My first baby was born 4 years ago on his due date. We had a water birth in hospital with gas and air. It went as well as we could have hoped. I had read a book about Hypnobirthing and listened to a relaxation CD beforehand, but hadn’t invested much time in it.
So this time around we decided on a home birth in a birthing pool. We contacted Leanne in the hope she could refresh me on hypnobirthing techniques and also involve my husband (who knew nothing about hypnobirthing!). If we were to aim for our home birth, then we wanted to prepare for our birth as fully as possible.
Leanne talked so much sense, considering hypnobirthing can sound a bit ‘hippy’, there was so much science behind it.
Leanne was amazing, she came to our house on two separate evenings, condensing her course to fit in with what we needed and mp3s to listen to afterwards.
Baby’s ‘due date’ came and went… as we were reminded numerous times by others. We tried to focus on enjoying the last few days as a family of 3. I reminded myself that baby would come when he was ready.
At 40+3 Friday evening I started getting some twinges – more than just the Braxton Hicks I’d been having on and off for a couple of weeks. They continued overnight but only every 15 mins. I slept on and off trying not to get excited. By Saturday morning they had stopped, but I told my husband not to go to work.
The twinges started again about 4pm Saturday afternoon, very irregular and mild at first. I didn’t get my hopes up! But by 6pm they were stronger and closer together. I made dinner and we all sat down to eat. I realised I had to get up off the chair several times throughout dinner to get into a comfortable position. These were definite contractions.
We put our son to bed and started timing the contractions. I put my TENS machine on, focused on my ‘up’ breathing throughout each contraction, bounced on my ball and stayed calm in the comfort of our living room. The candles and fairy lights were on and relaxation music was playing.
We called the hospital when the contractions got stronger and longer with 2-3 minutes between them. Our community midwife came around 8pm and examined me. I was 5-6cm dilated. She mentioned the baby seemed in a bit of an awkward position but I chose not to question it. I focussed on what I was doing and didn’t let it worry me (turns out he was back to back).
Getting through each contraction, the breathing and visualisation techniques were, without a doubt, invaluable to be able to relax and let my body do its job.
A few hours later it felt like the right time to fill up the birth pool – the contractions were getting stronger. We didn’t want to wait any longer in case we were too late! Entering the pool just after midnight, at 8cm dilation. The relief and weightless feeling in the pool was lovely.
After our Hypnobirthing sessions with Leanne I was actually excited about giving birth! I remembered how empowered I felt after the birth of my first baby, so with the tools I now had from Leanne, I knew I could have an even better experience second time around.
A little while after this I really felt something change. I was getting longer pauses in between contractions so I used them to relax and conserve my energy, I knew it wouldn’t be long! My husband was amazing throughout and stayed by my side (even though he was desperate for a wee for 2 hours!) he held my hands and reassured me.
My lovely midwife read me the positive affirmations and poured warm water over my back.
Then I needed to start my ‘down’ breathing. I could feel the baby moving down with every contraction. I definitely made some funny animal type noises at this point and remember wondering if I might wake the neighbours! (They later told me they didn’t hear a thing!).
I don’t feel like I pushed the baby out at all, I just let my body do what it had to do… remembering what we were taught by Leanne.
Charlie was born at 1.47 on Sunday morning at 40+5. I pulled him up out of the water and onto my chest. The feeling of relief, love and pride was overwhelming. He weighed a healthy 8lbs 8oz and (amazingly) I needed no stitches. I had got my home birth and it had been incredible.
We woke up Charlie’s big brother, Max and he came downstairs all sleepy but very excited to meet his little brother. That moment was absolutely priceless and one we could never have had in hospital. We all got into bed together as a family of 4 soon after and got a bit of sleep before morning.
Charlie is now 3 weeks old, he is so far very chilled out and happy! I’d like to think his calm, positive birth and relaxed Mumma due to hypnobirthing, is the reason for this. Either that or we’re just very lucky!
Myself and my husband would highly recommend Leanne and her hypnobirthing course to everyone. She without doubt made our home birth experience completely perfect and we will remember it forever.