ELLIE'S CALM FIRST BIRTH

ELLIE'S BEAUTIFUL, POSITIVE BIRTH STORY

I taught Ellie and Ben a one day hypnobirthing session at their home in Rochester.

Their birth was a wonderful, positive experience and a brilliant illustration of what hypnobirthing is and why it works. Here you can read their story.

A message from Ellie after the course:

Hi Zoe. Thank you so much for spending the day with us. That was brilliant. It really is incredible what a different mindset can have and how it can effect the big event. We both found it so helpful and we'll be practicing lots! 

ELLIE'S BIRTH

PRACTICING HYPNOBIRTHING

Leading up to the birth Ben and I spent many an evening practicing our relaxation techniques. Being a tactile person, I found the arm stroking and face relaxing practices the most effective. I also found having my hair brushed very soporific, so Ben would do this for me every evening!

We also placed the positive visuals around the house to inspire us for the big day. I would start each morning by taking a moment to listen to Ben's recording of the upwards visualisations and then listen to the CD for a longer relation practice in the afternoon, whilst sitting on my exercise ball.

THE BIG DAY - 7TH FEB 2016

When I woke up on Saturday morning I was eager to try out some natural options to get things moving, with only a few days to my due date I was started to get really excited about meeting the little lady. That day I drank some raspberry leaf tea, Ben massaged the acupressure points on my ankles and brushed my hair, we went for 3 walks and then finished off the day with a curry.

Ben was at home with me all weekend and something inside me decided it would be the best time to go into labour. I think the positive and relaxed thoughts really created a peak in oxitocin!

I went to bed feeling rather full and woke a few hours later at 1.20am with what I thought was indigestion. The gripey feeling started coming in regular waves and I decided to get up and run a bath. By the time the bath was ready I was certain these were actually surges. I called Ben downstairs and we started timing them. He was very calm and able to pack up the last few things in my hospital bag.

I felt totally relaxed, putting my positive birth thoughts into practice, I was excited that the big day was finally happening. After a quick call to the hospital my waters broke and it was time to go.

AT THE HOSPITAL

We arrived at the hospital at about 4.30am and within 10 mins we were onto second stage surges. We briefed the midwife on our birth plan and she dimmed the lights and kept all checks to a minimum. Ben placed the inspirational images we had printed and our battery night lights around the room so that it felt warm and cosy.

The surges ramped up fairly quickly, initially I had a moment of weakness and asked for more pain medication, but the midwife was fantastic, obviously having seen this a million times before and reassured me my pain medication was the birth pool. I jumped straight in and experienced immediate relief. It literally reduced the discomfort by half. The gas and air calmed me further and I got into my own relaxed zone.

I was bringing to mind my visuals and keeping as calm as possible for my baby's arrival into the world. Throughout the process both the baby's and my heart rate stayed totally steady. We breathed through the surges and enjoyed the warmth of the birth pool.

TIME TO PUSH

Within 2 hours it was time to push. After a couple of pushes, I could feel her head not far away, shortly after we could see her beautiful dark hair emerge. We then stopped pushing and panted through the surges, resisting the urge to push.

Within minutes our little Esme appeared in the water.

The midwife guided Ben's hands as he pulled her out into the water and then placed her on my chest. The three of us then cuddled there for 15mins; after some initial tears Esme was quickly calm and we had instantly fallen in love. Then, happy that the cord had finished pulsating, Ben was also able to cut through it.

It was an incredible moment, I couldn't believe how quick it all went, the midwife commented that it was one of the quickest, calmest births she had seen. I truly think this was due to the positive thoughts I had about the process which encouraged a peak in oxytocin.

Ben had skin to skin time with baby Esme whilst I waiting patiently for the third stage. This was the only tricky part of the birth, after an hour the doctors were keen to intervene to birth the placenta. This interruption in my natural birth encouraged me along to get it going myself. I started feeding Esme and it kick started the extra contractions needed to push the placenta out.

We were overjoyed with our natural birth and the incredible little lady who had joined our family.