The Birth of Elsie

On 15th April I hypnobirthed my beautiful baby Elsie Eva Thomas into the world with the help of a few people (some there in body and some in sprit) – my partner Reece, the wonderful hospital staff at Pinderfields, my hypnobirthing teacher Abby Watson and most importantly mother Nature!!!

Losing the plot a little a few days before the birth being 9 days over I wrote a birth story as if I could choose one myself. It’s amazing how close this turned out to the the real thing. I put this down to staying calm and focussed with the help of my Hypnobirthing, 100{64448e0dc17f4a1d6c6625b0d46ceb7e37df68e0d0f53650f5ba61c682292748}.

I started with low level early surges at 3am on the morning of the 14th April at home and set up the day ahead as a relaxed and chilled out one. Reece was working at home that day so we lit the log fire and whilst he worked, I watched some TV and sat bouncing on my ball. His parents came round with the biggest bar of galaxy chocolate I’d ever seen and I tucked into this and a nice relaxing day!

By evening the surges had gotten stronger and closer together but I was determined to stay in my peaceful haven as long as possible before heading to hospital where I’d chosen to birth my baby. At around midnight we called the hospital and headed down. They told me I was 4cm dilated so I was happy with this starting point in hospital and we stayed. This was the only examination I then took and I left Mother Nature to her business.

From here we had a labour room and managed to control surges in here with the help of practice and affirmations and staying calm and focussed before being moved to the pool room. Getting into the water was a revelation. The heat and cosiness provided great relief and helped me to continue to stay calm as labour progressed. The nurses and Reece were amazed how far I’d gotten with no pain relief.

Six hours later, and throughout the night, I birthed my baby Elsie in the pool taking a little gas and air towards the end to assist with the overwhelming and powerful feelings of bringing her into the world.

I truly couldn’t have done this without my hypnobirthing practice. I was incredibly fearful of labour and all it entailed beforehand and yet the course with Abby guided me through the fact I had choices and some control to labour in a way I felt comfortable with. I turned down stretch and sweeps to get me started, examinations when they were requested and relied on my Body to see me through in the end. My partner Reece went into the process also with great knowledge and confidence it could go as we wanted. And it did!!

So thank you Abby, you have made this whole process a wonderful one and one to remember with a great big smile on my face. That is truly invaluable to me.

Katie and Reece, Leeds