The Birth of Felicity

Felicity Lavinia arrived on Friday 3rd January by elective C-Section. Throughout my pregnancy I had visioned a natural, minimal pain relief birth at the birth centre using hypnobirthing techniques. However, at 37 weeks we found out that Felicity was breech. Que panic and sadness at my lost birth preferences. After the initial disappointment I decided to message Hannah for some support. She messaged me back the same day with some really useful tips, the main one for me being to listen to my fear release mp3. I went on to listen to the fear release for the next week or so each night. I really found that this helped me to calm down and really think and research our options. The midwife at the hospital had gone through our options and we settled on an ECV, a procedure where they try to turn baby to a head down position, using external manipulation. We had this done at 38 weeks but the procedure was far too painful and it just didn’t feel ‘right’ to be trying to turn baby if baby was quite happy where they were! So, we abandoned the procedure and discussed our next options. This is where the BRAIN technique really came into use!! After discussing the options of a vaginal breech birth or an elective c-section, using BRAIN we decided that an elective c-section was the right choice for us and our baby. I was actually relieved at this point as I knew what the plan was and what to expect, and I could really start preparing for the surgery! So our date was booked in, we would be meeting our baby on 3rd January 2020!

On the day of the c-section we arrived at the hospital at 11.30 and we were to be the last c-section of the day, I was SO nervous and excited at the same time. We met with the scrub nurse and anaesthesiologist who were so lovely and went through everything with us. We were then put into a waiting room whilst our bed was prepared where I did my up breathing to calm my nerves. At 14.30 we were shown to our bed and at 14.45 told we should get into our gown and scrubs as the consultant was ready for us! At this point my husband Darren lost it a bit as he started to undress there and then! A stern ‘what are you doing!?’ from me and off he went to the toilet to change! At 14.55 we were taken through to theatre and here the anaesthesiologist popped a cannula into my hand and some local aneasthetic into my back. Then the spinal was put in. I have to admit this whole bit was the part I was most nervous about, and it literally was nothing to be scared about! I used my up breathing and the midwife holding my hand and breathing with me, I can honestly say it did not hurt, a little uncomfortable when the cannula went in but that’s it! I was then laid down, catheter put in and away we were! Once in theatre, the sticky monitors were put onto my shoulders so not to get in the way of skin to skin and our playlist was put on, we were ready to get started. Darren then used the stroking technique on my arm that we had learned on the course and I then felt really relaxed, I didn’t even realise that they had started surgery until the consultant told me that baby would be here in around 1 minute!…at 15.15 Felicity was born to Ed Sheeran ‘Thinking Out Loud’ and we had delayed cord clamping whilst she was placed on my legs. She was then placed immediately onto my chest once the cord had been cut and she stayed there throughout me being stitched up and wheeled back onto the ward. The whole procesure took 45 minutes. We then continued to enjoy skin to skin the rest of the night, with Mummy and with Daddy! Fliss also had her first breastfeed around 1 hour after she was born and continued to feed on and off all through the night.

If we hadn’t of done hypnobirthing with Hannah, I honestly don’t think I would of been able to deal with the changes to my birth preferences as calmly and as well as I did. I really, really enjoyed my birth experience and it was nothing but positive! So much so that I think I would opt for an elective c-section next time around!