Anna's positive elected caesarean Birth

Anna chose to have a planned C-section after her 36 week scan. With many thanks to Anna, this is her empowered birth story:

I have previously suffered with anxiety and in the early stages of my pregnancy I was conscious that I was becoming increasingly anxious about giving birth. I therefore decided to try hypnobirthing, to try to alleviate some of my anxieties and learn some techniques to help me throughout the pregnancy and the birth.

I wanted a course and a teacher that was pragmatic and am so glad that we chose Zoe's course as it equipped us with the tools we needed to achieve our positive birth experience. 

I had originally planned to give birth in the birthing centre at our local hospital and after attending Zoe's course, we had regularly been reading Zoe's scripts and practising the hypnobirthing techniques we had learnt.

After so many weeks of practice, I was feeling rather confident and a lot less anxious about giving birth.

However, at our 36 week scan, we were told that our baby was looking very big with a particularly large head circumference. This concerned me as I had always been particularly worried about having a large baby and the possibility of the baby getting stuck during a vaginal delivery.

What's more, our baby had been diagnosed with a heart anomaly during the pregnancy and although we were assured that this should not impact upon our choice of delivery, I knew that I would panic if the baby was in distress at any point during the labour.

I instinctively knew at that point that electing to have a c-section was the right decision for me and baby.

When discussing my preference for a c-section with the midwives, it was clear however that this was not their preferred method of delivery. We were told repeatedly that although our baby was large, she was within the 'normal' range because she was not predicted to exceed the 97th centile and that there was no reason she could not be delivered vaginally.

However, Zoe's hypnobirthing classes helped me to really tune into my instincts and I felt very certain that I knew what my body could and could not do and all of my instincts were telling me to elect for a c-section. I desperately wanted to avoid ending up having an emergency c-section which would cause stress and trauma to me and the baby. I therefore stuck to my gut and elected for the c-section. 

We were booked in for a date for the c-section and Zoe sent us some further materials to help us prepare for the c-section.

I had never had surgery before and so was very nervous but continued to practice the hypnobirthing and listening to the 'Lioness' soundtrack almost on repeat as by this stage of the pregnancy it was having such a calming effect.

I was really feeling prepared for the c-section but unfortunately the day before we were booked in, the c-section was cancelled due to consultant strikes. The hospital had failed to tell us, and I felt angry and let down by the service received, but I tried to look at it positively as having a few extra days to prepare.

The c-section was rescheduled for 4 days later (the strikes and a bank holiday weekend meant that was the next available day) and so I was gearing myself up for a long 4 day wait until we got to meet our baby.

Rather unbelievably however, the following day we received another call from the hospital asking us to reschedule yet again! It was at this point that me and my husband took a deep breath and refused to agree to the date being changed again.

I do not think we would have had the confidence to do this if it had not been for the techniques taught during Zoe's course and reminding ourselves that, although we were having a c-section, it was still our birth and we were still in control.

We remained polite, yet firm, and we were kept on the list for the original re-scheduled date. 

However, as they often do, our baby had other ideas and the following day I went to the hospital with some niggly aches and pains.

It turned out that I was in the early stages of labour and they offered to do the c-section there and then.

I felt so prepared for it that I jumped at the chance!

I felt very calm until I walked into the operating theatre and then the bright lights and cold temperature really hit me.

I was nervous but throughout the operation I used Zoe's visualisation techniques.

I kept picturing being on the magic carpet with our baby and being in my 'happy' place (a hammock on a beach!).

I also had the confidence to tell the anesthetist that I was anxious and asked her to keep me updated as to exactly what was happening throughout.

This helped me immensely and made me feel a lot more aware of the whole process and more in control.

Before long, we heard our baby's cries and I no longer had to imagine holding her, I could actually hold her in my arms!

At the end of the operation, the doctor who delivered our baby told me that in her opinion I had made the right decision to elect for a c-section. Our baby's head circumference was even bigger than estimated and this likely would have made a vaginal delivery difficult.

Listening to my instincts had paid off