Birth Story by Lauren, Hypnobirthing Mum
“Then I just instinctively knew I had to change positions… and then birthed him about 5-10 minutes later at 7.21am in the pool and received him myself which was just the most special moment in my entire life…” 💙
The birth was actually magical! My waters broke at about 6.15pm on Wednesday night and then labour started at about 9pm-ish that night! I stayed home with Dan, Mum and my Doula Cheryl until about 1am just in my beautiful space with dim lights, hypno music playing and calm, and then headed to GCUH at about 1am as I was getting 3 surges in 10 mins but they were a bit sporadic: one big one and two littlies. We got admitted and Casey, the midwife we were assigned, examined me to check my waters had actually broken. She was well rehearsed in Hypnobirthing and explained I could stay there or go home but reiterated it could be good to go home and be in my own space as the longer you’re in hospital the more chance of interventions there is as the hospital setting can often slow things down.
So we opted to come back home – thank god we did as Dan found out how dilated I was whilst I was in the toilet (I asked not to be told as it can be a double edge sword in spurring you on or disheartening you) – I was only 2cm 😅 so could have been in hospital a long time before baby arrived.
So we drove back home and in the car there was a bit of a gear shift upwards, then when we got back home it went from zero to hero pretty bloody quickly! Lots of intense surges and super intense back pain as he was sat posterior so not ideal but also could have been worse as he wasn’t breech or anything. I managed about 1.5 hours at home before we had to head back to the hospital because surges were 1 min apart and at the same intensity now.
The car journey back was not fun – I ended up on all fours in the back with my Doula pushing her hand against my vagina as I was getting huge urges to bear down! The hand pushing against me was so helpful though right up until the end as you feel as if you can bear down without everything being pushed out of you so would recommend to everyone 🤣 We arrived back at GCUH and I had a mega surge (I was pretty vocal at this point 🤣) in the lift so we were met by a rush of 5-6 midwives ready to get me straight in the birth suite no questions or examinations needed – luckily Casey (the midwife I’d seen earlier) was still there so she took over, took me to an MGP birth suite even though I wasn’t in the program as they were closest and cleared everyone else out.
Then I allowed a quick exam to see where I was at as instinctively I knew I wasn’t far off… I was 9.5cm dilated! Which explains the intensity ramp up in such a short space! I’d popped in my birth preferences that I would want to get in the pool for natural pain relief as water acts as a bit of a therapeutic for me and I was planning an unmedicated birth so Dan asked if I could get in – Casey said yes so set it all up and I hopped (waddled) in there and laboured the last part in there! Casey the midwife was absolutely amazing though and we didn’t have to get our document of preferences out once; she just knew exactly how we’d want it – we didn’t have time to set up the room exactly but she turned out the lights, put the hospital diffuser on and we put our playlist on so had the right environment even if we didn’t get to use all of our candles, smells, affirmation cards etc and then let me completely lead the birth without the mention of any pain relief or intervention once.
Although we thought baby would be here super soon when we arrived I ended up in the pool for about 1.5 hours as he was still posterior so was crowning for about an hour where I could feel his head with my hand then getting sucked back up when the surge finished. The surges weren’t bad but the back pain was as it was relentless with no break to rest in between so my Doula was using a lot of acupressure points throughout right until my last surge as it was the only thing that helped me. It was a really intense pain, but not once did I think I couldn’t do it and I think that’s due to Hypnobirthing and having the thought in my head that my body was designed to do this and countless women before me have done it so I just knew I could do the same.
Then I just instinctively knew I had to change positions when he wasn’t moving down so went from on all fours in the pool to a yogi squat (like in Spinning Babies) and then birthed him about 5-10 minutes later at 7.21am in the pool and received him myself which was just the most special moment in my entire life I can’t describe it 💙
We wanted delayed cord clamping, but the cord was wrapped around his neck 3 times so he was quite floppy, so we ended up having to cut it so he could go to resus – [the umbilical cord] was completely white though so had pulsated out itself I think as it was stretched and he was in the birth canal for so long, plus we weren’t annoyed as we knew a great birth is one where baby and mum are healthy.
He didn’t even make it to resus before he screamed though so he was perfectly fine!
Then I was helped out of the pool on to the bed for skin to skin and he was rooting pretty much straight away and latched on really quickly which was magical! I also had a natural placenta delivery – at 1 hour 1 minute so right on the cusp of how long they give you. Originally I had 3 midwives in the toilet with me waiting for me to deliver the placenta with the bright light blaring down. Then an older midwife came in and asked what was going on, turned off all the lights and just used a flashlight, cleared all the other midwives out and I birthed the placenta about 2 minutes later!
Dan was amazing though as when I wasn’t working in my Hypnobirthing space I was outwardly being vocal and screaming (mainly because of the back intensity) and he kept reminding me to breath down not out and putting me back into that hypno space, plus we did a lot of light touch and he used a fair few words from the affirmations which was really helpful! So all in all although yes it was intense it was absolutely magical and exactly how I wanted it so we’re just so grateful we did Hypnobirthing and were blessed with a beautiful midwife who supported us throughout and let me completely take control of my birthing journey 💙
I can’t recommend Kate and Positively Hypnobirthing enough! A friend completed the course and couldn’t speak highly enough of the whole experience – and now I understand why. Kate’s wonderful teaching, her ability to keep you and your partner (along with a bunch of other couples) interested and engaged for two full days and the course itself have been outstanding. If, like many of us, you feel a little anxious, overwhelmed or uneducated about birth I cannot stress enough how much you should do this hypnobirthing course with Kate! You will leave feeling utterly empowered, excited and prepared for whatever path your birthing experience may take, with Kate providing ongoing support to you if needed and a check in when you’re nearing the time when baby may come. She also provides the best snacks…. a little added bonus to a fantastic two days!
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