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Our
Birthing Story by Kim, David and baby Bailey We had our first son in April 2009.
I was induced at 6 days overdue and had a long and hard time. It was a heavy medically involved delivery and I had to lie on that bed for around 12 hours. I
had entonox, pethidine, 2 epidurals, a pitocin drip as well as a catheter. I also had to have a heart monitor
put on Alfie’s head whilst he was still in my womb. Whilst my placenta was delivered or more pulled
out, it tore and 9 days after delivery I haemorrhaged and had an operation to stop me bleeding. Although all
said Alfie was delivered healthy. I know that pictures of yourself after delivery are not always the most flattering but
my gosh I looked like I had been through it! Then we fell pregnant with our second baby, I was determined not to
have an experience like this again. My midwife put us into contact with Sue Smith a local hypnotherapist
that specialises in birthing. And as a result the delivery of our second baby was the most magical experience
of my life.
Bailey was 6 days overdue.
I was woken up at 6am on the 11th September 2011 by a familiar feeling. It was bound to happen this day
as my in-laws were renewing their wedding vows later that day!I left my husband and Alfie in bed and timed the ripples (contractions) and they were coming regular and fast.
I woke David and called my parents to come and collect Alfie. After having a shower we called the
hospital and went in. Within ½ hour of being there the ripples stopped I was encouraged to walk
around the hospital, and after 4 laps nothing, I was offered a lavender bath and even had breakfast in there too but nothing.
We went home and waited for it all to start again.
Once we got home they started but
where very irregular. After having something to eat, I thought I would get some sleep as I was expecting
it to all start again at some unsociable hour later that night. I woke at 6pm and after a while could not
feel Bailey move and he had been fairly active all day. I called the hospital and they asked us to come
in for a trace, as I was not having any ripples we thought they would check Bailey was ok then we would go home.
We left the bag in the car and walked into the delivery suite. After having the monitoring belts
put on I started experiencing strong ripples and asked for some entonox as I could not move off the bed whilst being monitored
and rocking my hips was how I got through them. Within a few minutes I was in full labour.
It started so quickly. I started to panic as I did not have any of scripts or music with me as they
were in the car. David called Sue and what seemed to me like seconds she was beside me talking me through
my hypnobirthing. I focused on my lake and my breathing. By this time there where no
midwives with us. I started to push, I could not control it. Sue recognised what was
happening and “took a look”, there he was, she called the midwife who only just had chance to put her gloves on
and there he was on my tummy. I was still pushing at that stage I had not realised I’d had him!
As Sue can vouch for what can only be described as a lions roar which left me as I realised what had happened.
Throughout
the whole birth it felt like I was on the ceiling watching myself, incredible! I had no physical control
over my body whatsoever; it just knew what to do.Bailey is such a calmer baby compared to Alfie and I credit that to his hypnobirthing. A wonderful experience I can not thank Sue enough a bond that will never be broken.
x Thank you x
Natalie welcomes baby Tallulah
Story
told by Natalie, Natalie is the mum of a five month old baby girl called Tallulah and below is her story of how Fertility2Birth's
HypnoBirth program helped her through her pregnancy and birth.
"I felt, before I had a baby, that there was an elite group of women telling you that you will know what
they have been through once you have had your baby. It is like this clicky group that find it quite easy to tell you all their
horror stories. Or they just won't tell you anything. As soon as I had Tallulah I wanted to tell people and inform them
of just how my birth had been, and share that birth doesn't have to be like that. I thought beforehand that it was going
to hurt and that I was going to tear, I was so anxious about it all, I mean really anxious. I remember having panic attacks
on the toilet as I was having a pooh. I was constipated and I likened this to having a baby and surely having the baby is
only going to be worse because of the size. I also never thought that I would have a baby because of the pain, I passed out
when I was a kid and had my ears pierced, I pass out when I have needles. I would love to give blood as I have a rare blood
type, so know that I should but I would rather have another baby than give blood!
There are many things from the course that helped me during my pregnancy, like having pictures and sayings
stuck around the house, from a picture of a baby in the correct birth position to positive affirmations that I had to write,
although I did find this very difficult, as we don't often say positive things to ourselves. I felt that I had done all
I could to prepare myself for the birth. From the HypnoBirth to yoga, I read and looked at everything, and just knowing that
Sue was on the phone at any point reassured me a great deal. I am so happy that I wasn't overdue; I kind of knew that
I was ready even though she was early, but I was prepared. I didn't go into hospital thinking that I was having a premature
baby, I didn't even worry that they would take her away, and I didn't think that she would be in danger which is really
bizarre. It is as though my brain had changed everything into a positive.
I had been into hospital 2 weeks earlier, when I was 34 weeks, as
I had some bleeding. Whilst I was being examined I just thought of the lake, concentrated on my breathing and tried to keep
my bottom jaw relaxed. All of this helped so much as I hate having smear tests and examinations. This happened again at 36
weeks; I just thought here we go again. It was a Saturday night and we had sky + Ant and Dec, I was just settling down to
watch it, Craig was cooking us a curry and I went to the loo, when I wiped it was just like the last bit of a period, sorry
for being graphic but I think people need to know. When Craig bought me my dinner I told him that I had had some blood on
wiping, as he passed me the tray I felt something just like a period cramp, I didn't think anything of it. I had no idea
that this was the start of labour. So I ate my dinner just in case I needed to go to hospital again due to the bleeding. Thinking
of it I never did get to watch Ant and Dec as he deleted it! The cramps started coming regularly so I thought that we had better call the hospital, I wasn't in any
pain, just a slight discomfort. I also realised that I hadn't got any make up on, and that my bag and the baby's bag
wasn't done, so I went upstairs and pottered around for about an hour just calling down to Craig every time I felt a contraction,
but again I wasn't in pain. We were advised to go into the hospital to get checked due to the bleeding, so as we eventually
got into the car, Craig said shall we take the baby seat, I told him not be stupid, why would we want it, as I couldn't
be in labour. I thought I was having Braxton Hicks, as they were not painful; they were inconvenient, and annoying. I felt
like I needed a great big pooh a little bit like having stomach bug. We decided to take the baby seat and in hindsight I am
glad that we did. On the journey
all I needed to do was my breathing, I loved the breathing because I had been into hospital so many times what with my scans
and bleeds and when I did my breathing Tallulah would always kick and move around, this would always reassure me that she
was ok. When we got to the hospital I thought that it would be like it is on the films, that the car would screech to a halt
outside the doors and then there would be loads of medical staff waiting with a wheel chair, oh no, we had to park miles away
and then climb what felt like a million sets of stairs, it is not like it is portrayed on the films and TV so why do they
need to portray it that way, always such a drama, mind you I suppose that TV does that all the time, they always televise
dramatic births but never calm ones and we wonder why we all have this fear of childbirth!
Even when we got to hospital I still did not think
that I was in labour. They showed me into a delivery room, I sat on the bed and saw the baby cot, and for the first time I
actually thought that this might be it. By this time my ripples (commonly known as contractions) were increasing, they still
were not painful there were just more of them and they lasted for longer. The midwife then came into the room and asked how
I was feeling and then asked if she could examine me, to my astonishment I was nearly 7 cm's dilated! I asked her if I
would be going home, much to her amusement. My legs then started to shake as I realised that this was it I was going to have
my baby girl. I then started asking her about everything that was going to happen as I love to be in control. If I know about
it I can then remain calm about it which the HypnoBirth has taught me, it also taught me that I can deal with needles if I
have too and not to worry about it.
I told the midwife that I didn't want Pethadine because I believe that it can make the baby floppy and
spaced out and also because it is morphine based, it may sound silly but heroin and morphine are in the same family, heroin
is a nasty drug and I never wanted to put that in her or me. I just continued with my breathing, as I was doing this I was
concentrating on a grey plug socket and the midwife was just casually putting things around the room. I asked her about pain
relief and she then told me that I was just frightened. I hadn't noticed but I had become frightened, then I remembered
about the fear tension pain syndrome that I had been taught and how that would affect my labour, so I concentrated on becoming
calm, with my visualisation of the island and my breathing. The midwife did say to me that I didn't seem in pain, and
when I thought about it, no I wasn't I was just a little scared of the unknown. I then remember that the midwife lifted
the sheet to see how I was doing and I told her that I was having another one whilst talking all the way through it. She then
stood to one side, I wondered why, I thought that can't be the head surely not, but oh no my membranes ruptured and no
word of a lie my waters shot across the room at least 10ft! My immediate reaction was has it hit my new boots, which thankfully
it hadn't. The midwife then told Craig to come and have a look as they could see Tallulah's thick black hair; she
was sitting there just waiting to be born. At that point I asked for some gas and air, not because I was in pain, but because
I felt that I wasn't in control, but it didn't last long. Looking back now, if I hadn't done the HypnoBirth program
I think just how out of control I would have felt right from the start and how different my birth experience would have been.
This is why I wanted to write my story, to educate other anxious mums and let them know that it doesn't have to be like
that.
If I had
not been bleeding there is no way that I would have gone into hospital and would have probably had Tallulah at home, which
actually was my intention from the start. Anyway very shortly after my waters had gone, I thought to myself how am I going
to know that I need to push but about 30 seconds after that there it was, just as Sue had taught me, an overwhelming urge
to bear down just like I needed a pooh, the midwife told Craig to hold one leg and she held the other and I just started pushing,
I don't remember feeling any contractions, I just remember thinking the harder I push the quicker she will be out, which
in hindsight was probably not the right thing to do, as I wasn't listening to my body, after 41 minutes there she was,
my beautiful baby girl. As soon as she was born she was taken by the pediatrician to be checked out as she was only 36 weeks.
She was then handed to Craig, at my request, as I wanted him to bond with her as I had carried her all this time. He keeps
me safe so I wanted him to do the same with her. I still couldn't believe that I had done it; I thought that it was going
to be worse than it was, but it hadn't been.
The placenta was delivered 13 minutes after delivery, the midwife had a few tugs on it which I felt was quite
annoying, but I then pushed and it just came away. I did have a small tear but I feel that this was because I was pushing
too hard as I am stubborn. I didn't allow my body to adjust, this I will remember not to do next time. I didn't have
my tear sutured and it healed nicely so just remember they don't always have to be sewn up, just remember when you go
for a pee afterwards gently pour warm water over the area to help dilute the urine, which prevents it from stinging. Tallulah
weighed 6lbs and 8oz which was a good weight for 36 weeks; they did put her in a warming cot although we noticed that it hadn't
been working and she had been maintaining her own body temperature, which meant we soon had her out of there.
The best thing about doing
the HypnoBirth course was definitely listening to the CD's, they calmed me down during pregnancy as I had a high powered
job, I also had less migraines and I would sleep much better at night too. The scripts that Craig would read to me were fab
as we could all bond as a family, but he was away a lot so I listened to the discs too, they would knock him out in 30 seconds
when he listened to them, focusing on his uterus, which was hilarious! I would always see her wrapped up in a beautiful pink
colour, safe and happy and this would reassure me. I still use the control room today, actually I used it last night, it is
great as most of the things we learnt on the course we can use in everyday life, they were not just for the pregnancy and
birth. And of course the breathing, it actually gets you in tune with your body, so you really can focus on what is going
on, it means taking time out for ourselves, which we just don't do anymore. Craig also got to be a part of it all, he
read to me and he helped with my affirmations, it brought him into the experience as he had something to do. Even if I had
gone for a C section at the last minute I would have benefited from doing the course, it helped me from 30 weeks of pregnancy,
it helped me to relax and trust in my body. I also have a very calm and chilled out daughter, everyone always comments on
how happy and content she is, I know that being calm and taking time out when I was pregnant has got something to do with
it. Well, a first baby, a labour and delivery from start to finish lasting only 5 hours and 11 minutes - it doesn't get
much better than that does it! I will certainly be using the method for my next one; I wonder how quick that one will be?
I just want everyone to know about the course as everyone deserves to have a labour and delivery like I had."
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