Birth story - Alexandra and baby Theodore

It’s taken me a long time to get around to writing this as I have had a busy four months becoming a mum! On first glance it may appear that the birth was not all that positive but that could not be further from the truth! I’d like to show that birth can be a highly positive experience even if things don’t go to original plan, no matter HOW you give birth and I 100% credit the hypnobirthing course in helping me feel so positive about my birth experience.

I bought, and completed, the digital pack towards the end of my pregnancy and it is by far the best thing I spent money on. I suffer from high anxiety and I was very anxious about giving birth but having completed the digital pack the anxiety completely disappeared, once I understood the concept of birth and was armed with the techniques to help me through- the positive affirmations were super helpful for me and I was lucky that the day I went into labour was the day the Freya App was launched.

On Sunday the 10th February I went to my mum and dad’s and my mum had made a prawn curry- we all know the ongoing old wives tale about hot curries to help baby on their way and I remember joking about it that night... 🙄 come Monday morning I was no longer laughing...

My husband had been on nights so I had spent the night at mum and dad’s ‘just in case’ as I was only 10 days away from my ‘due date’ but was in my ‘due period’ and always had a strong feeling baby would arrive earlier than his ‘due date’. I woke up Monday morning to my waters trickling. Come midday I started having surges and by 1pm I phoned husband to tell him I was going to the local MLU to be checked. They confirmed my hind waters were coming away and I was about 1cm dilated so was well on my way. I went home and used ‘up breathing’, had a bath, watched TV, got in comfy clothes and tried to relax.

The surges came thick and fast and by the evening we were back at the MLU and admitted. I knew baby was back to back so understood it would maybe be slightly more difficult to get him out but I had every confidence in my body’s ability to birth my baby. By about 9pm I was given a shot of pethidine (something I wasn’t originally planning on having) but using BRAIN I made the decision this was right for me and it absolutely was. The pethidine allowed me some much needed rest and as it’s a muscle relaxant it helped me progress very quickly to 5cm, my waters broke and I was able to get into the birthing pool. The whole experience of labouring in the birthing pool, with gas and air, and the music, ‘up breathing’ and the twinkly fairy lights was as close to perfection as you could get, I was so calm and happy and relaxed. I made good progress whilst in the pool.

Come morning I felt an urge to push so was taken out of the pool to be checked- I was 8cm. By 8am on Tuesday morning and at shift change I was still 8cm and the decision was made to transfer me to hospital. I originally was really against delivering in hospital because of my anxiety around hospitals, but let me tell you the experience and the care I received in hospital was incredible and as soon as I met my midwife Katie any worries I may have had instantly disappeared- she was an actual angel. The ride in the ambulance had helped me progress further to 9.5cm where I stayed. By Tuesday afternoon the decision was made to have an epidural something I had originally said was a last resort but the exhaustion was real and I needed the energy to push. This allowed me a good hour to rest and allow baby to naturally come down the birth canal. I then had an hour of active pushing. Contrary to my original belief I could still feel my surges so I knew when to push and used my down breathing throughout.

After an hour of pushing it was clear baby was stuck and I would need assistance. I was prepped for theatre with the plan to do a trial with forceps and if that didn’t work a c-section and so I was fully prepped for one just in case. My experience in theatre was so positive, everyone introduced themselves and as on my birth preference I was talked through everything every step of the way to help alleviate my anxiety. I remember the anesthetist at my head, talking me through and stroking my head, my midwife by my side holding my hand and my birthing partner, my husband, sat at my head knowing he was “by my side and on my side”. I remember the doctor, Vicky, walking through the door determined to get baby out naturally as opposed to doing a c-section and I remember the elation on her face when baby turned and on the second pull his head was out.

At exactly 5pm Theo was born and as on my birth preferences I was given the opportunity to pull Theo out and up onto myself being the first person to hold him. I was given skin to skin instantly and for a long time, we had delayed cord clamping and my husband was able to cut the cord. Everything on my birth preferences was taken into consideration and adhered to as much as possible. Post birth I developed a few complications which I won’t go into here but I still look back on my birth experience as so positive. I can remember midwives and health visitors repeatedly saying about doing birth reflections which I continued to explain I didn’t need and I have met other mums with similar experiences to me who have not been able to view their births as positive which upsets me knowing they didn’t have the same view I did.

As I said in the beginning I absolutely 100% credit the Hypnobirthing for giving me the tools and mindset to be able to view my birthing experience as a positive one. Every decision I made was for me and Theo and we were treated with care, kindness and compassion throughout. My feelings, needs and preferences were respected at every stage and throughout I felt in charge and, more importantly, safe. Without a doubt I would do it all over again and I know next time no matter how I give birth it will be a positive one. Without Hypnobirthing I don’t know that I would have been able to view it as such a positive experience so for that I will be forever grateful.