HypnoBirthing® UK

[Angela Downham]

My First baby would have been a text book hospitalised birth with me agreeing to every drug and medical procedure offered. The end result was a healthy baby but I felt cheated in some way.
The second attempt wasn't much better, at 41 weeks I was informed that I needed to be induced and this led to my waters being broken and a very fast intensive birth. 2 hours in total, she was born so quickly she burst a blood vessel in her right eye. I felt so violently violated that bonding between my beautiful baby girl and I was very difficult and took nearly a year. The baby suffered terribly from digestion problems and feeding was a constant battle. She finally slept through the night at 18 months. I am convinced her early years were influenced by her birth.
Once over the surprise that number 3 was on her way I started to panic about the birth. The stories of long, agonising labours and difficult births were all too available and nobody seemed to believe it could be anything but.

Luckily in an internet forum I stumbled across HYPNOBIRTHING and after a 4 week course felt confident that the birth would go well this time and I would be in control. The course material included a tape of music which sent me and my toddler into a deep sleep. At 30 weeks into the pregnancy, sleep had been a distant memory for some time so I felt that the money had been well spent for that achievement alone.
My husband and I practised our techniques whenever we could and my biggest regret is that we didn't make more time to practise as I feel this was our downfall.
On the day of the big event, at 39 weeks, I felt well but tired and rather weepy. By 9pm curiosity got the better of me and I examined myself. Convinced that I was maybe 1 or 2 cm's dilated I decided to go to the hospital just to check everything was ok and then go home for a good nights sleep.
I was very surprised to be told I was 5cm's, I literally hadn't felt a thing.
We put me into a deep relaxation and both my husband and I fell asleep.
Unfortunately by 6am the next morning my waters broke but nothing else was happening. The surges were getting more powerful and I decided to try the birth pool and gas and air.
Four hours later I hadn’t progressed at all although I had the urge to push. The breathing exercises came into their own at this, I went from 6cm’s to fully dilated in a matter of minutes. The birthing lasted just 35 minutes and I kept very calm throughout. Daughter number 3 was facing the wrong way, hence why I wasn’t progressing but was born a very healthy weight and is an absolute Angel.
I found my midwives to be very supportive and had no contact with any doctors so although I had more drugs and felt more discomfort than I had hoped, I still coped much better and found the whole experience much more positive.
Eight weeks later, I am coping with motherhood much better than last time, even with three children under 4 years and a house move.
The baby has settled into a routine and is a happy content little girl.