Mummy K says: “After 1 hour and 20 mins of pushing, my partner with me, face to face, holding my hand through it all, our baby’s head was born in the pool, his fore waters still in place, my (almost) mermaid baby….He was caught by one of the midwives, passed through my legs to my partner who announced that we had a little boy, as he passed him to me.  I held him to my chest and walked to the bed, legs shaking but feeling stronger than ever before. I was capable of anything.”

Hi Claire, 

I’m sitting here on the beach with my beautiful 8 week old baby boy, listening to my ‘down’ playlist and reflecting on the powerful experience of pregnancy, labour and birth the bought him earth side.  

Our gorgeous boy arrived pool side at the MLU and it was such an incredible and empowering experience, made that way because of Hypnobirthing.  My partner was there supporting me throughout and was the best birth partner in it all! 

For me, pregnancy was a tricky time, dealing with extreme fatigue and PGP left me pretty miserable, but my Hypnobirthing affirmations really helped to ground me and realise what I was doing this for. For me, Hypnobirthing left me in a positive place, removing fear and making me realise what my body was capable of. As a result I went into labour and birth, feeling prepared and excited, something that I didn’t think would be possible, but I knew my body could do this. 

My labour started in the early morning on Tuesday 13th May and I felt nothing but excitement. I used my ‘up’ breathing to help me through the first surges before my partner woke up at 5:30am, and from that moment he was with me for every surge, until our baby was born. For the first few hours I spent time in the bath at home and on my birthing ball (both places where we had practiced our relaxations techniques in preparation for labour). Being in the water is incredibly calming for me, and I found myself visualising waves during each surge; this helped me remember that there would be a peak in intensity, but it was soon crash and fade away. Throughout we listened to our ‘up’ playlist, a collection of uplifting and meaningful tunes, filled with happy memories, to keep the oxytocin and endorphins flowing. We even managed some dancing in early labour! 

When the time came that I felt I couldn’t face the intensity of the contractions any longer we headed into the MLU at 5pm, only to be sent home. After another bath, a McDonald’s and more time on my ball, we headed back to the MLU at 11pm. Although the midwives tried to suggest going back home again my partner advocated for my needs to get me as comfortable as possible. For me this meant pethidine and getting some rest before active labour began. 

The morning came with the shift changeover and our amazing midwife Becky starter her shift and it was clear from the offset that she had thoroughly read our plan and I felt so validated and supported. I was able to enter pool and a wave of calm came over me. I felt serene, keeping my eyes closed, I went inward and breathed through each surge until I reached 5cm and was able to use the gas and air. For me this helped me maintain control of my breathing as my surges intensified. All the time we continued to play our ‘up’ playlist and were told by several midwives that they were enjoying the tunes. 

As I reached transition, I remember letting out a guttural roar and saying “I think this is transition, which means we need to change the playlist!”. I can remember my midwife saying “if you think it’s transition babe, then it is”. I felt so validated that I knew my body. The music was changed to our ‘down’ playlist, which contained more calming tunes, in preparation to welcome our baby. After 1 hour and 20 mins of pushing, my partner with me, face to face, holding my hand through it all, our baby’s head was born in the pool, his fore waters still in place, my (almost) mermaid baby. After three more surges the rest of his body did not come, meaning getting out of the pool. This movement caused him to come with the next contraction, on the pool steps! He was caught by one of the midwives at 5:08pm, passed through my legs to my partner who announced that we had a little boy, as he passed him to me. I held him to my chest and walked to the bed, legs shaking but feeling stronger than ever before. I was capable of anything.       

As I lay with him on my chest, Zach Bryan’s version of ‘you are my sunshine’ played, an apt song for our sunshine boy.