Birth story - Charlotte and baby boy

After 4 miscarriages this pregnancy has been our little miracle.  At 12 weeks I had a heavy bleed and we thought we'd lost him, but to our amazement he was fine and despite a few issues with a suspected bicornuate uterus and fibroid the pregnancy went well. We decided to use hypnobirthing as recommended by my sister.

When the Covid19 crisis started I was extremely anxious but the online evening chats really helped me refocus.

My labour started at 39 + 2 on 23/4/20 with mild surges. I immediately used the Freya app and tried to focus on these  at home. After 24 hrs I was still in the latent phase and was anxious to be checked at the hospital (our local midwife unit closed due to coronavirus). I was refused a check as my surges weren't close enough. 

I continued at home for another 16hrs, still in the latent phase. This time I insisted on a check to make sure baby was ok. During the check at hospital, where my husband was not allowed in, I had a sweep and was told I was 2cm dilated. My waters had not gone yet. I went home to continue and things ramped up during the evening with the app now consistently stating I was in established labour. 

We went to the hospital, now 48hrs in to labour and my husband had to wait in the car whilst I was assessed. I was 5cm dilated and had now started using the tens machine as the surges were intense. The midwife asked if I wanted pain relief but I said I felt  ok, she said I seemed to be coping really well with the breathing and tens machine.

When I was moved to a room my husband was able to join us and we handed the midwife the birth plan, as soon as she saw we were hypnobirthing she was great and tried to blend in to the background more.

I started struggling with the surges and utilised the gas and air as well as injections with the Freya app still playing in the background. My husband set up the lighting and helped me focus through every surge. The midwife had to break my waters but using the breathing techniques really helped.

I was kept on monitoring as a precaution due to the long labour but was still able to use the ball and change position. As I became more tired the baby started showing signs of distress and 56hrs in to labour I was urgently assessed by the consultant who decided on an emergency C section. Everything became hurried and blurred.

Due to the urgency my husband was not allowed in theatre but as soon as our little one was delivered he was brought in. The relief was immense, our little miracle was here. Because of coronavirus my husband only had 30mins with our son before I was transferred to the ward and he had to leave.  It was tough being alone during recovery the next couple of days but the midwifes are doing an amazing job to support the women and babies.

Whilst my labour took a dramatic turn, I believe hypnobirthing really helped during the unusually long latent phase. We created a wonderful 'cave' at home where I felt very safe, the Freya app helped track what was happening and the breathing techniques were used for every surge. On top of this, the hypnobirthing helped us through the uncertainty caused by coronavirus. 

We would definitely use hypnobirthing again in future.