I’ve been meaning to contact you to let you know how my birth experience went. We welcomed our baby last Thursday, successfully using our Hypnobirthing Australia techniques including acupressure, affirmation cards, hypnobirthing tracks, clary sage, instinctive birthing positions, and breathing strategies learned through your class.

After reaching out to you last week and getting your advice to relax and do things we enjoy, we went straight to Coles and bought boxes of cake mix, chucked on the air con, and watched Netflix and baked all day. I ended up waking up at 3:30am the next morning with my waters breaking (induction was scheduled for 4:30pm that afternoon).

I phoned our midwife and we met her at the hospital about an hour later.  It was then confirmed there was meconium present and because I hadn’t started contracting, it would be hospital policy to be induced via the syntocinon drip. My preference was to have a water birth, and so although I’d mentally prepared for the induction, I was still hoping to somehow be able to use the water as part of my labour given that my waters broke spontaneously. Unfortunately I was told that hospital policy also wouldn’t allow this. I had my TENs machine though and had been worried that I wouldn’t be able use it if I was in the bath, and so I tried to look at it as a potentially better alternative.

I must admit, I struggled with the syntocinon drip. I didn’t like being attached to something – much less something that I had to manually hold on to if I wanted to walk around. I found it challenging trying to move around and having roll the drip stand, hold my TENs machine, and keep the heart rate monitors that were strapped to me in place. I also found it frustrating each time the monitors would start beeping – I felt like I was trying to be calm and focused, however the environment was almost in direct contrast to that.
Instead of dwelling on the negative, I considered all the other positive techniques we could use to progress labour and so we had our Hypnobirthing Australia tracks playing, my partner was touching my ankle acupressure points, I had my affirmation cards in front of me, and I moved my body between the floor, squatting positions, standing up and the exercise ball.

My preference was to have no vaginal exams during labour and so, although I was offered one after four hours, I rejected it, and let our midwife know that I didn’t feel I’d really progressed. My contractions were strong but they didn’t feel like they were in the ‘right place’ (although I wasn’t sure what that was, this was just a gut feeling).

After laboring all day, towards the afternoon I started vomiting through contractions and falling asleep between them (it was rough!) and so at around 4:30pm I asked for a vaginal exam because although I was breathing through contractions and managing, I truly didn’t feel I was progressing and was starting to adopt negative thoughts (I can’t do this, when will it end, etc.). I knew the vaginal exam would either surprise me and show I was further progressed then I thought, or would confirm what I felt (that I wasn’t progressing).

Our midwife explained I was approximately 3 centimetres dilated and that my cervix was still really tight. She said she couldn’t entirely tell which direction baby was facing and as an example of how tight the lining of my cervix still was, she couldn’t feel any hair (my partner and I both have a full, thick heads of hair – and sure enough our baby was born with a full head of hair too).

This confirmed my thoughts, and so I asked what our options were. Our midwife explained that because there was meconium present when my waters broke and the perceived risk of infection, we would eventually be subjected to conversations around a c-section. This was in conjunction with me being 41+5, and so there may be another reason our baby hadn’t arrived yet and wasn’t moving downwards with much speed. We could continue to labour as we are, however the drip was up as high as it could go and so there was a very real possibility that labour wouldn’t progress fast enough to avoid the eventual c-section conversation. An alternative was to try an epidural with the aim of relaxing my pelvic floor (and the added bonus of pain relief). I tentatively accepted the epidural and hoped I would still have the opportunity to deliver my baby vaginally.

We had a great anesthetist who thoroughly explained what she was doing, the risks involved, how long it would last, how it would feel, and how it would be removed. She made me feel secure in our decision, and in understanding my hesitations, put me on such a low dosage that I could still feel my contractions. I had a button available to me which allowed me to increase the epidural at my discretion. I still felt in control of my body and my baby and felt relief.
I think if I knew beforehand that the solution given via epidural could be modified to suit the birthing woman, I would have considered it earlier.
I also wanted to mention (and thank) our midwives, who also helped make this process easier by turning down the syntocin drip so that I wasn’t contracting so frequently through the epidural procedure.

After the epidural had set in discussions started around IV antibiotics – again due to the risk of infection due to meconium and the time I’d been labouring. I felt this birth slipping away from me; no water birth, on the drip, vaginal exams, epidural, and now IV antibiotics. All because of meconium – which could of been there for days or weeks. I felt like I was slowly failing myself, having to let go of the birth preferences I’d been envisaging for the past nine months, and I kept seeing this ‘cascade of interventions’. I thought I might be forcing our baby to do things she might not want to do and was potentially going to subject her to drugs she didn’t need before she even had a chance to meet us and take a breath.

We refused initially, but learned that if we refused and our baby was born with perceived breathing difficulties that there would be more then one drug provided to her, and she may be taken out of the room. I’ll caveat this by saying I don’t feel these words were spoken to us to frighten us or pressure us, but were to ensure we were fully informed. Our midwife explained that it’s our choice, but she didn’t want us to refuse and then not be aware of what could be waiting on the other side.

My partner really wanted the antibiotics and so I put my trust in him and we accepted. I was told we’d need them again in four hours if I still hadn’t delivered, and so we waited as long as we could to have them, knowing that if I didn’t progress within the next few hours I’d likely have a c-section anyway (we were aiming to avoid the possibility of a second round of antibiotics through maneuvering the hospitals own system and policies).

I started to feel intense pressure in the ‘right places’ around two hours after receiving the epidural, and continued to breath through the contraction. I really relied on my bearing-down breathing techniques here because although it wasn’t ‘pain’, I could physically feel my baby moving down and all the associated stretching and moving that comes with it. At 10:15pm I had another vaginal exam and confirmed I was 10 centimetres. This was great news – the epidural had worked!

After waiting another 30 minutes to allow myself to stretch, I started to push using assistance from our midwife. Only 13 minutes later our baby was born (at 11:01pm) and placed straight onto my chest.

Although my birth didn’t go the way I would’ve preferred, I think we made the right choices with what was available to us and we managed the best we could – fully utilizing our hypnobirthing techniques from pregnancy and through labour.
Despite the induction and the epidural, I still felt like I was in tune with my body, my progress, and my baby.

Hypnobirthing is not just for first time mothers!

This was Jess’s third birth but her first hypnobirth.  Her first baby was breech and so she had a caesarean.  Her second baby was breech but turned after an ECV.  Because she had been thinking she would have another caesarean, she wasn’t prepared for the resulting vaginal birth and freaked out (her words)!  When she became pregnant with her third, she wanted more preparation and control and so turned to hypnobirthing.  She also enlisted the support of a student doula.  The combination of hypnobirthing and having a doula on her birth team was exactly what she needed to ensure she had a positive third birth experience.

Here is Jude’s birth story, as written by his amazing mother!

With two little ones I felt like I couldn’t really focus on this third birth until I was on maternity leave.  The closer I got to my due date, the more I really began to focus all of my energy on maintaining positive thoughts and visions of what kind of labour and birth I wanted.  I still had doubts if I was strong enough to achieve an intervention free birth (I had a caesarean for breech presentation for my first and a VBAC with an epidural with my second).  But I was determined to completely surround myself with positive birth stories and supportive information.  I was listening to so many positive birthing podcasts, reading all sorts of birthing books, watching labour videos, doing it all!

I was 6 days overdue and feeling very ready to meet my baby.  Around 7:30am I had some waters break.  And I knew today was the day.

Not long after, I begun to get mild period pain like cramps which were roughly 7 minutes apart and coming regularly. I rang my midwife to let her know, she informed me hospital policy was to recommend that I go in to be assessed and see if my waters had broken. She also said the decision was mine to make and if I was already beginning to get contractions, it was fine for me to wait and see how I went. I declined going in and said I would be in contact later.

I organised for my mum to come over to my house to be with the kids, and when she arrived, Dave and I went to her place to enjoy an empty house and to get into a good labouring zone.  Her house is closer to the hospital so I thought this arrangement would be best as then the drive to hospital would be 20 minutes instead of 40 minutes.

By the time we got to my mum’s place at 11:00am my contractions were around 6 minutes apart and starting to last longer, but I just relaxed and breathed through them. The weather was 39 degrees that day so we had the aircon blasting in my mum’s room – the room was dark and cool, I had my exercise ball and yoga mat on the floor, and I just lent over the ball swaying whilst listening to the birth affirmations track. I found this was the only track I wanted to listen to and I had it on repeat – I felt anxious if it stopped!  I found that it really kept me feeling relaxed, positive, and focused. I didn’t want to talk in between contractions, I found that if I kept swaying and listening to the affirmations, I felt more prepared for the surges and was able to breathe through them easily. I felt like I was doing well, but expected I had many hours ahead of me. At this stage, I also had the TENS machine on and was using the boost button for each surge and I found it was helping with the pain.

We had contacted our student doula, Sammy, and arranged for her to meet us at my mum’s place and we would decide together when to make our way into hospital.  I wanted to labour at home for longer this time as I felt that would give me the best chance at the natural birth I wanted. She was was expected to arrive at 1:00pm. However at 12:30pm Dave noticed the contractions were now 5 minutes apart and lasting for up to 90 seconds, so he rang our midwife to ask her if she thought we needed to come in. She said it was up to us, no rush as she thought the baby wasn’t coming any time soon. Famous last words! I told Dave to wait until Sammy arrived, and then we would head in. In the next half an hour my surges really began to intensify and I found I really had to  focus and breathe through them.  This is when I noticed a few doubts creeping into my head about if I could keep going like this. I believe this was my first crisis of confidence and I was desperate for Sammy to arrive as I felt like I needed some support to keep me focused.

When Sammy arrived at 1:00pm she said I was very calm and doing a great job, however I got up off the floor, expressed my worries and doubts, and told her I was feeling sick and hot (in hindsight this was transition). I was feeling flustered because I knew we had to get into the car and drive 20 minutes and I just couldn’t make myself leave the room.  I kept stalling – I would go to leave but then get another surge which would bring me to the ground. The surges were now quickly getting closer together and becoming very intense. I felt like these surges were moving the baby down because the pressure was insane. I felt a gush of fluid and knew things were picking up and that we had to go. We walked out to the car, the heat from outside made me feel sick, and just before I got into the car, I got this BIG and powerful surge which had me beant over the back of the car. When it ended I had this incredible feeling to do a poo! I had no idea that this meant the baby was close, I actually thought I needed to poo and could not get in the car in case I had an accident. Sammy took me back inside, and quietly told Dave to call our midwife and let her know what was happening.

At this stage I feel like my calm  hypnobirthing techniques went out the window and I was taken over by a crazy and wild instinct to get this baby out of me! Sammy suggested I sit on the toilet and actually see if I needed to poo. I sat on the toilet and then my body just automatically started to bear down and I was taken over by this overwhelming primal urge to push and I just couldn’t stop it! Dave was on the phone to the midwife who could hear me yelling and she said to call an ambulance as she didn’t think we would make it in time. Sammy asked me to see if I could feel a head but I couldn’t.

Dave called the ambulance  at 1:30pm and they instructed him to get me off the toilet and have me lie down. Sammy took me back into my mum’s room and luckily she had put towels on the bed in case my waters broke. We moved the towels to the floor and I lay down on my side.  I felt like I was in a complete out of control frenzy. I had never felt the sensations of pushing out a baby so it was a bit scary at first, I couldn’t get into a rhythm. I found it hard to catch my breath and I was in complete shock that I was so close to giving birth. I knew my body was on autopilot and that I couldn’t stop what was happening – it took me maybe 10 minutes to get used to the sensations and to work with them to push the baby out. I had a moment where I knew there was no midwives or paramedics there to deliver this baby, but I didn’t care, I just had to get this baby out of me. Sammy was on the floor next to me trying to keep me calm, Dave was on the phone to the ambulance, and I was on the floor making the most insane noises I have ever made!

Next thing I know, I can hear the ambulance arrive, and I can also feel this baby moving down. I did not want to get up off the floor, or get onto the stretcher, so I gave a big push and then I heard the paramedic say “Oh I can see a head now, we arent going anywhere, this baby is coming right now.” Knowing the baby was crowning filled me with confidence that it was nearly over. Sammy suggested I roll over onto my hands and knees, and I gave a big push and felt such relief when the head was out.  Then one more small push and out came a slippery wet little baby into the hands of the paramedic. I looked through my legs and I could see his eyes wide open just looking up. He was so calm and pink, but he wasn’t crying. The paramedic was rubbing his chest with a towel and he was gurgling and just taking it all in. I was in shock.  I couldnt believe I had done it, and that I had pushed him out so quickly. It was 1:55pm.

They passed him up to me and I stripped off my shirt and bra and got him straight onto my chest and he then began to cry, and I could see how relieved the paramedics were. They said they needed to give me an injection to get the placenta out but I declined, so we stayed attached together, probably both in shock!

I was then transported to the RBWH with him on my chest the entire time.  He never cried, he just looked up at me. The paramedic who delivered him said it was only her second delivery and that she was so glad at how smooth and uncomplicated it was.

When we got to the birthing suites, I was greeted by my midwife who was so surprised that I had birthed the baby so quickly. I told her I wanted to birth the placenta naturally so I got on the birthing stool and tried to get Jude to latch but he wasn’t really interested. I sat there for what felt like forever, hunched over because the cord was a bit on the short side. I tried to push it out but it wasn’t happening. I also tried sitting on the toilet but that didn’t work either. About an hour after his birth I decided I was so uncomfortable from hunching over, I just wanted to deliver the placenta. Plus I was also feeling some pain from down below due to a tear. So I agreed to get the injection and get the placenta out. I was a bit dissapointed because I really wanted to birth it naturally, but it just wasn’t happening.

After Dave cut the cord, I got checked over and they discovered a 2nd degree tear which then needed to be stitched up – I think that was the worst part of the entire birth!

I stayed one night in hospital as he had done a poo on his way out and they wanted to keep an eye on him for 24 hours.

On reflection, I am really happy with my birth. I avoided continuous monitoring, having an IV cannula in, and any intervention. I also avoided another potential cesarean due to breech presentation (I had a successful ECV this time as well) . So another VBAC but this time a very empowering and positive experience.

Another thing I have really noticed when I compare my recovery from my last birth, VBAC with an epidural, is how different my pelvic floor feels. After my last birth where I had an epidural and so was bearing down and pushing without any sensation for over an hour, I felt like my pelvic floor really took a beating. This time around it feels so much stronger.

Hypnobirthing played a HUGE part in my ability to stay calm and stay positive. Especially when things got hectic towards the end!
I knew that my body knew what to do, that my baby was working with my body, and that all would be okay. I honestly never felt panicked.
Now that I have had a hypnobirth, I believe that it really is mind over matter.  All the months of practicing and visualising my labour, all the practice breathing and relaxing, really worked.
The word that kept swirling around my head during labour is one that my good friend (who also had a hypno home birth) told me when I asked for her advice – SURRENDER.  I truly believe that as a guiding word really helped me – giving in to the power of childbirth because it truly is amazing and it is what we are designed to do.