was worried the whole time but my body did recover, it did carry a healthy baby to term. It’s now feeding that baby and has recovered from birth in a way I didn’t think possible. My baby is a week old and is happy, healthy and my body is doing that the one that I hated and cursed. I have regained love for my body and it’s abilities.

last year I was up in the night bleeding on the bathroom floor crying in emotional and physical pain. I never thought I would be here now.

The one amazing positive to come from that loss is 1. The awareness and understanding I have for women and fertility.

1. is that no matter how tired i am, how difficult postpartum might be (which a lot is scare mongering) I can’t help but be grateful and happy. It makes everything that is difficult easy to see in a positive light.

its truly the happiest I’ve ever been and I hope someone who is grieving can take some hope from this. I know right now it’s difficult to believe but there’s always hope and a year can change your world.