So happy to share Kirsty's story with you. This is the story of two births, and the difference that hypnobirthing can make. Woop!
Start your own hypnobirthing story here: www.birthstory.co.uk
My first pregnancy was a surprise and as I result I couldn't quite manage to mentally prepare for having a child, forget childbirth itself. Whilst I had planned a homebirth, after 24 hours at home of contractions, smelling lavender oil in a mild panic, I was 'failing to progress' and persuaded to go into hospital. In the early hours of the morning the catalogue of interventions began... Initially codeine was suggested, and after a period of being neglected on a foetal heart monitor, it escalated to panic, pethadine, epidural, episiotomy and ventouse... What I can only describe as a 40 hour car crash ordeal. I vividly remember seeing the scratches I'd made on my poor husband's supporting arms, and the sobbing...in agony, fear and disappointment all at once. My son was born and taken immediately away, whilst I watched the pediatrition bounce his little sobbing body around the room. Staying there overnight without my partner, with my poor babe stuck in a plastic cot, crying babies all around us, was not the experience I had hoped for.
When I became pregnant with my daughter two years later I could still remember my first birth vividly... staggering about in shock for weeks after, sobbing when I met friends and they asked how it had all went. So I started researching and went to a birthing yoga class, where they mentioned hypnobirthing. My midwife was keen for me to try another homebirth and kept saying it would be quicker this time. My body would remember what to do. But I didn't want to chance it again. So at 20 weeks I took the plunge and started on the course. It felt silly listening to the guided relaxations at first, especially with my husband next to me in bed sniggering as I dutifully tried to relax and visualise colours and butterflies. But after a couple of nights listening as I drifted off, I was hooked, and the book went everywhere with me. The combination of hypnobirthing and my yoga had not only informed me of my options, but I had practised the breathing and mental techniques so carefully. I was more confident than ever.
Remembering the night my daughter was born is like a dream. The comparison between the two labours is like night and day. After a day wandering round our local park feeling like I had mild backache, I climbed into bed a bit weary, and with the peace and still around me it suddenly occurred to me the pains were coming and going. Surely not contractions?! Excitement was rising but I did my breathing and visualisations, thinking through my positive affirmations in my head and knowing I needed to pace myself. But half an hour later I was chuckling in bemusement as my waters broke, and after an hour of contraction after contraction, the midwife arrived and told me I was 9cm dilated and nearly ready to push! After a couple of hours zoned out in the hastily inflated birthing pool, I'd not had time for any pain relief or panicking, and she was born. A calm and focused 4 hours and I was lifting my 9lb baby out of the water and into my arms! She fed instantly before snuggling into my bed, a calm and happy newborn.
I can't recommend hypnobirthing more highly. Occasionally now I replay my relaxation tracks and travel back in time to that wonderful time of feeling huge and pregnant, but happy and healthy. I hope more mothers come to know that the medicalised hospital ordeal is not what we were designed for. The peace and safety of home, with a focused mind and relaxed body, can make a world of difference. It's a joy to have had the birth I always knew I could.
