Jayne Micallef –

“I just wanted to let you and the class know that our little girl arrived this morning! Whilst I forgot all the visualisations, I remembered the principle of relaxing and the breathing and managed with just gas and air in the pool which surprised me. I also didn’t need to push until she was halfway out and a bit stuck – so with one push she was born, and didn’t even cry. She’s very chilled out, and I don’t need stitches despite her 3kg and emerging with her hand on her face. I’m sure the techniques from attending the class had lodged themselves into my subconscious. I certainly wasn’t very good at home practice or listening to the hypnobirthing CDs in my spare time…”

“I wanted to let you know that I had the most amazing birth experience and that the classes played a huge role in making that possible. I had to be induced at 39 weeks for gestational diabetes and after days of slow-release hormones not much had happened. I then had my waters broken manually and was started on synthetic oxytocin. This is supposed to produce a more intense, hard-to-handle labour and the midwife said that about 99% of ladies need an epidural. I stuck to my visualisations and I felt brilliant throughout. I pictured feathers floating up and swirling overhead and also bubbles which lifted me into the sky. I was pretty spaced but also very happy as I could feel that my body knew what to do. When it came to pushing I used my deep ‘ugh’ breath and he came out quickly and easily. I was so welcoming of the contractions that I wanted them to last longer! All in all, it was a really magical few hours and I really want to say thank you. Your class really helped me to be prepared physically and mentally.”

More happy mums at https://www.joyfulbodybirth.com/happy-mums-say/