Birth Stories/Post Birth Feedback from
Blissful Birthing Families
This was my second birth and I had unfortunately had a dramatic first birth experience where I was induced and then the epidural didn't work after 3 attempts. With that in my mind I knew I needed to find an alternative for pain relief for this time as I couldn't re-live that experience again.
I had previously heard of Hypnobirthing but not really looked into it until I went to a baby show where someone was doing a talk on it. This lady had used Hypnobirthing for her third birth and explained how different her experience was from her first two. This got me intrigued and then I found out that Rachel taught it and was able to help teach me.
It was 4.11am and I had woken up to tightenings across my stomach. I had Braxton hicks twice the week before and these felt a lot stronger. I started timing them and they were 12 minutes apart. I used my up breathing and used my visualisations which really helped. It got to 7am and told Simon he wouldn't be going into work that day. He started panicking and unfortunately had forgotten all about our Hypnobirthing course, got me stressed out and it sent my waves into a frenzy; they became very irregular now. I sat and gathered my thoughts and realised that adrenaline works against oxytocin so calmed myself down as I really wanted this to work.
Mid morning my waves had got to around 5 minutes apart and so we called the hospital. Unfortunately Simon had forgotten that when they ask to speak to me that he needed to take over but instead passed the phone to me. After getting off the phone, my waves had slowed down massively and now were up to 9 minutes apart. We were told that laughter is a good way to release oxytocin so we put a comedy film on. My waves started to come closer together again so we called the hospital, they told us to ring the maternity unit closer to us and again Simon passed the phone to me when they asked. The midwife gave us the option if we wanted to go in and we decided to monitor it for another half an hour before making a decision. Frustratingly, the waves got far apart to 14 minutes now and then almost stopped. I was so annoyed now and so decided to put clary sage in the diffuser mixed with rose and jasmine as these are all meant to bring on and encourage labour. I got myself back in the zone, stayed on my feet more and around 1.30pm the waves started again and were now 4 minutes apart.
We headed to the hospital and I put my mp3 on through my headphones to stay in the zone whilst in the car. We got to the hospital and Rachel was there as we walked in, just by coincidence, but for me it was the best scenario as she guided me through my Hypnobirthing course and I felt an extra urge of strength and comfort to be able to get through this with her there.
I set up my essential oils in the room and put my mp3 on loud. It got to 5pm and I agreed to an examination to see how things were progressing as I needed to know for my own preparation. I was 4cm dilated. This was the first and last time that I was examined. I continued my up breathing and found the visualisations very helpful as the pain got worse. The hot air balloon and blowing bubbles in particular. There was a phrase in my birthing suite printed on the wall that read "my surges cannot be stronger than me because they are me". This really resonated with me and helped me a lot.
Around 6pm I asked to go in the birthing pool and so my new midwife started to fill it up. By this point my pain had increased loads and my waves were a lot longer. It got to a point where the waves were really intense and I realised the only relief was to push. I did contemplate asking for gas and air as the up breathing just wasn't helping as much as before but every time when I could have asked for it, another wave happened and I realised I just needed to push. I changed to my down breathing without intending to because it came naturally from remembering how it worked from practicing it in my daily activities. Soon after, I felt the baby below and his head was ready to come out. Because I had continued with my breathing,my husband and midwife hadn't realised I had started to push until I let out a big moan (which is when baby's head was crowning) to which the midwife put the mirror in the water, realised baby was nearly here and then had to prepare for its arrival.
We welcomed a little boy into the world with no pain relief and I am so proud of myself that I managed to do it through Hypnobirthing. There is a lot of stigma around that Hypnobirthing is a "hippy" theory but I cannot recommend it enough and have continued to tell everyone about it when I get the chance. I am someone who wanted an epidural for my first birth knowing my pain threshold is very low and so if Hypnobirthing can help me, it really can help anyone as long you are fully committed to it.
I also wanted to thank you for all of your support throughout my pregnancy and after, you really were amazing! And it was so lovely to have you in the background throughout it all, your hypnobirthing classes were amazing and I would still recommend it to everyone even though my birth didn't go quite to plan, I felt so relaxed about going into labour and that is truly down to you and your sessions with us. I also think my partner got so much from it as well, he was so calm and really helped me during the birth and after...so a massive THANK YOU!
Honestly i can’t thank you enough for the entire course of hypnobirthing. It really helped me through the agonisingly long stage before established labour. When I thought I couldn’t take it anymore my mum just kept reminding me of my breathing exercises and going through everything we had learnt and it was incredible. I don’t think I could of done it without hypnobirthing as it really just helped calm me down and reminded me that I’m in control of how I’m feeling and to put the pain to the back of my mind and focus on something else. Once in established labour she only took 40 minutes to arrive so I didn’t even have time to get in the pool for a planned water birth and I barely had any gas and air for the pain as there simply wasn’t enough time for it! I’m so proud of myself for being able to say I did that all with the help of you!
So from the bottom of my heart thank you so so much for everything!
I've been meaning to get in touch with you to tell you that hypnobirthing had a really positive impact on my labour, and I'm so glad we did your course.
We went to the hospital when my labour ramped up as I fully wanted an epidural at that point, I didn't think I could do it. However, I ended up giving birth in the pool on the midwife-led unit and I still can't quite believe I did it! The single biggest thing for me was the breathing and having that to focus on, with Matt there to support me, really got me through. Thank you again for your amazing course!
Hypnobirthing:
Hypnobirthing was recommended to us by a family member and we were delighted that the course took us beyond our expectations. We used breathing techniques for the latent stage of labour. However, what was fundamental for us, was Rachel's teachings about the different labour pathways, since our labour was not straightforward. Gaining all of Rachel's knowledge from the class, we were able to feel calm and in control, even when things did not go to plan. We now have a happy and healthy little boy and we cannot recommend Rachel and this course highly enough!
Postnatal course:
Rachel was able to share all of her knowledge and answer all of our questions during this course, taking us through all stages of newborn life. We finished the course feeling excited and we felt more confident when we welcomed our baby into the world.
I just wanted to email and let you know that we have a beautiful baby girl. She was born by c-section in the end but labour was quite quick and implementing hypnobirthing breathing techniques definitely helped. She was 9lb and we are back home doing well. Thanks you for all your help and support during the course we did with you, it really paid off and we're both so glad we did it.
I can honestly say that thanks to you and your course my birth was a very positive experience, especially the breathing techniques for me were vital. My birth may not have gone to plan but I managed to stay calm and trust my body and let go of fear which helped me cope better with the complications that occurred. However, I was in the best care so there really wasn't any cause of alarm, it just wasn't the birth I would have chosen but I was never in any danger and completing your course made me view it as that rather than the usual human reaction of fear and flight. So I hope whoever reads this helps them make up their minds to 100% complete your course as it really doesn't matter what birth you have, it is how you handle it - this is where your power is. Thank you again Rachel x
I just wanted to let you know that our baby girl has arrived! Before taking the hypnobirthing course I was feeling really anxious about giving birth and I am so glad my Husband and I did it. I managed on only gas and air and a midwife commented on how the breathing technique was helping. In the end she came really quickly and I can now finally say I've had the natural labour I've always wanted so thank you for helping me achive that!
I was able to put into practice all you taught me. We ended up needing a forcep delivery in the end as our girl got her head stuck, it all happened very very quickly. My waters started leaking on the Saturday evening and went to hospital to check it out and they sent me back home thinking it was just my show. Then on the Sunday evening I had another leak so they checked it again and said yes they think it’s my waters and offered me to stay in to be induced or go home; I opted to go home so I could relax and hopefully this would help speed it up. I wasn’t having any pain at this point at all and from the moment I got home my surges started and they got really intense so so quickly I was stood in the shower for a good hour trying to relax and breathe. My husband then called the hospital to advise how quickly I was having surges as they was every 2 minutes or so (it was so intense) we were advised to come straight up - they examined me on arrival I was then at 8cm so 2 hours since it the pains began! So we headed straight to the pool where nothing seemed to be happening - I was having really strong surges the midwife then examined me to find baby had her head stuck, so ended up with an epidural and a forcep delivery. It was an incredible experience, the excitement and thought of finally getting to hold our baby throughout was amazing! I would do it all again for our little girl, she is just perfect and I can’t thank you enough, you were so knowledgeable, honest and reassuring!
The last week was a little less relaxed, having gone past the due date, being asked by friends and family about it and starting to think about birth induction etc. In the end, I had 3 membrane sweeps, including the last one on the morning of the 2nd. I used some of the hypnobirthing methods to stay as calm as I could, and to take it day by day. The fact that my sister and niece were here and the baby was not yet, I turned it into a positive experience and their presence actually helped a lot.
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My waters broke with the very first few surges around 1am on the 3rd, and by 3am we were at the MLU for the initial assessment. The midwives' initial plan was for us to go back home until they became more regular. The mix of me staying calm and trusting my body (and my partner helping me!) made them regular soon and we both knew the best was to stay there, which happened eventually and we were then invited to move to one of the delivery rooms. At that point, my partner rushed to the car to get the bags (we had everything ready) and the TENS machine. Once in the room, I dilated at a good pace and we made it feel comfortable using essential oils, our own piano music, etc. The surges were getting more intense over time and I did ask for pain relief eventually (at around 9am). We discussed our options with the midwives and agreed to wait until after the 9.30am examination to make a more informed decision. At that stage I was 3cms dilated and midwives suggested meptid use, so that I could use entonox in the pool for the later stages. It worked, although it made me quite sick. By 1pm I was 6cms dilated and I got into the birthing pool at 3pm. Entonox did the job brilliantly at that stage and by 5pm I was fully dilated, that was one of the easier parts!
The last bit was more intense as we were reaching the 18h since the waters broke and also the end of the midwives shift. However, the team was amazing and didn't transmit their concerns about a potential transfer to us, but empowered me to get through the pushing. It was the only thing that was different from our birth plan and what we had discussed with you, but it did work at the time and their guided pushing helped me deliver the head... not easy! Our girl was born inside the pool surrounded by the brilliant team (and an emotional Dad!) at 7.25pm, right on time to meet everyone. I grabbed her immediately and she started crying, then brought her to my chest. Dad cut the cord (delayed) as planned and did skin to skin whilst I was getting out of the pool. The placenta delivery was fast and easy, then I needed some stitches on a 2nd degree tear, but I started breastfeeding as soon as I could. We had a good 4 hours after that for tea, toast, showering and getting acquainted with the baby before I was transferred to a ward for overnight observations (since she was born right after 18hrs of the water breaking), and my partner headed home.
All and all, we had a great experience and pretty much had the labour we had hoped for. In any case, having all the information and how empowered we felt by what we learned with you helped us take it one step at a time and see the whole process in a positive light. Thank you so much for being part of the journey, Rachel
Just wanted to let you know we had Baby and had the most perfect homebirth!
Everything went as per our preferences, it truly was just as we could have hoped and we honestly could not have done it without hypnobirthing so just wanted to say thank you so so much for everything!