Sarah’s Positive Hypnobirthing Birth Story: Staying Calm Through Induction Pressure for a Natural Birth at 42 Weeks
“Being told hours later that I’d made no progress was so demoralising. But I remembered what Kate had taught us, and we kept working through it. Then everything changed: I went from three centimetres to eight in about an hour.”
This positive hypnobirthing birth story comes from Sarah, who joined my Hypnobirthing Australia™ group course on the Gold Coast with her partner, who left the classes feeling “a lot more calm and informed”. Facing constant pressure to be induced as she approached 42 weeks, Sarah used her knowledge to confidently find a middle ground, then worked through an intense posterior labour using acupressure, active birth positions and the birth ball, welcoming her big, healthy boy naturally with no epidural, which she was hoping to avoid. If you’re hoping for a positive hospital birth of your own, Sarah’s story shows what’s possible.
Birth Story by Sarah
Our son was born in June, almost two weeks past his due date. In those final weeks, the pressure from the hospital to book an induction was constant, and it was stressful trying to balance what I wanted with what felt safe for him.
Thanks to what I’d learned in the course, I felt confident finding a middle ground: I agreed to two stretch and sweeps, nothing artificial, just a nudge, and held off on a formal induction. One was booked for two days before the 42-week mark, and in the early hours of that very day, my body went into labour on its own.
Labour was 24 hours in total. At home it was manageable, and I leaned on the tools from the course: Spinning Babies positions, the birth ball, and my partner using acupressure on my back, which helped so much because our baby was posterior and nearly all my pain was back pain.
Because of my cholestasis, the hospital wanted me in for monitoring, so we went in earlier than planned. That middle stretch was the hardest part. I was told I was only three centimetres and not yet in active labour, even though contractions were coming every 20 to 30 seconds with barely a break, and the pain in my spine was intense.
Being told hours later that I’d made no progress was so demoralising. But I remembered what Kate had taught us about how the environment and the thinking brain can slow labour down, and we kept working through it with the shower, acupressure and the ball.
Then everything changed. Once we moved into the birth suite, I went from three centimetres to eight in about an hour, and suddenly I needed to push. That gave me the motivation to say no to the epidural. With just gas and air, our boy was born about an hour later, all 4.3 healthy kilograms of him.
So much of our birth plan came true. The midwives were hands-off and let me push my own way, we had delayed cord clamping and skin-to-skin, and I birthed the placenta naturally without the injection. I didn’t get to use every strategy I’d prepared, but the knowledge was all in there, and it’s what carried us through.
The course really helped by giving us the knowledge and empowering us to make the decisions that were right for us. I’m definitely pleased with how it went.
Here’s what my couples say
Kate’s hypnobirthing class was such a positive experience. I feel a lot more calm and informed. Highly recommend!
