Mama A – ” Due to complications, my first birth was a difficult one and left me nervous for the second. However, the second was as positive an experience as I had hoped and the discussions, tips and techniques at pregnancy yoga during both pregnancies most definitely contributed to this – thank you Clare!”

Our baby boy is now 9 weeks old and I have finally got around to writing my birth story for you!

I also would like to say thank you to you. You and the classes have really helped me (through both pregnancies) and have really contributed a lot to making my pregnancy and birth experiences as positive as possible.

Throughout my pregnancy I was consultant led (due to maternal age) and at about 36 weeks I was told that they wanted to induce me as there was an increased risk of still birth if I were too go over 40 weeks (again, due to my age). I had only heard negative things about being induced so wasn’t keen but the minute they said the words ’still birth’ and I did some of my own research, I felt it was the only option for me as I wasn’t prepared to take that risk. So I spent the next few weeks determined to stay positive whatever the outcome whilst also eagerly sniffing clary sage, drinking raspberry leaf tea, eating hot curries and pineapple etc. to try to get things going naturally, but to no avail. I arrived at my due date still pregnant.

Arrival at the induction ward felt very strange. Having gone into spontaneous labour with my first child, arriving at the hospital not in labour to have my baby just felt odd. However, I had told myself to stay as positive as possible throughout and was very determined to do so.

Once admitted, I had all the usual checks and they decided my induction would begin with the 24 hour prostaglandins pessary and then it was just a matter of waiting. Our son was with my parents so my husband was able to stay at the hospital throughout and to be honest, the whole process was much better than I had imagined and I was still determined to remain positive throughout. After 4 hours I started to get very mild surges which continued for a few hours, but I eventually fell asleep. I woke in the early hours of the morning and they had stopped. Mid-afternoon they returned but again stopped after and couple of hours, this time not returning.

That evening, following an examination, the midwife said no further action was needed as I was 4cm dilated and could be sent to the labour ward when they were ready to take me – even though hadn’t had any surges for several hours. About 2am (still no surges) I was taken to the labour ward where they told me to walk around the hospital and bonce on the ball as much as possible. Still feeling in a very good place, I did this for a few hours but no surges and eventually, my husband and I fell asleep. When the next midwife came on shift, she examined me and said she disagreed with my previous midwife and that I was only 1-2cm dilated and would need to have the induction drip.

This was the bit I was dreading as I had been told that this style of induction was extremely intense. However my mind-set was to remain relaxed and take things as they come, which really helped. I chatted to my husband and the midwife about baby names for the next 15 minutes whilst bouncing on the ball, listening to my labour playlist and waiting for something to happen. Then the surges started and everything happened very quickly. Due to the Oxytocin drip induction, the surges were immediately intense and extremely uncomfortable (0-100 in no time at all) and gas and air was now my new best friend. After another 10 minutes, the midwife seemed quite alarmed at this. She quickly examined me and said that I was fully dilated and the baby coming out now! Sure enough a few minutes later a gorgeous, healthy baby boy joined our team. 28 minutes from when the contractions started. Happy days.

Due to complications, my first birth was a difficult one and left me nervous for the second. However, the second was as positive an experience as I had hoped and the discussions, tips and techniques at pregnancy yoga during both pregnancies most definitely contributed to this – thank you Clare!

Our baby boy and I very much look forward to coming to baby yoga very soon.