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Real life hypnobirth stories from across the Isle of Wight

2015 IOW Birth Stories

Sally and Mark's story - empowered, unplanned c-section

 

We originally heard about Hypnobirthing through mutual friends of our instructor. We went along to the taster session to find out more, where surprisingly to me, Mark took to it in an enthusiastic way!

 

We planned a home water birth, but as our pregnancy ticked past our 'due date', we faced some hurdles.  We were adamant not to be induced as we were confident our baby would know what to do instinctively; I was '42 weeks' (on the GP estimate) when I went into labour.  We accepted the option of daily monitoring to ensure all was well due to how far along we were in our pregnancy and attended on the two days before I went into labour, which in the midwives words was “textbook”. There was no reason in our eyes to jolly the little fella along given he appeared happy and well.

 

I started feeling strong, regular surges at around 1pm on the Tuesday afternoon and started listening to the Wise Hippo MP3s.  Mark arrived home from work at 2.30pm when it was obvious to him that I was in labour! We called the hospital to let them know I was in labour.  I’m guessing it was not as obvious to the midwife as it was to us due to my being calm and relaxed on the phone. We declined to go to the hospital for monitoring as we did not want to risk missing out on our home birth.

 

The midwife and student (who we got to know fairly well) arrived at around 4.30pm at our home. The student had attended a training session with our Wise Hippo instructor previously so had taken everything on board, respecting all of our choices and decisions (even referring to the contractions as surges). It appeared I was having extremely strong surges very close together and our baby’s heart rate was remaining at 180, this was not changing with the surges so the midwife expressed her concern to my partner (without instilling any panic it has to be said). We worked through our “BRAINS” tool that we'd learned, and decided that hospital would be the best thing if it meant having a happy healthy baby, be it at home or not. The fact that it was ultimately our decision helped us to remain calm.  When the ambulance arrived the midwife was very diplomatic about getting me there as quickly as possible when asked if she felt they should put the blue lights on.

 

So far I had no pain relief, I was not offered any as I did not request it – this was part of my birth plan as I felt I would know if I felt the need.  I continued with my breathing through surges and picturing my calm, relaxing place.  Due to the extremely bumpy ambulance ride, it was extremely difficult for me to get into a comfortable position, so I did have some gas and air, but this was my decision. I think the paramedic was surprised I could still crack a joke too.

 

Once at the hospital, I agreed to be monitored before being given all the information to make a decision as to what to do. I still expressed my wish for a water birth at this stage. Our baby was still appearing to be in some distress, so I agreed for them to break my waters (I was 4cm dilated at this point). I was told that they appeared to be infected with meconium, so due to concerns for our baby, I agreed to an emergency caesarean.

 

I still remained calm about the situation, because I knew it was in my baby’s best interest and that we had ultimately made the right decisions.  I expressed to the paediatrician that skin to skin contact was very important to me and he agreed that if all was well he would, of course, honour this.

 

Jack Dexter was finally born at 10.18pm on 10 February 2015 weighing 8lb 3 ½oz. They took him to intensive care as he needed help to breathe for a short time – actually a good thing as otherwise he would have taken in more of the infected fluid into his lungs.

 

I was able to see him at midnight for the first time, a slightly strange feeling given I did not feel I had “given birth” to him.  NICU were wonderful, they constantly kept me fully informed and even gave me cloth dolls – one to keep in my top and the other in Jack’s incubator, so I was reassured he had my scent with him. This really helped me to bond further with him as I was on another ward. They helped me with expressing milk, when I was able to transfer to a wheelchair later on that afternoon, I took some to him and they helped me with breast feeding – the first time I was able to hold him. He was a natural, I was so proud.

 

After 2 days in intensive care, Jack was well enough to stay in a cot in my room, although still under NICU care. Due to complications from my epidural, I had to lay completely flat for a couple of days.  It was difficult for me to see midwives changing my baby, but they were very good in that I did not feel like they were taking away any “control”.  They were very reassuring. Breast feeding was becoming more difficult but I used breathing techniques through it as I knew it was in his best interest, especially being that he was poorly, and it was one thing I always said I would never give up on.

 

On the Sunday it was time for home. It was an emotional moment knowing we were walking away as a family.  Jack is continues to thrive; he is very calm and content.

 

The WIse Hippo birthing programme made us more aware of what our choices were so we felt more in control, had we have not felt like this, it could have been a very traumatic experience. I  sometimes question what was it that happened so quickly to change everything, but actually, that’s irrelevant. The right choices were made and we have a happy, healthy and strong little boy – that’s all that counts now.

Sally and Mark attended group classes with Birth Wight in November 2014

 

SallyMark
AnnemarieAlan
SarahGordon

Anne-Marie and Alan's story - a healing hospital birth

 

After suffering a traumatic birth with our first daughter in 2010, we were keen to make this pregnancy and birth a much more positive experience. Knowing Helen, firstly as a friend, I was aware of her interest, personal experience and training in hypnobirthing and was keen to do the course too.

 

Although our pregnancy was consultant led, and at times, quite worrying, The Wise Hippo birthing programme enabled us to breathe, relax and take things in our stride. I enjoyed my pregnancy this time round and really looked toward to the birth. 

 

As my due date drew closer, we prepared for birth as a family. Our little girl even joined in the birth affirmations with me. It was a wonderful feeling to bring so much positivity into our lives, where it could have felt so different.

 

I had a show on the Friday night so knew that meeting our baby wasn't far away....On Saturday night, I had a feeling things were getting ready to happen. We went to bed listening to The Wise Hippo mp3's and fell asleep doing so.

 

I was aware of surges during the night but they weren't strong enough to wake me. I was aware of automatically surge breathing too. It wasn't until 5.30am that I woke up and realised that the surges were coming regularly, so decided to get up and watch the TV for a while so that everyone else could get some much needed rest. An hour later, the surges were coming every 6 minutes. At 6.45am I let mum in law know that today would be the day :-) by 7am, my waters broke! At this point we were advised to make our way to the hospital.....we made our way into the hospital and got there about 9am. My surges were coming regularly and surge breathing was managing them wonderfully. We were able to stay calm and make informed decisions about the birth when we got there, and although they wanted to speed things up using the drip and monitor me constantly which meant laying on the bed, we felt empowered to ask questions and make informed choices. 

 

We moved to the delivery suite at about 9.30am and they prepared to put the drip up. By this time, the surges were getting stronger so I decided to use gas and air. Things were still very comfortable and I felt calm and relaxed, using my visualization and breathing and affirmations. I was very disappointed when they told me I was only 1cm dilated.

 

The surges continued to grow in strength and an hour later, I had an uncontrollable urge to push. The Midwife checked and in just an hour, I had gone from 1cm to fully dilated :-) in three pushes, our beautiful second daughter was born in perfect health.

 

Philomena was born naturally, and with no intervention in the end.

Anne-Marie and Alan attended private classes with BIrth Wight in December 2014

KellyClint

Kelly and Clint's story - confidence; a calm hospital birth

 

I've had Poppy! We had her at 37+4 days. She was 6lb 6oz.


Labour was really good, had no pain relief, just breathed through each contraction.

 

Thank you for the advice I got from you in the workshop, I do believe it really helped, especially when I was in the early stages in labour at home Saturday night.

 

I went from 2cm to 6cm in about 8 hours then went from 6cm to fully dilated and pushing within the hour; it only took about 4 contractions to push her out too.

 

I only had gas and air at the end for a few stitches. Didn't get my water birth as she came so quickly, but that was fine. We are home and she's doing really well.

Kelly and Clint attended a Relx, Breathe and Birth workshop with Birth Wight in March 2015

Sarah and Gordon's story - a beautiful hypnobirthing hospital waterbirth

 

I started having surges at 4pm and went for a relaxing bath and listened to my Wise Hippo MP3's. The surges were very manageable and we spent the evening chilling out and demolishing a Chinese takeaway.

 

We went to bed at 10pm and I managed to sleep on and off until about 1am. I then spent the next couple of hours breathing through the surges whilst listening to my MP3's.

 

We left for the hospital at 3am and when we arrived I was 7cm dilated.

 

The midwife was surprised I was this far along as I was so calm and wasn't sure if there would be enough time to fill the pool up.

 

Luckily there was time and everything was just how I wanted with dimmed lights and my MP3's playing.

 

It didn't feel like I was in the pool for long before my waters broke and I was breathing my baby out.  Our little Hannah arrived in the world at 5.25am.

 

We are so glad we chose to practice hypnobirthing and through attending Helen's classes any fears of childbirth disappeared and we had an amazing experience. We are very happy with the way my birth went and are enjoying our very calm and content hypnobirthing baby!

Sarah and Gordon attended group classes with Birth Wight in November 2014

Abbey and Malcolm's story - unexpected hospital birth

 

My waters suddenly burst at 4am, Thursday morning. I tried to go back to sleep but my surges were stong and close together. So we set the up the pool, lit the candles, inflated the birthing ball and put on the Wise Hippo MP3's. I used the breathing techniques a lot to ease the intensity of labour. The room had an atmosphere of calm and every one whispered.

 

The midwife came and I started to use the tens machine which was a great distraction. I got examined and I was 3 cm dilated. So I got in the pool and relaxed. I swapped between in the pool and bouncing on the birthing ball.

 

Sadly at 4pm I had not progressed so I was transferred to hospital. There I had to have a drip to encourage my labour along and I had a walking epidural. I was quite pleased as I had been in active labour now for 14 hours and I had a well informed choice through all I had learnt through hypnobirthing.

 

I was able to get some sleep and rest until 6am on Friday morning where I had finally progressed to 10 cm. Then I started to push.

 

After pushing for an hour the consultant was called in to cut and forcep the baby out. However seeing this just encouraged me to push more as I wanted neither of that to happen! Luckily my efforts paid off and I delivered our beautiful baby daughter, Autumn who weighed 9lbs.

 

We can honestly say it was the most profound experience we have ever had. It was a roller coaster of emotions over the course of the 27 hours of being in labour.

 

 

My advice for any future mothers to be: Make sure your birth partner attends these courses with you. My husband was amazing and knew exactly how to help and I really could not have done it with out him. I really felt the labour and birth was both of our efforts.

 

Hypnobirthing helped with birth and after, and I am sure I would have had a more intrusive labour if it was not for attending the course. Thank you so much Helen :)

Abbey and Malcolm attended private classes with BIrth Wight over a period of months in 2014

Katie and Andy's story - the right birth on the day

 

In the weeks leading up to Charlotte being born, I used the MP3's nearly every day, so that, along with the knowledge we got in the course about the process of the labour, I wasn't as nervous as I would have been and felt calm and confident about the upcoming birth.


My birthplan with the midwife stressed as natural birth as possible, especially a natural start and the early stage at home.

 

However I was told a couple of weeks before my baby was due that I had too much amniotic fluid.  When my waters partially broke, a day after my due date, and labour hadn't started we followed advice to have an induction. 


The labour was not similar to my birth plan at all unfortunetly, however, despite that I'm convinced that the relaxation techniques I learnt made the labour a positive, calmer and possibly quicker process than it would have been given the circumstances; even the midwives commented on my positive attitude.

Katie and Andy attended group classes with Birth Wight in April 2015

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KatieAndy

Kelly and Adam's story - four weeks from fear to fearless 

 

When I first found out I was pregnant I was terrified I had always brushed off the idea of ever having a baby due to being horrified at the thought of child birth however I found myself in this situation and knew I had to do something to try and help ease the fears I was having.  I started by Googling ‘fears of child birth’ and I came across hypnobirthing, I then searched for hypnobirthing in my area and that is where I found my instructor Helen.

 

I initially went to a taster session where Helen explained in a nutshell what hypnobirthing involved and we watched a birthing video at this stage I still wasn’t convinced that this would work for me as I had such high anxiety about the whole thing but I signed up to the course anyway because I knew I had to try something.

 

As the course went on I found myself becoming a little less frightened and more excited to have my baby, each session we would watch positive hypnobirthing videos and I started to think that maybe it would be possible to have a positive birth myself.

 

Labour day was very fast.  It all started on a Thursday night I started to experience some fairly strong pressure feelings very low down, I put these down to the baby just sitting very low and I took myself off to bed, I plugged my iPod in and listened to my mp3’s and drifted off to sleep. I woke up quite frequently with niggling aches however I seemed to just keep drifting back to sleep in between.

 

I woke at 4am with a much stronger feeling and decided to get up this is when I realised that I was in labour.  I spent just over an hour walking round the house which I found eased the feelings I was getting, the surges soon became strong and frequent and my body was almost pushing itself although I was trying to stop this.  We phoned the hospital and the midwife asked a few questions about how I was feeling and suggested we got to the hospital as soon as we could so we went straight away.

 

On arrival at the hospital I was still fairly calm and I was examined by the midwife who informed us that I was 6cm dilated, I requested to have the birthing pool so the midwife went off to fill it up she said it would take about 20 minutes.  When she returned to tell me it was ready she could see that my surges were getting a lot stronger and much more frequent, so she suggested just quickly examining me before we made our way to the pool just to check how far along I had come to which she told us that I was now 10cm. The midwife said I could either go down to the pool to deliver the baby or I could stay where I was.  I decided to stay where I was as I felt that he was coming soon and I was fairly comfortable.

 

Although I was trying to breathe the baby out as I had learnt in my classes my body was almost pushing itself so I just went with it. I stayed calm in between surges and within just under 2 hours our beautiful baby boy was born with no interventions from the midwives. He weighed a healthy 6lbs 12oz despite being 3 week early.

 

I had the perfect birth for me on the day I was amazed how calm I remained especially the time I spent at home. Later I did end up having to go to theatre as I had damaged some internal muscles however I remained calm throughout this also, I don’t believe I could of stayed as calm without finding Helen and attending the hypnobirthing classes so I will forever be grateful. I had to stay in hospital overnight and was allowed out the following afternoon. We are all doing great at come and we have a very happy and content little boy.

Kelly and Adam attended group classes with Birth Wight in May 2015

KellyAdam

Anycia and Richard - our first TWIN birth and a beautiful natural c-section

 

Finding out I was pregnant very soon after the very successful hypnobirth of my baby boy, George certainly came as a shock, however, I was so excited to be able to put all my hypnobirthing techniques into practice again.  Straight away I knew I’d want a home water birth.

 

At my 12 week scan we had a little extra surprise- we were expecting twins! OH MY GOODNESS! 

I knew from that point my dreams of a home water birth would be challenged, however, I did lot of research and was still determined to try. I sought lots of advice from independent midwives and the Supervisor of Midwives (SOM) at the hospital.

 

All was going well in my pregnancy when I hit another small bump in the road - Gestational 

Diabetes - I knew this would be another complication that would urge the health professionals to want me to birth my babies in hospital.

 

After a lot of research, I agreed that hospital would be the best place for me and the twins, but I was still set on a water birth. At first I was told absolutely not and was explained the reasons why a water birth would not be appropriate. Again after a lot of research and chats with the SOM, we agreed together that I could labour in the water, however, it would be best to step out of the pool for the actual birth. I was happy with this decision as I used my BRAINS and concluded that this would be the best and safest option for myself and the twins.

 

So here we are already quite a long way a way from my original plan, but I still felt in control and all the decisions had been mine so far.

 

Another bump in the road!

 

One baby breech and the other transverse!

 

Yes these little pickles we determined to make things difficult for mummy, however I remained 

positive the at least baby 1 would turn and my dream of another vaginal birth would still be achievable.  My consultant explained that under no circumstances would she support a vaginal birth with the twins in this position - naturally my disappointment was massive.

 

After speaking with the SOM (she was steady becoming my guardian angel) she explained in detail the risks of a breech birth with twins - something my consultant hadn’t really done. Having had everything explained in a lot of detail we agreed that I could try for a vaginal birth, however, it would be a good idea to have an epidural sited in case medical interventions were called for; something I originally was set against but this was a compromise I was wiling to undertake. I was to have the epidural and a canular sited and only administer the medication if needed. The other option was if these things weren't  in place and myself or the twins got into trouble, they'd have had to put me under general anaesthetic and id have missed the whole thing, not only that but my husband would have missed the whole thing too.

 

At this point I was still feeling very positive and in control of my decisions so far and even though I was looking at a hospital birth with the odds of interventions and medication looking very likely I had been happy with my decisions, because they were ultimately MY decisions.  Hypnobirthing gave me the confidence to challenge the professionals, ask questions, research and weigh up the odds myself in order to come to a birth plan that I could feel calm, relaxed and positive about.

 

As the weeks went by, and with other complications to do with babies position and the GD causing growth problems with one of the twins; I was warned that it would be a good idea for me to prepare myself for a C-section. I was DEVASTATED. For me this was the last straw, how could I have a successful hypnobirth if i didn't actually give birth the these babies myself? how would this affect the bond we had? This news put me at rock bottom and I just didn't know how to see a positive in this situation. 

 

Time to dig out that cloak of protection

 

After many weeks and scans later I had an appointment with my consultant to discuss the babies progress- unfortunately she was away and I had to see another consultant - I’m sorry to say he was not at all pleasant and I came away feeling really low so once again I turned to Nicky, the SOM.

 

Nicky was the human equivalent of my cloak of protection and she called me in for a meeting and we talked things over in great detail and it was during this discussion that she told me about natural or gentle C-Section so off I went home to do yet more research and write down lots more questions.

 

Together we came up with a C-section birth plan that I could see having the potential to be an amazing birthing experience and once again I was on track and even more fantastic I could incorporate lots of my hypnobirthing techniques - let face it these techniques had already been put into good use trying to smooth out all the bumps in the road I’d come across.

 

On 18th August 2015 (34+6 weeks) I went for a growth scan where is came to light that

baby 1 had not only stopped growing but had in fact started to loose weight and a C-section within the next few days was necessary for the health of the babies, however, as the scan was extremely difficult to carry out we decided together that a second opinion was needed so I was booked in for a rescan the next day.

 

The rescan was carried out by a different person and unfortunately she came up with the exact 

same conclusion so I was admitted to hospital there and then with the aim of a c-section that very same afternoon.

 

I was happy to go along with this and I was able to discuss my birth plan with the team on duty that day and everything was put into place for me.  However, due to me not receiving steroids in time and an emergency in NICU my C-section was postponed to the next morning. This in fact turned out to have another positive - I had time to ask to be shown the theatre room so I could start visualising my positive birth, I had every single step of my C-section explained to me in great detail and I had a tour of NICU and a lovely chat with the staff there where I could find out exactly what would happen in the likely event my babies would have to spend some time in there and what I could do to make sure I bonded with my babies. I felt that with this added extra knowledge I was back in control and feeling confident.

 

On the night of 19th august when I was all alone in my hospital bed, out of nowhere I suddenly 

found myself starting to panic, so I decided to message Helen who immediately reminded me to use my cove of confidence and she put me in touch with Tracey, a hypnobirthing instructor and doula who had recently experienced a c-section delivery, so at 10pm there I was on the phone having a lovely chat and together with my cloak of protection and cove of confidence I found myself back on track feeling a lot more positive and ready to meet my babies the next day.

 

D-Day 20th August 2015 (35+1 week)

 

I woke the next morning feeling confident and relaxed, my husband Richard came up to the ward with my mum at about 7.30am.

 

I had discussed my birth plan the night before with my consultant and SOM and had a chance to go over the main points once again to ensure everyone was on the same page.

 

At 9am Mum and Richard were taken to get changed into their hospital scrubs and I was taken into theatre to get prepared for the surgery.

 

First I was told that they were going to do the spinal, this was the bit I was most scared of - how could this bit not hurt? I asked for my music to be playing in the room - the greatest hits of the Eagles. Strange choice but this music transported me back to one of my happiest relaxed and safest places - my grandmothers house. I started to drift away to my happy place and concentrated on my 54321 breathing technique and before I knew it they had told me the spinal block was in and they were ready for me to lay down on the table.

 

Mum and Richard then came in resembling extras from the TV show scrubs, they looked 

ridiculous! it was hilarious.

 

At this point I bid farewell to my husband as I would not see much of him until after the operation - he was to stand the other side of the screen with the doctors to watch the birth and cut the cord - this was so important to us and as it was not the ‘done thing’ we were really grateful that the hospital obliged.

 

Mum stayed with me, camera at the ready to film the birth from our side.

 

So there we were chatting away, and I asked the anaesthetist how long it would be until they 

started to which she replied - your twins will be born in the next few minutes, twin one is almost out, get ready with the camera. I was amazed they'd got this far and Id not realised - I was so calm and relaxed that I had no idea they'd started. 

 

When it was time for Adam to be delivered, they dropped the screen so I could see him being lifted out- it was the most amazing thing to witness - there he was, my little boy and goodness he had a good set of lungs on him!

 

The screen was raised again whilst they prepared to deliver Joseph and once they were ready, 

down it came again so I could see him being lifted out - again amazing. I had my two boys, both looking gorgeous and not too small considering they were born at 35 weeks.

 

Adam weighed 6lb 1oz and Joseph was 5lb 3oz. They were take away to be checked over, 

wrapped up and given to me for a quick cuddle.

 

As they were born early they had to be taken straight to NICU as they had a bit of trouble breathing but we were warned this may be the case and I used my hypnobirthing techniques to prepare myself for this, so although I didn't get the skin to skin contact I’d have liked I don’t believe it had any negative affect on us. Had I not prepared myself, who knows, it may have affected me differently.

 

Richard went with the twins and mum stayed with me whist they stitched me up and took me to recovery where I was finally allowed a much deserved cup of tea - Id been nil by mouth since 

midnight the night before, It was the best cup of tea i’ve ever had!

 

To take my mind off the fact I was stuck in recovery and not with my twins, I imagined my cove of confidence mp3- this particular mp3 really helped me deal with my anxieties- one of which was ‘if I’m  not with my babies straight away, will they bond with me?’

 

Being calm and relaxed helped pass the time and before I knew it i was being wheeled through NICU to say 'hi' to the boys. Again I'm glad I'd prepared myself for seeing them in NICU- little wires coming out of them, another thing that I was dreading, but they looked beautiful and it wasn't scary. 

 

My boys were in the best possible place and that made me a happy mummy.

 

I was taken to my room to rest, my husband kept me updated and before I knew it i felt ready to get out of bed, shower and walk to see the twins - apparently i’d broken the record, the staff in NICU couldn't believe I was up and about already.

 

Having had a natural birth with my first baby a C-section was originally my idea of the worst birth ever. I was convinced it would harm our ability to bond and Id feel like i hadn’t ‘given birth’ to the twins and that i’d feel like a ‘faliure’ I thought having my babies in NICU would be really awful and that my boys wouldn't know who I was.

 

I was in a really negative place and I will admit it took a lot of hard work and determination to get myself out of the pit of doom and gloom. I really wasn't looking forward to the birth and I constantly found myself letting my fears and anxieties trying to get the better of me.

 

It’s thanks to the techniques that hypnobirthing taught me and the constant support from Helen and my maternity team- with out which, Id never have achieved two very different but equally amazing and special birth experiences.

 

So now I’m home with my boys and were settling in really well, it’s time to hang up that thoroughly battered and well worn cloak of protection ready for next time (altough maybe I’ll wait a few more years until the next baby) George, my 10 month old loves his little brothers and as they've arrived early we all think it’s rather amusing that they will all be in the same school year. 

 

I'm truly blessed.

Anycia and RIchard attended private classes in 2014 and a refresher class in 2015

AnyciaRichard2

Kim and Jon's story - half a course later...

 

We decided quite late that The Wise Hippo programme was the right birthing way for us, starting the course at 32 weeks. Having a natural home birth is the norm within my family and the philosophy behind the Wise Hippo, of empowered birth experiences, fitted well with the view my Mum and Sister's experiences had taught me.

 

From the start I made sure I listened to the MP3s daily (often twice a day as I was aware we had less practice time). This proved a good move as in my 35th week of pregnancy I was diagnosed with severe preeclampsia, affecting my kidneys, causing them to shut down.

 

We had only managed two of the sessions before I was admitted to hospital at 4am on Friday 11th September. The consultant advised us that we should induce labour (I was 36 weeks exactly). 

 

In the space of a week we had gone from planning a home birth to being in hospital having to make decisions very quickly (we had not even managed to write a birth plan).

 

However, from the two sessions we had attended both Jon and I felt confident, calm and that we could roll with the changes as they came and still have the birth we wanted. We used the BRAINs method (we had sneakily read ahead when things started to overtake us) and decided to go ahead with the induction. 

 

When the doctor went to start the induction process, we were all surprised to learn that my cervix had already softened, proof that the affirmation "my body and baby know what to do" was already in action.

 

At 5am I started having strong surges. Despite being catheterised, having a canular in place and having to constantly wear the heartbeat monitoring wires, I was able to stay mobile and to breathe through each surge with Jon's support. My entire birthing took under 4 and a half hours.

 

The relaxation methods worked wonderfully.

 

At 10:04 am we met our beautiful baby boy and had skin-to-skin contact. Even though he was a month early he was perfectly formed and needed no support from the neo-natal unit.

 

We may not have been able to have everything we ideally wanted but we did have a very positive birth experience.  We will make sure that when we come to have our second child we will enrol on the course earlier in order to complete it!

Kim and Jon attended group classes with Birth Wight in  September 2015

KimJon

Emily and Richard - birth partner missed all classes as working away...

 

We are so happy to introduce Oscar William John Hodgson weighing in at 8lbs at birth on the 30th October at 6.56am.

 

I am so happy to be able to tell you we had a very positive birth.  I look back and smile when I tell people about our successful labour.  

 

I found the hypnobirthing really helped my state of mind in the build up to the labour, so when the moment came my husband and I were calm and relaxed and in turn I believe this helped the speedy complication free birth.

 

As soon as I heard the water running for the waterbirth my whole body relaxed again.   Being in the water helped me stay in my relaxed placed.  I didn't open my eyes very much, but when I did my husband was there and he held my hand and reminded me to breathe with the gas and Air.  ( I also remember drinking alot if water to stay hydrated).

 

If Im honest when it got to the part where I should have hummed the baby out.....it all went out the window and I JUST PUSHED!!  I did end up with a few stitches, maybe if I had followed the hypnobirthing humming techniques those stitches could have been avoided.

 

I really believe hypnobirthing helps your state of mind in the lead up and during birth.  I couldn't recommend it enough. Helen thankyou so much for teaching me the skills needed to give me a happy and positive birth.

 

Motherhood is just wonderful and I am excited for all those future mum's out there.  Don't fear or be scared, you will be amazing!

Emily attended group classes with Birth Wight in September 2015 (Richard was working away)

EmilyRich

Laura and Lee's story

 

We are thrilled to announce the safe arrival of Evie-Mai Violet born on 30th October at 12.50pm weighing 6lb3.

 

I woke up at 1am with period type pains in my back. Lee arrived home from work and got into bed, I was uncomfortable so decided to get up - after 2 false starts in the last week I thought it was my body just doing some more preparation work for the big day!

 

The "feelings" were every 6 minutes, but totally bareable when I was on all fours - so remembering back to what Helen had said about oxytocin/endorphins and being relaxed, I put the TV on and watched Miranda, leant over the sofa and giggled my way through until 6am.

 

I decided then that this probably wasn't my body on a practice run and went up and told Lee that today is the day - but told him to stay in bed a bit longer and get some rest.

 

I ran a bath and messaged Jodie (Lee's sister), who was taking us to hospital, that we needed to go. She arrived around 7am whilst I was in the bath practising the breathing techniques I had learnt and quietly talking to my bump and reciting the birth affirmations.

 

By 9.30am Lee and Jodie thought I'd better go to hospital - I still wasn't sure, but we all decided it wouldn't hurt to go and get checked out! The surges were still 6 minutes apart, but definitely stronger, I was coping well and just breathing through them and was more excited than anything else.

 

Arriving at hospital, they sent me to Day Assessment where I was put on the monitor for 10 minutes, but laying down on my back wasn't really an option - very uncomfortable to say the least! The midwife (who was thrilled we had done hypnobirthing) looked at the printout and said that my contractions weren't really up to much and I was only in early stages of labour - that is when the panic rose up in me.  I remember holding onto Lee and saying "She has given me 2 paracetamols and she is going to send me home; what am I going to do?!" Lee held me and reminded me to breathe.  He reassured me everything would be fine and that I could do this.

 

The midwife said she would examine me, just to put my mind at rest - I jumped back on that bed so quick! Calm was restored - I was 8cm.

 

I asked to use the birthing pool- she rang upstairs - I was excited and ready to meet our little girl.

 

I had another examination once upstairs before I got into the water - 10cms!

 

Getting into the water was the most relaxing thing and I instinctively went on all fours and held onto Lee's hands. I definitely had the feeling I wanted to push- after everything we had learnt with Helen, I knew to trust my body and to just go with what felt natural. Between surges I relaxed into Lee's arms and rested - Jodie thought I was asleep! I was calm and the room was quiet and extremely peaceful. I remember I could hear the clock ticking!

 

Our midwife was fantastic and just let me do what I felt right. My mom arrived and they let her join us aswell. 50 minutes later, the midwife passed our baby girl through my legs and I brought her up into our world watched by her Daddy, Granny and Aunty- it was beyond perfect!

 

She didn't cry - just looked around. We left the cord for 5 minutes then Lee cut it and had his first cuddle whilst I got out of the pool. It truly was the most amazing experience of our lives.

 

Our labour and birth exceeded my "perfect birth wishes". We achieved a natural, drug free water birth and home 6 hours later with a very calm and content baby girl. I truly believe I wouldn't of had this without Helen teaching us the ways of hypnobirthing - we are forever grateful!

 

I would recommend these techniques to everyone.  For the first half of my pregnancy I was petrified about labour and birth, but after learning and practicing with Helen, I felt confident and excited about what would happen; and the most important thing - I learnt to trust my body completely and to just let it do the most natural thing in the world! Thank you Helen, and thank you HypnoBirthing!

Laura and Lee attended group classes with Birth Wight in September 2015

LauraLee

Natalie and Trev's story - a pretty perfect 5 hour birth, as predicted!

 

Would like to let you know that I had my baby 2 weeks early; baby Kendrick George was born 23/12/15 at 12.15 after a 5 hour labour!

I had to be induced due to having the start of pre-eclampsia.  I was very nervous about this as this meant due to my high blood pressure I could not use the birthing pool and this was in my birth plan. I quickly had to overcome this and used my learnt breathing techniques whenever I had a surge.

 

It all started with a few niggling pains in my back and then went to my tummy, I was examined and they said they could break my waters,  again I used my breathing and was completely zoned out and did not feel a thing.

I used gas and air through the surges and in the last hour I had some diamorphine, I only really had this as I did not realise how much longer it would be. I know now I could have done it without that.

In between each surge that I had, I fell asleep and apparently I was snoring; my fiancé and my father could not believe it! my midwife was also my best friend, so this helped me relax even more.

 

After 4 hours of surges I was 9cm dilated and, after what felt like only a few minutes to me, the urge to push took over and he was born an hour later.

 

Kendrick was placed on my chest after letting out a calm relaxed small cry. I was completely in love the minute I saw his face and my fiancé and my dad had tears in their eyes. The cord clamping was delayed and when it was time to cut it my fiancé did this.

The placenta was delivered and then, unfortunately I had to have a few stitches, I focused on my beautiful boy having cuddles with his daddy and it was all over very quickly.

When I was told I was to be induced I panicked so much and told myself it would hurt so much, in actual fact I think this all helped as I had to focus more and was determined that the hypnobirthing would work.

Many people laughed at me when I said I would have my baby in 5 hours and I think they snubbed that hypnobirthing would actually work! I think I have now managed to convert a few more people to the hypnobirthing way.

Thank you so much for enlightening me to hypnobirthing!

Natalie and Trev attended group classes with Birth Wight in September 2015

NatTrev
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