Kingston Surrey home hypnobirthing inspiration
*With permission to share *
First Time Mum from Kingston surrey
Home waterbirth success story
“My waters started breaking in the last ten minutes of my pregnancy yoga class. I nipped to the loo and, not quite sure it really was my waters, returned to the class and pretended nothing had happened before rushing home my waters breaking further in the car! As I was planning a homebirth one of the wonderful Kingston homebirth midwives came to my house to check for infection because my waters had broken. She said I’d have to be induced if there was no baby in 36 hours. But while she was there I started getting mild contractions, which were getting stronger. I asked if she should go now things were getting going but she said I had a long way to go yet. Once she left we had dinner and tried to watch television. My sister was visiting. She was already planning on being at the birth and it was an amazing coincidence she was already there. Soon I couldn’t eat any more and I went to the bedroom to do hypnobirthing relaxations. Things were intensifying fast and my husband called triage, who again said there was a long way to go.
I decided the only place I wanted to be was the bath and my husband and sister began inflating the pool (with no intention of filling it yet in case it got cold). Our bath is tiny and I couldn’t get comfortable so I insisted they fill the pool. My husband was worried it was too early but I was adamant that was where I needed to be. It took a while to fill and my sister poured warm water on my back during contractions in the bath while I waited, which was lovely. I had to get out briefly to throw up my dinner and then the pool was ready.
The lights were turned down and my husband had lit candles and was playing the hypnobirthing affirmations and Leila’s relaxation CD. Getting in the pool was amazing and I felt like it was the only place in the world I wanted to be. However, I’d heard you could slow down labour by getting in too soon and I really wanted the midwife to be there to make sure everything was ok. My husband rang again and they said that even though my contractions were so close together they weren’t long enough and I shouldn’t be able to talk through them. My husband explained I had done hypnobirthing but the midwife said she wouldn’t come for another two hours. Being told yet again I still had a long way to go and nobody was coming worried me and for the first time I wondered if I was going to cope without pain relief. I felt very close to giving birth but if I was only in the early stages (as everybody kept saying) I wasn’t sure I was going to manage. I worried I wasn’t doing hypnobirthing properly and became panicky. My husband really helped by reassuring me and guiding me through the relaxations. Evert time I had a contraction I would call to my sister to turn the hot water on in the bathroom so I could hold the hose against my back. This really helped. Then in between contractions she removed water with a saucepan so the pool didn’t over fill!
I was relieved when the midwife finally arrived but when she saw me already in the pool she looked worried. I told her I couldn’t help pushing during contractions and asked if it was too soon. “Maybe” she said looking concerned because she didn’t want me pushing too long. It really didn’t feel like I had a while to go, so although my birth plan said I didn’t want unnecessary examinations I suddenly asked to be examined. To my immense relief I was completely dilated and my baby was very much on her way out! Shocked the midwife called for a second midwife to come immediately and began hurriedly setting up. I returned to the pool much happier and calmer –I was able to trust my body again now I knew I had been right about how far along I was. I continued the hypnobirthing techniques and now knew I was going to cope. I did ask for gas and air but by the time it was ready I had forgotten about it and never saw it.
The second midwife arrived as my baby’s head began crowning. The midwives were lovely and supportive of hypnobirthing even when my husband asked them to stop telling me to push as I found it easier to concentrate on the breathing and do what felt right. They continued checking my baby’s heart beat in the water but otherwise everyone was quiet apart from my husband talking me through the hypnobirthing visualisations (and me!). With a pop my baby was soon out and I had to step over the umbilical cord while the midwife passed her under my leg. We snuggled down together in the warm water and she had her first feed there within ten minutes of being born, while everyone sat around waiting for the placenta.
We waited for an hour without cutting the cord, still in the pool with my baby feeding and sleeping. The placenta didn’t come for ages but I eventually managed to birth it in the bathroom. I had very nearly had the injection and was so happy when I at last managed to do it all naturally.
Lastly I had to have a couple of stitches because I had a minor tear as my baby had come out hand first – my husband was happy about this because he said she had entered the world like superman.
Within two hours of the birth the midwives had gone and it was morning. My notes read that labour had been 2 hours and 45 minutes with the last hour waiting for the placenta. It was definitely a quick labour but I’m pretty sure it was longer than that. My waters broke at 7.30pm, contractions were pretty strong by midnight and she was born at 4.24 am.
I had the exact birth I had been visualising with Leila and I couldn’t have achieved that without her wonderful teaching and hypnobirthing. It was by far the most amazing, empowering experience I have ever had.
