Mummy L says: “Without the hypnobirthing techniques and the confidence gained from doing your course, I would not have felt as calm, or been as involved with my care as I was. I felt confident to ask questions, I made it clear that I should be asked at each step and I discussed all with my birthing partner and dad. Through the preparation I was able to have some time in the birthing pool, which was very important to me, and my birthing partner was incredible throughout.”

Hi Claire,

I’ve been meaning to write for a while as I would like to introduce you to my beautiful baby boy. He was born on 27th of February via emergency c-section. The last (nearly) 8 weeks have been a slight roller coaster of recovery, adaptation and transitioning into a parent – as you are very aware. But I am excited to say that we will be seeing you on the 28th for our first yoga class.

I would like to share my birth story, sadly it is not a positive one, however, I couldn’t have got through it without the skills I learnt from hypnobirthing. Therefore, I feel it is part of my emotional recovery and important to share how hypnobirthing can help you through when things do not go to plan. I am happy for you to share this, if you feel it is appropriate.

I was advised to have an induction by the consultant for medical reasons, however, there was some discrepancies as to whether it was necessary. My pregnancy was a good and healthy one, my baby was growing and all seemed healthy. However, protocol of a Low PAPP A pregnancy is to not go further than 38 weeks. I however, made it 39 +5 weeks before they advised an induction due to the medical team’s miscommunication.

I went into hospital for an induction on Sunday 23rd February, which sadly didn’t have the desired effect even though my waters were broken on the Wednesday. After pethidine, and an epidural, I only made it to 4cm dilation when it was clear that the baby was not coping with the induction (heart rate dropped when drip volume increased), otherwise baby was super comfy where it was. So, on Thursday 27th February, I was the first of the day to have an emergency C-section.

My beautiful, healthy and happy little boy was born. He is the love of my life and a miracle.

The reason I want to share this story is because throughout I used the Hypnobirthing Techniques with my mum (my birthing partner) and my dad (who surprisingly was also allowed to stay with us during labour). We took the Hypnobirthing book in with us, and mum read one of the scripts during labour, which the midwife had never seen before. But it was so effective that the midwife team felt the effects too! I felt Hypnobirthing was so helpful and definitely changed how I managed the birth of my baby.

Leading up to the start of labour – I coloured in sheets of affirmations to help me mentally work with the induction, I practiced the Hypnobirthing Breathing and I created my own mantra – ‘We are strong, we are healthy, we are ready, we are loved’. This was a way of showing that me and my baby were a team. This was not happening to us, we were working through this together!
When having the epidural (which I had said I didn’t want in my birth plan, but the plan changed at the time), my mum took me through a visualisation, we imagined we were in my Gran’s garden, with every breath, smelling the sweet peas and hyacinths she would grow. This happened whilst mum was stroking my hands. Afterwards, everyone who were present were speaking about how calm they were and that they were there in the garden too. (In my visualisation they definitely were not there).

Without the hypnobirthing techniques and the confidence gained from doing your course, I would not have felt as calm, or been as involved with my care as I was. I felt confident to ask questions, I made it clear that I should be asked at each step and I discussed all with my birthing partner and dad. Through the preparation I was able to have some time in the birthing pool, which was very important to me, and my birthing partner was incredible throughout. The family that went into that labour room, came out stronger and closer through working through my baby’s birth together. This has helped set us up for an incredible family bond post surgery.

Thank you Claire, for all your support and I hope there are aspects that others will find helpful in this.

Recovery has been slow, but I have been strong and confident in knowing what I need and what the best is for my baby.

See you on Monday for Mum and Baby Yoga – I can’t wait for you to meet my little boy.