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What Our Mums Say About HypnoBirthing® We have had many of our mums contact us over the years to let us know the stories of their litle ones coming into the world. Many thanks to those who have consented for us to publish them here, we have deliberately omitted people's last names to give some privacy. The drugs used in the induction of labour and the breaking of the membranes which acompanies this, inevitably makes labour longer and more painful but you will see that some women cope remarkably well using hypnobirthing despite these additional challenges.
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Hi Kieren & Jai Just to let you know Vincent was born on Sat 27 Nov weighing 10lb 9oz. I am very pleased to say he was born totally without any pain relief, not even gas and air!… I felt totally empowered and even the midwives (I had 3, 2 students and 1 qualified) were taken back. There wasn’t even time for them to examine me, we just turned up, put the bags down and got down to business!… He popped out only using the breathing techniques we learnt on the course, so thanks very much. The whole experience was lovely and very different to my first. I have recovered quickly and am more or less back to normal. We managed to get to the hospital just in time having stayed at home for more of the surges. All the best Victoria and Adrian |
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Once the extreme tiredness and constant nausea had stopped I loved every moment of being pregnant. I had always looked forward to having children. I had also always wanted to experience a natural, calm birth, preferably at home. When I read about Hypnobirthing I asked my brother-in-law about it, as his PhD research was about hypnosis and pain. I was encouraged and found the course invaluable. The fact that our trainers both came from medical backgrounds, including midwifery, meant we had all our questions answered at the time, and doing the course as a couple meant that we both knew what we were aiming for and how we were going to approach the birth. We then went home and practiced daily. Having put so much effort into preparing for a natural home-birth we were concerned by the fact that there are not enough midwives on call in the area if 2 women go into labour at the same time - as happened to a friend of ours last year. (This lead to her going to hospital, losing her rhythm and the birthing of her daughter not being the experience it might have been). My midwife was very open-minded towards the Hypnobirthing techniques but we had reason to believe that not all the midwives in our area would be, and not knowing who would attend the birth loomed in our minds. So when the opportunity arose to have an independent midwife we jumped at it. I carried on working (part-time) until I was in my 37th week and stayed active, walking the dog, practicing yoga and of course the Hypnobirthing techniques. My due date came and went, and I still couldn't imagine becoming a mother. Although by this time I did quite want to see our baby and just be sure she was all alright, I was happy thinking that if she needed to grow a little more then that was fine. Plus I always felt I would miss my bump. I had of course slowed down by this time but I was still loving being pregnant and spending time with Ben in the knowledge that it would not be just the two of us for much longer. Then a week later the magic day arrived, although it took all morning for me to be completely convinced that I wasn't just having those Braxton Hicks that everyone talks about. Having an understanding of the birthing process and a positive approach to it, I did not take too much notice of the surges at the beginning. Although I did not want to take the dog for a walk, I also did not know if I should disturb Ben's PhD writing. I felt at ease and confident that my body knew what to do and as a result was able to fully relax between surges. This I think was vital to conserving my energy and strength but also to coping emotionally and breathing correctly. After a light lunch, which duely came back up again and as the surges gained intensity I used a hypnosis script, which I had practiced many times. Then when I felt I wanted Nicky and Mandy to come we decided to fill the birthing pool. It was like a lovely hot bath when I got in; really soothing. I did get too hot a little later and we had to cool the pool down to the recommended 37 degrees. Although we did not use a full script, Ben prompted me to relax my mind and body using the ‘54321’ technique. I realised then that the preparation before the birth was the key to effortlessly benefiting from the relaxation prompts – having some experience and memory of the ‘state’ desired. I also drank a hot drink of plum concentrate and honey, full of iron and energy that helped to revive my strength, during the birthing. I found that I naturally went into my own private space and being vocal really helped me. For me, making noises especially helped my breathing. Light touch massage of my back and stronger massaging of my head when the surges were reaching their peaks was also important for me at times. Ben was fantastic support to me, and Nicky and Mandy were really reassuring. They allowed us to keep our privacy and rhythm, and knew when their professional support was also really helpful, to me and to Ben. I remained in the pool to birth our little miracle, just before 8pm, and after for the third stage of labour. Even though Nicky and Mandy must have seen 100's of babies be born they were as excited as us and always patient, allowing us and nature to take its course. Being at home was the best place for me, I felt comfortable and safe. Sophie W
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Hi Kieren and Jai I gave a birth to 7.2 pound baby boy (his name is Onur meaning Honour in Turkish) on 6th of September at home. Finally we decided to give birth at home with the help of your encouragement and it was the best decision we've made. My surges started mildly 7am and get stronger (established labour) around 12:30 and I gave a birth 15:38 without any painkillers (not even an aspirin :-) Cathy was our midwife, and she told us you once her student. She was great, she was familiar with hypnobirthing and she didn't interfere at all. Thanks a lot and best regards Chrisoula and Cem |
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Hello Kieren and Jai - just wanted to let you know that our son Dylan was born on New Years Eve (11 days past his so-called due date!), and the hypnobirthing worked like a dream! I really couldn't have asked for a better experience - 7.5 hours, all at home, mostly spent floating about in the pool feeling wonderful, and no stitches required! I was so relaxed through the surges that the hope midwives couldn't tell whether I was in active labour (even though one of them was Sharon from Granby, who's done the hypno-birthing training!) Apparently they were discussing leaving and coming back in a few hours, when I threw up, so they examined me first... and I was at 8cm! When Dylan emerged he had an apgar of 9 and he fed pretty much straight away:) The only points I remember experiencing any pain was the first couple of surges - I distinctly remember thinking 'owwww! Stupid bloody hypno-birthing rubbish, that bloody hurt!'.... then feeling a little bit anxious because the surges were quite close together straight away so I didn't have any time to go through a relaxation. I took a couple of paracetemol at that point. But then without me consciously doing anything, the rest of the birth is a complete relaxed happy blur until I thought 'ouch' a little bit as he came out... although even that was more of a satisfied 'ahhhhh'! I used gas and air later on, which I found worked well with the focus on my breathing. Ron and my mum were the perfect hypnobirthing partners - anticipating my every desire and giving me lots of light touch massage and positive suggestions. The midwives were also brilliant - used all the right language and gave me loads of encouragement. So thank you both for the training and the support - I am now evangelising all over town! Hope you both had a good Christmas and New Year :) Natalie x
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Hi Kieren and Jai Julia
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Kieren & jai Nicola B
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Dear Kieren & Jai, Just to let you know that we had a splendid little girl on Aug 31st; Bella - fighting weight of 7 pounds 10. I felt that I went into labour in a rather mild way on saturday morning and was able to stay at home having an easy relaxed time, even enjoying an ice cream on the downs late afternoon! I started using a Tens machine about 8, but was finding things less manageable a couple of hours later, so we headed for the Southmead birthing suite at about 10pm. I was fully prepared to be sent home at this point after an examination, as I assumed there was still some way to go, but the midwife found me to be 5cm dilated, so we just made a little nest in the room and I continued with my job. At 1am I got into the birthing pool and used some gas and air, but it was really helpful to be able to feel the surges as I could tell she was heading south for the winter pretty quickly! To our amazement, Bella popped safely out into the world at 2am, all rather trauma free. She is a lovely content baby and while we are all on a steep learning curve, she sleeps and eats well and we are truly smitten. In way of feedback, I just wanted to say a massive thank you for your excellent instruction. You taught with patience and clarity and while we thoroughly enjoyed the course, the proof is in the pudding as they say! For me in particular, the relaxation techniques kept me really calm leading up to the due date and then the following week as we went beyond that deadline. I found the breathing invaluable in labour and it was also very helpful to have seen so many videos of labour before the event - the NHS classes did not include one single piece of delivery footage, which we found extraordinary. It was also great to quiz you both regarding your medical background and your explanations of how the uterus and muscle groups work really helped me keep calm during the rather overwhelming 2nd stage, together with chanting a few of the birthing affirmations to myself. So again, many thanks for the help, I will be recommending the course to some friends who are currently pregnant, so will keep you posted regarding this matter. Tia, Ben and Bella
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Hello Jai & Kieren Thank you for your phone message. our son Finley was born on thurs 17th jan. he was born wide eyed and alert weighing 9 lbs!! I actually went into labour on that sunday that you came over to do hypnosis session.. however it kept stopping and starting and Finley ended up being in OP position causing a lot of back labour and an exhausted me and baby. By wednesday night we decided to go into hospital. we had planned a home birth and hospital was the last thing on my mind. however with the breathing, relaxation and music we were able to get through most of it calmly!! here is a photo of him only a few hours old. thank you for all your support. it really has been an amazing journey... and continues to be!! Charlie and Gordon W
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Hi Kieren & Jai Just wanted to drop you a line to up date you, to let you know how our birth went (though it's turned out to be a huge essay!). Last time we saw you was Wednesday 7th when we did the hypnotherapy session. The following morning I was due to have a sweep with the midwife but because the baby was still not completely engaged they didn't want to do it so I came home quite disappointed. He was 11 days over due by this point and I was desperate to meet him. Over the next few hours I felt that things may be moving as I had a few twinges. I had an acupuncture session booked in for that afternoon and thought I'd go along anyway just to make sure he was on his way! I had some definite tightening during the acupuncture so was pleased to know he would be coming soon though was conscious that it may still take a good while. I continued to have a few twinges over the next few hours though was still focused on the thought that it might still be a day or so before he was actually born. At 9pm that evening the surges were like a period ache but they were coming every 2.5 mins which seemed a bit close together as been as they were, what I assumed was mild compared to how it might feel later. We called the midwife who arrived at 11pm, I knew that it was too early to call her but was concerned that the surges had been 2.5mins apart for 2hrs so wasn't sure what to do because the marker for when to call the mid wife was when the surges were 5 mins apart for 1 hr and I seemed to have passed that. She examined me, I was 1 cm dilated and she advised that we call her back when the surges were 5 mins apart for an hour. When i queried that they were already coming quicker than that she suggested that I stop timing them as they'd speed up and slow down and she thought we'd probably call her again in 5hrs or so. I was using surge breathing and had been listening to the CD's and continued to do so for the next hour or so. The surges didn't slow down they increased in intensity. At 1.30am the surges were coming very close together but my head was still telling me that it would be hours before he was born and I wasn't listening to my body as much as I should have. I very soon had the feeling that I wanted to push and was amazed at how aware I was of where the baby was. From all of the knowledge that you'd given me during the Hypnobirthing course I felt very able to identify exactly where I was in the process, I could feel him entering the birth canal and easily descending. We quickly called the midwife again but after 5 or 6 pushing surges Daniel was born at 2.20am on 9th July. He swooshed out, in one go, on the living room floor just as the midwife crossed the threshold. It was just 3hrs from 1cm dilation to born! I did end up going to hospital for stitches but I think that no amount of perineal massage would have saved me from such a quick birth! I'm all patched up and fine now. All of the techniques you taught us were really helpful, Nick felt very prepared from a Dad's point of view, he felt really well informed and prepared for every eventuality as did I. Because the process was so fast I didn't get to use the full relaxation techniques as much as I'd have liked but the surge breathing was fantastic and I think I was generally very relaxed in the run up and definitely in the following hours in hospital, I even managed to go into trance whilst being stitched up !! I'm so pleased at how the birth went, having Daniel at home was exactly the right thing for us, Nick commented that cuddling Daniel on the sofa immediately after he was born felt so natural, he fitted into our family and home straight away. His speedy arrival was great because we'd been waiting for so long to meet him and because we felt so prepared for the birth it wasn't alarming at all. Thank you both so much for your help in getting us to a great birth experience. Daniel is fantastic, of course, he sleeps really well so far and is (mostly!) very calm and chilled out. I've attached a picture of our gorgeous boy so you see him. Alison C
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Despite being induced, the whole experience was absolutely brilliant. The hospital staff were absolutely amazing, they hand picked a bunch of people to work with me throughout the induction, taking every thing at our pace and to our wishes. In the end I had two lots of gel, the second one at 6pm which got my 'surges' started. They came on gradually and built up naturally. We were left to our own devices, I had my CD on throughout the whole thing (I gave birth to your voice Jai so Mack is going to have to meet you one day!). Gav gave me massages, read my affirmations, brushed my hair etc and kept me really relaxed. At about 11pm, things were getting really strong and we moved rooms, and I had gas and air which I found really helpful to fit in with my breathing techniques. Although I seemingly wasn't dilating which I found disheartening at about 1am, my waters broke soon after and I went immediately from 3cm to 10cm. With that my body had that pushing sensation and I changed my breathing. We tried for a long time to breathe him down but I think the little bugger was so huge that he was only going to come out with a bit more of a push. So we changed to pushing for a little while and Mack joined us shortly afterwards. Gav was leaping around like an excited pixie. Mack is amazing - so good and calm. My memories of the birth are great, I am so proud of myself that I had a natural birth - no one can ever take that away from me now and I am cock-a-hoop. We are over the moon - but totally exhausted. Must go, another feed required, but just wanted to say thanks so much again for all the support and hypno birthing techniques. It gave us a really positive experience Ali U
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Dear Kieren & Jai, I just wanted to take this opportunity to let you know about our birth, which was, although as far from what we'd originally planned as it could have got, still a positive experience which both Paul and I regard to be down to hypnobirthing . Here's Evans birth story: We went in to hospital to be induced at 3pm on Thursday 8th after being diagnosed with Obstetric Cholestasis on Tuesday 6th. I was given a 24hr acting pessary at 5.30 to start off contractions and 'ripen' my cervix, this worked and at 5.30 on Friday 9th I was having 1min long contractions every 5-7 min, when examined cervix was 1-2 cm and softened so booked into go to delivery, to have my membranes ruptured, when there was a space, unless they went spontaneously in the mean time ... well it took till 3am on Sunday 11th before there was space in delivery. All this time I was on the ward in Southmead waiting, I had all the scripts and music on my ipod and used them every night to get to sleep, they were especially useful on sat when at 10pm I was told to pack up as there was a space in delivery, only to be told 10 mins later to be told that an emergency had just come in so to try and get some sleep! In the mean time my contractions had all but stopped. At 5am on Sunday I had my membranes ruptured; 7am was put on the oxcytosin drip to start contractions and by 12 midday was considered to be in active labour having 4 contractions in 10 mins. All through this I was doing surge breathing through the surges and had the music on in the background, as well as some music cd's I had made and listened to during the last few weeks But then over the next few hours contractions messed around a bit! at the stage that I asked for some pain relief Paul said that the contractions were lasting longer than the rest in between and although, I was still finding that I could breath through the surges, there seemed to be no let up in between and to me it seemed like they'd not been happening for that long so thought that they would be getting more intense, I have little to no concept of time passing over that day, it still doesn't seem like it took as long as it did. Come 8pm and the change of midwifes, I had an epidural as I could not stop the urge to push during contractions, but had 1cm to dilate on one side, which after a few hours didn't dilate so I ended up having an emergency c-section! All through the whole experience I kept one of the affirmations in mind, one I turned to a couple of time during pregnancy - I am fully prepared to meet what ever turn my birthing takes- this was my attitude towards everything that happened over those few days and I think helped keep me calm, relaxed and still feel I had control. The midwife and student whom were with me during the majority were impressed by the techniques, the midwife had had an experience of J breathing before but not the rest, and also how calm and focused I was, in their opinion if I had not had to go through the induction process then I would have managed the home birth we'd planned with ease, because of my attitude and the hypnobirthing. I gave them some of the information id taken along with me so they may contact you in the future. So at 21.41 on Sunday 11 th July (our due date) our Baby Evan Paul Hampson was born weighing in at 7Lb 10oz. Evan was well all through labour and delivery and after. He was very chilled and alert and fed well once I'd stopped shaking and he'd stopped being inquisitive! We had to stay in hospital until Wednesday 14th because my liver function results hadn’t gone down as they should, instead they went up! And my blood pressure wasn’t too good either so had to wait for that to stabilize before we could go home. But we are all home safe and sound now and the midwife is very happy with his progress and my healing so all is well and were enjoying being home as a family. It's a shame that I don't have the home hypno birth story I would have liked to share with you but at no stage did I regret what happened, we are both happy and healthy and although labour didn't occur naturally the hypnobirthing techniques defiantly got both myself and Paul through the whole thing and I believe that it I wouldn't have coped quite as well without it I will definitely be recomending not just the hypnobirthing course but you as practitioners to everyone Amy & Paul
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Hi Kieren and Jai, Ross was an absolute legend - he helped me through every surge and I couldn't have done it without him. It has made us feel like we can do anything together - a real team - and I think the hypnobirthing really played a big part in empowering him to help me as much as he did. He just knew what I needed and when - and was great throughout all the complicated decisions we had to make. Bethan, Ross and Georgie xxx
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Krishna and I had a beautiful baby boy on the 14th April and we have named him Ralph. I thought I would send an email to tell you how we feel the hypnobirthing helped us! I guess the main help we found was in the preparation for the birth. As you know I found it difficult to relax and listening to the CDs really helped me achieve this before hand. The positivity we felt towards the birth as well was unbelievable and I think Krish and I also gained a particular closeness and bond whilst doing the hypnobirthing. My pregnancy was very easy and again Im sure that had to do with the relaxed state I stayed in. We also changed our minds at 36 and a half weeks and went from going to the birthing centre to feeling like we were able to have our baby at home. So I eventually went 6 days over due. In this time I had a sweep, and using my calm breathing the midwife commented on how relaxed I felt and she did the procedure. This made me feel really happy and again able to cope with the labour and what ever it may bring! Then my waters broke 5 days after that. I was round at a friends house and stayed incredibly relaxed and excited. I stayed there for the afternoon and then wondered home to meet Krish after work. We then went to St Micheals that evening as they wanted to check that everything was fine, and it was! I then went on to have no contractions. I could feel some tightenings, but it felt like Ralph moving around more than anything else. Again I tried to stay calm although did have a couple of moments as the thought of Induction was coming closer. Krishna told me to calm breath and again we listened to the CDS. By Wednesday morning still nothing so the midwifes suggested that I really should go and start the induction process. Although upset Krishna and I tried to refocus. We talked about the aspects of hypnobirthing we could still use and stayed positive about the situation, still really looking forward to meeting Ralph. My friends were laughing and saying because I was so relaxed due to the hypnobirthing that baby was more than happy to take his time and I feel they were right! We arrived at hospital at 10am and they examined me at 11am ready to put the pessary in. I was attached to the contractions monitor now and had been having then about every 5 minutes although I couldnt feel them. I think this again was because the hypno birthing had taught me that contractions were not painful and just part of bringing my baby closer. It was funny as Krish was watching the monitor, waiting for one to pass and then asking me if I felt that one! When examined I was already 3-4 cm dilated so no pessary. Then Ralph became stressed and before I knew it we were being whisked down to the delivery suite with an awful consultant talking about prepping me for theatre. Throughout Krish and I stayed very calm and quiet. Most people eventually left the room and we were left with the midwife, who had been given instructions by the consultant to check and break my forewaters and to put a pin in babys head as he was moving so much they were finding it hard to keep a constant heart beat. I felt very in control at this point, and really questioned this decision. Eventually we decided that we would try the pin. Ralph wriggled and took it straight out so that was the end of that!! The midwife then began the oxytocin drip at 12.15pm. putting on a very low level as she really felt I was already progressing well on my own. My contractions upped to 4 every 10 mins and became regulated. Again I stayed very relaxed, hardly feeling then and continuing to calm breath.By 3pm the midwifes swapped shifts. The second midwife was much more full on and although told by the first that I was progressing naturally, she doubles my oxytocin as soon as the first midwife left telling me wouldnt it be disappointing if when she examined me at 4pm I was still only 4cm dilated. Again before she did this I really questioned her decision. I was having 5 contraction every 10 mins by this time and I dont think she felt things were really happening as I was so relaxed and had no pain relief. I did try gas and air, breathing it in only once, but concentrating on my breathing and staying relaxed in my pelvis worked much more effectively! Krishna stayed calm throughout, using the hand on my shoulder anchor to keep me calm. By 3.30pm I had the overwhelming urge to push and I have to say although I tried to stay focused on the J breathing the pushing sensation was too strong. The midwife was a bit shocked and told me to slow down, I told her no and she examined me. I was 10cm dilated and ready to go! I did lose it a bit through the pushing stage, but not because it was particularly hurting, just because it was so intense and sudden. Sadly Ralphs heart was up and down so again the room filled with many people. Although at one point I had 5 midwifes shouting push push push etc, I actually found this quite funny! With an episiotomy and a little help from the vontuse he was born a very healthy 8lb 6oz! So although completely opposite to what I had imagined, with the preparation of the hypnobirthing and the calmness it gave me especially through the first stage, I had an alright birthing experience, in which I felt I never gave myself away to the pain as I had told myself that it wasnt there, and that I stayed very with it, able to question and stay in control of the many interventions that were occurring. Ralph came out eyes wide open and continues to be a very relaxed yet alert little chap! Ive realised that I really have given you my whole story! I guess such a lot happened, and in so much of it the hypnobirthing was great. So thank you both for the course and your support, it really made all the difference and I will carry on recommending you! Best Wishes Camilla, Krishna and Ralph
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Dear Jai & Kieren Better late than never I thought I would let you know how we got on with the arrival of little Toby. Firstly he is the most lovely little chap, really chilled out and bar 3 nights he has slept (between feeds) since day one. He also feeds well and after loosing a little more than he should have to start with he is now gaining weight really fast so both James and I are doing really well and are really enjoying parenthood! Toby arrive at 2.15am on the 6 April 2010, 3 days early. My waters broke in the middle of the night at my parent in laws house on the night of Easter Sunday. I stayed there until the morning having very mild contractions and trying to sleep - I could have slept physically, but my brain was a little busy as you might image with me so I did not get much sleep. We got up in the morning and headed home, I was having quite regular but relatively mild contractions (about 3 in 15 mins). At this point I was completely relaxed and although slightly apprehensive about what was to come I was also looking forward to the birth, something I had acquired by attending your course, before coming to you the birth was just something that I had to 'get though'. We called the midwife to let her know that things had started so that they had a little notice as I was planning a home birth. She told us to have as 'normal' a day as we could so when we go home we carried on unpacking boxes and then decided to go out and get some lunch (I had ham egg and chips!) and to pick up some stuff at the supermarket - I was having quite strong contractions thoughout all of that, but still very manageable and I just used your breathing throughout (and stood still for a mo when in the supermarket!) When I got home I went to bed for a bit to try and get some sleep and used your hypno CDs to try and achieve that - I sort of did, I was certainly more relaxed and sleepy than I would have been if I was just lying there, but I am not sure I got much 'real' sleep. I then came down stairs and put a DVD and the Tens machine on, sat on my ball and rested on the back of the sofa (quite a good height). Not sure how much the Tens did, but it gave me something to do (although the blooming thing kept falling off the back of the sofa and knocking the power right up, so I ended up taping it on level three so that I didn't get shocks all the time!) I was able at this time to breath through the contractions although they were getting much more intense at this point. My contractions were between 1 and 3 min apart, but only lasted 30-40 seconds so we decided that this was equaling out to about 5min apart and 45 sec long so we called the midwife and agreed that because it was coming up to bed time she would come out and check me so she knew if it was worth her going to bed. After the phone call and before she arrived (about 45 min) the contractions got a lot stronger and I moved to lying on the sofa, but I was still calm and using the breathing. When she arrived and examined me it turned out that I was fully dilated (to both of our supprise) and so she said 'I recon it will be here soon, do you want to get into the pool?' Since I had it and it was all set there was no debate, I got in (with a T shirt on.... for about 30 seconds and then I decided that nothing was a much better option!) The pool was amazing I felt like I had a new lease of life and was completely relaxed... well to start with anyway, I had about 30min before the contractions really took off and were much more uncomfortable - I was still able to deal with them with breathing, but it was getting harder and there was certainly no 'hypnosis' going on at this stage. It all seemed to be taking ages now (after the first stages being quicker and easier than I expected) and although the contractions now hurt a lot I did not feel the need to push and I was starting to get frustrated. I eventually started to 'push', I am afraid the 'breathing the baby down' was about as far from my mind as anything could be - I was aware that I was not doing what I should have been, but I just could not wait the time I knew it would take to 'breath' him out rather than push! I did just about remember to keep the breathing in check though and counter pressure REALLY helped on the bottom of my back. I eventually had him 4 hours after I got in the pool at home safe and well. I used a little Gas and Air, but really very little as I discovered when I was being stitched that I REALLY was not using it correctly - more something to chew on and breath out though! Once my placenta stopped pulsing I had the injection, but the placenta had not arrived 1.5 hours after the birth so I had to go into Southmead by ambulance. It came out on its own in the end (with a bit of man handling) once they had emptied my bladder so that was good. I had quite a few stitches (almost worse than the birth) but not in my perineum (the massage may have helped after all...). We then had to stay on the ward as his heart rate was a little slow and I managed to exceed the 24hr period between water breaking and birth by 45min so they wanted to run observations. In hindsite this was the best thing ever as I had two days of help feeding a baby that was so sleepy he would not wake up to feed - at home this would have been v worrying, but in hospital, I knew they would tell me when to worry! They were all v kind and supportive - not the horrid time I had heard others report re the maternity units! We left hospital on the first of the lovely days and Toby did not see a drop of rain for 3 weeks!! Overall, your course definitely helped me in more ways than one:
I would really recommend that people do the course and even if they are like me and never really master the 'hypnosis' all the other elements of the course and the attitude it instilled in me was very valuable. Thank you both for your help and time. LOL Sally, James and Toby
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Dear Kieren and Jai Tal was working nights at that time, and at around 10 at night I started feeling this pressure in my lower back and tummy.. I thought to my self... "hum.. that's odd.. .. probably nothing..." He was home in about 10 minutes, starting to pump up the pool and filling it with water... completely ignoring my objections and warnings that it's a false alarm and we are going to be stuck with a pool full of water and no baby... at around 1 in the morning Tal wanted to call the midwife, me still convinced that what I was feeling cannot be labour, told him not to (thank god he ignored me ). He asked me to tell him when I fell this "pressure", and apparently the surges were 3 minutes apart. The midwife came shortly after, me still being in denial, apologised to her that she's going to be stuck with us all night. more time passed and by now I had realised my baby was coming, I relaxed completely and did my breathing, I was walking around going up and down the stairs, stopping and breathing in with each surge. A few times the midwife asked me if the surges are getting more intense. my water broke, and the midwife wanted to check if the baby's head dropped and not a hand or a leg... I was six centimetres dilated. I kept walking, going up and down the stairs, dont ask me why... and around three in the morning I got in the pool and immediately had this overpowering urge to push. my midwife asked me to stop and to try to control it, but I couldn't, with the next surge I listened to my body and started pushing using the j birthing, I had my hand on the baby's head and with four more pushes she was out. Tal caught her and gave her to me. 10 minutes later the second midwife made it :) we had an amazing experience!!! I had good support, Tal was great! helping me up and down the stairs, rocking with me... and reading me the scripts. I had the same midwife i was seeing through all my pregnancy, she was amazing and knew when to give Tal and me our space. We named our baby Gaia, witch is the goddess of earth in greek. Robyn our three year old woke up when it was all over to see her baby sister, like every thing she does she accepted Gaia with a lot of grace. Danielle
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Hi both, Charlotte, Luke and Imogen |
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| Hi Kieran & Jai and Tanja, And hypno got me deep into my body and baby with good breathing not saying this is pain no its surges bringing the baby down, and its was no different to what some women feel as a period aches. So please go for it, its the best thing I ever did in pregnancy and for the baby. I learnt to control my fear, and could see that if I tensed my jaw, shoulders and everything due to feel I felt less in control and things slowed down. But when I gave up on that and let go it was amazing. Time actually felt like it stood still in the final 10 or 20 mins of her actually leaving my body and coming up onto my chest. Rachel, Simon and Baby Ruby
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Hi Tanja Henrietta C
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If you remember, we had a somewhat traumatic experience of birth with our first baby, Ben and I was very worried about giving birth again. When I finally plucked up the courage to email you I was feeling very low. Jai phoned me back the same evening and listened to all my concerns. That phone call was the turning point for me because she enabled me to see that I could change this situation rather than being a victim of my past experiences. I felt so much better and couldn't wait to start the course!!! You sent me the course materials ahead of time and I read the book from cover to cover and listened to the CD whenever I could. We were so nervous about attending the course initially but after the first session we were amazed by the difference it made to how we felt about our past and future birth experiences and to our ability to cope with things as a team together. The fear release hypnosis was another key experience for me. I was sure that I couldn't be hypnotised as I was carrying so many negative feelings, but when I 'woke up' after Kieren had read the fear release script I felt completely relaxed, energised and confident that I could do this. However, when my waters broke three weeks early and there was no sign of labour starting I began to panic. After two days of experiencing strange 'tightenings' at home (which I was told were Braxton Hicks) I was admitted to the antenatal ward at my request. Strangely I felt much calmer once in hospital and I started to use the relaxation techniques, birthing ball etc. for myself whilst being monitored intermittently. When the strange feelings got more powerful (at no point were they really painful) I was offered paracetamol. The midwives at the RUH were fantastic. They listened to me at every stage and I felt really well supported and cared for. When a few days later I decided that I had had enough and asked to be induced, they were able to fit me in the next day. Until this point, no one had examined me because my waters had already broken. So we were all amazed when they came to give me the prostaglandin gel and found that I was already 6 cms dilated! I then realised that the ‘Braxton Hicks’ that I had been having had been proper surges and that I had done it all myself without any real pain! It really is possible. On the delivery ward the midwives couldn’t believe how calm and in control I was, they left me alone to carry on. After a while I decided that I wanted to speed things up. I now realised that I had been in labour for almost five days and I was impatient to meet my baby and get home to Ben. So I chose to have a syntocinon drip and an epidural because it did start to get painful after the drip had been administered! Our lovely little girl, Amelia(called Mia for short) was born about an hour later weighing 6lb 6 oz. I felt elated, I gave birth to her using J breathing (I was still able to feel through the epidural but without pain.) This meant that Mia’s entrance to the world was not accompanied by wailing, grunting and screaming and there was no straining or stress on my pelvic floor. The midwives present (including one student) had never seen this type of ‘pushing’. They could not believe how calm and peaceful it was. So thank you, thank you, thank you for helping us to have the birth we wanted. Katherine, Richard and Amelia
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Well here he is, Sebastian John arrived on Monday at 0435. We were in hospital as planned, but for much longer than expected! Contractions went on for 2 days, but by using the surge sound breathing technique I didn't really notice, and afterwards thought it had been only one day! Hedley confirmed that 2 nights in a hospital chair was not something he would forget quickly. The final phase took place in the delivery suite since the birthing pool was already in use (so they said....) so that was a bit more medicalised than we wanted but for a hospital birth I thought it was ok, the midwife was really quiet, kept the lights down low, turned off the sound of the monitor, let Hedley steer me through relaxing or pushing etc etc and eventually with a bit of J-breathing and no pain relief, Seb appeared. Hooray! Best wishes,
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Gerry and I had our baby girl on Wednesday 9th July at 09.55 am. We have called her Tiana Ella May. She was delivered on the bathroom floor by Gerry. It was great for him and no intervention by anyone. She was born easily with no problems as we envisaged. I didn't tear at all. My waters broke on the Monday at 5.30pm and it took until the Wednesday morning for her to be born. At 6 am on the Wednesday morning after using a tens machine for a while I called the midwife. She came out at 6.30am and stayed until 8.30am. She then went off duty, my surges had slowed considerably. She advised me to call the next midwife when the surges were at 7 minutes apart consistently.I said they wouldn't be like that. At 9.30 ish I said to call the next midwife. I went upstairs for a bath and Gerry said he had to go to the loo. So off he went. I had the urge to push so called out to him. When he came back I wanted to use the loo so he helped me out of the bath. He said watch its not a baby, I said it is. He felt her head. I went on all fours on the bathroom floor and stayed still. Gerry delivered her head first and started to talk to her. He said later he was worried cos she looked blue then. It helped that he had seen videos of births before. Then her body came out easily. He handed her to me and I walked to the bedroom. she was 8lbs 13oz. The door went. Gerry had left it open and the midwife arrived 10 minutes too late after getting lost. That was a bit of fate wasn't it. Then the interference began with then trying to get baby to feed to help with the placenta and wanting the placenta out in a certain time. I walked to the toilet and pushed out the placenta. Then the midwives examined me and said no suturing needed. I was so pleased. Over the next day Tiana's sugar levels dropped and we had to go into hospital to stabilise them. This only happened cos of the lack of support cos they dont normally monitor in the community. Anyway thats the gist of the story and it was much better than going into hospital so we did the right thing for us and Gerry says it was a great experience. hope you are all well Kim, Gerry and Tiana xxxxxxxx
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Hi Jai & Kieren Have got a moment so thought I would send you some photos of the event. This is what happened… On the 14 th April, which was the day before I was due, I woke at 4am with the first contractions. I listened to the relaxation cds and did slow breathing throughout the day and following night. I was feeling the surges in my back so was very grateful for the TENS machine as I found the breathing only helped the abdominal area. The next morning I noticed my feet were badly swollen so we decided to pop in and have my blood pressure checked. Kathy my midwife said when she saw me she thought I must be in the very early stages of labour. We all had a shock to find that I was 5-6cm dilated and my contractions were 2 minutes apart! The contractions continued and I combined the slow breathing with gas and air which worked really well. I had intended trying a kneeling position but my legs went numb so I was a bit stranded on the bed and in the rocking chair. Unfortunately, I got stuck at 7cms and after many hours agreed to them breaking my waters. Despite strong contractions now, things still weren’t progressing and they wanted to induce me, at which point I had already decided in advance to ask for an epidural. Unfortunately the epidural didn’t work despite three attempts due to my high BP but on the upside the change in position got things moving again so I didn’t need to be induced. Things went really well from there until Bridie got stuck again just a few inches in. Her head was sideways and I wonder if this was the problem all along. Eventually I had a ventouse delivery which was a rather bizarre experience, a bit like a tug of war. Everyone said they were amazed how strongly I could push after being in labour for quite some time, and I’m sure that’s down to the hypnobirthing keeping me relaxed and fresh. The last part of the birth was everything we didn’t want – lots of people in the room shouting, and a midwife who totally ignored our birthplan (unlike the first two, Kathy and Nicky, who were fabulous). I think by then we were tired of questioning everything they did and just wanted to get on with it. I knew my impatience would be my downfall! Bridie was finally born at 1am on 16 th April. I don’t know if it was the hypnobirthing or the hormones, but I felt as fresh as a daisy right until the end. (Unlike poor Alex!!!) I would change so many things if I could go back and we fell into many of the traps you told us about, just by being swept along in the moment. In hindsight though, it is likely that Bridie’s head was sideways all along and I doubt there is much I could have done about that so the outcome would probably have been the same. Since then, Bridie has been an extremely “high maintenance” baby and it has been a real struggle. The cranial osteopath on the Wells Road (Laura Hutchinson) noticed straight away that not only was Bridie’s head affected by the ventouse and by the fact that it had engaged so early, but that she was affected by antibiotics and also had silent reflux. Hopefully we have these things under control now so we can start enjoying her. Thank you both so much for all the advice – your course was far more useful than any others we went on. I really enjoyed the experience of childbirth and hope to experience it again soon! In which case, we’ll be back for a refresher… Alex, Christina and Bridie x
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| Dear Kieren and Jai I was aware I was in a dire position - sitting on my bum with a back-to-back baby. Very quickly the baby's heartbeat strarted to drop significantly with each surge the doctor had stayed beyond her shift to advise and she felt I should go to theatre with vaginal delivery in mind but to be prepared for a c-section. I knew this was the right thing to do. Thank you both for help. We will certainly continue to recommend the course to our friends and if we can help you in the future by endorsing the course in any way it would be the least we could do. Karen, Andy & Jamie x x
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Hello Kieran and Jai! It's kind of hard to believe that it's now 5 months since the arrival of Ralph... I'm so sorry it's taken so long to write to let you know how things went... (amazingly well!). Firstly - thank you so much for everything and particularly the additional session about fear of spinal stuff - I completely stopped thinking about the possibility afterwards which helped me immensely. So here goes.... 18th February, 10 days past my "due date" (& booked in for an induction a few days later) my waters finally broke 'slightly' at 2.40am on 18th February...but very little in way of contractions. I took some Caulophyllum (homeopathic) and dozed/ visualized for a little while... becoming a little more aware of contractions. About am I listened to the Rainbow relaxation cd; by around 5am contractions were every 5 mins and getting stronger (I didn't wake Jay up until this point - in retrospect, wondering why I didn't sooner...!). I spoke to Stroud Maternity Hospital at about 5.45am and they said not to leave for a couple of hours (at least a 45 min drive away). I just wanted to really focus and relax, because things were happening fast and I was a bit thrown (it was not the tranquil scene I had visualised!). We made sure we were ready to leave (not sure why we didn't, looking back), and Jay started to talk through a relaxation script which was working well, when my waters really went with a pop... then again about 10 minutes later. At this point I desperately just wanted to be in a nest somewhere so I could go into a more calm little world... I was quite overwhelmed by contractions when they came at this point. We made it to Stroud by 8.10am (contractions every 2-3 minutes). Despite having practiced the route, we managed to take a wrong turn, so I had some interesting moments navigating Jay through traffic on the way! It's fair to say that I was feeling really quite panicky when we got to Stroud... my main thought was 'OMG if I feel like this for hours I will be shouting for drugs!.. ' which in retrospect is quite funny... I asked if I could be left alone for 20 mins to relax and focus before my dilation was checked (I could not bear the thought of 'bad' news at that point), but within about 2 minutes of the midwife leaving the room, I had an overwhelming desire to push (I think I feebly called 'help!'...) - and when checked, she could feel his head! Knowing that it was more likely to be minutes than hours was amazing - and I felt so much better once the downward energy really started. The midwife was amazing, with only a little knowledge of hypnobirthing - she just let me get on with it (she even took Jay aside to ask if I'd want to be offered gas & air). I asked if I could use the birthing pool - a possibly quite amused midwife started running it, but did not think it would be ready... in the meantime I kneeled on the floor, leaning over a birthing ball. Relaxing music on (that was about all Jay had a chance to do, after all the preparation!), I tried to focus on breathing down, which I managed for the first part of each surge (for some reason I see them more as surges in the later stages...) but then had to just let my body push (really not sure if I was actively adding to the pushing or if just NER (natural expulsive reflex)...)midwife said it was very controlled) - visualising opening etc as much as possible, but I have to say that I did not feel like the lovely calm composed ladies looked in the films... though Jay assures me that I seemed pretty restrained! Ralph was born at 09.31...7lb 5oz, APGAR of 9, 10 after 2 minutes - and only 4" of water in the birthing pool! The placenta was delivered a couple of minutes later. The recorded labour time on my notes was 2hrs 46mins though I think it was probably a bit longer than this. I did not need any stitches, but had an external graze on one side. To quote the midwife (& I don't mean to sound smug writing this) "if everyone had babies like that, there would be no need for midwives"... though I would certainly beg to differ! I had absolutely no pain relief - Jay had more than me on the day, as he took some paracetamol that morning. It did not occur to me to ask for gas & air. Stroud maternity hospital was brilliant - we're actually really glad that we were there in the end, because it took a long time to get Ralph feeding - really hard for all concerned (I stayed in for a couple of days). He regained his birth weight within 10 days though - a huge relief - but he remains a very fussy feeder. I was really quite thrown by the speed at which things happened - bit of a runaway train - which at the time made me doubt my ability to relax and allow all the things we'd practiced to 'work'. Straight after, I realised that all the preparation had obviously been working (!) to allow things to happen the way they did, even if I didn't feel as calm as I'd hoped at the time. All the midwives at Stroud maternity were asking about hypnobirthing - it seems that we had celebrity status for a little while! We passed on your details... Ralph is the most amazingly alert and active little guy - he's frantically trying to crawl and grabbing everything in sight at the moment (never been particularly sleepy) - but people have always commented how easygoing he is, aside from feeding - a true hypnobirthing baby! So there you go - the story of Ralph! Thank you so much for everything. We really hope that all is good with you both and will pass on your details to any pregnant friends :) With all our very best wishes Hannah, Jay and Ralph M x |
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