Motherhood Archives - Mother Down Under

October 26, 2020

Adeline’s Birth – A Positive Caesarean Birth Story

I honestly think hypnobirthing is so much more valuable when nothing is going according to plan.
That is when you need to really work with your partner, work with your caregivers, and make those tough choices that you were hoping that you wouldn’t have to make.
It is really about understanding what is happening, being able to ask your caregivers educated questions, and making informed decisions…and Natalie and Tim definitely did that.

In fact, they did that throughout your entire pregnancy and labour!
By choosing to birth at the birth centre, by waiting for spontaneous labour, by using their tools to labour for days…they did so well!

I also want to mention that you are allowed to feel both positive about your experience and disappointed too!
Parenthood is full of conflicting emotions. And that really begins with birth.
Even if everything goes completely as we had hoped, birth (and in particular our first birth) is a massive learning curve. We learn so much about ourselves, our partners, and just the birthing process in general.

This birth story is a great example of how to feel comfortable with making decisions and giving birth in circumstances that are very different than what you anticipated…in particular feeling comfortable in a caesarean situation, ensuring that you know your birth team and speaking up for meaningful details that help to make the experience your own!

Here is Adeline’s birth story as written by her beautiful mother, Natalie.

Our birth certainly didn’t go to plan at all!

I was 41+3 weeks and I had been labouring on and off for 5 days with surges really ramping up for about 36 hours prior to birth.

We ended up having multiple types of intervention with no progression (only 3 centimetres dilated for more than 12 hours) and then I unfortunately went down hill with a fever and our baby’s heart rate was not ideal.

By that stage sheer exhaustion had kicked in and I physically, mentally, emotionally felt broken and scared (and I could tell Tim was feeling the same way).

I was offered a cesarean at this stage which I had really wanted to avoid, but because of your course, I knew what to ask and felt well informed and able to make the best decision for me.
I eventually accepted the caesarean. And I honestly believe that was the right decision.

I continued to labour for another 3 hours before I was prepped for surgery.

We met with the team – they made me feel so comfortable and my midwives stayed with me the whole time.

Once I was given the spinal, I felt completely euphoric and so ready to welcome our baby girl.

I remember the surgeon asked me if I’d like some music as they delivered our little girl and I happily said yes as we ‘birthed’ to Bon Iver, such a memorable moment as the music and cries of our Adeline reached our ears.

It was 11 September and all day we had been saying we didn’t want that as a birthday for our girl (not that it really matters, but you know) and as the labour went on for so long and as we waited so long for surgery the clocked ticked over and at 12.29am on 12 September our girl entered the world.

Although there was just about nothing that went to plan, we believe our birth was a positive one and without the knowledge we learnt from you and the hypnobirthing course we know it would have been a very different story.
We did feel a sense of ‘trauma’ afterwards but on reflection feel happy with our decision and have both said ‘we’ll try again next time’.

Anyway, we just wanted to say a big thank you for empowering and informing to-be-parents on all aspects of birth.
Knowledge is certainly power and I’m so thankful we felt well informed to make the decisions that we did.
It meant that our birth story was our own.

August 18, 2020

Books For Positive Pregnancy, Birth, Postpartum

I often get asked for resources women can access to help them have a positive birth and a positive postpartum.
I honestly think choosing a supportive caregiver, taking a hypnobirthing class, and creating a postpartum plan is all you need to do…but as an information seeker and an over-preparer, I totally get the need to not only do all the things but also read all the things!
And, as I know Google, chat boards, and even some books are more interested in fear mongering than in empowering women, I thought I should share a reading list that will leave you feeling like you can totally achieve that positive experience you are planning and preparing for!

Now obviously you don’t need to read all of these! Even if you are a super speed reader, I don’t think you could get through all of these in nine months!
Pick one or two that resonate with you and start there.
Most of these should be available via your local library. Or if you have friends who have prepared for a positive birth and a positive postpartum, check with them and see if they have any of these titles and if you could borrow them.

And remember, that while reading is an excellent way to expand your understanding, you also need to learn how to embody that knowledge.
There is a saying that knowledge is for the mind, experience is for the body. During birth, we want to shut off our minds and get into our bodies…and this is where the combination of reading and hypnobirthing is so valuable. When you take a course with me, I will help you put your knowledge to use!

Books for Pregnancy:
Expecting Better – real science combined with common sense, presented in a non judgemental way that allows you to make your own decisions
Pregnancy, Childbirth, and the Newborn: The Complete Guide – this books helps you understand that you are an individual and that “one sized fits all” care probably isn’t going to be what is best for you

Books for Birth:
Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering – Sarah Buckely combines science with the spiritual
The Positive Birth Book – the book that was birthed by the Positive Birth Movement, this book challenges the negativity and fear that we have come to accept is a part of childbirth
Give Birth Like A Feminist – your body, your baby, your choices
Birth With Confidence – this book changed the way I view birth and approach childbirth education
Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth – filled with practical advice and encouraging birth stories, this is the kind of booked that gets passed around between women who are wanting a positive birth
The Second Baby Book – acknowledges that while perhaps physically the same, preparing for your second birth can be very different than your first

Books for Postpartum:
The Fourth Trimester – normalises the experiences and emotions of new motherhood
First Forty Days – focusing on the transition to motherhood, this is a beautiful book, you will feel nurtured just reading it and will feel extra nurtured if you make some of the nourishing meals suggested
The Postnatal Depletion Cure – easy steps to help you feel less exhausted, less overwhelmed, and more like yourself
Baby Love – this one great for baby sleeping, feeding, and development basics, it is really practical and full of common sense advice
The Wonder Weeks – fabulous for normalising your postpartum experience by helping you understand your baby and their experience
Becoming Us – this one talks about how parenting is a partnership that is likely different than the relationship you had before becoming parents
Everyday Blessings – this is written by a mother and a father and beautifully shares both perspectives
What Happens Now – this one is written for dads and while I haven’t read it, my husband loved it

What books did you read to help you prepare?

And if you have already read all the things are are now wanting to learn how to utilise that knowledge to ensure a positive experience, start here!

Some links on this post are affiliate links, which means when you click on that link and make a purchase, this can result in a small commission in form of credit. It doesn’t cost you a cent, but as a small business, it helps me and allows me to keep reading birthing books so can keep educating myself and you!

June 30, 2019

Pearl’s Birth – A Hypnobirthing Australia Birth Story

As you can see from the photos, Sonya exudes vibrancy and vitality. She just has this positive energy…and when you are around her you can’t help but get swept up in her optimistic outlook.
It comes as no surprise that even before taking the Hypnobirthing Australia Positive Birth Program, she was 100 percent focused on a positive birth!
And she knew exactly what she needed to have that positive birth…she worked with a supportive OB, a massage therapist, and a chiropractor to ensure that she had the best chance to experience the birth that she wanted. Add hypnobirthing. And of course her beautiful partner Mark. And the result was an amazingly positive birth!

Here is Pearl’s beautiful birth story, as written by her inspiring and total rockstar mother, Sonya.

We welcomed our little girl into the world on Monday 13 May at 6.14am, nothing like starting the working week off well, particularly when I still had two more work days before I was officially on maternity leave!

Pearl was born at 37+5 weeks, so while technically full term, she definitely caught us by surprise!

Being active right up to the end of our pregnancy, like swimming a 2 kilometre ocean swim first weekend in May and even playing lawn bowls on the Saturday before she was born, I thought I had the full 40 weeks before our babe arrived so I was surprised when I started getting mild cramps on the Sunday night around 10:00pm.

Initially I just ignored the sensations thinking I just had an upset tummy. Mark woke up around 1:00am and I asked him if he’d packed his hospital bag over the weekend…needless to say he promptly packed it and proceeded to get his shoes on. I thought he was being dramatic and reassured him I wasn’t in pain, just uncomfortable and assumed we’d still be a while yet. I promised we’d head into the hospital before peak hour traffic starts at 6:00am!
Over the next two hours the waves got closer together, I had the birth affirmations playing in the house and we kept the lights low. I had tried to do a fear release around 1:00am but the sensations were distracting me so I just focused on the things I wanted gone from my head and got back to the affirmations.

In the weeks prior, I thought I had been really slack and not done enough ‘homework’ for the hypnobirthing practice to sink in. However on the walks I took two to three times a week, I listened to the affirmations track and imagined myself floating along in a comfortable happy place. And it turns out that was enough!

Around 2:00am we contacted our OB and let him know we thought something was happening. From then on I pottered around the house packing my bag and stopping to breathe into the waves and crack my toes on the floor!

When sitting on the gym ball started to get really uncomfortable and an intense pressure started inflating in my lower half I called time…we headed to the hospital around 4.30am.

From here everything ramped up quickly!
We checked in around 5.15am. The pressure was definitely building and I was worried my waters would break in the waiting area before we got to the birth suite.
All throughout the ride to the hospital and while checking in I had my headphones in, playing the affirmations over and over.

I was surprised at the clarity between surges…going from feeling an intense pressure to feeling fully functioning and almost feeling ‘high’ before the next surge started.

Anyway we made it to the birth suite, where my waters burst spontaneously. I agreed to a cervical check to confirm how far along I was. In my birth plan I had requested not to be told of my progress. However the midwife asked me three times if I was sure I didn’t want to know, the giddy look on her face made me rethink my decision, and she promptly told me I was at 9.5 centimetres!
A water birth was also on my birth plan and the midwife asked if I really wanted one…the pool might not fill in time! I said yes I wanted the water birth, and they had it filled by around 5:45am. Finishing my labour in the water was amazing. I don’t like being crowded, so having the perimeter of the pool as a barrier gave me space that helped me feel safe. I continued listening to the affirmations and the main thing that helped was BREATHING! I focused on my breath as the surges grew closer, trying to steady myself after each one. When I could feel Pearl crowning but not quite ready to come out, Mark guided me and we used the countdown from 20 to 0, and this really helped me refocus.

I will admit as some who has had a previous tailbone injury, there was a point toward the end of labour where I felt my tailbone or pelvis was about to crack, but focusing on breathing and the affirmations pulled me back to zen.

Pearl was born in about 4 to 5 pushes. The first 2 to 3 moved her down and then the final two, one for the wriggly head and one for her body.
Being in the tub, I was able to catch her myself and I exploded with emotions as I pulled her up to my chest!

After letting me settle down, we got out of the tub and my OB attended to my 2nd degree tear…I think the local hurt more than anything else!

I delivered my placenta naturally after waiting for the cord to no longer contain blood or be pulsing.
The only thing I didn’t put in my birth plan was requesting to see the placenta, it was collected and disposed of before I got a chance to ask. Oh well, not the end of the world and it was confirmed it came out complete.

So by 9:00am we were up on the ward, dazed and still high on all those amazing birth hormones!
Since then it’s been a whirlwind of caring and adjusting to being new parents, obviously lack of sleep is now the biggest challenge!

The support and care that we received from our OB and the midwives at Kindred, the work of massage therapist Jodie at Merakai Therapies, and bodyworker Sandra from Total Body Fusion were vital to us feeling prepared and confident in the lead up to labour and during birth.
And of course we are so glad we made the effort to do the course…it made such a difference in helping to prepare us, so thanks a million for guiding us!

June 23, 2019

Orlando’s Birth – A Hypnobirthing Australia Birth Story

I always say the best time to take the Hypnobirthing Australia Positive Birth Program is when you are ready and can fit it in! For Jess and Brent, that was when they were 37 weeks pregnant.
Jess had a really positive mindset even before taking classes…she wanted to take the class so she and her partner had plenty of tools available to them and so they felt empowered as a team to get the positive birth they both wanted.
And they definitely had a positive experience!

Here is Orlando’s beautiful birth story, as written by his amazing mother, Jess.

Welcome to the world sweet darling Orlando.
Arriving Sunday 2 June at 8.39pm weighing 2.669kg and 45cm long.

We would like to thank you so very much for giving us the knowledge and power to believe in ourselves and to birth such a beautiful little boy. I felt so empowered giving birth – it was by far the most magical experience myself and my partner have gone through together.

Here is how the story goes…

Sunday 2 June at 12.05am, I woke up to my waters breaking. I was so incredibly excited knowing that today would be my son’s birthday. There weren’t any signs of contractions but that was okay because I just knew that today was the day. I called my mum to come down and be with me and my partner.
At 4.30am, we ventured into the hospital to have my baby’s heart rate checked and to see how I was going…everything was on track and I was able to return home to labour with my partner and my mum by my side.
I remember my mum saying make sure you have a nap when we get home as it could be a long day.. well, I was way too excited – I couldn’t sleep!

As the day went on, my contractions began. They felt like period pains – nothing I couldn’t handle. I would sway and sing through them. I felt comfortable.

By lunch time the contractions had started to increase. I started to bounce and rock on the yoga ball as I found it helped distract me from the pressure.

Around 2.30pm my contractions started to become really close to each other and really intense. During a contraction I would become out of breath and I couldn’t talk. We called the midwife and she said she thought I wasn’t ready to come in yet. I was fine with that. I took a long hot shower and when I got out, I just knew I needed to go in to hospital. I did not want to birth at home I was so scared of this. My mum knew that I was getting impatient and needed to go in. She packed us all up and off we went. By this time it was 3:30pm and I was contracting every two to three minutes and holding for 40 to 50 seconds. The car ride was definitely interesting. Of course we hit every traffic light on the way!

We arrived at the hospital around 4:00pm. We met our midwife and I immediately striped off and went straight into the shower as I knew the heat felt so good on my back…but unfortunately I love boiling hot showers and the hospital water just wasn’t hot enough!

My midwife offered to check how dilated I was and at 5:30pm I was “only” 2 centimetres. But I knew his little head was right there and I wasn’t concerned. My midwife had a real good feel and realised there was a small pocket of fluid still sitting there so she decided to pop it and well.. it was all systems go from there!

I straight away turned over onto my hands and knees and started to bear down. I remember hearing my partner saying to a different midwife who had to take over “she has changed her voice, she is ready to push” thankfully he was in tune with me and knew what was happening. With their help, I moved down onto the floor to work with the yoga ball and bean bag. At one point I needed to sit up and use the birthing stool as I felt I wasn’t getting him down the canal right, then back I went to being on my hands and knees.

As all this is happening, the relaxation music I had going all day at home and in the hospital was playing and my partner and my mum were using various hypnobirthing tools – they just seemed to know exactly what I wanted. Their support and the music really made me feel calm and comfortable throughout the whole journey.

At one stage I needed to stand up as my knees were so sore from kneeling and it turned out, this was the best position for me. I stood up and was rocking with my partner and I said to him please hold me, and with every contraction, I wrapped my arms around his neck and pushed down. He was like my monkey bars – thank goodness he could hold me up as that was exactly what I needed to bring my little man down.

At 8.15pm the midwife told me she can see his head and that I really just needed to keep breathing him down.
Right before he was born she came around to my head and said, “I need you to just stop pushing and breath him out using such a calm voice.” So as she asked, I sat up onto my knees and just gently breathed him out. I felt so calm, the room was silent, the air felt warm, the lights were dimmed – and he was born! My partner caught him – he had his eyes wide open and as he was passed to me he uttered the the most gentle cry.
He was here, he arrived into this beautiful world with such ease. It was just pure magic.

We are so grateful to have the knowledge from the Hypnobirthing Australia Positive Birth Program as it guided us to bring such a beautiful little man into the world in such a beautiful way, so thank you!

March 10, 2019

Brisbane Postpartum Provisions Cooking Classes!

We typically put a lot of effort into planning for our baby.
The nursery, the car seat, the pram, the teeny tiny clothes.

We may put a fair bit of consideration into planning for our birth.
An antenatal class, some reading, creating birth preferences, packing a hospital bag.

We might devote a bit of attention to breastfeeding.
Watching some videos, talking to friends, Googling lactation biscuits, buying some nursing bras.

But we usually don’t think about postpartum at all!
And we should!
Those first few days, weeks, and months are HARD!

While we are falling in love with our baby, learning how to breastfeeding, and generally adjusting to life as a mother – we are grateful for all of the teeny tiny clothes, the baby blankets, and the bunches of flowers gifted to us – but what we really need is SUPPORT.
We need rest.
We need nourishing food.

And while I may not be able to help you with the rest (other than adding my voice to the sleep when the baby sleeps chorus), I can certainly help make your pospartum easier and more enjoyable by helping you prepare and by providing you with a week’s worth of delicious and nutritious food!

Here’s how this works!

A group of women…I imagine most will be pregnant but it is not a requirement (feel free to bring along a not pregnant friend…especially a friend who will let you take her share of the cook up home with you)…will come together and cook up big batches of traditional postpartum meals.

And while we cook, we will chat.
The focus of this class is definitely food…but while the food is bubbling away, I will provide some education around breastfeeding and we will discuss how you can create a postpartum where you feel calm and connected.
Meeting with other women who are in the same place you are – nearing the end of their pregnancy, unsure of what lies ahead, looking for solidarity – is incredibly reassuring. During those early days of motherhood (and especially during those long nights) it can feel like you are alone…but you are not alone. Connecting with other women and beginning to expand your village allows you to realise this.

Once the food is cooked, we will package it up and each woman will have a week’s worth of breakfasts, snacks, and mains to take home and pop in the freezer. Feel free to put encouraging messages on your containers so when you reheat them at the end of a challenging day, you will remember that there are other women out there who are doing exactly what you are doing and are feeling exactly the way you are feeling

What will you cook?

I am glad that you asked! I love talking about food…almost as much as I love talking about birth!

Before I give you the food options, please let me explain how vital good food is to a successful postpartum period.

You need nutrients to replace what you lost over the course of your pregnancy and during birth…not to mention the nutrients that will go into your breastmilk. Postpartum depletion is real! And it is also easily avoided!

You also need comfort. Sleep deprivation, hormones, uncertainty about all that motherhood entails…the feeling of assurance and joy that comes from a good bowl of food cannot be underestimated.

The food we cook is nutrient dense and delicious. The recipes are loosely based on Ayurvedic and Chinese traditions, both of which prize warming, blood building ingredients which help to boost circulation and digestion.

During the postpartum period, time seems to shift, what were established routines fluctuate, and you might find yourself eating a first breakfast at midnight, craving something savoury first thing in the morning, and then wanting a second breakfast around lunch time. This menu has been designed with that variation in mind. The flavours are subtle, the ingredients are gentle, and the meals are intended to be enjoyed at any time of day.

These meals will support your milk supply, provide you with much needed energy, and soothe your strained nerves.
Simply put, this food tastes great and will help you handle everything that new motherhood throws at you!

Breakfast:
Mango and Orange Chia Pots
Berry Baked Oatmeal

Mains:
Simply Nourishing Red Lentil Dahl
Zucchini Almond Comfort Soup

Snacks:
Foundation Lactation Bars
Peanut Buttery Coconut Chocolate Chippy Granola

Wednesday 8 May
10:00am t0 12:00pm
The Golden Pig
38 Ross Street
Newstead
$125.00 per person

Everything you need is supplied.
However I do ask that you bring your own containers (or at least bring a few of your own) so we can reduce the amount of single use plastic involved.
The exact menu and the amount of food made depends on the number attending. I will do my best to ensure that everyone takes home five breakfasts, five mains, and five snacks. The more women who join us, the more food there will be…so invite a friend!
I will also do my best to accommodate different dietary needs. When booking, please let me know of any requirements and we can talk about alternatives.