Birth story - Zoe and baby Darcey

I have no doubt that the book and digital pack were paramount in preparing me for what was a wonderfully empowering and positive birth.

I bought your book after a recommendation from a friend and spent my pregnancy dipping in and out of it during my evening baths. When I got to 35 weeks the nerves started to kick in so I bought the digital pack which resettled me into a positive mindset.

Here’s my story:

My waters popped at 4am on a Sunday morning 5 days before my ‘guess date’ ; ) and my initial feeling was pure excitement- just like the feeling you get on Christmas morning as a child. I woke my husband who was equally excited. We decided we’d check the waters and then try and go back to sleep to preserve energy as I had no other signs. The excitement was so great that sleep wasn’t going to happen so we popped a film on in bed.

At about 4.30am I started to get some very faint sensations so we started tracking them on your Freya app. Very quickly the intensity started growing so my husband began the repeating positive affirmations- reminding me we were going to meet our baby soon and I used the up breathing which was amazing for calming and focussing me.

At about 5.15am, taking your advice, we tried to fuel up and had a cup of tea and porridge but I was going through such intense feelings that I only managed a little. It was at this point we called the birth centre.

The midwife asked us to come to check my waters, after a quick chat we decided that we wanted to go in so got the bags together. We left the house around 6am and had the most magical and surreal drive through the sleepy town centre in the half morning light. I was in a trance like state and experiencing very intense contractions. Some fear started to creep in as I thought I would never cope this intensity for hours and hours as I was only an hour and a half into labour!

We got to the birth centre and midwife read our preferences (we’d prepared for all scenarios but emphasised that we needed a quiet, dark and calm atmosphere). At this point I was pacing, standing and rocking leaning on my husbands shoulders. The midwife asked to check my stomach so I sat on a sofa and leaned back- it’s so true that we are not supposed to be on our backs as I had the worst contraction in this position and promptly vomited everywhere!

The midwife was great and didn’t even suggest an examination as she was happy with my heart rate and the baby’s so I was able to continue my pacing and she went to fill the birth pool.

At about 7am I had a downward sensation- just like needing a poo (you are bang on again!) and the urge to push. I looked at the clock and told myself that this was ridiculous as it had only been 2.5hours since the first twinge! I had half an hour of questioning my body so didn’t tell anyone and just hid in the loo in the dark focussing on my breathing. At 7.30 I fell back into trusting my body and asked my husband to go and tell the midwife I needed to push.

Again the midwife was fab and didn’t suggest an examination, and simply said ‘great let’s get in the pool and have a baby!’ Sliding into the water was absolute heaven! The room was dark and quiet and the midwife was reassuringly present but mostly left me and my husband to it. He repeated affirmations to me and pressed a cold flannel on my head whilst the midwife massages my lower back.

I had some moments of doubt in this last phase and had to pull my thinking back to ‘trust your body, it will birth this baby’ and just focussed on breathing. At 8.45am, just 4hrs 45 minutes after my waters went, our beautiful daughter Darcey arrived calmly and gently into the water and I have never felt such intense elation, and pride in mind and my body. I felt like a superwoman!

Before getting into hypnobirthing through you book, Instagram account and digital pack, I would have laughed at anyone who suggested I could give birth with no pain relief in such a positive way- I cannot thank you enough: you empowered me and my husband and give our daughter a wonderful entry into the world.