Birth story - Kimberley and baby Mya

I fortunately had a very smooth pregnancy with no complications, however I still wanted to learn more about the birth. A friend of mine bought me The Positive Birth Company’s book and recommended the digital pack, I began this at around 20 weeks into my pregnancy. I instantly knew this was the right path for me, I watched the videos every evening in the bath and then told my husband all about what I’d learnt, he surprisingly loved hearing about it all. As my due date came closer I felt so relaxed and ready with my new found knowledge, I didn’t have a set ‘plan’, but I knew my preferences and how I would ideally like it all to go. 

I was 4 days over my estimated due date and decided to stop waiting and just enjoy a day with my husband. We went for a long walk with our dog and had some lunch out, I had a real feeling it could happen as I was so relaxed and happy that day (compared to feeling very ‘over ready’ and hormonal the days before!).

That afternoon I had some of my mucus plug come away, there were no other signs so I didn’t think much of it. Later that night I had what felt like the start of dull period pains, these then got stronger around 11.30pm and woke me up.  I began timing these but they were still 12 minutes apart so I left my husband to sleep until I needed him. I went to the toilet at 2am and noticed my mucus plug had completely come away. I then woke my husband with “I think the baby is coming”, as the contractions were getting a little stronger and now just 8 minutes apart. He shot out of bed in a mad panic bless him.. our dog did too!!!

We phoned the hospital who responded with “it’s your first baby, it could still take days, phone us back when contractions are consistently 3-4 minutes apart”.. this wasn’t much help and could have made me very anxious if I didn’t know any different. Fortunately I stayed calm, focused on my breathing and they kept getting closer. By 4am they were every 3 minutes for over an hour. My husband made the call to the hospital and took me in, even though the midwife was still reluctant for me to go. When they examined me I was 4cm dialated and ready to go to the MLU, I felt quite smug when they said it as they were expecting to send me home again!!

The birthing centre was amazing, so quiet and didn’t look like a hospital at all, my husband called it ‘our very own spa’.. it certainly didn’t feel like it at the time though!! Fortunately the birthing pool wasn’t in use so I chose to try for a water birth, as they ran the bath I continued to stay calm and felt very in control, even with the contractions now getting stronger. The warm water felt really good, I got onto my hands and knees in the pool as I knew I needed to be in a UFO position (it’s all I had in my head!). I continued with my breathing as this felt like enough at first, I then asked for gas and air near to the end of the which helped keep me calm between contractions, as these were beginning to feel really intense. 

Still on my hands and knees in the pool 5 hours later, I started to feel the urge to push, with a lot of pressure around my lower back and bum. I was worried at first as they hadn’t examined me, but the midwives told me to trust my body and go with it. I must admit I found this the most challenging part of the birth and kept holding back in fear of that ‘burning pain’, but it all happens so quickly and I definitely feel the water helped with this. After about 30 minutes I pushed her head out, then with the next contraction our little girl, Mya, arrived at 10.29am. This was the most amazing feeling as I pulled her out between my legs myself and held her, I felt elated! I stayed in the pool for a while and just held her, I was so proud of what I had just done!! 

The midwives I had were fantastic! They let me lead the whole birth and kept the room very relaxed for me, it was silent the whole time (apart from when I started mooing near the end!!) with soft lighting. I thought I would want a lot of the things I’d packed such as music, lights, lavender etc but I just needed to focus and relax with my breathing, it even annoyed me if my husband spoke bless him! Mya’s heart rate stayed the same throughout the whole birth, which made me happy knowing how relaxed she was.

Unfortunately my placenta didn’t want to arrived so easily, and after an hour of trying I had to go to theatre to have it removed. I felt gutted after avoiding any intervention, but I then remembered to stay calm, breathe through it all and I was soon back with Mya & my husband. 

After a lot of people telling me that hypnobirthing would be a waste of time and wouldn’t help, I couldn’t disagree more, I definitely wouldn’t have coped so well without it. A big thank you to The Positive Birth Company, I can’t recommend you enough!