Birth story - Crystal and baby boy

*Trigger warning* - Talk of a previous bad experience.

I’m so over joyed with the impact the hypnobirthing course had on my labour, delivery and post natal recovery I couldn’t wait to share my birth story!

I’ve had 2 previous hospital deliveries. The first I required an episiotomy and my son went into distress a little at the end but overall it was good. The second was a water birth but it was a very quick labour, I felt out of control. I wasn’t able to calm myself down, I was shouting and swearing. I wanted a calm birth but had no idea I had to put the work in before hand. I just assumed the water would be enough but I was wrong. It effected me badly postpartum and I had lots of pain, bad grazing and really bad anxiety. So when I found myself facing birth a third time I wanted to have a better experience and do I did the hypnobirthing course.

This course changed my whole outlook. I put in the work with the guided relaxation, I had positive affirmations all over my house and I loved listening to the mp3 of the affirmations. I practiced up breathing and on top of this, my community midwife was a big advocate for homebirth and she made me feel very prepared for the whole thing.

So now for my birth story! It’s not very long.

I had a couple of twinges through the day of the 17th but nothing to say I’d have baby any time soon. We went to bed and just after 11pm I woke with surges. They were already pretty powerful so I went to the loo, woke my husband and moved downstairs. My husband set up the living room like I’d requested and I was on all fours leaning on the couch. This was my most comfortable position. While in this position I used the Freya app, the positive affirmations was the one I used most, and started using the surge timer. Mostly because of the counting feature as it helped me maintain up breathing through surges. They were already 2 mins apart so I called the midwife’s from this position at 11:30. I continued like this until they arrived about 40 minutes later.

From then on I have very little idea of time. I asked for gas and air not long after they arrived. That and my up breathing really helped me keep calm as it was all happening quite quickly. At some point I agreed to be examined as I had decided I wanted pethidine depending on how long I had left. She said there was just a little bit of membrane remaining but he was still a bit high so I had a half dose just to take the edge off. I knew this might slow my labour but I felt it was worth it if it meant I could stay calm and not panic. It was a great decision. I went onto my side for a bit but both me and baby didn’t like this so I went back to all fours.

I continued like this until I felt a need to push. I tried letting my body do what it needed but I felt like I had to push with the pressure. At this point I agreed to an examination and asked if they would break my waters. I can’t explain why I made the decision but it felt right in my body at the moment. I was 10 cm which I kind of expected at this stage and they found my waters had already gone at some point. Must have just been a trickle rather than a pop cause I never noticed.

The feeling of the pressure was there for a while so we decided to do active pushing. I didn’t need to do this for very long, however he was a big long boy and it took a few surges from crowning to delivery but the whole time the midwife’s kept me calm, I was in control, I did it slow and let my body do most of it and then he was here at 3:36am!

I was able to cut the cord myself which was wonderful. I then had an actively managed third stage which required 2 injections but I didn’t really notice I was too busy enjoying my new baby. After, they helped me shower, helped me get him latched on and they cleaned up.

Honestly it was an amazing experience. Thanks to the information about tears in the course I was able to focus and remain calm and didn’t have any tears or serious grazes. Giving birth at home was the best option for me and I couldn’t have done it without the course. I was able to talk and ask questions in between surges and my partner did his reading on my preferences so I didn’t have to answer much at all. My kids and neighbour all slept through the whole thing so I was obviously much calmer and quieter than my second delivery and I’m still so proud of myself, the impact postpartum is massive. I was on an after birth high for the first 2 weeks and my recovery it was so much easier than previous deliveries. It’s made my overall experience so much better!