Birth story - Rebecca and baby girl

On the 13th of September, a week early, my waters broke in spectacular fashion at 10pm and my surges started at 5am the next morning. I began using all the hypnobirthing techniques I had learned with The Positive Birth Company and had a candlelit bath.

The surges ramped up, so after labouring at home for 7 hours, we went in to the MLU to find I was 3cm, we decided to go home and labour more there as there were no rooms available with a pool and I wanted water. 

At 2pm I got home and ran a bath, lukewarm with no candles, no essential oils, all calm, just a towel to rest my head and some lucozade. I listened to some positive affirmations, a bible reading and breathed through the contractions. Dan (who was a star the whole way through left me to it at this point, he gave me lucozade, sweets and dried apricots on the side and I laboured for around an hour in the bath). 

I kept visualising holding her, kept reminding myself that so many women don't have the privilege to give birth somewhere safe, clean or comfortable... imagining different conditions that were worse than mine, i.e. women in slums, women in hostels alone, women in Iraq. I had a little rhythm going through each contraction moving my hips up and around and breathing back down. 

At 3pm Dan came up as he said my noises had changed and said I was shaking and very pale - suddenly I really needed a poo. Little did I know I really didn't need a poo! He helped me out of the bath and here I began mooing and screaming. I said "We need to go! This baby is coming!" 

This is where Dan had a little wobble as I had clearly changed a lot and things sounded a lot scarier. But he got me dressed despite with every contraction I could feel the baby's head baring down. 

He got me into the back of the car where I had a powerful contraction and I turned to say "No we are going back inside, the head is coming!" We went inside and Dan constantly put pressure on my back with the heat pad. He rang the maternity ward and there was a queue so he hung up. 

I felt my breathing naturally turn to down panting to slow the head down. At 3.35pm Dan rang the ambulance who advised him to get me on my back and apply pressure to my vagina so it doesn't tear. I was on my knees and was adamant I couldn't go on my back but Dan got me there and it did slow things down a bit. 

I remember feeling calm and saying "God is with us". At 3.45pm the ambulance showed up. I got the gas tube put in my mouth and said "Please can I get on my knees?!" They were amazing, the man got me on my knees leaning forward onto the sofa and I breathed the head down. It sat there for a while and I could feel stinging in the front so applied pressure, another contraction and the head was fully out, followed by the body. Not once did I have to "push" - just breathe! 

At 3.55pm the baby was born, let out a big cry and Dan who was next to me said "We have a little girl" through tears . I turned around and took my top off. The lady paramedic said "Well done love, let's have some lovely skin to skin". I said can we not cut the cord and they let it fully pulse out for 20 minutes while we fed and it was magical, there was no rush. At this point two paramedics arrived so our lounge was full, but so happy and calm. 3 guys and a lady, who were so amazing. Dan cut the cord at around 4.30pm and they placed me and baby girl on a stretcher to the hospital. Placenta wasn't coming but I was contracting. 

Dan followed me and we all met at the hospital and honestly I felt euphoric, but it was incredible. I birthed the placenta after an injection. They checked me over and I had slight grazing at the top but no tearing or stitches. We had lots of skin to skin, help with a feed and she was a healthy 6lb 6oz. 

We sat, had tea and toast, put the fairy lights, candles and our music on and enjoyed post labour bliss. Honestly, not the birth we planned or imagined but I wouldn't change it for the world. All home and tucked up in bed 6 hours after birth. INCREDIBLE. 

I would recommend hypnobirthing to EVERYONE and will be having a planned home birth next time.