Noah’s positive induction story
Nikki & B’s Positive Induction Using Hypnobirthing
Nikki and B were a great couple to have on an online group Hypnobirthing course. They joined us along with their friends, who had recommended the course, after doing a taster. Nikki's pregnancy was fairly straight-forward, but as she progressed towards her due date she started to show signs of pre-eclampsia. After many hospital visits and different tests, she and B decided that the best and safest way for their little man to be born was via induction. I just love how they utilised all the knowledge they learned along with their Hypnobirthing tools to help them have a positive birth experience in really challenging circumstances.
Signs of Pre-Eclampsia
We completed Claire’s Hypnobirthing Course in November - 2 months ahead of our due date. My friend had attended a taster session and recommended we join the course as she felt it would be beneficial. I wasn’t sure at first as I assumed it was all about hypnotherapy, meditation and breathing etc. but that is not what it’s all about it is so much more! The course gave us so much information on labour and the different stages which I found really interesting along with great tools and techniques for managing labour and we also learned a lot about different forms of intervention, pain relief etc. that I wasn’t aware of before doing the course.
I had a plain sailing pregnancy (except for severe pregnancy acne - no-one tells you about that!) up until my 35-week midwife appointment where I was referred to hospital the same day due to high blood pressure, swollen feet, and protein in my urine - these are all signs of pre-eclampsia which I didn’t know a lot about.
Facing Challenges
On the way to the hospital, we were feeling positive that this was just another opportunity to be monitored & hear the little one’s heartbeat giving us reassurance that all was ok however after spending 9 hours undergoing various tests they advised that it would be in my best interests for my labour to be induced and that our baby would likely be coming a lot quicker than we thought. They initially asked if we could stay in overnight so I could be monitored with the potential to be induced however we asked to have some privacy to chat before asking a lot of questions and then used the BRAIN technique taught in the course to make the decision to leave for the night and come back in the morning. At this point I had not packed my hospital bag and was still working so had to tie up some loose ends, They allowed this but advised I was to stop working and pack my hospital bag ASAP as I could get induced at any point over the next week or so due the risks of my pre-eclampsia and at this point in my pregnancy it would be safer to deliver baby as soon as possible than wait until my due date.
The next 7 days consisted of daily hospital trips to be monitored and discussions with consultants about our new birth plan - initially they wanted to get us as close to 37 weeks as possible however in the end the decision was made to be induced at 36 weeks. I felt that having completed Claire’s course we were comfortable with this decision as we now felt we had a good understanding of the process and implications if we were to decline induction. We also knew what to expect with the different methods/stages of induction as this was covered in detail on the course
The induction process
I was induced on the Friday night at 6pm with the pessary & started having strong contractions within 2 hours - they were pretty intense and close together however I used my breathing techniques and tens machine to help me though. The midwife started playing close attention to my contractions where she discovered I was having 6-8 contractions within a 10 min period rather than four which is the norm. I was ‘hyper-stimulating’ which was a reaction to the pessary - this went on for a couple of hours however they noticed this was starting to cause the baby distress, so they removed the pessary, but this did not slow down my contractions therefore the next step advised was to receive an injection to slow them down further. Unfortunately this also didn’t work very well and at this point I was struggling as it had been 5hours of what felt like constant contractions with no break in between it was at this point I was offered some pain relief, Co-codamol, tramadol, morphine to name a few I had learned a bit about these different forms of medication on the course too so this made my decision easier and I decided to go with the morphine to take the edge off. The midwives advised me (and B) to get as much rest as possible as we would need it for the next day, and I knew this was the right decision to be able to get some rest.
The next morning, I was examined where the consultant found that I was only 1 cm dilated naturally I was a little disappointed I felt like I had progressed more with the number of contractions I had been having. She advised she was going to try and break my waters to get things going so I was happy with this decision as I wanted to speed things up - she successfully did, and the contractions started again. The Doctor advised that she would let me progress naturally for 4 hours and then would do a further examination and may require the hormone drip to keep things going if they weren’t progressing, she also suggested an epidural as this can help bring blood pressure down which was still very high, we decided if it came to it these were the right options for me in my circumstances.
I was hopeful after 4 hours of strong contractions I would be at least halfway there but following another examination it was confirmed I was now only 2cm - all I could think of was how I am going to get through this, as the last 16 hours had been intense. It was time for the drip and the epidural to be administered. It took a few hours to be seen by the anaesthetist but when she did arrive, she asked if I really needed the epidural as was handling the contractions great and couldn’t believe how relaxed and controlled, I was (thanks to Claire’s techniques) - I was still set on the epidural which I got, and it was absolutely fine. It didn’t work straight away so the anaesthetist had to come round again and up the dosage, after that I started to feel more relaxed. I managed to rest for 1-2 hours and then at my next examination the consultant confirmed I was fully dilated much to my delight and now ready to birth our baby.
The next 30 mins was a blur and happened so quickly - I could still feel my contractions so managed to birth my baby after a few pushes myself and with no assistance - now using my birth breathing, the midwives handed me my beautiful baby boy but very quickly after he was rushed away due to breathing issues. Whilst he was away, I delivered my placenta within 2 minutes and Doctor took care of tears.
The following 72 hours were critical as Noah was sedated and on life support. We could only see our baby boy through an incubator with tubes everywhere which was heart breaking but he was getting the best care from fantastic nurses. I was also still suffering from high blood pressure and severe headaches so was getting checked every 4 hours and on a lot of medication.
He quickly started to recover and after 2 weeks we were able to finally bring him home to start our journey as a family of three just in time for Christmas!
We felt so in control and knowledgeable
We felt so in control and knowledgeable
Although my birth was not as I originally planned for or anticipated I feel it was still so positive and an amazing experience. We felt so in control and knowledgeable and used the tips and techniques from the course to help us through the whole experience.
- Nikki and B, Group Hypnobirthing Course