Birth story - Laura and baby Leah

We were introduced to the positive birth company by my husbands work colleague who used the online pack and had a fantastic experience as a result. I purchased the digital pack at 16 weeks and watched all the videos at our own pace. I used the mp3s every night to relax before bed so I was really familiar with them and had built up a strong association with feeling calm when I heard them. Leah is our second child, we have a 2 year old son Adam too, and although my birth experience with Adam was straightforward, I still felt things could have been calmer and more positive for my husband and I.

My early labour started after a short walk around the local park on 26/1. I felt very calm knowing every surge brought me closer to meeting leah. Mainly just irregular light surges and I was able to carry on as normal. They stopped around 9pm so we went to bed as normal as my instincts told me my daughter wasn't far off making an appearance, so I slept as much as I could.

The next morning surges started again at around 8am this time regularly every 20 minutes. I called my mum to pick up my older son. My husband timed the surges and as the intensity picked up counted me through my up breathing. We watched some movies and I bounced on the birth ball or walked around. Things slowed down around 5pm so I asked my mum to bring Adam home and hubby put him to bed while I chilled out in our bedroom listening to the mp3s. At about 7 things surges went from quiet to being really ramped up. All still very manageable but after 30 mins of surges every 7-10 mins I knew it wouldn't be long and phoned the birth centre. They asked if I wanted to stay home another hour to check the surges were here to stay, but I listened to my instincts and asked to come in to be assessed. We did the short drive to the midwife centre, me with sleep mask and headphones playing my mp3s. This really helped keep me calm, as the surges continued to get more intense I remained positive and relaxed.

When we got into the midwife centre I admit I did have a little wobble. The assessment room was quite bright and I needed to lie on the bed to be examined, which made the sensation of the surges more uncomfortable. Fortunately my midwife was lovely and checked me over very quickly. We were already at 8cm so moved into a lovely birthing room and up breathed while waiting for the pool to fill, at this point my waters went. Jumped into the pool around 9:30 and it felt like heaven! The hot water so comforting. I asked for gas and air as surges became more intense and very quickly it was time to push. My surges were regular but a bit on the short side, so I asked the midwife to coach me to push as I felt I wanted that extra support. Little Leah didn't get the memo about the best birth position and turned at the last minute so we were back to back. That said I was still very much able to cope and used down breathing and when her head emerged it actually did feel good! Another easy surge and she was out and straight on my chest. I felt super human! We opted for delayed clamping, and I got out the pool to be checked. I had a bit of a tear, so we used our brain and opted for the injection for placenta delivery as I wanted to get stitched up so I could rest. I enjoyed lots of cuddle time first.

I'm so proud of myself as we had an experience my hubby and I will look back on and cherish. If you're new to hypnobirthing I really recommend the positive birth company. The online course was down to earth, well pitched and well paced. I also enjoyed reading the positive birth stories on this page, so thanks everyone!