Mark and I just wanted to email to let you know that our daughter- Rowan Jay arrived on 07/07/12 (2 weeks early!) after a very quick delivery! I thought the story of the birth might be a positive one to tell your groups in the future as the circumstances were far, far from my birth plan!!
I woke up on Saturday 7th thinking my waters had broken but it was blood from my placenta as it had started to come away from uterus wall so we rushed straight to hospital where I was examined and told although I was already 2cm dilated that they would need to break my waters and commence induction of labour using a syntocin drip.
Mark and I were really upset as we’d planned a completely natural birth- no interventions and hopefully using water as pain relief and instead I was going to be hooked up to a drip and monitor!! They managed to hook me up to a mobile monitor and drip with long lead so I could remain active and I began using physical techniques to help babies descent.
As my contractions were slow and they were concerned about the bleeding (i was on a tight time frame before they took me into surgery for a c-section) they turned the drip up quite quickly and within a few hours I was having 5 contractions in 10 minutes, each lasting about 1.20 minutes so I went into established labour quite intensely. From this point I found I entered a zone and focussed on my breathing and visualisations to handle the intensity of the contractions. I didn’t speak at all I just let my body take it’s breath in and then focused on the out breath- breathing out that used up oxygen, it was almost as though I went ‘into’ myself deeply- it was quite surreal looking back!
With each contraction I just kept imagining a flower opening, each time it got bigger and bigger and i just kept repeating in my head “you’re body knows what it is doing”, “you’ll never be sent more pain than you can handle”, “I am calm, confident and in control”… I practised the techniques from the classes every day during the last few weeks before she was born and although I often drifted off when practising it’s amazing how much came through to me when I needed it.
After 3 hours 48 minutes, labour was over and I had our beautiful daughter on my chest, happily feeding! I believe wholeheartedly that without hypnobirthing in my armour it could have been a completely different story. I was so positive about childbirth following the sessions and my ‘jar’ of negativity was full to the brim as I became so accustomed to putting any anxieties straight in there before they even had time to take hold!!
Our daughter came into the world through the power of positivity and we have been blessed by a calm and contented baby, who feeds and sleeps well and I am sure this has been influenced by her calm delivery. Doctors and midwifes were incredibly complimentary to me after labour, making comments such as ‘that was incredible’, ‘I have never seen anyone so focused and in the zone’ and all of them wholly surprised by the fact I had no pain relief when delivering on a syntocin drip- apparently unheard of!!!
I could go on and on about the day she arrived as I feel very empowered by it, as does mark but I will leave it there and just say ‘thank you’. I don’t know where we’d have been without easibirthing- I’ll be singing your praises to all pregnant women I meet in the future!
Forever thankful
Beth, Mark and Rowan Wycherley