Mama K – ” My partner was the most amazing support throughout the labour but particularly through ‘transition’ where he reassured me and brought me back to my breathing and calmness. It was as if he knew what I needed at each point and a big part of this is down to your hypnobirthing course. “
Hi Claire,
We hope you’re very well and busy helping lots of expectant parents as you did with us!
Our baby girl is now 9 weeks old and we would love to share our birth story with you. A basic outline is we had the birth that we had planned for and baby came very peacefully into the world 1 day early in a birthing pool on the MLU. The funny thing is I feel like I’ve almost been apologising for it as everyone else I know who have had babies recently didn’t have that experience. I remember you mentioning this in class and I’ve been telling everyone we are so lucky etc. I’m sure there is a part of luck involved if baby is back to back etc but I also believe that staying active throughout and the positivity we both felt, calmness and all of our hypnobirthing practice helped our baby arrive as she did. So for this we are eternally grateful to you! Anyway enough chat, here’s the story…
I had been experiencing a few Braxton Hicks in the days leading up to the due date so I knew what a surge felt like. I also naively thought that labour would begin with a surge! So when on the Friday night I woke up every few hours with a niggling feeling in my pelvis I didn’t think that it meant baby was getting ready to make its appearance. Every man and his dog were also adamant that babies always come late for first time mothers so I had prepared myself for at least another week of dog walks and quiet time.
On the Saturday the pelvic niggles continued and I was convinced I was constipated so set about drinking prune juice to help things along! By 6pm though I was experiencing the pain more frequently and it was coming and going which seemed strange. I phoned the assessment unit at the hospital just to check what they thought. As I was conscious of not being a clueless first time mother who insist they’re in labour when nothing is happening I believed the midwife who confirmed, yes it sounds like you’re constipated but any problems call back. I guess at that point I should’ve listened to my body as I knew by now that it wasn’t just constipation! This was the only moment during my labour where I felt out of control and upset as if the midwife was telling me I was constipated and I knew something else was happening maybe there was a problem with my baby. A quick call to my mum in law who is a district nurse provided some sense as she confirmed Darling, you’re not constipated, baby is coming!
Another call to MLU at 9pm and a different midwife who agreed I was in early labour suddenly brought calm to us as all was ok and I could now put all of my hypnobirthing actions in place. As if by magic as soon as I knew this was labour my surges began and we were just so excited that baby was coming!
We watched 2 hours of Gavin & Stacey and laughed out loud, I sniffed lavender oil from a hankie which was wonderfully relaxing and I encouraged my partner to have a nap so that he was on top form to support me.
We stayed at home until 3am when the surges were feeling more intense and I wanted to get to the MLU and into the pool.
Upon arrival I had my only VE to establish that I was 4cm and happily got into the pool. We had our hypnobirthing MP3 playing over the speakers, dimmed lights and had asked the midwife to read our birthplan. (They don’t automatically read your carefully thought out plan so don’t be afraid to prompt them to do this to save having to explain everything!) From that point the amazing midwife sat back and followed our wishes to the letter. After managing the surges until 7:30am with the up breathing and wonderful relief of the water I then asked for gas and air when the surges were very intense. I found that the visualisations I’d practiced weren’t coming through so I just focused on my muscles coming up to let baby down.
There was no coaching and in hindsight I know when I hit the transition phase as the intensity was at its strongest and I did wonder if the baby was ever going to come! My partner was the most amazing support throughout the labour but particularly at this stage where he reassured me and brought me back to my breathing and calmness. It was as if he knew what I needed at each point and a big part of this is down to your hypnobirthing course.
My body began involuntarily pushing around 9:30am and 15 mins later our little one made her very peaceful arrival in the world! Her one murmur was so quiet that one of the midwives questioned whether she had cried or not! The feeling of joy, wonder and overwhelming love is something we will treasure forever and has brought us even closer as a couple.
The placenta was delivered shortly afterwards without the injection. I did have internal stitches due to baby arriving so quickly and at 8lb 1oz, but as well as the gas and air I continued with my slow, deep breathing through this too. As I had the gas and air tube for the last 2 hours of labour it wasn’t possible to use the down breaths so I just continued with the up breathing throughout which worked wonderfully.
The midwife told us that it was her first hypnobirth and that it was the easiest birth she’d ever had as she had so little to do! She was amazed at how calm the whole birth was and commented that I had literally breathed my baby out.
We feel utterly blessed to have had such a positive birth experience and would recommend hypnobirthing to any mummy to be. It’s also very empowering to be aware of your choices and feel in control as much as possible during your birth.
Thank you so much Claire!x
