Birth story - Rachel and baby Cole

I have been meaning to write my positive birth story for quite some time. Then I got to thinking yesterday after speaking to an expectant friend of mine, I really do need to write it down, as the world needs more positive birth experiences to be shared! To empower other women into thinking 'Yes! I can have the birth that I want & dreamed of!' So, here it is, my wonderful birth experience of my second baby boy!! To share with you all & it's all thanks to hypnobirthing & the positive birth company. Better late than never!

The birth of my first baby was one of the most incredible experiences of my life, my husband and I sobbed tears of pure happiness at seeing our perfect boy right there in my arms. We named him 'Theodore' meaning 'gift of God' & it is a memory I will always cherish with all of my heart. The labour however, was scary, stressful and agony, & not a story you'd want to share with other expectant Mums. Having been turned away from the MLU I wished to birth at in early labour due to baby's potential static growth. I was then admitted to delivery suite where I was strapped to a trolley on my back & told not to move to be monitored & tutted at for being sick by one of the midwives (although I did manage to make it to the hospital bin to puke! which I thought actually was a win! :P) I then deviated from my unwritten birth plan & opted for an epidural only to have one second time lucky as the poor junior doctor dropped his sterile tray on the floor the first time around which sent me into a sobbing panicked frenzy and stalled my contractions so that I had to have an IV synthetic version of the hormone Oxytocin to get them going again only to be told by a midwife I had to push baby out within an hour otherwise I would need an assisted delivery. Every part of my labour I felt out of control. I knew that next time I wanted to be the one in control of my own birth! so that my labour could be a positive one, one to look back on and think I did it! & it was incredible! I knew I had to do my research the second time around.

When I was pregnant with my second baby, a friend of mine told me all about her wonderful 'hypnobirthing experience' & how natural & calm the birth of her second baby was. I was in awe & decided to look into online hypnobirthing courses that I could study from home in the evenings when my 2 year old was asleep. I stumbled across the 'Positive Birthing Company' & downloaded the digital hypnobirthing course along with the 'hypnobirthing Freya app'. I found the course content inspiring & loved hearing about other peoples positive birth experiences! When I could I listened to the calming 'Freya app' to prepare me for labour, I practised visualisation techniques & my breathing whenever I could, in the bath, whilst doing my makeup & when Theodore was napping. I also did my research on where I would like to give birth and decided on a local delivery suite that had two beautiful, dreamy, calming birthing suites with warm water pools. My husband and I then booked on a tour of the water birth suites along with a lecture on water births by the senior midwife at that hospital. Taking a tour of the water pools and talking to the experienced midwives there made me more determined & confident to have the natural birth I had imagined. It also helped to have my husband onboard with how I visualised the calming labour and birth of our boy into the world. In the meantime, I collected all the things I wanted to have during labour, as suggested by the Positive Birth Company. I gathered together a beautiful natural lavender & Clary Sage aromatherapy candle, my favourite aromatherapy oils, my favourite bubble bath, birthing ball & my favourite drinks & bubblegum fizzy sweets along with an adorable white outfit & teddy for baby.

I was 39 weeks pregnant when I felt dull aching pains one morning. I went shopping with my son to take my mind off them in the afternoon, thinking that they were Braxton hicks. I went home, put my son to bed & told my husband I was having some discomfort & was unsure as to whether I was in early labour or not & whether he should go to work for his night shift. In the end we decided he should go to work & that I would call him if the pain increased & felt like early labour. I had my tea, a spicy curry! & as it was a cozy winters night I put on a Christmas film. Within two hours I had to call him at the Fire station & tell him to come back as the discomfort was getting more severe and more frequent indicating early labour. I did not feel panicked. I calmly went upstairs and ran a bubble bath, listening to the Freya app to calm me & guide me through my breathing techniques. I felt so calm sipping my favourite drinks & eating my favourite sweets that I had saved for this very moment. I lit my scented candle, the bath was delicious. This was amazing! Yes I felt nervous, and excited at meeting my baby, but above all I felt calmed & focused. I then called my father in law to come over so that he could stay at our house while Theodore was sleeping. I got dressed into comfy clothes and watched the end of the Christmas film while bouncing on my birthing ball in the living room. I wasn't in a rush to go to the hospital like I was the first time around and I was enjoying gently bouncing on the soft, large ball in my warm living room. The film starred a handsome man named Cole & I thought at that very moment if I give birth to another boy I would also name him Cole to remind me of my magical Christmassy early labour. My husband and I then left for the hospital & I listened to the hypnobirthing app through my headphones all the way in the car. The pains were getting more frequent and more severe but the app calmed me. On arrival at the maternity unit I was given a lovely midwife, she looked young and probably newly qualified and I handed her my hand written hypnobirthing plan for her to read. She was very understanding. She examined me & told me I was around 4cm dilated. We were then told to wait until we could go to delivery suite. I felt in my calm head space while we were waiting, the pain of the contractions felt severe but some how I was managing them. My hot cubicle where I was waiting was right next to a hospital window, so instead of waiting on the bed I stood up & leaned forward slightly out of the window, taking in the cold winter night air which felt amazingly crisp & cooled me. I put my headphones on again so that I couldn't hear anyone else & listened to calming music, my husband was by my side reassuring me. I walked up and down & when I had a painful contraction I visualized a hot air balloon on a warm sunny day drifting off into the sunset with me my husband & my son in it, heading for our new baby. The contractions were getting a lot more frequent now & I asked my husband to chase the midwife up on when we could head to the delivery suite, its as if I knew baby would be here soon and sensed some urgency. My lovely midwife went to get me a wheelchair to go to delivery suite, I said I’d walk & she looked surprised but patiently walked with me & my husband to delivery suite, with a few little stops along the way when a contraction kicked in. I felt quietly proud of myself for walking as I felt that this would keep the labour progressing in the right way, being UFO (upward, forward, open) …. all the little useful tips I had learnt with the positive birthing company. I was told by my midwife that all the midwives were busy on the delivery suite but that she would stay with me & that she had read my birthing plan. I was so relieved, she was very kind & very reassuring & I felt totally at ease with her.

The birthing suite felt familiar as we had already visited & I went into the warm pool straight away. My husband sat on the comfy chair next to me. It felt so natural to be in the water, like it was my own private space nurturing and protecting both me & the baby, both warm & comforting. My midwife played my calming music through my phone for me so I could hear it in the room. She offered me gas & air and I took it as I felt I really did need it at this stage. The gas & air felt amazing & along with the warming water, completely took the edge off the sharp pain, I felt like I was floating. Within ten minutes of being in the water I felt the need to push & it took me quite by surprise! Surely I didn't need to push now?? It had only been an hour since I was told I was 4cm dilated. My husband hurriedly ran after my midwife only for her to calmly come in & tell me not to worry, & to go with my body, my body knows what to do. I felt at ease again, my body knew exactly what to do & my contractions felt like they were pushing baby out for me! I went with it & pushed with every contraction practicing my 'down breathing'. It felt so natural. With one final big push I gave birth to my baby calmly into the warm waters of the birthing pool & scooped him straight up into my arms. I had only been in hospital for 2 hours. I was absolutely delighted, we did it, me & the baby together! & I cuddled him close to me in the warm bath. We had only been in the hospital all of 2 hours start to finish. I checked baby's sex, he was a boy! weighing 71b 1oz with lots of beautiful dark hair, on 27th November 2019 at 01:26 am.

We named him 'Cole' meaning 'Victorious people'. I couldn't believe it, we had actually had the water birth I had dreamed of! I honestly believe it was all down to hypnobirthing. I hope my hypnobirthing story inspires other women to have the positive, natural birth they envisioned through hypnobirthing, it really is incredible!