Frances Tristram – Camomile Family CIC

Rowan’s birth.

The 18th of November 2014 was a very special day; it was my brother’s 33rd birthday and his first birthday since recovering from cancer; it was also the day our beautiful son Rowan was born naturally and happily into this world. I had imagined, or strangely expected, this familial symmetry with my brother’s birthday from the day that I discovered I was pregnant, which incidentally, was Mother’s Day. My brother’s birthday was the day Rowan was meant to come into this world. Rowan’s birth story would have been very different if we hadn’t completed Frances’ Camomile Babies Hypnobirthing course.

A week before Rowan’s birth, we thought my waters had broken – not in a torrent, but a little tear, and our local hospital thought so too. We were informed that if labour did not begin naturally within 24 hours we would be offered an induced birth. If it had not begun within 48 hours, then we were told that we absolutely should have the birth induced.

When I started having contractions 40 hours later we thought this was it, however, at the hospital the contractions slowed and it was to transpire that this was only ‘latent’ labour. Two midwives took us to a birthing room and explained that we needed to have the birth induced. While we would have of course agreed to this if it was absolutely necessary, it was a long way from the natural water birth we envisaged for our son’s entrance into our lives. Frances’ course gave us the confidence, knowledge and even the words to have an informed dialogue with the midwives and doctor and articulate our wishes and concerns. We would not have entered into this dialogue without the support we had received through Frances’ hypnobirthing course.

We were fortunate. The busy team at the hospital took the time to reflect on the risks, our concerns and our wishes and came up with another option. They decided to carry out a scan and look in more detail about whether my waters had really broken and what the risk of infection was. A late scan is an intervention it may be best not to have; however it is much less intrusive than forcing labour to start artificially. The scan gave the doctors enough information to conclude that we were safe to wait until our son showed more clearly that he was ready for the journey. We were amazed by the patience and sensitivity of the team at the hospital. We were surprised by the power of asking questions and communicating our hopes.

We went home and in the early hours of the 18th November, when I was pacing the house with the 6th night of contractions, I had a wonderful feeling that today was the day our son was coming. My urge to finish painting the kitchen at 2am made me think that my hormones were certainly beginning to take precedent! By mid-morning, my contractions did not moderate as they had on previous mornings and instead built in intensity. I used the breathing and visualisation Frances had taught us and consequently felt a happy mix of calm and excitement.

By 4pm we were back in the hospital where we had chosen to have our birth. We knew how we wanted the midwives to respect our privacy and because we asked, they did. We used the soothing water of the birthing pool, and gas and air, which, combined with the body’s natural endorphins was more than enough to bring Rowan into the world. At 10.19, Rowan arrived weighing 7lb14, pink and full of life, with a full head of soft dark hair; he was and is beautiful.

Rowan’s father was there for his birth. The course enabled him to be my advocate, my best friend and my ultimate ally during the intensity of labour.   I had changed hugely through the hypnobirthing course. Earlier in my pregnancy I had been frightened about the risks for the baby and the lack of control I might experience during the birth. After the sessions with Frances I walked into the birthing room with confidence, excitement and knowledge. It was truly one of the very best days of my life. It was surely very different to the birth we would have experienced if we hadn’t completed Frances’ hypnobirthing course.

The course gave us many things. Here are some highlights:

• A space to talk about our fears and hopes with someone who understood the joy as well as the toil of labour.
• Detailed information about the physical processes for mother and baby of giving birth.
• A joyful vocabulary to discuss the forthcoming labour.
• Positive stories and videos of happy births to balance out the horror stories that people share so readily when they learn you’re pregnant.
• Words and visualisations that prepared us for the birth and enabled us to shape its process.
• Time, conversations and activities that made us stronger and united us as a team with clear roles in this momentous journey.
• Happiness and laughter!

I wish I could tell you that our birth was as serene as the videos Frances showed us; it wasn’t. However it was more joyful, calm and natural than I had dared hope it would be before meeting Frances. One of the mantras of the hypnobirthing CD that accompanies the course is that “Baby knows best”. Rowan arrived on the day he was ready to come into this world, and he arrived without intervention in the way his life was meant to begin. We are indebted to Frances and the insights of the hypnobirthing course; contacting Frances was one of our best decisions and the course was worth every penny and every minute that we invested in it. By the way, the painting in the kitchen is still unfinished!

Dear Frances, thank you for the hypnobirthing course; it has helped in so many ways! We had two lovely holidays and found time to listen to our colour and calm, try some breathing and read! The books and leaflets have been most useful, painting positive birth experiences which are helping me with ‘our labour’. We will be in touch when our baby arrives. With best wishes Kim & Leon

‘How lucky I was to have an amazing midwife who just let me be and kept reassuring me that baby was fine and I could do this. Oscar was born just a couple of minutes after getting back into the birthing pool as my Mum (Frances) had suggested. A beautiful calm baby who didn’t cry until almost an hour after he was born when he was taken to be weighed.

I am definitely doing a hypnobirthing course with my next baby and will be having this baby at home in a birthing pool!’ Anna

When I found out we were pregnant I wanted to make sure my partner
felt as involved as he could. Not by me but the health professions we
encountered on the journey of pregnancy. We had a few more scans than
the ‘norm’ due to the shape of my uterus so I already felt like it
wasn’t going to be an enjoyable pregnancy experience worrying
everything was ok. When we started Hypnobirthing I realised this was
exactly the support, involvement my partner could get. It empowered
him into knowing what was happening and what was going to happen in
the delivery of our son. We became a team and the thought of going into hospital was still a prettifying thought but I knew EVERY step of
the way I wasn’t on my own and we could enjoy it!  In fact after two
sessions I was determined to enjoy the experience and welcome into the
world our son in most calm and relaxed way and I now had the tools to
do exactly that. I will be honest, I actually smiled and had a warm
sensation of excitement when my waters broke because I knew very soon
we would be welcoming our son. The Hypnobirthing gave me the power to
not panic but know exactly what was happening to me and to my baby. It
gave my partner our sons voice before he was born to say what was best
for both myself and him. There are some mums who would do it again at
home, I personally wouldn’t go as far as wanting another baby born at
home but I know my experience,11 and half hours in one room and time in the birthing pool was the very best I could have asked for thanks to the Hypnobirthing.

It was thought I would need a c-section and I had learnt to accept that.
We covered a unique way of doing this in our Hypnobirthing sessions
but then after a 36week check up I was clear to have a natural birth.
And now I hold onto a beautiful boy who is happy and calm, thanks to a
fantastic Hypnobirthing course. Frances was amazing at adapting the
course to suit our needs and really listened to our worries and ideas.
We got the birth we had hoped for and informed enough to say no to the
recommendations we were asked to consider. Highly recommend it
especially if you are someone like me who is scared of hospitals and
needles!

Louise & Gareth

Hypnobirthing- Our Story

After a very traumatic first labour (17 hours, blue light to the RUH and a forceps delivery) was enough to put us off a second baby!

However, we were blessed with conceiving a baby and were absolutely thrilled, but the fear of experiencing another complicated labour and long postnatal recovery scared us both. How could we approach this amazing journey with a renewed sense of positivity?

We found Frances!

From the initial conversation with Frances we both knew that this course would give us both the opportunity to eradicate our concerns and look optimistically to the birth of our child.

Making the decision to have the course at our home made the sessions very relaxed, but highly informative! There was a great balance between the physiological processes of labour coupled with the psychology of hypnobirthing. It focussed on techniques to help both of us work as a team to have a natural, calm and confident birth, without unnecessary medical intervention. It was very different to other available courses in so much that it empowered us to make choices; choices which were not explicit with our first experience of child birth. This alone helped us make the right choices for our labour and whilst our birth plan was flexible, we wanted to deliver our baby in an environment which was non-obtrusive and low stress.

We were very fortunate to have Frances and a fantastic midwife who understood and respected the principles of hypnobirthing; she also encouraged us to choose a birth that we preferred instead of the birth we could have easily opted towards.

We did the course when we were 20 weeks, which allowed us plenty of time to practise the breathing exercises (amazing), the affirmations (which were brilliantly put to use) and the relaxations! The latter took time for me to master, but listening to the CD as often as we could was helpful and having a very relaxed partner was beneficial! We learnt about each other during the course, and the labour was seen as a joint experience, something that we would work on together to ensure that the birth was as we envisaged (or as far as possible).

The labour was, in our opinion, such a magical, mesmerising and special occasion! Our daughter was born at home, membrane intact, hands snuggled into her chin (1/88,000 babies are born in their sack) and it was swift: 2 hours and 45minutes! The breathing techniques were so helpful and together we breathed the baby out-no pushing- and no postnatal problems! Aria was serenely calm and suckled immediately. The hypnobirthing helped in numerous ways and gave us an amazing journey of labour (a million miles away from our first experiences). We are so grateful to have had such a wonderful experience and whilst hypnobirthing can’t promise ‘the perfect birth’ we felt it was an unforgettable birth which healed the scars of the past.

It was perfect to us and gave our beautiful daughter a magical start to her life!

Kim & Leon with baby Aria

Robin’s Birth: March 2017

Have you ever wondered how much choice we have about the way we bring a baby into the world?  When we were expecting our second child I did a mind map of all the things that I would like for his birth.  This included:

·       He is born happily in water.

·       He is serene and alert.

·       Our midwives our kind.

·       He is head first.

·       We use nothing or just gas and air.

·       It is peaceful and easy.

·       The light is dim.

·       It is swift and gentle.

·       He chooses when to come, (so no inducing).  Hopefully he will choose somewhere between 38 and 40 weeks!

·       He is born in the RUH.

·       I am “allowed” to push when I want to (this didn’t happen for our first child, Rowan).

·       He is very healthy, scoring 9s and 10s for his APGAR.

·       He sleeps well.

·       Rowan, is happy at home while we are in hospital.

Rowan’s birth had taught us that not all of a birthing experience is down to chance and that practising hypnobirthing with a skilled teacher can radically influence what happens.  As a result we had avoided the induced birth that we were pressurised to have and our first son was born naturally on the date of his choosing: 6 days after latent labour had begun.  This birth was wonderful, miraculous and very easy compared to many experiences we heard about, however, it did not tick all the things that I hoped for our second child.

We contacted Frances who had guided us so skilfully the first time, and we repeated some of her Hypnobirthing Classes. We also had many helpful conversations with Frances (and some delicious biscuits).  In the classes we recalled what a hypnobirthing experience could be like and the things that we could do to make a calm birth more likely.  This time around we seemed able to focus on how serene a hypnobirthing experience could be, whereas first time we were focussed on all the interventions we wanted to avoid.  We were able to picture just how we wanted our child to arrive in the world.

To make this picture a reality we prepared for the upcoming birth.  I listened to the meditations that Frances gave us and read the booklet that accompanies her course.  I placed the image we were given of a baby in optimum position for birth on our mirror (much to the disapproval of Rowan!).  I wrote out positive birth affirmations from the booklet in coloured pens. Whenever anything came into my mind that was a worry about the birth, I wrote it in my notebook as a positive statement.  It played on my mind that we would go to the hospital too early and be sent home, or too late and he would be born in the car!  I wrote down “we know exactly when to go the hospital”.

I went to Frances’ Pregnancy Relaxation Classes’ where we did gentle breathing and movement exercises, and were guided through positive visualisations by Frances. I really looked forward to these classes and hadn’t meant to miss the last class I was booked onto.

The day before the class, in the early hours of Sunday morning I felt the twinges that I had been feeling each night get progressively stronger.  I was 40 weeks and 2 hours! After a while I realised the surges were becoming true labour and I went downstairs to be alone.  It was very peaceful in our living room while everyone else was sleeping upstairs.  The sky outside was dark.  I listened to the ‘Colour and Calmness’ visualisation and must have dozed for a while in spite of the strong and frequent surges.  When I awoke it was a grey dawn and the surges were every 3 minutes or so; it was still very peaceful and I visualised the upward images I had been practising.  I contacted the RUH and they said to come to the hospital when the surges were more frequent.

Around 8am my son and partner emerged and I said it would be helpful to get everything ready to take to the hospital.  Fortuitously my parents were staying and were there to look after Rowan. We had celebrated my Dad’s 70th birthday the day before (the actual due date).  Around 9am there was very little gap between surges and they were intense.  We set off to the hospital about 9.45am.

The next hour and a half were the most difficult.  A car journey in labour is very uncomfortable (as I vividly recalled from Rowan’s birth).  We arrived at the hospital about 10.15am and I was sick in the carpark (I guess I hadn’t written glamour onto my mindmap!).  We arrived in the ward and it took an hour or so for us to be ‘checked in’.  We think perhaps they were delaying us as they did not perceive I was very far into labour. I allowed 1 examination so that we could go to the birthing room.  The midwife sounded extremely surprised to find how far into labour I was.  We gave her our birth plan which politely asked for privacy, minimal intervention and no more examinations.  This was honoured beautifully by our midwife.

We were guided to an excellent birthing suite with 2 rooms.  One with a couch and a range of things to aid good birthing positions and the other with a birthing pool.  We also had our own private toilet.  Everything was very clean, and as homely as could be expected from a hospital setting. 

Within minutes of being in the room my waters broke and I had a real urge to ‘push’.  Our midwife was speedily filling the pool.  The surges were very intense and I had some gas and air.

When I climbed into the warm water the relief was immense.  The water supported the weight of the pregnancy and the warmth soothed the intensity of the surges.  I told our midwife that I wanted to push, and in huge contrast to last time, she simply reminded me to go with what my body wanted to do, and I did.

For less than an hour I leaned on the edge of the birthing pool and could feel our son pushing down and down and down.  I neither tried to push, nor tried not to.  There was one moment where I felt suddenly frightened and that I couldn’t do this.  Then I heard Frances’ voice in my head explaining the feeling of fear at the moment of transition.  Reassured, I continued.  As the surges became stronger I could hear Frances voice from our relaxation classes saying calmly, “well done, you’ve just breathed through another surge”.  This reminded me that a surge only lasts as long as the breaths we had practised in her class.  It was such a reassuring and calming feeling to have this steady voice guiding me inside my head.

Then suddenly I felt our baby’s head emerge.  I was so surprised I called out “he’s here, quick call our midwife, he’s here, he’s here”.  This was more comic and panicky than I had hoped! Fortunately he would have heard nothing beneath the water!  Our midwife calmly returned and unphased she said he would be out on the next surge.  And he was.  The midwife told be to “catch him” from the water, and after fumbling in the water less serenely than I would have liked, I held our son.  He was born at 12.29 pm; just over 2 hours after we had arrived at the hospital and about 10 hours since the surges told me he was coming.

I sat back against the side of the pool and held him.  Now with his head out of the water the first words he would hear were much better “hello my love, we’ve been waiting for you, we’ve been waiting for you, we’ve been waiting for you”.  And there was Robin, so beautiful, so perfect, so like a little person already with a full head of soft dark hair.

I stayed holding Robin in the pool for over an hour.  He fed very easily in that hour and has done so ever since.  We were desperate to take him home as soon as possible. 

That evening, it was a wonderful moment introducing him to Rowan and my parents.  I don’t think Rowan really grasped what Robin was until a few days later when he was gazing at Robin saying “he’s got a tummy”, “he’s got legs”, “he’s got arms”, “he’s got a face”…..  (Now 7 months on, they are rascals together and we seem outnumbered by the 2 of them!  If Robin is upset, Rowan holds his hand and says “Robin my love, Robin my love”.)

I have looked back at my mind map about my ideal birth for Robin, and I can say yes to all of the things on there, except one: like Rowan, Robin is not one for sleeping well!  Like Rowan he is smiley and brilliant.

People ask about Robin’s birth and we say it was great; we went to the hospital after breakfast and we were home in time for dinner, they look surprised and say we were lucky.  Yes, lucky to have found Frances and her hypnobirthing classes; lucky to have known how to practice for a positive birth.  And yes, lucky to know it is possible to make choices about how your baby comes into the world.  We are of course, so very grateful to Frances.

Hypnobirthing 1-1 sessions with Frances for our second baby.

We have definitely learnt as parents that you cannot control what will happen in most things in life (no bad thing) and this was so true for the birth of our babies. I mean this as a positive statement! We were able to prepare ourselves as a couple and family to be supported and ready emotionally, physically, mentally and practically for the pregnancy and birth of our second child and also beyond now with two small children.

Having 1-1 sessions with Frances for hypnobirthing really helped us to be in the best place we could be for our daughter’s birth in April 2019.

Firstly, Frances was very flexible, approachable and prepared to offer different options for us to be able to either join a course or do 1-1s. To be able to have the course at home in the evening when our little boy was in bed was great, we didn’t have a childcare option at the time and also it was a very relaxing atmosphere. We hoped for a home birth so it was good to be in the space to imagine what could be and where and what could work for the birth.

This was also important as we hoped to create a space and time for us to discuss how we were feeling during the pregnancy, bond with the baby, connect as a couple and agree on our birth preferences, which in our first pregnancy was a lot easier to do. With a pre-schooler, the pregnancy seemed to be flying. The hypnobirthing sessions were protected time to look forward to, relax and enjoy at the time and feel the benefit afterwards.

Not only did we learn practical techniques to help us relax at the time and for the birth, letting go of any concerns, we were also able to talk through what came up for us during the pregnancy in a held and supported place. Frances gave us research and pointers to further information that we needed and acted as an impartial sounding board to talk through how we would approach consultant appointments. This meant we went in, informed, calm and able to make balanced decisions.

The birth was unexpected, we were able to let go of our birth preferences and it workout to be the best birth for our daughter that we could have hoped for. We had planned for a home birth and all was ready, but an unexpected infection meant I had to go in to hospital for antibiotics. 

My labour was fast and my surges came on very quickly, half way through cooking a curry and a quick shower, i realised I was in transition and that the baby was coming. We only just made it to the hospital room (some very good driving from my husband), where our daughter was born naturally 20 minutes later.

It was intense and I was in shock afterwards, but the up breathing at home when I was cooking, in the shower and in the car, with the positive statements firmly in my mind (also how my husband was able to keep calm with such a fast change from being over my due date and potentially being induced to realising baby was nearly here in our arms kept us safe as he drove in to Bath) meant we kept grounded, I managed the sensations, could feel where our baby was and for my husband to be able to navigate and communicate clearly with the midwives. They had no time to read our birth preferences and so he had to tell them the situation. They were great, they listened and although said, ‘You may wish for a water birth, but your baby is going to be here in 5 minutes,’ but they were calm, quiet, respectful and they also did not break my waters, when we asked them to wait and this meant our baby girl was born in her membranes/caul so she did not come in to contact with the birth canal. Neither of us needed any antibiotics. We were so pleased as we really didn’t want her to have to have them unless needed. 

Then we had a very calm and special time to bond with our baby. We had 5 hours in the birth room (the same as my son’s 3 years earlier, which was a lovely connection and we felt relaxed in there). So although we had no time to use the birth pool for the birth, we could afterwards and we were able to use the dim lighting, essential oils and music that we prepared for the birth. So the holistic prep was still worth it as we were able to enjoy it to rest, recuperate and connect. I think the mid wives appreciated that too.

Thank you Frances for supporting us to believe we could do it and to be informed and calm, we had a very positive birth and taking hypnobirthing sessions with you have really set us as a family of four to navigate the fun and challenges little ones bring in to our lives (breathing, visualisations and a positive mind set to name but a few).

February 2018

Dear Frances,

I meant to email you but it’s been a whirl wind!

We have our little boy finally and home safe all together!! 

After a long week of sweeps with nothing much happening I was booked into induction on Thursday 1st Feb. I was keeping everything crossed I wouldn’t get to that point but sure enough Thursday morning arrived and he still hadn’t made an appearance. Bath rang me at about 10 as I was driving to Sainsbury’s asking that I come in as soon as I can to get the induction process going. I got off the phone and for a moment my heart stopped, I freaked out! Luckily my mum was with me to look after jack anyway and chris wasn’t far away. I just panicked because I suddenly felt scared and not ready, everything you don’t want to feel right before your baby arrives! But the breathing you taught us really helped. I stopped for a moment and thought this is going to be ok because I am confident in my body and my baby. I turned all those feelings of panic into positive things… I knew I was going to meet my baby soon and I knew I had to pull myself together for both of us!! 

We got onto Mary’s ward at about 12.30 and were then moved to delivery ward (as I was a vbac/slightly different procedure) to have the double cervical ripening balloon catheter induction which is mainly for VBACs because it’s not as artificial. I was so pleased we had that option as I had visions of the hormone drip and if possible I really didn’t want that. It’s a fairly new ‘mechanical’ method. Basically it involves a tube being inserted into your cervix.  It has a balloon near the tip and when it is in place the balloon is filled with fluid. The catheter stays in place for 24 hours, with the balloon putting gentle pressure on your cervix. The pressure should soften and open your cervix enough to start labour or to be able to break the waters around baby.  

After three attempts they managed to get it all set up by 3pm on Thursday and we were sent back to Mary’s ward to see what happened. I was keeping everything crossed that it worked I didn’t fancy anymore intervention than I needed! By about 9/10pm I started getting tightenings every 10 mins lasting about 40-50secs and this continued on till the following day. They decided to take the balloon out at 7am next morning and luckily things had started happening and I was 1cm.

We were sent off to walk around for two hours so we went to have breakfast. I was still getting tightenings but just relaxing and breathing helped me. I tried not to think about it if I could. Chris was wonderful at keeping me calm and focused. At about 10 I was checked again and was 2cm so the midwife sent us off walking again! The surges were coming every 5 Mins lasting a minute but I was still happy breathing through them and able to focus my mind to other things (most of the time). I think it was about 1 ish that things started hotting up so I decided to have a bath. That eased it slightly but I started wanting to go into myself and have some more privacy so they moved us into a birth room. They were so wonderful and didn’t do any internals at this point. They all kept to my birth preferences as much as possible.

So the labour was intensifying beautifully but I felt I needed gas and air when the surges were coming every 2 Mins lasting over a minute (think it was around 6/7cm) and that helped a lot and it was also good that I held off up to that point so I appreciated it more. Unfortunately the rooms with baths weren’t available and in hindsight I think that would have made a difference but it wasn’t meant to be. There seemed to be no break between them and I felt more urges to push. The midwife checked and the cervix had a thick lip still but I was about 8.5cm. They recommended I have diamorphine to ease that pressure to push and actually that felt like the right idea at the time and I was very much in control of the decision making. 

Unfortunately little man started to show signs of distress and the doctor was called in, things heated up in the room but I was still able to focus and stay reasonably calm which definitely was the hypno breathing and down to the things I’d learnt. The decision was made to prep me for a caesarean which actually when it came to it I again stayed calm and knew if he was in distress the main thing was to make sure he was safe.  That was at 7.41pm and I had the spinal block thing in theatre and by 7.50 they checked again and my cervix was thin again and he was coming down so they decided on a vaginal delivery last minute thankfully!! His shoulders got a bit stuck during the pushing but by 8.01 he was here. I cried and cried because I was so happy I had got my vbac even though it wasn’t quite what I envisioned or hoped for but I really did feel positive about it all. I’m so proud of myself. It was difficult but I handled it really well and remained calm throughout. 

I thought of you a lot and you have given me so much strength and boosted my confidence during the preparation of this and ultimately you were certainly with me in spirit during the birth. For this I am forever thankful to you. 

When I’m a bit more recovered (I’m pretty sore at the moment!) I will come into the cafe and see you. 

Lots of love to you xx 

The sessions with Frances were so relaxing and I loved talking through my birth in a positive and calm manner, together with my husband. This also helped to create a positive atmosphere regarding my birth in our relationship.

The course was so useful for my husband – It helped his fear, as well as giving him a purpose. Going forward, he was on the same page as me, and I could always rely on him for support when I needed it.

Frances was there for us every step of the way and I even spoke to her when I was in labour! I was flagging a little and just hearing her tell me to “get up off my backside” (once you know her you’ll know she says this in the kindest/calmest way) really worked wonders.

I really could not recommend Hypnobirthing with Frances enough. 

 Hypnobirthing 1-1 sessions with Frances for our second baby.

We have definitely learnt as parents that you cannot control what will happen in most things in life (no bad thing) and this was so true for the birth of our babies. I mean this as a positive statement! We were able to prepare ourselves as a couple and family to be supported and ready emotionally, physically, mentally and practically for the pregnancy and birth of our second child and also beyond now with two small children.

Having 1-1 sessions with Frances for hypnobirthing really helped us to be in the best place we could be for our daughter’s birth in April 2019.

Firstly, Frances was very flexible, approachable and prepared to offer different options for us to be able to either join a course or do 1-1s. To be able to have the course at home in the evening when our little boy was in bed was great, we didn’t have a childcare option at the time and also it was a very relaxing atmosphere. We hoped for a home birth so it was good to be in the space to imagine what could be and where and what could work for the birth.

This was also important as we hoped to create a space and time for us to discuss how we were feeling during the pregnancy, bond with the baby, connect as a couple and agree on our birth preferences, which in our first pregnancy was a lot easier to do. With a pre-schooler, the pregnancy seemed to be flying. The hypnobirthing sessions were protected time to look forward to, relax and enjoy at the time and feel the benefit afterwards.

Not only did we learn practical techniques to help us relax at the time and for the birth, letting go of any concerns, we were also able to talk through what came up for us during the pregnancy in a held and supported place. Frances gave us research and pointers to further information that we needed and acted as an impartial sounding board to talk through how we would approach consultant appointments. This meant we went in, informed, calm and able to make balanced decisions.

The birth was unexpected, we were able to let go of our birth preferences and it workout to be the best birth for our daughter that we could have hoped for. We had planned for a home birth and all was ready, but an unexpected infection meant I had to go in to hospital for antibiotics.

My labour was fast and my surges came on very quickly, half way through cooking a curry and a quick shower, i realised I was in transition and that the baby was coming. We only just made it to the hospital room (some very good driving from my husband), where our daughter was born naturally 20 minutes later.

It was intense and I was in shock afterwards, but the up breathing at home when I was cooking, in the shower and in the car, with the positive statements firmly in my mind (also how my husband was able to keep calm with such a fast change from being over my due date and potentially being induced to realising baby was nearly here in our arms kept us safe as he drove in to Bath) meant we kept grounded, I managed the sensations, could feel where our baby was and for my husband to be able to navigate and communicate clearly with the midwives. They had no time to read our birth preferences and so he had to tell them the situation. They were great, they listened and although said, ‘You may wish for a water birth, but your baby is going to be here in 5 minutes,’ but they were calm, quiet, respectful and they also did not break my waters, when we asked them to wait and this meant our baby girl was born in her membranes/caul so she did not come in to contact with the birth canal. Neither of us needed any antibiotics. We were so pleased as we really didn’t want her to have to have them unless needed.

Then we had a very calm and special time to bond with our baby. We had 5 hours in the birth room (the same as my son’s 3 years earlier, which was a lovely connection and we felt relaxed in there). So although we had no time to use the birth pool for the birth, we could afterwards and we were able to use the dim lighting, essential oils and music that we prepared for the birth. So the holistic prep was still worth it as we were able to enjoy it to rest, recuperate and connect. I think the mid wives appreciated that too.

Thank you Frances for supporting us to believe we could do it and to be informed and calm, we had a very positive birth and taking hypnobirthing sessions with you have really set us as a family of four to navigate the fun and challenges little ones bring in to our lives (breathing, visualisations and a positive mind set to name but a few).