Alice's Positive Hospital Birth using Hypnobirthing...

Alice, Stefan and Baby Noah

I had been to Aimee’s pregnancy relaxation classes which I had really enjoyed and this led me to book a hypnobirthing course with Aimee alongside my husband Stefan.

Ive always been abit alternative with how I've lived my life, not always doing what you are ‘meant to’ and I've always questioned things and I think thats why hypnobirthing resonated with me.  I felt like it hypnobirthing empowers women and their partners at a time when you are quite vulnerable and I think that it definitely equipped for what was to come, I feel so grateful for doing the hypnobirthing course.

My contractions started the day before my due date at around 2.30pm on a Saturday afternoon. We had just been for a cheese toastie and were walking our dog around the local park. I just remember something changing and then Stefan said my face completely changed and I knew then labour was starting, which kind of took my breathe away for a moment and I had to sit down.

We continued to walk the dog and I felt relaxed knowing that I was in the early stages, eventually we went home (after stopping to buy some chocolate from the petrol station). By this time it was around 4pm and Stefan had started to make us a nice M & S tea which we had bought the day before, but I just felt like wasn’t hungry by this point.

I remember watching married at first sight on the sofa as my contractions got abit stronger and Stefan was timing them, each contraction did feel hard but then they would always ease off and pass.

I decided to go upstairs to get my things ready for the hospital and I really wanted to wash my hair but felt like I couldn’t do it myself.  My mum came round and so I got in the bath and my mum washed my hair for me which is actually now a really special memory for me.

I got out of the bath at around 10pm and  I started bleeding quite abit, Stefan rang the hospital and told them and they asked me to come in. I remember as I was getting in the car I couldn’t stand up straight  it felt like I had trapped wind and I felt better leaning forwards almost being hunched over.  I don't remember panicking at all at this point and I remained calm. We live about 14 minutes form the hospital but it felt like the longest journey ever. I was in pain at a red traffic light and I was telling Stefan to just go but he didn’t.

When we got to the hospital and they triaged me and I can remember the lights being really bright which was awful, I felt like I wanted to be in a dark room. There was a radio station playing Saturday night club music and I remember thinking “turn this off now”.

I had a vaginal examination and then they told me that I was probably going to need a c section due to the bleeding.  I remember feeling okay with this, as I had made a birth plan A, B, and C so I knew exactly what I wanted if I was to have a c section. Stefan had also calmed down abit by the time when we got to the hospital as he felt like it wasn’t all on him now.

After some time I I went through to the delivery suite and another midwife examined me, she told me that she didn’t know why I had been told that I needed a c section as there was no reason why I couldn’t give birth vaginally. I was told I was 7cm dilated and I was really proud of myself as I had done all that work on my own and at home.

We were then taken through to the birthing suite, it was dark, the lights were twinkly and we put our music playlist on. Because i’d had some bleeding I was told that I couldn’t get in the water which had been my plan A but I felt at peace with that. I then met my midwife who was lovely but quite to the point which, I actually quite liked. My mum then arrived to support us, which had always been my plan. I wanted to have both my mum and Stefan with me when I gave birth.

I was told that my womb was tilted which, I did already know and therefore I felt all the sensations of the contractions in my back. I was given a peanut ball to put between my legs and this took the pressure of my back abit which was helpful. I was also using gas and air at this point for the pain, I remember clutching my gas and air like there was no tomorrow, but I think I was using it as more of a comfort thing rather than actually needing it.

The mood in the room felt good, I was relaxed and I remember feeling like im going to do this, as painful as it was, I kept my focus on meeting my baby at the end.

My mum had said that she thought I was going to be a complete drama queen, as I can be a drama queen when Im unwell. I’m definitely the one who gets man flu in the relationship not Stefan. There was just one point when I did get abit ‘diva-ish’ because my mum was humming and I told her to stop humming but other than that I wasn’t ‘diva-ish’ at all.

I remember my mum and Stefan being my cheerleaders at the side of me, and when I needed them they were there, but they were also aware that I was doing this on my own. Looking back I feel like I definitely went inwards and focused during labour, almost like going into sort of like a trance. I moved around a lot In my labour I remember squatting a lot. At one point I was squatting down at the end of the bed and from the playlist that Stefan had made, The eye of the tiger started playing,  which I think Stefan thought was hilarious, but I turned to him and said turn this off immediately which he did. That sticks in my head as a really clear memory.

Whilst I was pushing, the babies heart rate had dropped so they put a monitor around my belly to check the babies heart rate and then a doctor came in the room.  The doctor told me that I had few more pushes left before they were going to need to intervene.

I remember at this point something clicked in my head and I was like no, this is not on my birth plan, and I knew that I didn’t want to have forceps or a vacuum delivery, I wanted to do everything i could to do this without any interventions.

At this point they did put me in stirrups, and looking back now I wish they hadn’t, as everything i’d read previously had said not to give birth on your back, but I had also tried every other position by this point.

I pushed, and Noah came out without any interventions, he was born on the Sunday morning at 2am, which was actually my due date. There are no words that can describe giving birth, I couldn’t believe it, I was just in utter shock that I had been able to do this, out of my body.  My body that over the years, I had criticised and not really appreciated. At that point I felt like superwoman, I was completely knackered but so happy, and I just was so unbelievably proud of myself.

My baby was placed on my chest and I felt a rush of love for him, I had been worried about not feeling that love straight away and I had been told that it is normal not to, but for me I did. I remember just staring at him in utter disbelieve, and my mum has some pictures of this moment of me just staring at him in amazement.

We wanted to wait until all the of the blood had drained out of the cord before cutting it, and this was followed by the staff. Stefan then cut the cord, and I remember looking at Stefan and my mum who were just crying and hugging each other, and it is such a beautiful memory that Ive got.

We had skin to skin and enjoyed a golden hour, and then Noah James was weighed and he was 7lbs 8oz.

I did have a tear during my labour and a graze, my legs were in stirrups for ages whilst I was being stitched up, I was really uncomfortable and I kept asking the midwife have you nearly finished yet, this is a hard memory for me . Looking back I had tried my hardest to stick with the breathing techniques whilst giving birth, but at the time I had someone telling me to push with all i’ve got, and I just did it. I was to have another baby I think I would do that part differently.

I was so intrigued by the placenta and I really wanted to see it, when they held it up I remember thinking it was much smaller than I had thought it would be. Part of my birth plan was to encapsulate my placenta, and so it was put in a box, and then my mum took it home. I remember Stefan showing me a video of my mum on the ring door bell. walking into our house carrying our placenta in a box which felt so surreal .

I had been worried about the idea of staying in a hospital setting, and so I had expressed my fears to the metal health team who were amazing, and so at this point we were transferred into a side room, so that Stefan was able to stay with me before being discharged home.

I had always wanted to have a home birth, but Stefan was reluctant for us to have a home birth with it being our first baby. I definitely think that next time I would love to have a home birth, but overall I had such a positive and powerful experience of giving birth and I would do it all again tomorrow (if Stefan would left me!) .