Ada’s Positive Birth Story
Vicki and Danny’s Hypnobirthing Experience for their First Baby
Vicki and Danny came to me just before the Covid pandemic hit. They used everything they learned on their Hypnobirthing course to ensure they birthed their baby in the best way possible.
From Scepticism to Empowerment
When Danny and I found out we were having a baby we were overjoyed to say the least. We shared our exciting news with family, friends, and work colleagues and with anyone who would listen, we were that excited... However, more often than not, this excitement was dampened a little by some people’s negative birth stories that they or someone they knew had experienced. I’ll admit, this then, did cause me to worry about how my birth would be and I wondered if a negative birth was the norm...How wrong was I!?
I first heard about hypnobirthing from a friend who said this helped her mind set and experience during birth, so I decided to look into it further and started off by listening to an audio book about hypnobirthing. I was intrigued but sceptical about the whole thing being a bit hippy for me, but I know now that this was due to my naivety about the subject. I then spoke to a family friend who recently had a baby and learnt about her positive birth and how refreshing it was. She told us how hypnobirthing helped her, and her partner prepare during their pregnancy, and she recommended Claire from Simply Beautiful birthing. Danny and I were sold, and I booked onto Claire’s group course that evening.
From our first session with Claire we both learnt so much about the science behind labour and how the female body prepares itself and works during birth. This, along with learning the hypnobirthing breathing techniques etc., profoundly changed my way of thinking. I felt in control and calm about my baby’s arrival and what was expected from me and my body. Danny also felt more ‘in the know’ and was confident in his role as my birthing partner, he no longer felt like he "just had to show up".
Navigating Labour with Confidence
At about 2am on 5th May I woke up with stronger pains. I tried to sleep them off, but it wasn’t happening, so, I took myself to the bathroom and noticed I was bleeding. I woke Danny to tell him then contacted the hospital for reassurance about the bleed, which the midwife believed it was my show. So I remained at home and decided to have a bath, where I listened to my relaxation MP3's and used the Freya app to time my contractions.
At 4am I went downstairs, had a glass of milk, watched Netflix and sat on my birthing ball while Danny continued to sleep...
Then at 6am I gave my mum a call and she was so excited that her 5th grandchild was on its way, but by this point my contractions were stronger and more frequent. I took one whilst speaking to her and I breathed through it but ended the call before going to wake Danny.
Anyway, I was of the opinion I could go for another bath, but Danny saw the change in my demeanour as he saw I was using the breathing techniques in quicker succession and timed my contractions for me which were showing I was in established labour. So I decided against the bath, and we made our way to the hospital. During the journey I listened to my music, breathed through my contractions and felt excited. I remember saying to Danny 'I hope they don’t send me home' as in all honesty, I wondered if I was even anywhere near established labour because, although the contractions were intense and frequent, I was managing them with my breathing and felt really calm.
Overcoming Twists with Positivity
I was initially settled into a midwife led room however due to the amount of bleeding I was experiencing; the midwife expressed her concerns and spoke with a consultant who recommended I change from midwife led suit to a more clinical room. I was slightly disappointed, questioned the reasons for this but agreed and moved all my hypnobirthing tools into my new room.
The room was calm, with my music playing in the background at all times. My midwife and consultant were both using soft and encouraging words and I remember my consultant singing along to music which all added to my calm and chilled experience. As I recited my favourite affirmations, used my breathing techniques, Danny gave me light touch massage. However towards the end, I couldn’t bear to be touched and just wanted to hold his hand and during the final stages, I opted for gas and air only.
I recognised at one point that I was in the transition stage. Danny was brilliant with the positive encouragement and before I knew it my body was pushing my baby out.
Albeit I felt calm and in control, I did have to have some assistance by means of an episiotomy due to concerns with baby’s heartbeat and my blood pressure due to my increased blood loss. However, luckily, there was no need for any further intervention as upon my next contraction and one final push my beautiful baby was here.
For the first time ever, Danny was speechless but finally managed to tell me that we had a beautiful baby girl, Ada Helen, who was put immediately on me for skin to skin and Danny cut the cord.
As I was being treated, Ada lay on me and I remember feeling proud for birthing our healthy, beautiful girl the way I wanted with the support from Danny, the midwife and consultant. Yes, things took a few twist and turns during my labour however I felt in control with decisions, accepted and overcame these changes and still had my positive birth experience, one of which I am proud of.
With the NHS guidelines, Danny was allowed to be with me during the birth because I was in established labour however I remained in hospital overnight for checks and unfortunately Danny had to leave but the support from the NHS staff was second to none and I didn’t feel alone one bit, in fact the reassurance for being a first time mum was welcomed by staff.
We both then took our precious girl home the next day and started our lives properly as a family.
I cannot recommend it enough
I cannot recommend it enough
In a world of madness during the current times, our baby was born in a bubble of positivity. And having lived to tell the tale and experience the positive effect of hypnobirthing, I cannot recommend it enough to anyone who may be considering it.
- Vikki and Danny: Group Hypnobirthing Course