Testimonials
Facebook group : HypnoBirthing Hertfordshire
Claire Turner from Herts (Picture above)
Hi Tamara
Sorry for delay - little one has reflux so spending most evenings walking around with a sling on - listening to the hypnobirthing music of course!!
Emily Belle 10.04.11 Antenatal ward, Lister hospital Pain relief: nil!!
My labour started around 1am but was happily able to put on my hypnobirthing music and sleep until 7am when my daughter bounded in to the bedroom. At this point my surges were 4-5mins apart. After a cup of tea and breakfast in bed and a shower my surges were gradually becoming more powerful and around 4 mins apart. We headed to hospital at 10am and after a walk in the sunshine casually walked into the delivery suite. The midwives checked me over. They asked if I was an athlete as my pulse rate was 51bpm. I explained that I was a hypnobirthing mummy and was acatually just very relaxed. So relaxed that they sent me up to the antenatal ward to have a walk etc with the thought of maybe going home or coming back to the delivery suite later that afternoon. So at about 11.30 I walked up to the ward. My surges were becoming very intense but the visualisations and breathing techniques I had practised were working well. I will get darren to send you a photo of me (its on his phone) where I was having a surge breath, whilst listening to the rainbow relaxation CD about half an hour before Emily's arrival. Darren was brilliant throughout, using light touch massage and positive affirmations to help me focus. At 12.50pm I was feeling the need to go even deeper into myself. My husband went to the toilet and during this time my membranes ruptured. The feeling became stronger and I felt the need to change my breath. On his return I asked him to go and tell the midwife my membranes had ruptured. By the time he returned from this, my trousers were off and I asked him if he could see the head!! He could!! He quickly went and found a midwife. A very surprised midwife arrived at my bed and Emily Belle was born 5 minutes later! All the midwives and people on the ward were in shock that I had given birth in such a calm, quiet manner. The midwife said during her brief time with me I was smiling and talking throughout. About 15 minutes after Emily's arrival my heart rate was taken again and was just 52bpm. I couldn't believe how relaxed I had felt during my labour. I was so pleased that all of those months of practising had really enabled me to have this most amazing birth. Thank you XX
Since the birth, my daughter has reflux. I truly believe the hypnobirthing has helped both her and myself to maintain a very calm and relaxed state despite this.
Thanks again Tamara - are there any postnatal relaxation scripts available?
X
Helen Agarwala from Welwyn/Herts (Picture above)
I wanted to have a home birth and my midwife, Tracy recommended Hypnobirthing to me. I was so lucky to have Tracy there for my birth. She knew how to stand back and let me get on with my relaxation. She hardly had to do anything! I just let my body do all the work! She said at the time that she couldn´t always tell when I was having a surge (contraction). After a 6 hour labour I breathed out my 9 lb 1 oz baby girl, Nina, without any damage to my pelvic floor muscles, no tearing or cutting, no drugs and no stress. She was born on the 20 of December 09, in a birthing pool in my parents lounge, next to the Christmas tree! We listened to music and chatted from time-to-time, and at other times I was deep inside my birthing body, concentrating on what I had to do. If I lost concentration I had my mum with me keeping me focused on my relaxation and Pedro, my partner keeping me hydrated all the time. I felt calm and in control all the time.
What Tracy Bullot, Helens midwife had to say.
Helen’s homebirth from a midwifes perspective. This was the 5th labour that I have attended where hypnobirthing has been practiced. Feeling very fortunate to attend my own case loading woman, I arrived at the house to find Helen totally in control of her surges. labour progressed well and Helen found the birthing pool to be soothing. I felt a calm ambiance . Helens welcoming smile and the real Christmas tree in the corner with essential oils filling the air with a glorious scent. Helen rubbing her gravid tummy with so much love . It felt very refreshing to see how much confidence Helen had in her own body. Helen like most labouring women did get tired ,however Helen never lost focus. Most women even if they do not use it ,ask for analgesia , not Helen, at no point can I remember that being mentioned. Helen breathed her way through the surges. I could feel the positively. I even found myself visualizing their baby’s journey through the birth canal. Natural endorphins worked their magic for Helen. Helen practiced the technique very well she easily remained in a total state of relaxation. As like all births Helens labour and birth was a unique journey. I have admiration for her ,a labour filled with positive anticipation . For me Helen’s birth was a fine example of The true meaning of the word Midwife meaning “to be with woman” promoting choice and respecting beliefs, while ensuring a safe environment and birth for mum and baby. Hypnobirthing has enhanced my faith in the woman’s ability to birth without or with little analgesia . Helen had great control of both labour and birth. One elated mummy and a totally chilled baby .
Herts new mums -you can see our group photo above.
We asked a group of new local Hertfordshire mums about their birth experiences using HypnoBirthing Techniques taught by Birtheasy in Welwyn Garden City and this is what they had to say.
Michelle/baby Alice from Hertford- 2nd baby born under 2 hours’ didn’t need any pain relief as the Hypnobirthing techniques were all that i needed to get me through...The techniques also helped keep me stay calm in the excitement of the possibility of my baby almost being born in the ambulance..It was so quick!'.
Claire/baby Ethan from St Albans - 1st baby, decided on a homebirth in the last week of her pregnancy becuase of the increased confidence she felt thanks to Hypnobirthing.'It was such an amazing experience and i loved every minute of it....i birthed completely naturally and my homebirth midwives were fantastic and very supportive of my HypnoBirth....i can't wait to do it again.'
Alex/baby Ivy from Welwyn -2nd baby, birthed at home under 3 hours.’ I can't believe how quickly time flew by.I was sitting up having a cup of tea within 5 minutes of her arriving as she had latched on immediately and i felt fantastic....thank you so much Birtheasy for helping me achieve the perfect birth....i would say it was actually pain-free.'
Rachel/baby Harry from Hitchin -1st baby, birthed under 3 hours.’ Even though i was induced after my waters had broken due to special circumstances i remained completely in control and calm throughout my entire labour...i even smiled when his head was coming out .It was amazing!'
Fiona/baby George from Ashwell 1st baby.’ Even though i didn’t get the homebirth i had planned i remained calm and focused throughout my labour thanks to the techniques i had learnt. I would recommend it to all mums, dads and babies. It kept me positive all the way through. This program is amazing and all women need to know about it.I can't thank you enough'.
Anne-Marie/baby Cameron from Hatfield -1st baby, under 3 hours.’ What i really loved about HypnoBirthing was the way it bought the 3 of us together. My husband played a big role in the birth process and almost delivered the baby himself as the hospital didn't think i was ready to birth.'
Fiona Mc Culloch/Welwyn-Hypnomum and Hypnobirthing practitioner.'HypnoBirthing gave me the confidence and a complete tool kit to manage my bith at home with my husband.I love teaching HypnoBirthing to pregnant couples as it truely is the best and most natural way to give birth.
Nicola/baby Jasmine Cottered - 1st baby.'I nearly birthed on the ward as i was 9cm without really even knowing i was because i was so calm and comfortable...HypnoBirthing definitely works!'
Alex Osuch from Welwyn - A VBAC (Vaginal Birth after c-section)
Hi Tamara!
I know this sounds weird but there isn't much to say about the birth- which in my case, with my history, is absolutely wonderful! My waters broke spontaneously on the 31st at 8:40pm and I phoned L&D at 9:20pm to let them know, but explained that the surges were ten minutes apart and totally bearable, waters were clear etc. etc. and asked if it would be ok to stay at home even though I know they'd rather see all women who's waters have broken- they were fine (and grateful I think as they were run off their feet!) but said call back in an hour or so.
So at 10:20pm I called again and we both agreed that I would slowly make my way in to the hospital where I would be put on a monitor and have a quick internal and then be sent home if all was well. So, we dropped Oscar off at a mates place and leisurely made our way in.
In the day unit they put on an external monitor and checked Jack's progress (Paul loved watching the numbers go up and down). No internal yet at about midnight but there was talk of me going up to the ward for the night. I said no, unless Paul could come too- they agreed. So, then, the internal happened sometime later...we-ell..
That just kicked everything up a notch- from low level surges, ten minutes apart, we quickly escalated to regular 4 minute surges and I went to five centimetres in two hours (from 1-2)! After that, we motored along with just one threat of vontouse at the very end as Jack was just sort of sitting on my pelvic bone for a bit but the threat was enough to give me the final urge I needed and minutes later he was there! Paul helped to deliver him (and I used his hip for a bit of leverage) and he quietly emerged no fuss. No crying (only from me!) and he only made a noise when the midwife checked his testes (and who wouldn't eh?). Strangely, all I wanted to do at that moment was give Oscar a big cuddle and wished he was there too.
He obviously started as he means to continue as he is the coolest, most chilled out baby. He feeds beautifully and wakes just once at 2am for a feed before going back to sleep until 7am! (Ask me again in 3 weeks ;)
The midwife I had was AMAZING. She knew I was adamant about a VBAC and there were moments when she could have rushed me along, or suggested intervention because I slowed down but she stuck by me and even fought my corner when the attendings were suggesting otherwise- I love her! (she's 67 and migrating to Australia in Feb. so we had plenty to talk about)
It is now day 12 and I feel great! As I said, we were out and at home that afternoon and I was outside taking Oscar to playgroup just three days later!
We are all madly in love with Jack (though Oscar took some convincing) and I am blown away with my birth experience. The experience has meant that I have been able to come to the most difficult bit- the parenting bit- happy, healthy and with so much joy that it is impossible to be anything but elated. I am convinced that it was hypnobirthing that gave me the strength to do so.
Thank you.
With love from Alex, Paul, Oscar and Jack.
Carli 1st time mum from Hertford/Herts.
I gave birth to my beautiful baby girl, Holli, in November 2008, my first baby. I had the most amazing birth experience thanks to Hypnobirthing.
I am usually quite a worrier, often worrying about things that might not even happen. At the beginning of my pregnancy I was completely set on having my baby in hospital – I preferred the idea of being close to medical facilities should they be needed. However, once I had attended the first session of Hypnobirthing, I did a complete u-turn and decided I would like a home birth instead.
Even one session had given me the confidence that I could have a completely natural birth, free of any intervention.
As part of the Hypnobirthing training, I listened to a relaxation CD daily as I drifted off to sleep, whilst practicing the relaxation techniques.
I truly believe that this daily relaxation not only helped me on my baby’s birthing day, but also throughout my pregnancy. I was always getting comments on how relaxed and well I looked, and I felt great too!
Throughout my pregnancy I kept visualising how I wanted my baby’s birth to be – at home, in a birthing pool with dimmed lights, candles burning, my relaxing music playing, and no medical intervention.
This is exactly how my baby’s birth turned out. I was so relaxed that the midwife said she couldn’t even tell I was in labour, and at one point my birth companion thought I’d fallen asleep! Holli was born under the water after a seven hour labour, and let out a healthy cry when she was scooped up.
It was such a wonderful experience, and my little girl is such a chilled and happy baby, which I put down to her calm arrival into this world.
I cannot thank Birtheasy enough for giving me the Hypnobirthing training, and enabling Holli and I to have such a wonderful, pain free, birth experience.
Carli xxx
What to expect when you take a HypnoBirthing antenatal class by Rona Moss;teacher and 1st time mum from Datchworth/Herts.
We asked one of our mums-to-be to tell you her views about her HypnoBirthing classes and what she most gained from taking a Birtheasy HypnoBirthing course.
“Initially, my husband and I were rather sceptical about the whole idea of hypnosis. But we knew we wanted a calm, natural birth and the only classes that seemed to focus on this were HypnoBirthing classes, so we decided to enrol with Birtheasy run by Tamara and Fiona. They were both also HypnoBirthing mums so hearing about their personal experiences helped me truly believe I could also birth this way.
During the first session, I felt a little self-conscious; it’s not every day you try to go into relaxation with a bunch of strangers! But very quickly I felt totally comfortable and began to really look forward to our weekly sessions. Learning how your body is built to birth instinctively was a real turning point for me. Suddenly, what had seemed so scary had become the most natural thing in the world. Being in hypnosis felt great – I felt so relaxed, like I didn’t have a care in the world. Yet I still felt alert enough to laugh to myself at the effectiveness of hypnosis in convincing me my leg was so heavy, I could not lift it! Learning how being relaxed helps you avoid interventions and have a natural birth was also fantastic. At the end of our sessions, I genuinely felt sad; in fact, I would love to have started over again!
The classes left me feeling relaxed and actually looking forward to my baby’s birth day. I was delighted by how they brought my husband and I together as a team and how the course had given him a defined role in the pregnancy and birth. As they say, knowledge is power and the knowledge my husband and I gained on our course has truly left us feeling that we have been empowered to have a calm, positive and wonderful birth day.
During one of the sessions we focused on connecting with our unborn babies and understanding how aware unborn babies are of their surroundings. We knew that what I ate crossed the placenta, but we did not realise that babies also feel our emotions and are aware of things going on outside the womb. Babies are so much more aware than I thought and actually remember birth. I approached HypnoBirthing as I wanted to have a calm and natural birth for my self I never really thought about this as such a benefit for my baby and how important for my baby it was to enter the world in a gentle and calm way. They say HypnoBirthing babies sleep well, feed well and are just better natured babies in general. I think learning HypnoBirthing for this reason alone is enough to convince me that I must birth using this method.”
Rona Moss, teacher and first time mum from Datchworth ,Herts.
Rona's article also featured in the Nov 08 issue of Herts ABC magazine.
Kayleigh from Welwyn (as pictured above with her baby only seconds old)
Kayleigh and Colin are sooooo Happy to say we had a little boy on 10.04.09 @ 22:04 6lb 8 1/2oz. i was 7cm dilated when i got to the hospital, a very natural birth with a little help from the gas near the end but not for the pain (There was no pain)It just hit me what was happening and the nerves kicked in lol. My labour was 2hrs 14min although Colin thought it was 1hr 45mis and my waters didnt brake till later on i think i was 8 - 9 cm dilated when the brave midwife had a look and they broke, found that really funny. i had to stay in hospital although i felt like i could of walked home. even tho we were going to home birth, it was a shock when it all happened, so we went in........
i would do it all again, thank you Tamara and Fiona
For every new mum out there..HypnoBirthing all the way, it helped me sooo much!xxxxxxxxxxxx
We asked a group of new Hertfordshire dads about the birth and this is what they had to say....
Danny pictured 2nd from the left in the picture above:
What aspects of the hypnobirthing course did you enjoy?
The classes are great, an oasis of calm, where you can spend some quality time with your mum to be, and share the experience with a bunch of likeminded, (nervous) couples. Ok, you share the odd conspiratorial wink with the other Dads, and I can't remember one session where there wasn't lots of laughs and smiles, but the quiet times, when the affirmations and massage techniques are practised were always a really guilty pleasure - a great way to de-stress in the evening.
What did you learn?
That relaxing, spending time thinking about the birth in a positive, very supportive way, and sharing the learning and spending that time together is really valuable. I'm sure we were both so much more prepared and ready for the arrival of Stan because of the work, time and effort we put in during the classes and at home.
How Hypnobirthing helped you during the labour/birth?
Answering for mum - she was top drawer! If you want, I could write and write and write about the day as the events and the way Tracey handled the whole affair was brilliant. In short, she was calm, she was relaxed, she used her techniques, I knew what to do, we had a plan, we changed it, but we we're always in control. The Hypnobirthing course should be made mandatory - the NHS would get their money back in spades if all new mums were as calm and in control as Tracey was (indeed, the hospital were happy for her to give birth in the ward rather than the delivery suites as she was so in control).
Were you sceptical at all?
Yes, and to an extent, I still am - but let me explain. The name "Hypnobirthing" the video case studies, the application of the techniques that are taught, all hint at a very difficult to achieve Utopian process, and fuels the scepticism. What the sessions and the philosophy really does deliver, and why I think this course is so so valuable, is the way it makes you think about and face up to the impending event. It teaches you to be calm, to approach the birth positively, with a technique in mind (it doesn't matter if isn't deployed perfectly) and to help you relax together, and feel some joint ownership for the "plan" on the day (night!) itself. I cannot get my head around why this isn't the perfectly obvious way to approach the birth of a baby - so I think the sceptism needs to be tackled head on and reflecting on why the "taste" of the product is so different from the "look".
How you feel Hypnobirthing helped you have the birth you had?
Stan arrived bang on his due date, with very little fuss. I spent most of the labour reading a book and telling the midwife that popped in every half an hour that everything was ok. Tracey had some tea mid-labour. She moved from 3cm to fully dilated in 4 hours. Mum was making jokes seconds after the birth, laughing and cuddling an alert and happy little boy. When mum sprang up (I mean it!) and went to the shower, I spent the next ten minutes playing with my 20 minute old son. Stan's been a smashing lad, full of smiles and love from the get go. Yeah, I think it helped.
Bill pictured 2nd from the right in the picture above:
What aspects of the hypnobirthing course did you enjoy?
Fore and foremost it was very interesting to discover a whole new way of looking at childbirth that can be stress-free and ultimately a wonderful experience for all involved, I found this most intriguing particularly as I had no idea what Hynobirthing entailed (or had even heard of it to be frank). In addition to the benefits of following the course, I must say I really enjoyed meeting other expectant couples, primarily as we were new to the area and due to be first-time parents - and usually I find social gatherings an excruciating experience!
What did you learn?
I mainly learnt that the whole giving-birth episode needn’t be feared and in fact is something to genuinely look forward to; it really convinced us both to approach the arrival of our baby with excitement and impatience as opposed to worry and trepidation. If during labour the mother-to-be works with her body instead of against it, relaxes and enjoys welcoming her baby into the world the whole experience can be all the more magical, fearless and considerably less traumatic for it. Often the first image of childbirth one is exposed to is reminiscent of a medieval battle field with all its cacophony and horrors, it really doesn’t have to be this way and it is enlightening to dispel this common myth.
How Hypnobirthing helped you during the labour/birth?
It taught us both to remain calm, enjoy the process and look forward to meeting our baby. As Fiona was ‘in the zone’ and at ease throughout her childbirth this allowed me also to relax and not panic; I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience and look forward to experiencing it again.
Were you sceptical at all?
In a word, yes. Very. My perception totally changed once we had been through the whole course, but if I’m honest I don’t think I was totally convinced until the onset of labour: then it was quite apparent that HypnoBirthing was the only sensible approach to childbirth.
How you feel hypnobirthing helped you have the birth you had?
Whilst our birth didn’t go entirely according to plan (we had originally hoped for a home water birth but George was eventually born in hospital) there is no doubt that HypnoBirthing was instrumental in ensuring a relaxed and stress-free experience. I am convinced that Hypnobirthing was the main reason that we have such fond memories of that special day and that our son is as happy and well mannered as he is.
Chris pictured far left in the picture above:
What aspects of the hypnobirthing course did you enjoy?
Meeting new people and learning how to remain calm. Also seeing how hypnobirthing had helped other people.
What did you learn?
That dads can really help during pregnancy and giving birth. Also that what we are usually told about pregancy / giving birth is not always accurate.
How Hypnobirthing helped you during the labour/birth?
Made us prepared and helped us not to panic when the time came.
Were you sceptical at all?
Maybe slightly as first however this was more to do with the fact that I had never looked into anything similar before. Also because I have friends with babies and they kept saying that this sort of thing wouldnt help.
How you feel hypnobirthing helped you have the birth you had?
Helped us to stay focused as there was something else to concentrate on (the scripts etc) and helped to let us make our own mind up about what giving birth would be like.
Carli Hollick from Herts....May 2009
Labour started around 5.30pm, very irregular surges and mum and Dan came home about 9pm.Listening to hypnobirthing cd and doing my slow breathing and surge breathing.midwife came over when the surges were 5 minutes apart at 12.30am. I can honestly say that the only discomfort i had was backache because baby was back to back i got in the pool around 2.30am and our midwife kept commenting on how relaxing it was and we were all going to fall asleep. At 5am my waters broke and she was born into my arms at 5.20am. I had a lovely birth experience at home, and Isabella was born on her due date weighing 8lb 3 1/2 oz. Isabella is the calmest baby, she slept through the night on day 4 and is extremely well behaved i can honestly say i had a pain free experience with the help of hypnobirthing, everyone in the room was so calm the midwife kept saying she could fall asleep and my partner didn't believe i was in labour! Thanks Tam x
Stacey Holmes from Benington/Herts- Due Early August 2009
Planning a natural pregnancy has helped me grow into the woman I always wanted to be. I have grown from a nervous pregnant newbie into a blooming confident goddess
This may sound like a hugely over-exaggerated statement, but it does describe my journey to date to a tee.
I’m 28 years old now and have struggled my whole life with my femininity; I was tomboyish from the start, happier with trees and mud than glitter and cup-cakes!
In fact I didn’t even want children until I was about 24, I was adamant it was not the path I was on. Still unsure I misguidedly gave myself a time limit and said “if I don’t have any by the age of 30 I’m not going to start”, I can see this now as a kind of get out clause; a sort of “oh dear it’s too late, never mind I guess I’ll never know if I would have been a good mother”. I covered up my fear of motherhood so much I didn’t even know it was there myself.
By the age of 26 I was quite sure I wanted to be a mother so when I met my partner we decided quickly it was what we both wanted, I told him I would give up my dream of studying Yoga in India only if we could start a family. I still had that foolishly self imposed time limit in my mind!
I’m now 35 weeks pregnant and very happy with my decision. I knew from the start I wanted a natural birth but was unprepared for the hugely different interpretations of that phrase. To me natural birth meant at home and without drugs, but it also meant natural pregnancy too. From speaking to others, both medical professionals and mothers, it can mean any kind of vaginal birth, i.e. not a caesarean section, or a birth with only limited pain relief or one performed barefoot in the woods with only mother nature as your attendant! I realised I was going to have to do some research and find out exactly what kind of natural birth I wanted or was achievable by me.
It hasn’t all been plain sailing; there was a whole week about half way through my pregnancy when I just cried. I sobbed and sobbed for hours on end and had to look really deep inside myself for a reason. Normally I meditate in this situation but even this was impossible as my sobs would just get stronger! I finally realized I was terrified of giving birth because the crying would always start if I thought about any aspect of birthing. It was miraculously the week after this that I saw an advert on my local Freecycle group for a free information evening about a local Hypno-birthing class. I was already listening to a Hypnobirthing CD occasionally but thought I would take a look and see what attending some classes could offer me. One of the things it claimed to do was eliminate any fear of birthing, perfect I thought, this is definitely for me!
The Hypnobirthing course explained why I might be fearful of birth by covering the recent history of birthing in Western culture. As more women were giving birth in hospitals towards the end of the 19 century there was much more chance of infection due to poor hygiene on the wards. So fear of dying in childbirth was introduced. Midwives were also taken over by the male dominated medical profession and birthing became a medical event, moving ever further away from the beautiful spiritual occasion it is meant to be for mother, father and baby.
From a young age, women are fed the idea that labour is going to be the most painful thing we will ever experience and that we will need lots of medical help. I was never able to grasp the idea that the female body was not really designed properly to birth our own young. Why would I grow a baby too big to birth? Early on in my pregnancy I found myself in tears feeling like I was battling against a system of protocol just to be allowed to deliver my placenta without an injection of Syntometrine. Again I couldn’t understand where this opinion came from that women would not be able to naturally complete the birthing process. Being part of the Hypnobirthing group, and all sharing this disillusionment with common medical practices has built my confidence to a point where I feel able to discuss my wishes with my midwife calmly and concisely.
With my residual western mindset; which tries to overcome fear by rationalisation, I thought perhaps I should attend the NHS Parent Craft classes in addition to my own birth preparation. Once again I was flabbergasted by the difference in both the attitude to birth and the information offered between my Hypnobirthing class and the NHS classes.
The main focus of Parent Craft was how painful labour was going to be and how helpless my partner would feel. There was only a few minutes dedicated to birth plans and what my preferences as the mother were for the path my birthing should take. The attitude of the midwife was, “WE will do this then WE will do this”, as if I would not really be involved except as some kind of spectator. My partner even less so. The Midwife even said at one point “you can write what you like in your birth plan but it will all go out the window on the day”. This statement really upset me and each time I walked out of those sessions I felt more nervous than when I went in. One of the prevailing memories I have from those classes is the face of the demonstration doll. All I can say is I sincerely hope my baby doesn’t enter the world in that much distress. I feel so grateful for the confidence Hypnobirthing has given me.
In contrast, when in Hypnobirthing class I feel more excited about the birth of my baby each time we learn something new or discuss a new aspect of parenthood.
As the name Hypnobirthing suggests, we learn how to use self hypnosis to help our bodies reach a deeply relaxed state. More than that, we learn about the physiological processes that the muscles go through during the different stages of labour and birthing. By knowing what is actually happening to my uterus muscles I am less likely to interpret those sensations as pain. We are also taught lots of positive visualisations of both the muscles relaxing and allowing our babies to pass comfortably into the world and of how we see our perfect birthing experience as a family.
I have been given a CD with positive affirmations which I listen to daily. This works on the principles of Neural Linguistic Programming (NLP), basically it means if you hear or say something enough it will become true. Phrases such as “I look forward to birthing my baby with joy and ecstasy”, and “every surge of my body brings my baby closer to me”, have become an integral part of how I look towards my birthing day.
The techniques I have learnt are not new, they are in fact very old, and any one who has ever seen an animal give birth can tell you that the mother seems to be deeply relaxed throughout. The reasons for using the Hypnobirthing method just seem to make sense, it seems natural, which is exactly what I set out to achieve. I feel the most comfortable in my body as I ever have my whole life; I’m wearing my bump with pride.
Of course I can say all I like about this technique I have learnt but as yet I have not actually used it to give birth. However I can say with absolute confidence that I am looking forward to the birth of my baby and that I have total faith in my body and my baby to birth successfully.
I would like to thank Tamara and Fiona from Birtheasy.co.uk for helping my partner, my baby and I look forward to this amazing event and giving us all the tools we need to achieve the birth we want.
Amy and Matt (Hypnobirth at the Lister August 2009)
Hi everyone,
I've finally got the time to right my birth story. So here goes.
After being diagnosed with Obstectric Colestasis( a condition where your bile salts leach into your blood which stops it from clotting properly) at 38 +3 weeks, we were told by the midwives that we would have to be induced right away. I went into complete meltdown as this meant an end to my home hypno waterbirth and a labour strapped to a FHM. We were given an appointment to see the consultant and I asked if we could wait for her to come naturally. He said that with daily monitoring and a scan we could see how we go and carry on, but it did mean that I had to get my head around not having my baby at home and the pool was definitely out of the question.
A week later on the tues, we asked for a bishops score to see if I was anywhere near ready and we were told I was 2cm dilated, which was a total surprise. The midwife then performed the most painful sweep which I may add was ten times worse than giving birth!
By Friday I was 3cm dilated and I had another sweep in the morning, then I'd booked myself in for acupressure. The acupressurist gave me some techniques to induce labour which I had to do throughout the afternoon. So that afternoon I sat on the bed with the tenns machine attached to my ankles, I had pressure points to push on my hands and (don't laugh too hard) a poppy seed stuck on a plaster which she had put on my ear on a point that related to the uterus which I had to press for 5 mins!! Then when my dh Matt returned from work he had to rub clary sage into points on my upper and lower back and then after tea we went on a one and a half mile march down a big hill, and if that wasn't enough we had the most uncomfortable sex and by 10.30pm my labour started!!!
Now I just thought I had BH's and period pain because of the sweep that morning, but within half an hour I was beginning to think it was a bit more than that as I had the runs as well and lots of birth stories I'd read had said labour started this way.
I didn't want to disturb the midwife so late but we eventually rang her. I was in the bath feeling very strange and Matt handed me the phone, the midwife asked how far apart the surges were but i wasn't sure, so she asked me to phone her back when they were 5 mins apart. Well I think I'd had two while I had been on the phone to her but I agreed and said I'd speak to her later.
I didn't really know what to do with myself so I got out of the bath. Matt found a website that my sister had used to count the time between surges so he plonked me on the sofa with the laptop and went to sort our bags as I'd decided to take the whole house with us to hospital!
It turned out that they were 3 mins apart and I was beginning to have a wobble about the whole thing as I had cramps running up my legs from my Knees to my thighs which was a total surprise to me and I was wondering how I was going to cope.
Matt rand the midwife back and she came straight away. When we found out I had to go into hospital the week before, I felt that I would loose the plot and forget all my hypnobirthing techniques so we asked our HB teacher (Tamara) who is a doula as well, to be at our birth. I felt calmer when she arrived as she reminded me of everything we had learnt with her in class and it made me pick myself up and feel that I could have the fantastic birth I had visualized so much in the past few months.
We arrived at the hospital and and were shown to our room. Matt and Tamara started to unpack my things. Within minutes the lights were low my music was playing and I was comfy in a very hard upright chair in the corner, which incidentally they would have to wrestle me off later as I became quite attached to it! lol!
It was about 1pm by now and the surges were coming every few minutes and to be honest if I didn't have the leg cramps and slight lower back ache,I don't think I would really of been bothered by them. I always thought I'd have discomfort around the bump but I didn't feel a thing.
Well the evening continued with Tamara rubbing my legs and my Matt rubbing my back. They continued throughout the night getting quite intense at times but totally manageable. Its funny how at times when they were coming with few breaks in between time just seemed to slip away and I would disappear into my own world, then the breaks would return to give me a rest and we'd have a cuppa and a hobnob! Considering I was under consultant care and meant to be strapped to a monitor, we hardly saw a midwife until the baby was actually coming. It suited us fine but my midwife wasn't very happy about it afterwards.
My waters broke at 7am, still sitting on the chair by the way! I heard Matt and Tamara talking amounst themselves about getting me to sit on the loo to help my baby move down a bit. It had been a battle to get me to go to the loo all night as I felt totally in control on my chair and quite dizzy and faint when I stood up, but I knew if it was going to help things along then I'd better do it.
Well something happened on the loo. I was trying to visualize her moving down and opening up and to my relief my leg cramps disappeared and I got up off the toilet and went straight to the bed to lay on my side as I was really sleepy. At this point my baby had started to come as I felt like breathing her down so that's what I started to do. I didn't think it would all come so naturally but it did. The midwife Charlotte and Tamara thought I'd gone to sleep but I was squeezing Matt's hand each time I had a surge to let him know what was going on. This part felt slow but I was glad to be lying down.
I cant remember who it was but someone asked if I could go on my knees and lean over the back of the bed as gravity would help her out so I got up and started my birth breathing again. I can safely say the only time I felt actual pain was when her head came out. It really stung but I did get a 2nd degree tear so it's not surprising really.
At 10.56am Matt helped received our beautiful baby girl and as she was passed up through my legs I felt completely overwhelmed with love for her. She was just perfect and I felt proud that I had brought her into the world in such a peaceful way .
I had to wait a long time for the placenta so after the cord had stopped pulsating and Matt had done the honors, he sat with his top off cuddling her and she went to sleep. What a perfect end to a wonderful hypnobirth!! I feel like I'm the luckest mummy alive!
Thanks for reading this if you made it to the end, hypnobirthing rocks!!!!!
Amy x
proud mummy of Cecily Beatrice Jackson
