Birth story - Jo and baby Freddie

I had my first baby two and a half years ago and had a wonderful experience using the hypnobirthing tools. I read ‘Practical ways to Make your Birth Better’ book and listened to the Freya app daily practicing my relaxation. I had a wonderful and empowering natural birth even though I had previously been very anxious about labour. This time round was more tricky with a toddler running around but I made sure I re-read the book and did my daily relaxation as much as I could using the Freya app. 

I had Gestational diabetes as I did with my first pregnancy so knew the risks associated with this, I managed to control by diet but was notified at 36 weeks my baby could be quite large. They offered me an early induction but I used BRAIN and pushed this back to nearer my due date. My previous labour had been really good and totally natural and 7 days late so I was keen to let my body have as much chance as possible. 

The days leading up to my induction I had some minor contractions and was also really nauseous which I did end up in hospital for as couldn’t keep anything down. They wanted to make sure baby was ok and I could be checked too. The next few days before my induction I got as much rest as possible. 

The Sunday morning was the day of the induction so my husband and I went to hospital and as I was already dilating they could pop by waters. Again, using BRAIN we opted for this first and waited to see what happened. After 2 hours only minor contractions had started and they kept stopping, we opted to wait another 2 hours and really tried to relax and make the labour room more comfortable and cosy. We put out tea lights, turned the lights down, sprayed lavender spray and listened to relaxing music. My husband massaged my feet and back and we even had a giggle to try and get some oxytocin following. After another 2 hours we were offered to start the oxytocin drip, I felt really disheartened that my body hadn’t done more itself but again my husband and I discussed the options and I asked if I could still be upright and not be sat or laid down at all. The midwives were fantastic and really catered for my requests to the point of rearranging the room so had enough room to get to my ball and an area I could stand up but still be monitored. 

After an hour I started to get more regular and more uncomfortable surges which I had to concentrate through and really use my up breathing. I also had a tens machine which I used to help with the increasing surges. It wasn’t long and the surges were coming faster and more regular. Before I knew it I really wanted to push, I remember thinking that this is the second stage and I requested some gas and air. I managed to get up onto the bed but kept kneeling as I knew to keep in the UFO position. Within half an hour I knew my baby was about to arrive, I few more really powerful contractions and I was handed by baby through my legs. Both my husband and I looked down to see that we had another beautiful boy! It felt amazing and couldn’t believe how quickly it had happened. We then had lots of baby snuggles and tea and toast after initial checks. 

I can’t thank The PBC enough for the confidence and knowledge they gave me, knowledge is definitely power! I felt totally in control even when things took a different route. We are so in love with our new little baby boy Freddie and he is super chilled.