Harper’s Positive Birth Story
Stacy and David’s Premature Birth using Hypnobirthing
Stacy and David asked me to support them on a 1:1 basis and very quickly opted to plan for a home birth. From the first time I met them, I could tell just how much they wanted to have a great birth experience.
Little did they know, their path to birth would be filled with lots of surprises, and they'd need to really lean on the awesome techniques they learned together in ways they never expected.
Their journey proves the power of informed choices and a fully equipped and supported birth partner. I'm thrilled to share this inspiring story with you, as it truly showcases how Hypnobirthing can lead to an awesome, transformative birth experience.
When baby doesn't get the memo!
As I approached my 3rd trimester, we were still undecided about a home birth, but following the first Hypnobirthing class with Claire, we had made up our minds and felt confident with our decision, to birth our first baby at home.... little did we know our baby had other ideas!
On Sunday 17th November, we arrived home following an afternoon celebrating my niece’s 5th birthday. It was a ‘normal’ evening of trying to get comfortable and a number of visits to toilet. At around 05:30 I woke up feeling quite uncomfortable and was losing quite a lot of blood. I called the maternity unit who asked me to make my way in. I showered then we made our way into hospital. I felt emotional during our journey, so I played some of my favourite songs to help relax.
When we arrived, we were directed to the labour ward, and I was examined by a doctor. She explained that they thought my waters had broken and with me being 34 weeks pregnant they would monitor me and baby, and if labour progressed, they wouldn’t ‘stop it’ but were keen to get me as close to 36 weeks pregnant as possible as, if our baby was born before then the likelihood would be that he/she would need oxygen and would be taken to the Special Care Baby Unit to be cared for.
Daddy down!
I should probably mention now, that at this point David fainted!! Bless him, I think he found it a little bit overwhelming. Let’s face it, we thought we had another 6 weeks to prepare!! He was whisked to A&E and I called my mum, dad, sister and brother to let them know how I was but also to give them a good laugh at what happened to David.
I laboured a little on the Monday, but as the evening approached things started to slow down, so I encouraged David and my mum to head home and get a good night sleep.
On the Tuesday morning I woke up to a lovely video from Claire talking us through light touch massage and printable versions of the affirmation cards (because of me going into labour earlier than expected, we'd not been able to do the 4th and final session of our Hypnobirthing course). It was then, that I reminded myself that I was going have the best labour and birth in the most calming and relaxing environment.
Following the doctors rounds on Tuesday morning they explained that I was being moved to the maternity ward and that I would be going home after a day-or-so to self-care with regular visits to the hospital in the hope that I would get a s close to full term as possible.
David and my sister arrived to see me at around 10:30 and I was told to attend an appointment downstairs for a scan at 12:00. So, I showered, and we all made our way down. The scan went well and there was still enough fluid around the baby so everything looked like I would be heading home.
My sister left at around 14:00 and asked me to call her if things progressed. At this point I genuinely thought I would be heading home...
Surprise Surges
From around 15:00 my surges started becoming more powerful and regular, so I was examined again and was told I was 8 cm dilated. My baby was coming...wow! I didn’t expect that!!
We were whisked back down to the labour ward and my mum was called to make her way in.
As soon as my mum arrived, she arranged our room exactly how we wanted it, with fairy lights, LED candles, affirmation cards and played all of my favourite songs. It was the perfect environment for the calm and safe arrival for our baby.
I actively laboured with David doing light touch massage and showing lots of love and support. It felt amazing and we were both ready and excited to meet our baby. Apparently during the last 30 minutes of labour things in the room got quite intense as the midwives couldn’t find our baby’s heart rate. I didn’t notice any of this. I could see my mum and feel and hear my partner, I knew it was time for my baby to arrive. I felt her come out all in one go.
Our baby girl was born on 19th November at 19:51 and no oxygen needed!! It was incredible, the most amazing experience and I loved every minute. This was down to everything I had learned during our Hypnobirthing classes. I knew what to expect, how to labour and birth my baby perfectly. David knew how to support me, and my mum knew how to ensure my environment was as close to a home birth as possible.
There's no way my baby’s very early arrival would have been so perfect, so calm if we hadn’t had Hypnobirthing classes.
What David had to say about his experience of Hypnobirthing
What David had to say about his experience of Hypnobirthing
Our hypnobirthing classes really helped me to be positive and look forward to birthing our baby. As a first time dad I had very little awareness around what to expect and was really nervous about being a birthing partner. These classes helped to educate me around how to provide Stacy with the right level of love and support which allowed me to be actively involved in labour and birth. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and I’m grateful that we brought our daughter into world in exactly the way we wanted.
- Stacy and David: 1:1 Hypnobirthing Course