Birth story:
“I decided to give hypno birthing a go after a friend of mine told me how amazing it was. I was never really scared of giving birth but naturally I was apprehensive. I began classes on a one to one basis with Janet Naylor and of course my birthing partner Mike, my husband, we attended what was meant to be 4 half day classes but never made the 4th. We practised scripts and listened to our cd each night before bed.
At exactly 9 weeks before my due date my waters broke during the night. I kept calm and used my positive affirmations telling myself everything was going to be just fine. I made the call to the hospital who informed me to pack and over night bag and go to the hospital immediately. I calmly packed a bag and used deep breathing as practised in our classes to keep me calm and we left for the hospital. On arrival the midwife asked me a few questions and called a doctor to examine me to establish if my waters had actually broke and if I was dilated. She along with the doctor confirmed the waters had broken but I wasn’t in labour my cervix was still firmly closed. The midwife explained that it would be advisable for me to stay in hospital as my baby was not only going to be born premature but it was also breech.
At this stage we discussed all the options for the birth and what would happen. The doctor on that evening said immediately you will have to have a c section. I questioned him on this and asked why could I not have a breech birth? What are the statistics that say a c section is best for my baby if born now?? He couldn’t answer that and just told me that not many midwives and consultants feel confident delivering breach babies anymore therefore they have lost their skills. I asked him to find me statistics to prove what was the best option for my breech and premature baby.
The next morning a different consultant visited me and he asked me why I wanted a natural breach birth I said I wanted whatever was best for my baby, eventually a different consultant came to see me who funnily enough agreed with me that a c section wasn’t necessarily the best thing for my baby or me. She told me how giving the baby a little stress from it coming down the birthing canal would actually be better for her still developing lungs than just pulling her out by c section.
Finally we had an answer that was positive and for a breech birth. She also informed me that having worked for a long period of time in Bangladesh she was very confident in delivering breech babies as was her other colleague and several midwives. Infact several of the midwives hoped that they were on shift as they didn’t want to loose their skills in delivering breach Babies. I was in hospital for a whole week before finally my consultant decided that the risk of infection outweighed the prematurity of the baby and discussed options with me. We agreed for the safety of the baby that I would have a very low dose of hormones to induce my surges which had been on and off for almost 3 days.
The morning of the birth of my beautiful daughter came and as discussed my consultant arranged for me to have the small dose of hormone through a drip, my surges came from nowhere and they came thick and fast I used positive affirmations from the day I arrived at hospital and listened to the fear release script religiously each night before bed that my husband had recorded for me this along with deep breathing got me through the days up until the birth.
Once my surges were coming fast I began my breathing techniques and I took myself off on my magic carpet to some amazing place I’d never been before the midwife was offering me gas and air as well as pain relief throughout but I said no and my baby was delivered and I was well and truly in the zone, I never quite realised the power of the mind until then.
I felt amazing and can honestly say that I enjoyed my not so straight forward birth. My labour was a total of 2.5 hours from start to finish. I gave birth to my beautiful daughter at exactly 32 weeks gestation she was rushed away from me and taken into the special care baby unit. This wasn’t as we had planned and I felt my world fall apart as they told me she was quite poorly, for days and days after I used my strength, used in my Hypnobirthing to get me through these days, using positive scripts and breathing techniques to give me strength.
Finally after 3 weeks in special care my daughter was allowed to come home. Without the Hypnobirthing techniques I seriously don’t know how I wold have got through this. I don’t look back at fear I look back on positivity because throughout this whole experience I felt calm, positive and strong. This experience has taught me that if you put your mind to it you can do absolutely anything.
I would recommend Hypnobirthing to anyone who is pregnant and can honestly say you will use these positive thoughts and exercises through anything life throws at you. I now have a happy calm baby who is gaining weight rapidly and who sleeps really well. Can’t recommend it highly enough and Janet Naylor gave us strength and support throughout. “