Birth story - Maryam and baby

I first would like to start by thanking Siobhan and the Positive Birth Company for putting together the digital pack. Best (and cheapest) investment I've ever made!

When I had my first baby I was quite young but I was keen to learn about child birth, so I learnt what was readily available to me, most of what I learnt was basic, things like pain relief etc. So when it was time to have my son, I had no tools or techniques to ease my birthing experience. I felt so out of control, I needed to push but the midwife explained that I wasn't dilated enough so instead to focus on my breathing. But how do I breath?! No one explained that part to me. In hindsight, my body was telling me that I needed to get off the bed and stand, but unfortunately I ignored my instincts until the very last few minutes. When I stood, it made the biggest difference, I felt so much more comfortable and so much more in control! It left me wondering if there is anything out there that empowers mothers to be in such as a way that there is no more or less anxiety around child birth.

Two and a half years later, around 4 months pregnant, I came across Louise Pentland a.k.a sprinkle of glitter and her positive birth story which lead me to find the digital pack. Fast forward to December 2019 and I had the most empowering, euphoric birth. It was almost as though Siobhan was right there next to me. Each surge brings my baby closer had become my mantra. Throughout every stage of birth, I remembered something out of the digital pack relating to that stage. So for example, during a surge, I remembered and visualised Siobhan's arms mimicking the the movement of the abdominal muscles. I clearly remembered her talking about down breathing and how to do it (and FYI I did practise on the toilet!). I gave birth in an hour! No stitches, no immense pain (maybe just a tiny bit) just pure bliss and love.

I had people tell me I won't remember any techniques when it came down to the nitty gritty, they couldn't be more wrong. I still use the up breathing now, whenever I'm stressed or feel anxious. Hypnobirthing didn't just teach me how to birth effectively. It taught me to trust myself, my instincts. It taught me that if you look at things in a different, more positive perspective, it will change the outcome almost entirely. So once again, I would like to send my appreciation to Siobhan and her team for making my birth experience more positive by light years.