Daddy B says: “I was in awe of my wife throughout the whole thing – her strong feminine energy really came out in force and she was really ‘in-the-zone’ in the pool, like an athlete in the Tour de France! I think your course really helped to encourage that, and also made me feel more at ease doing a smaller but still important job from the support car. “
Hi Claire,
My partner and I did the hypnobirthing course with you a couple months ago and we wanted to let you know that on the 11th of July our son was born in the Heath on the MLU.
We both wanted to share our experience with you and also express our gratitude and thanks for the amazing tips, tools and tricks we’ve learned during your Hypnobirthing course.
My waters broke at 3.30am on the morning of the 11th July. I called the MLU and because I didn’t have any other symptoms yet, they advised me to come in that morning at 8am to check if it really were my waters.
Between 3.30am and 8am neither of us slept a lot. I started to feel some light surges but still not regular. But I was convinced that this was our last night as a two!
By the time we got to the hospital my surges were about 4-5 minutes apart and lasting about a minute each. The Hypnobirthing breathing exercises really helped me to manage them and my partner was keeping track of how regular they were. Because I was so calm, the midwife was convinced it was way to early for me to be in Active Labour and told us it was very likely that we’d be send home again until the surges were more regular.
I had to stay in hospital for a bit to wait for some blood results. We got these back about 1.5 hours later. By that time I was having surges every 3 minutes, lasting a minute each but I was still managing well with the ‘Up Breathing’. Our midwife, suggested having a feel to see how far along I was. It turned out I was 3cm dilated and my cervix was fully flat! So she suggested filling the birthing pool!
I gave birth to our baby boy at 3.35pm that afternoon, and only needed some entonox with the first surges. I can’t honestly say I was ever in pain. Yes, it has been intense and there was a lot of physical pressure, but it was definitely doable and it made me feel so empowered.
My partner was a great help, giving me instructions in between surges and making me feel so safe by putting his hand on my tummy when the surges were on their peek. (as we’d practised with the Hypnobirthing partner scripts)
I couldn’t have wished for a better experience and I do believe it’s all to do with the preparation your course gave us.
I also wanted to let other parents know that the midwives in the MLU at the Heath were very familiar with the principles of Hypnobirthing which I felt very supported by.
My partner would like to add to this:
Coming from a medical background, I’ll be the first to admit that I was initially dubious about coming along to a Hypnobirthing Course. Looking back, I now feel that it was the best thing we could have done and played a huge part in making the arrival of our little boy such a positive experience.
The guided meditations, partner scripts, breathing exercises, positive visualisations, and discussion around birth preferences were really effective in making us feel ready to deal with any eventuality in a calm and positive way. I found this preparation also gave me a good idea of how I could support my partner through labour and help look out for her needs, e.g. comfort, calmness, hydration, communication with midwives / medics, helping her stay informed, and advocating for her when appropriate.
Some of the key points that I think went more smoothly because we had done your Hypnobirthing course:
– We were unsure if my wife’s waters had broken at 3.30am, called the MLU and were advised to come in at 8am. We were able to go back to sleep, and remained calm when some early surges were starting
– By the time we arrived at the hospital, the surges were coming every 3 to 4 minutes and lasting a minute, but my wife was so calm that I think the midwives assumed there was still a while to go before established labour, and reasonably suggested going home or having a walk outside
– We needed to wait for some bloods, and spent a couple of hours keeping track of the surges, getting some food and drink on board, and trying out variations of sitting / walking / standing / leaning / exercise ball to see which was more comfortable during surges. The only thing that really didn’t work was lying on the bed – which we knew from your course!
– It was becoming clear that things were progressing, so the midwife offered an examination which showed my wife was almost in active labour. We talked about birth preferences and the midwives were very on-board with the principles of Hypnobirthing
– The pool really suited my wife, and that, plus entonox, were the only analgesia she had. She found the surges were incredibly intense at their peak, but not painful, as she knew she was safe
– As we had learned in your course, there came a time when it all seemed too much and she wondered if she needed stronger pain relief e.g. pethidine, which would have meant getting onto the bed. We realised this was the surge of adrenaline (aka ‘transition’) between the first and second stage of labour, so my wife was then able to hold on a little longer. Sure enough she found her rhythm again with pushing, and our little boy arrived not long after.
– The things I could do that seemed to help the most were gentle reassurance, pressing on her lower back / sacrum during the early surges, putting my arm around her and hand on the abdomen during the surges in the pool, having some calming music on, offering regular sips of fluid and some snacks. Later on, I was able to help by repeating back the midwives suggestions around pushing / breathing / positioning, e.g. when they were occupied with checking on baby’s heart rate and position, or when my wife hadn’t quite heard something.
– It took a few tries to deliver the placenta, and the midwives thought they might need to call one of the doctors, but having learned about the importance of oxytocin in the third stage during your course, and the surge of it that comes with breastfeeding, we asked to try this first and sure enough the placenta came on the next try
I was in awe of my wife throughout the whole thing – her strong feminine energy really came out in force and she was really ‘in-the-zone’ in the pool, like an athlete in the Tour de France! I think your course really helped to encourage that, and also made me feel more at ease doing a smaller but still important job from the support car.
Thanks so much!
