Birth story - Hattie and baby boy

As a midwife and nurse I knew the mechanics of what to expect with my first pregnancy, but I wanted to prepare as best I could. I had seen so many positive births of women using hypnobirthing techniques and wanted to experience this too. 

I planned a home birth, hoping to be outside , and using water alongside my relaxation techniques. 

When my waters broke on my due date, but labour did not begin, I saw my home birth slipping away as the risk of infection increased, I agreed to have an induction if labour hadn’t started after 18hours. 

I spent the morning at home in my garden listening to relaxation scripts and music.

I packed my “hospital bag” mostly with birth affirmations, LED candles, fresh herbs from my garden, vegan snacks and anything I could find that would give me a sense of home. (I didn’t pack anything like a nighty or spare clothes...oops!)

From the beginning of my induction process I listened to the Freya app. It completely kept me calm over the 12hours. Despite being attached to monitors and drips in a clinical hospital room , I was able to create a dark, quiet, calm space. The app enabled me to totally zone out of anything happening around me- the soothing voice, the encouraging words, and the reminder to find my breath through surges. 

I felt empowered by the calm created, and when there had been minimal progress in 6 hours, felt no disappointment having an epidural- which mostly only numbed 1 leg, but still gave me some relief as now the hormone had kicked in and the surges where coming very quickly- my lovely husband was now in charge of pressing the “surge timer”, he had been previously sleeping on the floor or filling my water up.  I continued to listen to the app talking me through calmly.

4 hours later I was ready, and in 30 minutes, with Freya still encouraging me and keeping me calm, our baby boy was born safely, gently and brought up onto my skin- with no shouting , cheering or panic. 

It may not have been the water home birth I planned, but i was supported and encouraged to have the very best birth experience , and my boy was born safely, surrounded by positivity and calm, and what could be better than that.