Shannon’s Hypnobirth “Trust in self is key!”

Once at the hospital, my partner dimmed the lights, put EO’s in the diffuser & had our Hypnobirthing Australia™  tracks playing softly in the background.. the energy in the room was so peaceful & set up beautifully ready to bring our baby earth side. 

Soon after Arrival, the midwife advised me that until I see the Dr, they didn’t want me in the shower due to lower then normal platelet levels during the third trimester, which I had under great control via B vitamin supplementation and beetroot juice. I couldn’t keep waiting for the Dr as my surges out of the water were intense, so I hopped in the shower and that is where I stayed until 2am.

Whilst in the shower I was faced with non stop negativity and fear mongering from different Drs & midwifes. 

They were continually coming into the room wanting me to be hooked up on the bed to a fetal monitor and antibiotic drip and had told me that my wishes of a water birth weren’t going to happen and that I needed to birth on the bed and if I didn’t, a still born was a high possibility!

Whilst trying to focus, remain calm and breath through my surges, which were now 1min apart and attempting to gather myself between each one, I was also having to attempt to stand my ground and/or negotiate with this constant background noise.

I agreed to be hooked up to the monitor for no longer then 30mins and if bubbas heart rate was fine, I will proceed with my birth wishes. 

I hopped out the shower and went on the monitor for 30mins – results were that bubba was happy and healthy & in no danger.

The Drs still didn’t agree with my desire to water birth, but I wasn’t going to be persuaded knowing that baby wasn’t in any distress and nor was I, so I had to sign documentation advising that I knew the “risks” and want to go ahead regardless.

At 2am I transferred from the shower to the bath and after an hour of breathing my baby down, his beautiful little head was out.

A bit of blood filled the bath, which created great concern to the Drs so they told me I needed to stand up out of the water as they needed to pull him out NOW!! I stood up, they grabbed his head and pulled him out. A large amount of blood then filled the bath, they called a MET call and instantly 8 Drs filled the room. They got me and bubba out of the bath and onto the bed where they had to hook me up to a drip to stop the bleeding as I received 2nd degree tearing in 4 places from them pulling him out & I lost 1.8ltrs of blood.

The hour after birth was intense as the room went from being so calm & tranquil to instant bright lights, Drs surrounding me, lots of medical chatter and at this stage, necessary interventions.

After I was stabilised and the Drs had gone, my midwife had congratulated me for sticking to my birthing wishes & that regardless of me birthing on the bed or in the water, it wouldn’t have stopped the bleeding due to lower then ‘normal’ platelet count.

All in all, we had a beautiful, empowering & calm birth, which I am so grateful for and given the trust and knowledge I had in myself from hypnobirthing & self education & of course the amazing support from my beautiful partner who continually questioned the Drs, the background noise and fear mongering from the medical team was a lot easier to manage.

Knowledge definitely is power and trust in ‘self’ is Key!!”

By hypnobirthing mum Shannon

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