Birth story - Jasmine and baby Arlo

I purchased the hypnobirthing course and freya app at around 30 weeks pregnant by this point I was so scared of giving birth and was staying awake all night going over all the bad things that could happen it was horrible and was taking away my joy of being pregnant.

I must admit when I purchased the course I was dubious, thinking this may not work for me, how wrong was I? After watching the videos I gained so much information and knowledge that I would tell anyone who would listen what I had learnt about exactly what would happen to my body. I played the mp3 tracks every night and anytime I had the chance, it really did change my entire outlook on birth and It became something I looked forward to rather than dreading.

I had a really straightforward pregnancy and planned a water birth at a midwife led unit however this very nearly didn’t happen. When I was a few days overdue I was offered a sweep but declined, I felt in control saying at the moment I want my baby to come when he is ready, after all a due date is only an estimation. My midwife agreed too but as another week passed my midwife said she would need to book me in for an induction at another hospital in the next few days, gutted was not the word, I was so upset.

I accepted I would probably need to be induced but I used my brain and said I want the full 2 weeks, my midwife agreed and it was booked on the 14th day overdue. Without the course I would not have said a word and I would have just agreed to everything because that’s what society tells you to do and I would have most definitely being induced before the two weeks was up.

At 8 days overdue I had gone into a very negative frame of mind and was getting so upset about the thought of induction but I persisted with the hypnobirthing and watched the videos again. I remembered how much I needed oxytocin and decided being upset would not help my baby who would be here so soon. That night we watched an entire comedy series and I laughed all night, I was feeling happy and went to bed full of ocxyocin. 

The next morning Tuesday the 24th September at 4:45 am I woke up to very strong contractions that were 2 minutes apart. It was so painful but straight away I put the Freya app on and I managed to breathe myself through the pain for the next couple of hours. 

I forgot to tell my boyfriend I was in actual labour and he came downstairs to get ready for work saw me in the bath and was rather confused as to how I was so calm if I was in “ actual labour “ ( I am the girl that cries over a stubbed toe ) he decided I needed to get out of the bath and go to hospital as my contractions were so close.

We arrived at the midwife led unit around 8:00am and again the midwives could not believe I was in labour and that was all down to the Freya app and breathing through the pain.

The room was set up exactly how I planned, the lighting was dimmed there were some fairy lights up on the wall and the pool was filled up and ready to go. All this, with the Freya app playing, made the room so relaxing it was almost like a spa everybody spoke in hushed voices it was the perfect atmosphere.

The next few hours were very painful but I knew exactly which part of labour I was at from the knowledge I had gained and constantly told myself, 'if I panicked my body would release adrenalin and the pain would be worse, so I stayed calm and breathed myself through the pain with gas and air and an injection of pethidine.

The water was so soothing and really helped to keep me in an upright position. After a while the midwife decided to break my waters which contained a little meconium, she wasn’t too worried and luckily allowed me to stay at the midwife led unit.

I then got back into the water and It was time to push. I used my down breathing, which was a game changer, and made lots of the strange noises I had heard about. After around 30 minutes of pushing my beautiful baby boy Arlo made his entrance into the world at 4:04 pm it truly was the most magical, incredible experience of my life and the pain disappeared in an instant! 

I then had to have quite a lot of stitches as Arlo came out in a strange position with his cord wrapped around him. This was extremely painful so out came the Freya app again and I breathed myself through it with lots of gas and air. 

The midwifes commented on how calm I was and I said that it was all down to the hypnobirthing.

I cannot thank The Positive Birth Company enough it was this course that got me through the anxiety and stress of pre labour nerves and on the actual day it was an amazing tool to have!! 

I would recommend this course to anybody and have told many of my pregnant friends its a must have!