My fiancé and I attended a weekend course at Guys and St. Thomas in November, and whilst we weren’t the most vocal members of the group (probably passing through relatively unnoticed) we came away hugely affected by what we had learnt and the power we now felt we had. So much so that we decided there and then to have a home birth for our first baby and I was transferred into that midwifery team by Wednesday that week.
I just wanted to follow up and let you know we had our baby boy, Tyler, on Saturday 3rd Feb at exactly 39 weeks. It was a home birth as planned and it was everything we had wanted. My waters broke on the Friday night and instead of worrying I went to bed and thought how thankful I was to get a whole nights sleep before it might kick off. I woke up at 4am with mild contractions so stayed in bed for another hour before they got a bit more intense then went downstairs, had some breakfast, lit my special labour eucalyptus and lavender candle I had put aside and watched a comedy series I had been saving. The midwife arrived at 11 and I was 0cm but having steady contractions. We discussed their 24 hour policy on going to hospital after waters breaking and both myself and my fiancé dug our feet in the sand and told them we wouldn’t go in before 48 hours for definite (I had my Aims induction bible tucked safely under one arm at this point with all the necessary stats making me feel empowered and in control). She left and said she would return later to check and we should call her when I am getting 3 contractions every 10 mins. I went up and got in the shower then ran myself a bath and relaxed. The contractions were getting intense but I was so focused that I was falling asleep in between them. After about 50 mins I went back downstairs and my fiancé started timing the contractions as they had gone up a notch and I was struggling to get through them without using my voice to release some pressure. They were very frequent so the midwife was called four times consecutively to make sure she was on her way as I was starting to feel like I wanted to push. We had a birthing pool and all the equipment set up but by the time the midwife arrived there was no time to fill it or use the tens machine etc.. I was ready to push and Tyler was born shortly after wards.
After de-briefing a few days later with the midwife we realised I went from 0-10cm in about an hour and only pushed for 14 mins. He was born in our living room, didn’t cry and was totally calm and we curled up on the sofa together that evening as a new family of three.
We put the time and effort into all the visualisations and guided meditations and I totally believe Hypnobirthing helped me achieve the birth I had wanted, albeit a little quicker than planned! I just wanted to get in touch and thank you for giving me the knowledge and power to know my rights and make informed decisions about the birth of my son. I know we would have had a very different experience should we have chosen a different route.
Best
Sally
