The Births that inspired my business…

Posted September 21, 2018

My passion for Hypnobirthing was very much inspired by the difference that it made to my own view of birth. I was petrified of birth, I worried about my low pain threshold, I expected to be leaving my dignity at the door. Hypnobirthing changed all that for me. I felt confident (excited even), informed and ready!

When it came to having my baby it was incredible! a totally empowering experience that left me feeling like Super woman. How could I not share this knowledge and powerful tools with everyone. So shortly after my second baby was born, off I went to train as a Hypnobirthing teacher.

Here are my birth stories that created my business…

My first Hypnobirthing Birth- Baby Harris born January 4th 2013 7.25am weighing 7lbs 6oz.

I notice surges starting at around 6pm on the 3rd of January (2 days after my estimated due date), initially I wasn’t really sure I was in labour, it felt more like back ache, but as the ache seemed to come and go I assumed labour had started. In hindsight I was probably in early labour a while but as my surges were in my back I didn’t realise.

That evening Adam and I shared a pizza and watched the soaps on TV, I felt calm and relaxed. I had a bath which felt good and noticed I was doing my Hypnobirthing breathing during surges. Later that evening we decided to head to bed but lying down did not feel comfortable so I went back downstairs and accepted I probably wouldn’t be getting much sleep that evening.

We headed to Calderdale Birth Center at 1.30am (in a way I just wanted confirmation that I was in labour because I still wasn’t sure). I felt perfectly calm and relaxed. The surges were coming about every 4 minutes.

On arrival at the Birth center I was offered an examination. I was 3cm dilated and because of the time we decided to stay in. We felt happy and excited that I was actually in labour and we would be meeting our son soon.

We made the room our own using battery powered candles, relaxing music and oils. I couldn’t believe how relaxed I was. I kept active using birth ball and resting against the active birth cushions they had. I used my breathing techniques and visualised blowing bubbles that then danced through the air.
I was so relaxed I even told Adam to get a couple of hours sleep, so he used the bed!!

Our midwife was great, just leaving us on our own (as requested) except every now and then popping in to monitor the baby’s heart rate. She kept commenting on how calm and relaxed I was.

At 5.30am the midwife examined me again and said I was 7cm. I was really surprised because I didn’t feel like the surges were particularly much more intense. She asked me if I wanted any pain relief but I declined as I felt I was coping fine. At this point she went to set up a room with a birthing pool for us.

As I got into the pool the warm water felt wonderful. Adam put on my Hypnobirthing tracks, it continued to make me feel calm and focused and within half an hour I felt ready to push. Having Adam beside the pool, reminding me of my positive affirmations was a fantastic support. I did find pushing hard work but couldn’t believe how fast time went.

At 7.25am in the birthing pool we were over joyed to meet our son, my waters broke at that moment. Harris was born alert, calm and content just like the environment he was born into. This moment I will remember for the rest of my life.

I remember thinking ‘wow I can’t wait to do that again’ and I wasn’t wrong as 17 months later I was birthing Harris’ sister.

My second Hypnobirthing Birth- Baby Imogen born 19th June 2014 2.07am 7lb 6oz

Having had such a wonderful birth the year before this time we decided to have a home birth.

I suspected something was happening the morning of the 18th but was convinced it was probably a false alarm as it was 4 days until my estimated due date. That morning I felt a bit like I was getting a stomach bug, so I called Adam home from work to help me look after our son Harris who was 17 months old at the time. We went for a walk to the park after lunch and I felt like I was starting to have surges, however they were not regular.
By tea time I realised that I was getting regular surges so decided to get organised. I called my dad to collect Harris as I felt I could properly relax once he was safely with grandparents.

A few hours later Adam set up the birth pool and made the living room dark and cosy! It felt like our very own spa. We listened to the relaxing music that I’d listened to at Harris’ birth, I felt great. Adam gave me wonderful massages and reminded me of my affirmations.

At about 9pm the Midwives came out to check on me. At this point my surges seemed to slow down, perhaps due to being observed. Although on my birth plan I said didn’t want vaginal examinations, I decided to have one, probably due to curiosity. I was 2cm dilated, which really annoyed me! All I could think was ‘only 2cm, I’ve got 8cm more to go! Its going to be days till we meet our baby!’

I lost a bit of positivity at this point but the midwives were really great at reassuring me to remain relaxed. After the midwives left I focused hard to get back into my lovely relaxed, Hypnobirthing state. I watched a few episodes of Sex and the City to lift my spirits. Then the surges began to become more regular. At around 12.30am I decided to have a bath rather than use the birth pool (despite it being ready and set up) because I wanted to save the pool for something to look forward to and thought I must be a way off yet. After a while of focusing on my up breathing through some powerful surges my waters went with a gush in the bath, so Adam rang for the midwife. About ten minutes later the sensation changed and I knew the baby was coming!

Adam stayed very calm and helped me out of the bath. I got on all fours lent over the toilet. I couldn’t believe our baby was coming without the midwife having arrived, but I had full trust in my body.

The lovely midwife Maria arrived as baby was crowning. I didn’t push at all, I breathed baby down and soon enough we were holding our calm beautiful daughter! I had a fast natural third stage and climbed into our own bed for lots of skin to skin cuddles. It was bliss.

We didn’t use the birth pool as planned however our birth was just perfect. Shortly after Imogen was born Maria said we could sell our pool on Ebay and I replied telling her we will be saving it for next time. She laughed saying she rarely hears a woman talk about having another baby minutes after giving birth!

And again I wasn’t wrong… In March 2016 I gave birth to my third baby- read Lochlan’s birth story here!

abbyadmin