Birth story - Hayley and baby Thea

I had heard of hypnobirthing, so when I found out I was pregnant I was interested in finding out more. Initially I started reading a hypnobirthing book and whilst it gave me some insight into the techniques, I struggled to see how it would work for me. I heard of the Positive Birth Company at around 30 weeks and knew the online course would suit me better.

My positive birth story comes more from a place of having my head in the game and using the up and down breathing because actually my birth was surprisingly quick so all the prep I had done around birth preferences and creating an oxytocin rich environment just went out the window at the time. To some my story may seem overly medical but actually I used my BRAIN throughout and it worked for me.

My BMI was high so from the off I was under consultant care and told I would only be able to use the delivery suite as my place to give birth. At 30 weeks I was then diagnosed with gestational diabetes which made us higher risk and meant the monitoring of baby increased. I was happy to engage with the process for the safety of baby but what I found particularly challenging was the attitude medically that it was unlikely I’d have a natural birth. Every appointment was often ended with statistics about my increased risk and the fact I was twice more likely to have an assisted delivery. The PBC online course made me feel empowered to know it didn’t have to be that way.

As I approached birth my blood sugars became more unstable and I was put on insulin which then triggered discussions about planned induction around 38-39 weeks due to risk to baby. Using my BRAIN I agreed. My induction was booked for exactly 39 weeks.

Leading up to my induction date I spent a lot of time redoing particular sections of the course and using the MP3s. Particularly if I started to feel any anxieties about my birth. I also booked into acupuncture to

1. Try and prepare my body for birth

2. For my general well-being.

I spent a lot of time thinking about how I could create a relaxing, home from home environment in the induction and delivery suite and planned for all eventualities in my birth preferences.

On Monday 11th March I was called into hospital for induction. I had a bag packed with my LED candles, essential oils, home comforts, my carefully thought out playlists. Due to an emergency on the induction ward the pessary wasn’t inserted until around 4.30pm so the rest of the evening was just spent bouncing on my ball and trying to relax.

At around 8pm I started to feel a lot of pressure at my lower back and in my bum. I felt relaxed and let the midwife know. She felt it was likely that it was the chemical induction creating Braxton Hicks which she said was a good sign. She reminded me how long the induction process could be, particularly as I was a first time mum. I found the pressure to be so much that I couldn’t settle in bed so instead I spent much of the night on my ball and wondering around the ward. At 2am I was observed and the pressure remained and was slightly more intense but keeping mobile really helped.

At 3am I was laying in bed and felt a spring like feeling in my lower belly, nothing happened initially but it was enough to make me get up. At this point I felt water trickle down my leg and I knew my waters had broken. As soon as I was up I could feel the pressure was different and everything felt a lot heavier. The midwife examined me and said there was still cervix. At this point I needed to start using my up-breathing. I spent a lot of time before birth thinking about my environment but when it came to it my focus was not there, instead it was more centred on managing my surges.

At 5am I was examined and was 3cm, I continued to stay upright, forward and open and used my up-breathing to manage my surges. I started to use my Freya app not long after this I was having surges lasting 45-50 secs every 2 mins. By 7am I was telling the midwives that I needed to move to the delivery suite otherwise baby was going to arrive on the induction ward. Throughout I just continued to focus on my breathing and it wasn’t until this point that I asked for gas and air.

I was moved to the delivery suite and was examined again. The midwife told me I was 7cm and from this point I really went into myself. I continued using my up-breathing. Initially I was stood leaning over the bed but as I neared full dilation I chose to climb onto the bed and leaned over the back as I began to feel like my legs wouldn’t hold me up through my surges any longer. Around 10am my surges changed and with each surge I could feel my body pushing unintentionally. My midwife picked up on this and re-examined me telling me I was now fully dilated. This is where I changed to down breathing. I didn’t need any guidance from the midwife, my body just knew what it needed to do.

Thea got a little stuck on her way out and after approx 1 hour of pushing I needed an episiotomy. At 11.02 Thea Rose was born.

The positive birth company online course made me 100% confident that I could have a calm and positive birth. The midwife said she had very little to do as I just followed my body. She also couldn’t believe Thea was my first baby. Thank you so much 👶🏻