During her first birth, Emma experienced “failure to progress” which lead to a c-section.
For her second birth, she wanted to explore her options around having a VBAC.
Her partner knew that this was important to her so together they committed to it.
They choose a supportive midwifery continuity of care model.
They took hypnobirthing.
They did the work.
And Emma had a healing water birth VBAC!

Being told that you “failed” during birth does not mean that you or your body failed!
“Failure to progress” is often a failure to provide supportive care, or failure to provide a safe environment, or failure to wait!
Your first birth does not need to set the tone for subsequent births.
Emma proved that she is fully capable of giving birth…in fact she is more than capable, she rocked her birth!

Here is Peggy’s birth story as told by her superstar mother.
With photos by Aimee Catt Photography.

First off, I want to say a very big thank you for your course and what we learnt, it was incredibly helpful and gave Ben and I so many more tools, and a much greater understanding of the physiology of labour and birth. Ben is a true convert and cannot stop recommending hypnobirthing to everyone, he truly thinks it should be the mandatory antenatal course. He went into this second experience with so much more confidence and purpose and I have to say, when the time came he was an amazing birth partner. A true rock, he remembered so many more affirmations and helpful cues than I did, and without him I don’t think I could have quite made it through like I did.

During the last month or so of my pregnancy, I did have an up and down time mentally. I appreciated all your emails – they always seemed to pop up in my inbox at exactly the right time. I meant to respond and I even meant to call and have the chat you offered, but for some reason I had a mental block and never actually did those things. I think I started a lot of conversations in my mind with you (in the non creepiest way). I suppose it was simply a way for me to work through those thoughts myself. A very strange time!

I reached my “due date” and had decided based on a chat with the OB and midwife that I would give myself until just past 41 weeks to go into spontaneous labour. I personally didn’t want an induced labour experience so if bub didn’t come on her own, I planned a positive elective c-section experience with drapes down, skin to skin, delayed cord clamping. Luckily we didn’t need to go to Plan B though!

At my last midwife appointment on Tuesday 29 June, I asked for a stretch and sweep, however my cervix was still completely closed and this wasn’t possible. I snagged myself an acupuncture appointment immediately afterwards and had some acupuncture for the first time! I was hopeful, but tried not to expect anything too soon. Well, less than 2 hours later I had some fluid release (not my full waters), lost my mucus plug, and some tightenings began!

I did the usual afternoon – dinner – bedtime routine with my 4 year old as the sensations were only like mild cramps occurring roughly 15 minutes apart. Things continued to progress gently and naturally throughout the evening and just before midnight I spoke to my midwife who suggested trying to get some rest. I lay down and despite feeling the contractions that were now 8 minutes apart, I did surprisingly manage to rest and breathe through them until about 3:00am.

I then spent the next 3 hours pottering around home by myself while Ben slept (I knew he would be so much more helpful the next day after a good night of sleep) and continued to use my breathing to get by, bouncing on the ball, rocking in the bathroom, listening to music, having a shower. We spoke to the midwife again at 6:00am and decided to head into the hospital at 7:00am. I definitely had reservations about leaving it too late and, while it was good to labour at home, I really wanted to get into the space where I would give birth and settle in there and get in the zone.

I have to say walking into the pregnancy assessment unit knowing I was going to be seeing my Kindred midwife and spending the day with her was so reassuring and comforting, I knew I had made the right decision going with the midwifery care. I had a VE and was 4 centimetres, fully effaced and excited to be able to move to birth suite. The stars continued to align for me as my midwife also secured a birth suite with a pool – the chance of a water birth was still on the cards!

Contractions were still very manageable at this point and it all felt very calm and civilised! My membranes were bulging so we decided to labour for another few hours and at midday have them ruptured if they hadn’t gone by themselves. This is what happened and boy oh boy did that amniotic fluid gush out! Like a fire hydrant, the midwife had to make a swift move to not get soaked! As expected, things ramped up after this and I moved around the birth suite using different positions (pretty much all standing – vertical) to stay as comfortable as possible. I used the shower, the pool, the bed in an upright position leaning over the back on my knees, and when that got too tiring I moved the bed to it’s highest possible setting and stood next to it for support.

They had up until now been using the wireless CTG monitors (but as predicted) they did keep slipping, losing the trace. Our midwife persisted for a long time tweaking them, and then she asked about the foetal scalp clip, but we declined it all and they agreed to remove the monitoring.

After that initial check in the assessment unit we had said we were happy to not hear anymore dilation reports, which my midwife was good with. There was just an unlucky moment while she reported to the hospital supervising midwife due to our decline of monitoring that I overheard I was at 7 centimetres. The contractions had become a lot more intense over the last couple of hours and Ben said he could see my face visibly drop at that information, as I had definitely been hoping to be further along. Then came the crisis of confidence which he got me through and I moved to the shower where things ramped up again.

While I continued to manage my whole labour with breathing alone I definitely had a LOT of doubt in my mind during that transition period and I thought all the thoughts about drugs, epidurals, and c-sections. I didn’t vocalise that much, there were just a few “I can’t do this anymore” but everyone in there cheered me on and I realised I was surviving another and another and another surge which was encouraging. I got back in the pool where I spent about two and a half hours until little she was born.

The pushing stage was a lot longer than I anticipated, but very intuitive (I had no more checks after the one where my waters were broken) and I believe in the end that the “I just need to get this done so she’s out” feeling along with the right encouragement from my midwife gave me the final boost I needed to birth my baby.

Our Peggy was born in the water at 8:12pm on Wednesday 30 June, a happy and healthy baby. We got our skin to skin and I had a natural delivery of the placenta on the bed once I was out of the bath (the cord wasn’t even clamped or cut till after this). Would you believe my successful and very healing VBAC water birth was a 4.4kg baby! So glad I didn’t know that prior, but what a testament to the female body and natural childbirth, especially after my first ‘failure to progress’ emergency c-section experience. Very proud and very happy! It took a while to sink in that everything I’d hoped for had actually come true! And of course now I want to share it with everyone who will listen.

Meredith had a positive first birth.
This is how she describes it.

I had a wonderful first birth. I worked with a doula, and gave birth at a midwife hospital (in San Francisco). I did a lot of work ahead of my first birth, with my doula (who will be with us again for this birth), yoga and meditation, and a local labor class. My goal was to have a little to no intervention, though I was always open to an epidural if I was far enough along (I wanted to be able to move during the majority of labor). It played out exactly like I was hoping it would; I labored at home for a long while, got to the hospital at 6 cm, and labored there until about 9 cm and got the epidural. I was so grateful for the experience I had. It helped me transition to motherhood feeling empowered, proud and grateful for my body, the work I did to prepare, and the support system I had.

She decided to take the Zoom group course mostly to help her focus on her second pregnancy. As those of you who are preparing for subsequent births know, there just doesn’t seem to be much time to think about your pregnancy, let alone prepare for birth and for welcoming another baby.
As the course went on and Meredith learned more, I think she became determined to work through her fears and really trust herself and her body in a way she didn’t fully realise in her first birth.
And she did exactly that!

Here is Caspian’s birth story as told by his strong mother!

I am sitting in the hospital room, a day after my son arrived, and I had to write to you immediately. I’m afraid I won’t be able to put into words the real impact you, and your course, had on my birthing experience – but I’m going to try.

Despite this being my second birth, I felt like I learned things in your course that I still didn’t know; tools for dealing with labor, but also information about labor and what the body goes through. 

As I neared my due date and baby still hadn’t arrived, I started to get a lot of pressure about membrane sweeps. You helped support me in the decision to keep going and trust this baby. I kept doing my affirmations and listening to the rainbow mist meditation. I kept re-reading your email “the time between” and I kept practicing letting go and not thinking about labor starting. I had the best three weeks with my family of three, a time I won’t ever forget.

On Saturday afternoon I went for an NOn-stress test to make sure baby was okay. Everything looked good but no one could understand why I didn’t want a membrane sweep to just get things moving. I was 2 days “past due.” On the way home I told baby I trusted them, and was ready to keep waiting and let them tell me when they were ready.

Two hours after getting home from the test, contractions started as we put our toddler to sleep. In an hour they were frequent and close together. It was all happening so fast, and I was afraid. During each surge I kept my focus on my breath, and thought about what my body was doing. I didn’t need to fear it, it was simply opening up. When I was able to do that, the experience and sensation of each contraction changed. It was still hard, but it was powerful and calming too.

We arrived to the hospital at 8:45pm and I was in a lot of pain. Baby’s head wasn’t in the best position and my contractions were intense, frequent but erratic. I was 6 centimetres and I was begging for the drugs.
My doula felt the contractions showed the baby wasn’t in exactly the right position, so she suggested some rebozo work. Thanks to you, I was able to tell her which way the baby was and what I thought they needed. She shimmed me in the rebozo in between contractions and within minutes I felt relief. The surges were still intense but they felt productive now.
Ten minutes later as they worked to set up the labour and delivery room, I said it felt like baby was crowning. I felt it, even though it had been such a short time since getting admitted. The room got quiet, I was standing next to the bed, they looked and said “You’re right.”

I didn’t have time for the drugs. A thought that paralyzed me with fear for the last 10 months, but suddenly I wasn’t afraid. I was able to let my body take the lead, it told me when to push, I trusted it, and as soon as the head crowned, it was like a giant relief. I put my head into the pillow and worked with my body and baby to move him out.  Our baby was born at 9:53pm in the full amniotic sac.
It was magic.

There is absolutely no way I could have had this experience without your course. I felt so strong, so calm, so empowered. I was able to trust and harness my body in a way I’ve never ever experienced before. My doula, who was with us in the first birth too, said my fear felt so different this time around. She said she watched me settle in to this birth and trust my body so much more. I know that’s because of you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. It is truly the very best gift I could ever receive. You are an incredible person and I’m so grateful for all you do.

Third time is the charm!
While this US-based mama has birthed before, she felt in those experiences that her knowledge of her body and of her labour was undermined (posterior position and early pushing leading to intervention the first time, induction the second time).
As she said, she felt like she “gotten through” the births.
She wanted to use hypnobirthing to help cope with fears of labour that developed from her previous births and to have a birth with less intervention than her first two experiences.
She opted for the online course with the extra practice bundle.
And she did it!
She had the powerful, intervention free birth that she wanted! One where she trusted herself and worked with her body.

We met our baby this morning and I wanted to share this story. 

As you know I was 40+6, and was looking at a scheduled induction at 41+1.
At 40+4 I did opt for a membrane sweep. I was 1-2 centimetres dilated and 50% effaced. Later that day I began to feel a lot of low pressure, cramping, and I noticed the loss of some of my mucous plug. I was having intermittent contractions but nothing regular.
The next day I went for a walk and noticed similar sensations, I rested a bit in the afternoon, and my husband came home early to help with our two boys. We went for a family walk, played at the playground, and had a nice evening with my parents.  Everyone was in a great mood.

Around 9:00pm I noticed a series of about 3 contractions, 15 to 18 minutes apart, that were more intense. I sat on my birth ball, my husband gave me a neck massage, we finished watching Olympic trials, and decided to get in bed around 10:30pm.  I played the hypnobirthing tracks and imagined a wave letting the surge rush over me and relaxing my whole body.
After about 45 minutes I was uncomfortable and decided to draw a bath. Contractions were now about 8 minutes apart. My husband wanted to get a little bit of sleep so encouraged me to give it more time despite me telling him I was worried this was moving quickly!
Over the course of the next half hour surges went from 8 minutes to 5 minutes to 2 minutes apart. I started yelling for my husband but he had headphones in so I got out of the tub grabbed a bed pillow and threw it at him to wake him up!

I told him we had to leave NOW (it was around midnight). Knowing the drive to the hospital was about 35 minutes, I actually started to get worried.  I had about 6 contractions in the amount of time it took to wake my parents, grab our bags, and find my wallet.
I put the seat down on the passenger side, grabbing the handle with my right arm, on my left side, with my knees spread like a clam. The surges were intense. I still had the hypnobirthing tracks playing and I was counting my breaths trying not to tense up.

My husband went close to 100mph and cut the drive down to 24 minutes. We drove straight into the ambulance entrance and he jumped out and banged on the locked glass doors.
A team of people came with a wheelchair – as they helped move me from the car to the chair, I felt leaking down my legs. I wasn’t sure if I was peeing and I sure didn’t care! As they raced me to the elevators I felt a pop and huge gush as my bag of waters broke in the wheelchair. The attendant ran through two double doors with security to the nurses station where a team of about 10 people jumped up and started racing me in to triage. The midwife on call was amazing – calm, cool, and collected.

They moved me from the stretcher to the bed in the delivery room. I was still on my side. I pushed 2 times and her head was out, the umbilical cord unwrapped from her neck, another single push and she was out entirely. She cried immediately. We had immediate skin to skin and we delayed clamping long enough to watch the cord change colour to white. She latched within the hour.  No tearing!

I can NOT believe that just happened!
We arrived at hospital at 12:29am and she was born at 12:40 am!
I am overjoyed she is here and healthy and honestly that the labor, while intense, was quick (slightly insanely quick)!   

I can’t thank you enough for your support and guidance. I don’t think I would have made it through the labour, especially that car ride, without the confidence I’ve built through this process. It was truly empowering!

This was Antje’s second hypnobirth.
During her first, she experienced intense leg cramps that took a lot of her energy to deal with and really drained the resources she had available to cope with labour.
She also had some clinical complications.
Even though she and her partner managed really well the first time…she felt that there were a lot of things she would have liked to do differently.
She was also left with some fears around labour.
She wanted to make sure she was well prepared and feeling fully confident prior to the birth of her second baby…she did’t want any what if’s!
We did the three hour refresher course, debriefed her first birth, reviewed the hypnobirthing tools, spoke about adding a doula to her birth team, and generally made sure she was feeling comfortable will all aspects of birth and becoming a mother of two!

Here is Louie’s birth story, as told by his amazing mother!

I wanted to thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Here is Louie’s birth story…it is very different to my first birth story. 

At 2:00am, Henry, my 2.5 year old toddler woke up coughing and vomiting. This was the first time he has vomited and all three of us got up and had a long hot shower together in the middle of the night. When we went back to bed I could feel the period cramps that I had been experiencing nearly every night for the last week. I didn’t think much of it even though they were a little bit more intense then they had been.
We got up at 6:00am and I still felt the cramps which was unusual as they had been tapering off during the day, but I ignored them as Henry was miserable and had developed a temperature and needed my attention. On a surface level, I was in complete denial that I was in labour, but deep down I knew something was different and I was not comfortable with having visitors over as planned for the morning. So my partner, Lawson, went and saw his dad for a coffee while Henry and I stayed at home on the couch.
My cramps didn’t get any stronger but were still present. I was unsure about calling Henry’s grandma but then decided it was the best option…just in case. I stayed very calm and I concentrated on my sick toddler but texted Lawson to let him know it was time to return home. He came back with his dad who didn’t know that I was in labour and we had a hard time trying to get him to leave as he really was looking forward to hanging out with us. For some reason I did not want anyone to know about the potential birth of my baby. Lawson finally made up an excuse and his dad left at noon and his mum showed up 10 minutes later to pick up Henry. Henry had a super high temperature at that stage and it broke my heart to let him go. His grandma looked at me while I pretended I was very normal and nothing was going on. When I said good bye to Henry I had a surge and just looked him in the eye and smiled while his grandma told me goodbye and to close the door – little did she know that I wasn’t able to walk or move in that moment.

The cramps were now definitely contractions and the surges were coming closer together…and I could feel the awful leg cramps that I experienced during Henry’s birth threatening too. But this time I was prepared.
I knew I wanted a birth ball in the shower and even though my shower is tiny, I squeezed it in. I was in the shower, listening to my Hypnobirthing tracks for an hour or so. My surges were less intense and longer apart. Lawson jumped into the doula mode. He provided me with snacks, played the right tracks, and gave me space.
Once I decided I could not waste any more water, I jumped out of the shower Lawson set up my next station in the bedroom. He tied a knot in my wrap and hung it over the door. He also set up my TENS machine. I moved my birthing ball out of the shower and into the bedroom, sitting on it while using a TENS machine, and holding onto the wrap. I was listening to the affirmation track (which funnily I couldn’t stand in pregnancy but found very comforting in labour) and used the breathing techniques. The combination of all these tools not only helped with labour, but also almost completely eliminated the dreaded leg cramps.
Lawson and I had lovely chats in between surges. I was so in my zoom and we felt so comfortable that we considered a homebirth for a minute!
Lawson called the student doula who recommended we make our way to hospital sooner rather than later. I felt a change in my surges and agreed that we should head in.

We got to the hospital at 4:00pm. Once we arrived we were asked to wait in the assessment room for the midwife. I already felt the urge to push but I must have seemed to calm. Lawson got a little nervous and tried to speed up the process – the midwife opened the door just in time.
She recommended a check on baby and on me, which I polity declined.
I felt very different this time around. I was in tune with my body and felt confident about my decisions. I trusted my body completely.
I could tell she didn’t feel comfortable but with the next surge my water literally popped – 4:33pm.
We were all surprised, including me!

The midwife then changed her mind about the checks and walked us to the birthing room. I had another surge while walking and even though the midwife told me to keep going, I had to hold on to the wall as my leg cramps where strong again and I wasn’t not able to walk at all. But I breathed through the surge very confidently and then was ready to move on.
Once we got to the birthing room she filled the pool however I stripped off and just leaned over the birthing ball. There was no way I was getting up again. My student doula arrived and took care of the TENS machine for me while Lawson focused on doing the anchor touch and light touch massage.
I felt so comfortable and safe with both of them next to me. The affirmation track was playing again. The most helpful tool however was putting my tongue behind my upper teeth – it really helped me to relax during my surges.

I had an intense feeling of pushing and yelled out “I am going to poop!” No one did anything and I was so worried, “I swear I just pooped why didn’t anyone do anything….”
Then I hit transition. My thoughts changed and I did not want to continue. I wanted to push my baby back in, stop the entire process, go back home.

I made deep grunting noises and before I knew it the head was out. The midwife guided my hand to my babies head and I was instantly calm. There he was. Ready to come out.
The next surge took a while. My body was calm, preparing for the last push. One more gentle push and my beautiful baby was born at 4:58pm.

I had no tearing and just two grazes. We delayed clamping and he was just so content, he did not even cry at all. Everyone that visited the room later commented on how content and relaxed all three of us were. We were discharged 4 hours later and went home.

I am so grateful for the refresher course and for your support! Thank you!

On of the most important questions you can ask during labour is, “What are my options?”
You of course always have the option to agree with what is being recommended, you have the option to decline what is being recommended, and there is usually another option as well!
In this case, because their baby was preterm, CTG monitoring was recommended and they were happy to agree with that recommendation. But when the CTG started to interfere with her mobility and access to water, she wanted to know about her other options. For this mother, an electrode was the best option as it allowed continuous monitoring of her baby and also allowed her freedom of movement and use of the shower.
It’s all about being informed, understanding what is most important for you, and knowing that you always have options!

Here is Allirah’s birth story, as told by her empowered mother!

It was 5:30am when I woke to liquid beginning to leak from me, so I dashed to the toilet where it continued to gush liquid. I wasn’t sure if I should wake my partner up as I genuinely was like this can’t be my waters breaking I’m only 36 weeks and 5 days! And then I wiped and noticed some of my mucus plug and so I woke my partner. Then I started to experience some very light back pain (oh boy, I did not prepare for the back pain) as I continued to leak fluid.

I called the birth suite and explained what happened and they advised me to have some breakfast, bring our bags but leave them in the car, and come in to see if my waters had broken. Given I was not full term, I didn’t want to risk anything so we decided to head into the hospital after we organised some things at home, as of course we hadn’t completely finished packing thinking we still had a couple of weeks!

I began to feel light contractions that were probably about 5 minutes apart by the time we were on the way to the hospital. The car ride was so uncomfortable, I just wanted to move around to breathe through the sensations.
We arrived at the assessment centre, where we agreed to use CTG to monitor baby as she was technically not full term, they checked to see if my waters had broken and confirmed they had, and also advised I was 2 centimetres dilated!

That was when it really hit me that this was happening now! So I grabbed my oils and reassured myself that whilst this wasn’t the start to labour I had planned (for example, not being able to be very active) that things would be okay and we would meet our baby soon.

Unfortunately I had to have a cannula put in to give me antibiotics – this was another barrier as I was hooked up to another thing, but I pushed those thoughts aside and reminded myself that it was okay.

We waited for about 3 hours in the assessment centre while we waited for a birth suite and things progressed as we waited. I wasn’t able to move about because of the monitoring so I had to breathe through most of my surges laying down, but I remained focused and calm and with the help of my partner was able to get through them. The sensations felt uncomfortable but manageable.

By the time we were able to go to a birth suite, my contractions were getting to the point where I couldn’t lay down anymore. I was having to squat through them. And during my surges, my back pain was intense. My partner tried to relive it but despite his attempts, it was the most challenging thing for me to deal with.

Once we arrived in the birth suite, things began to move quite quickly. The midwife and student were amazing and asked me what I wanted to do – I said I need hot water on my back, I need the shower. They  got me set up with the exercise ball, my partner got our speaker, and I quickly began to get into my zone as I completely focused on breathing through the contractions using the breathing techniques from hypnobirthing.

I was in my zone, and my partner was giving me light touch massage and tickles during my rests. However as I was so active in the shower the CTG portable monitor wasn’t picking up my baby. The midwife asked what I wanted to do and reminded me that I wanted an active labour and that the shower was helping my insane back pain during the surges. I asked about my other options and the midwife said they could put an electrode in baby’s head so they would be able to track the heart rate and I would have my freedom of movement back. My partner and I discussed it and decided that having an active labour was important so agreed to have it done. When she was doing it, she advised me that I was at least 7 centimetres dilated, and was doing amazing and to keep doing what I was doing.

We went back to the shower and I continued to breathe through my contractions with some gas. Then the surges began to become extremely intense to the point where no position in the shower was helping.
The midwife and student were completely led by me and mostly left me to do my thing with my partner.
I felt immense pressure and Ben went and got the midwife and she asked where I wanted to have the baby and I said not in the shower!
I got positioned so I was leaning over the bed and then I began to push through my surges. I then wanted to move onto my back, and they asked if I wanted to see her head to help me, and boy did that help! I was able to watch as with each surge, I pushed my baby girl out.
My second stage of labour was 45 minutes and I pushed her head and body out in the one surge. My midwife did not direct my pushing but simply supported what I was doing, she was completely lead by me and my contractions.

Whilst our birth didn’t happen exactly according to plan, my midwife did not once tell me what to do. Instead she provided guidance that was completely lead by what I wanted and what felt right to me.
It shocked me how independent I was, I felt so empowered, it was such an incredible experience.
My partner was able to say and do just what I needed as he was educated, and he was able to communicate and advocate for me when I was in my zone.
I honestly don’t think our daughters birth would have been so amazing if we hadn’t educated ourselves through hypnobirthing.