03 Feb We had the home birth we wanted thanks to Hypnobirthing!
We had the home birth we wanted, thanks to hypnobirthing. Our beautiful daughter Amelia was born on 8 November weighing 7 lb 10 at 00.45. For us the Hypnobirthing went really well. My Nan was staying with us for a couple of days and we were out for dinner on Friday evening when I had my first surge. She worries a lot and didn’t want to know when I went into labour so I didn’t say anything until that night when we went to bed when I told Ross that the surges had started and we were going to have a baby!!
I slept for a few hours but then started with light touch massage. As the night went on the intensity and frequency of the surges increased. At 6 AM we woke my Nan and broke the news, we called my dad and he came to collect her. At this point people still didn’t know I was having a home birth. We also called my mum, she knew I was having her at home and she made her way over. She actually spent most of the time downstairs whilst I was in labour but I wouldn’t have been without her. She was a great support for Ross and kept him fed and watered. About 11 AM we rang the midwife to let her know and she came over about midday. I was still in the early stages so she went off to do a clinic and came back a few hours later.
I found the bedroom most comfortable I stood a lot leaning on a pile of pillows over the bed. Very early on I started the surge breathing and through every surge Ross read one of the birthing partners paragraphs. His voice really focused me. I lost track of time and I really don’t know when the surges started to increase. About 9 PM we had a change of midwives I really connected with the first one so it’s a shame she had to leave. The next midwives were good but probably too focused on procedure and forgot about my Hypnobirthing sometimes. I got to the point where I realised I was ready for birth breathing, Amelia was going to arrive.
Unfortunately she had a hand up to her head which was making the last bit of bit difficult, she was rocking back and forward. It was then that the midwives said that I have been going for a while and we really needed Amelia to arrive. My energy levels were low and I didn’t have confidence in my body so I went their way which wasn’t so bad, I still carried on the birth breathing but there was a lot more pushing than I would’ve liked. They were great at getting me to try different positions. I can truly say that the only painful part was just when her head was delivered (This was probably because she had her hand up to her head). I actually gave birth on my back, well sort of on my side really. I had been more comfortable standing and crouching but I think the way I was just wasn’t working so the midwife suggested lying on my side and held one leg in position. It was the only time I swore during labour I said “well this isn’t going to fucking work” but to be fair it was very comfortable and worked really well for me and Amelia was born very shortly after.
She was put straight on my stomach when she was born but she couldn’t get to my chest as the cord was too short. After she was born they noticed I was bleeding quite a lot and the placenta wasn’t delivering quickly so I had the injection, whatever it’s called. Once the placenta was delivered I was still bleeding quite a lot, they decided I was haemorrhaging so unfortunately an ambulance had to be called and I went into hospital. By the time I got there I had actually stopped bleeding (it was caused by a ruptured vessel). I needed a small amount of stitching (very minor, so healed quickly) and then we got a bit stuck in the system because I didn’t know how much blood I had lost so they wanted to do a test and get the results back which took hours in the end and I had to threaten to discharge myself, I wanted to take my baby home!
It was so bizarre arriving home to the bedroom that Amelia was born in!
Hypnobirthing and homebirthing was great for us. We had the home birth we wanted and Hypno Birthing really worked. We didn’t practice enough to use all the techniques but we started really early in labour. Things that worked best for me were:-
– the 3 paragraphs for the birthing partner to use, (Ross said bits of these through every surge and I found it really helpful)
– the music (i had the music on the whole time and helped me focus),
– the breathing (easier to get in to than I thought)
– light touch massage (Ross did this at every surge)
We had the home birth we wanted, thanks to Hypnobirthing – its ‘s so worth it 🙂
Layla, Hemel Hempstead
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