Chelsea’s Birth Story

I bought a hypnobirthing book when I was pregnant with my first baby. I liked the idea of how relaxation can help during birth and thought it was remarkable some women described their birth experience as pain free. I thought I understood how it works after reading the book. However, when my water broke at 38 weeks after midnight, I panicked. I couldn’t stop shaking and blood pressure went sky high. It was a very long labour and I had an epidural in the end with an assisted birth. I was so surprised the theory of hypnobirthing didn’t help me subconsciously. I wasn’t as confident as I thought I would be.

That’s why I decided to attend a course with my second baby as I wanted a different birth experience and I was committed to practicing hypnobirthing more. We signed up Emma’s course shortly after we read her reviews online.

Emma’s guided relaxation, fear releasing and breathing techniques have helped me immensely. I was listening to the birth affirmation and relaxation tracks everyday and was practicing what was learnt on the course as much as I could during the last few weeks.

At 39 weeks plus 5 days, my waters broke again at home. I took a shower first and double checked my hospital bag before leaving. I started feeling the surges in the car on the way to the hospital but was still chatting to my husband as normal. By the time we arrived at triage, the surges got stronger. They monitored me for 30 minutes before sending us to a birth suite where the atmosphere was quite homely. Soon I felt the surges becoming more intense but still manageable with focused breathing. Only after a few breaths the surges started to push down so my husband notified the midwife. She examined me and said I was 8cm dilated. My husband and I couldn’t believe it. I did take a TENS machine but I was so focused that I didn’t feel the surges were strong enough to use it. The midwife understood I was doing hypnobirthing so she didn’t coach me when to push but allowed me to follow my own instinct.

Our son arrived 2.5 hours since we arrived at the hospital weighing 7 pound 3 ounces. The whole birth experience was completely natural with no pain relief. I only had a minor tear without any stitches. Everything went exactly how I wished for.

I remember someone said birth is not about making babies, birth is about making mums who know their inner strengths. This felt so true after I had my son. Hypnobirthing is such a powerful tool. I am amazed how strong our mind is and how strong I can be.

I can’t appreciate Emma enough for what she does and wish her every success in her career so more people can get the benefit.