During Pregnancy...
Before doing the hypnobirthing course with Aimee, I felt scared, worried, and negative about giving birth especially because you are always hear traumatic birth stories and not many positive ones. My partner was quite sceptical going into the first class and was he was panicking about not being able to help me during labour and how to do certain things.
After spending time with Aimee and completing her course when I went into labour, we were feeling more confident and positive, and I was not feeling scared about giving birth.
Going into Labour...
I went into labour on snowy Friday in December 2023, I was 40+ 3 weeks' gestation.
I had gone to bed that Friday night and I didn’t really have any signs that made me think that labour may be around the corner but at 3.30am I was woken by contractions. I had always thought how will I know when I’m in labour if my waters don’t break? But I knew!! I tried to go back sleep, but I was too excited/nervous.
During the early stages of labour, I stayed at home with my partner, I was on my birthing ball, just breathing through my contractions and staying calm. I was also using the comb that Aimee had given me, and this massively helped me to cope.
On Saturday night I went to bed to get some rest and on Sunday morning, when I got out of bed my waters broke.
I called the hospital, and they told me to go in but not to rush, which I did. I arrived at the hospital about 6am on Sunday morning and following a vaginal examination I was told that I was barley 2cm dilated and to go back home as it could take days to get into established labour.
The journey into hospital hadn’t been too bad, some nerves kicked in, but I was excited. However, on the way home I felt quite deflated, it was quite upsetting knowing that I had been contracting for over 24 hours, with very little sleep and I was ‘only’ 2cm dilated. The hospital gave me some codeine for pain relief and I we went home.
We got home about 7.00am and I tried to go back sleep, but the codeine came straight back up as I vomited and then the pain really started to ramp up.
I tried to have a bath but just couldn’t sit still, was pacing up and down in the living room and I felt like I needed to push but I’d not long ago been told I was 2cm so I thought something might have been wrong and so I was getting quite stressed at this point.
About 8.30am I called back to the hospital (well my partner did as I couldn’t talk) and told them I felt like I was needing to push, the midwife told me to go back to the hospital and by 9am (after a very challenging car journey!) I arrived back at the hospital and was told that I was 10cm dilated and that they could see my baby’s head.
Giving Birth...
When I entered the delivery room, I felt the most comfortable lying on my side as I found being on my back too uncomfortable. I didn’t really have any time to get settled in the hospital, I had packed tea light candles and a birthing ball etc, but I didn’t use any of it as I had to push as soon as I got there. I used only gas and air and my birthing comb to manage the contractions.
We were informed that staff needed to put a clip-on baby’s head due to them struggling to monitor her heart rate, we didn’t really want this and so we asked if we could have some more time to think about it but they explained the urgency of the situation and so we made the decision for them to attach the clip.
People have said to me in the past, your body will just start pushing and you’ll know… I didn’t think it was true, but it is, my body just started to push even when I was trying not too as I was at home! I didn’t experience any transition, for me one minute I didn’t need to push and was 2cm and then suddenly, I was 10cm and my body was pushing.
We were informed that I needed to be cut because my daughter’s shoulder was stuck, this was an easy decision to make as I didn’t want her getting stressed and I just felt in the moment that was the right thing to do.
My daughter was born at 9.47am after 45 minutes of pushing and I felt so empowered, emotional, and happy. We had kept the gender a surprise which was so special.
Meeting our daughter...
Of course, meeting your baby for the first time is the most magical, happy and joyful experience and it’s true there isn’t a love like it, but I also felt very overwhelmed and shocked, I’m not sure if this is because my birth was so quick and so I still had so much adrenaline pumping through me.
My partner was amazing, and I couldn’t have done it without him and the tips he had learnt from Aimee’s course!
I chose to have the injection to deliver my placenta and I coughed, and they just pulled it out. I saw my placenta and it was so big, I was shocked at how big it was, it was fascinating to see how it had been keeping my baby alive.
Hospital Birth Using Hypnobirthing...
I think that doing the Hypnobirthing course massively helped me during my labour. It certainly helped the most during the early stages of labour and when I was at home breathing through the contractions.
My advice to other people would be to have a birth plan, so that you and your partner are aware of what you both want/don’t want but don’t have your heart set on it.
I didn’t even need to get my birth plan out and I didn’t even open my birth bag until after my baby was born. My other advice would be that every birth/labour is different, everyone told me I’d be in labour for hours/days and that I would be pushing for over 2 hours due to it being my first baby, but I went from 2cm-10cm within 2 hours, (only just making it to the hospital) and I only pushed for 45 minutes.
My Postnatal Recovery...
One thing that surprised me was that my recovery from birth was a lot harder than I imagined as I think that everyone talks about the actual birth/labour and not many people talk about the recovery, and how hard it can be.
I had a few stitches and a few problems for a few days after my delivery so I would say prepare comfortable settings at home and for my I got a few products from my expert midwife that really helped me to heal and feel more comfortable while soaking up all the baby cuddles.
We also had the right number of visits from friends and family, gave ourselves time and we weren’t afraid to say no to people.
Stephanie, Phil and Baby Aria.