'Caroline', an airline pilot in her 30s, wanted a natural birth. Her birth plan said she did not want the waters broken. "We had both educated ourselves, so they couldn't give us this bullshit - 'you're putting your baby at risk if you don't have your waters broken. We must see if the baby's okay.'
"I knew an amniotomy would mean more pain and that it would increase the risk of infection. What's best for the baby is what happens naturally . . .
"The sister came in to do an internal . I'd never had one before. It was very invasive . . . She wasn't up for the birth plan. I went into the shower, turned off the light and sat on a stool for hours . . .
"I didn't want another internal. They put a lot of pressure on me. I said no. The midwife came in, then she sent in a junior. 'Okay,' I said, 'if you really want it, I'll have it.' I felt so hassled . . .
"The junior went to the sister, but the sister misunderstood. 'I want you to know that what you're doing is against the best medical advice,' she said . . .
"My husband told them he didn't want that sister to do the internal. Then there was a shift change . . . A new sister came in. I tried hard to get her to relate to me, but she was really cold and very hostile . . .
"She put me on my back to do the internal, and she broke the waters. 'Oh, look,' she said, 'the waters broke.' They didn't break accidentally.
"She never apologised. She never acknowledged that I hadn't wanted my waters broken. It was a pure act of bitchiness. The pain got much stronger then; my labour almost went out of control."