Birth story - Khadija and baby girl

I would like to share my birth story in hopes it would empower any of you like I was empowered reading so many positive birth stories here and in other groups. sorry, its a long one!

I was introduced to The Positive Birth Company by my sister who is a soon to be certified doula. unfortunately she lives in Australia so she was unable to be with me physically but she had been supporting me through the phone. She kept reminding me that knowledge is power and that I had to do my part to make informed choices for my pregnancy and birth, especially since I live in Malaysia and gentle birthing is not really a common thing. I decided to purchase the hypnobirthing digital pack in my second trimester and it was the first best thing I ever did during the whole of my pregnancy (the second best thing was making sure I chose the right doctor). I wasn't able to attend any antenatal classes due to unforseen circumstances but I'm happy to say the pack really prepared me and my husband for what to expect.

On my 38th week my doctor told me my baby was in position but floating. He said if by the 40th week baby is still not engaged I'd have to go for a MRI scan to check. I didn't want to have to go through that in case they find reasons to do even more medical interventions, so that night and the next following nights - aside from practising my up breathing and down breathing - I bounced on my birthing ball, did squats and practised the meditation techniques that came in the digital pack with my husband.

A few days later (I was 38w + 5d) I started getting light cramps at 4pm. I figured they were braxton hicks so I ignored it and went about my day. By 7pm they were slightly more prominent but still I didn't think too much of it. By 9pm I was exhausted so I napped but was awoken an hour later because the cramps amplified. I texted my sister to inform her but she was already asleep so I decided to do some exercises, to help through labour, I found on YouTube and time my surges with the FREYA app just in case. I tried sleeping at 2 am but the surges kept waking me up every so often. By 3am I completely gave up on sleeping and bounced on my ball / walked around the room /bent over the bed to manage my surges while I did the up breathing (by then it was a struggle). My husband switched off the main light, switched on the night light and diffused bergamot and I rotated between listening to the Holy Qur'an, positive affirmations and meditation. I called my sister at 4am and she told me to wake my mom up and to prepare for anything. I took a hot shower (brought my ball inside the shower too) and continued timing my surges. an hour later the FREYA app informed me I was in established labour. I wasn't sure at the time because the intensity hadn't increased from an hour or so.

I was really exhausted by then so my sister told me to switch everything off and try to get some sleep as I would need my energy later on. I took 5 minute naps before the next surge came on and each time it did my mom placed a warm towel on my lower back (I rocked myself back and forth on all fours to manage it) and my husband massaged me. I had a pack of positive affirmations that I had printed out to which my mom read out to me and she also kept reminding me that "the pain is good, it means you're closer to meeting your baby." That went on for a good 3 hours and by 9 am my surges intensified. My husband and mom told me if at any time I needed to go, we will go to the hospital. I timed my surges one last time with the app and when it said I was in established labour, we grabbed our bags and headed to the hospital.

They rushed me to the theatre room and strapped the CTG on me while they did a vaginal exam to check how many cm I was. I was fully dilated! they quickly called my doctor in and set up a mat on the floor for me with my birth ball (I chose to be on all fours while I held on to the ball). An hour to 2 hours later, my beautiful daughter was born. The down stage was a bit of a struggle due to lack of energy but I kept chanting one particular positive affirmation: "Every surge brings me closer to meeting my baby". My husband was beside me telling me what a great job I was doing and how incredibly strong I was and all that lovely positivity kept me going.

I would like to thank the Positive Birth Company for helping me make informed choices for my birth. I am really petite (4 ft 11") and many people had given me doubts about the possibility of having an all natural birth, but I got exactly that and I couldn't be happier. The course made me truly believe in the capabilities of our body and how my baby is the right size for me. It's definitely a memory I will always cherish ♥️