Mama L – “I was scared of having an anaesthetic, but the breathing techniques I had learnt from Hypnobirthing helped me to remain calm. The anaesthetist talked me through the whole process as it happened, explaining all the noises, while my partner held me close and we played our chosen music.”

Hope all is well with you, and you’re enjoying the sunshine! Thought I would send you my birth story now I have a quiet moment. As you’ll see, things were not as straight forward as I thought they would be!

As you know, I had been under consultant care throughout the pregnancy with regular growth scans and on my 40th week, I was due to have my last scan – if baby was a good size I could go to midwife led otherwise I’d stay under the consultant. Previous scans at 36 and 38 weeks showed baby was engaged and head down. However we all had a bit of a surprise at the 40 week scan to discover that not only had he turned himself breech but was also a footling breech. Apparently baby turning after 37 weeks is unusual! The Consultant told us we had three options – try to turn him, elective c-section, or try for a vaginal delivery. The consultant was wonderful and reassured us we would be supported with whatever decision we made and gave us all the information required to make an informed decision, including all the risks associated with each option. We decided to try and turn baby so the next day, another Dr tried to turn him, but unfortunately he would not budge. So we had another decision to make- try for a vaginal delivery or elective section. We were extremely fortunate that we had enough time to talk through and make the decision that was right for us. We were fully supported with our decision and encouraged to talk through and weigh up the benefits of both options. Ultimately, it was important to my partner and I that baby arrived safely and the last thing I wanted to was to end up having an emergency cesarean with baby in distress, so after much thought we opted for the elective c-section. I would be being dishonest if I said I wasn’t disappointed that I wouldn’t have the opportunity to labour and give birth myself. Having practiced hypnobirthing, I was looking forward to the process of giving birth (and the opportunity to moo!!). I never really expected to be in a position where I would need a section, but I also felt I was important to me to have my baby in a calm and controlled way, and that’s what the elective section gave me.

So on Saturday I was taken to theatre, and to be honest, I was scared of having an anaesthetic, but the breathing techniques I had learnt from Hypnobirthing helped me to remain calm. I had a truly amazing team of anaesthetists, midwife, surgeons and scrub/ theatre nurses who were unwavering with their support. The anaesthetist talked me through the whole process as it happened, explaining all the noises, while my partner held me close and we played our chosen music. At 12:09 our son was born 7lb 15oz, healthy and happy. After a night in hospital to regain the feeling in my legs, and a check over of us both, we were discharged the next day and are settling in to life as a family of 4. Our baby boy’s big sister is very proud of her little brother!

This is the second time I have given birth where things did not go as expected, but have been so fortunate that they have been positive experiences.

I hope this is helpful to the ladies in yoga! I wish them all the best for their birth journeys! And hopefully I will see you later in the summer/ autumn for baby massage class.