Todd & Meika and baby Paige
At 3:30am my wife woke me up to tell me that she she was in labour. She took this as an opportunity to apply the Rainbow Relaxation visualizations that she had been practicing for several weeks, and promptly fell asleep! Having been warned of expending physical and mental reserves too early in the labour, this was exactly what we had hoped for.
The next day started off right: optimistic, rested, and running on a full night’s sleep. Both of us had, under the guidance of the HypnoBirthing process, invested considerable energy into projecting a fear-free, ideal birthing experience; which actually manifested through a joyous day of laughter, walks in the park, and working on art projects. Through these activities, my wife built up a deep reservoir of endorphins, allowing her to easily transition into the more challenging labour, when the contractions become more intense. By that point, we were regularly applying the HypnoBirthing breathing and anchoring techniques which allowed her to take charge of the contractions while in a zone of deep concentration and relaxation.
Our nurses and mid-wife were all impressed at my wife’s courage, strength and focus in the last stages of labour. After a relatively short period of active and transition labour, and in a fully wakeful state, she gave birth to our beautiful 8 lb, 10oz little girl – all without any unnecessary medical interventions or drugs! We couldn’t have asked for a more wonderful, positive experience!
The hypnotherapy component of the training is fascinating, but what really impressed us was the inevitable fundamental shift in view towards birthing a baby. HypnoBirthing is as much an attitude and philosophy as it is a practice; it allows the body and mind to embrace a very natural process, unencumbered by fear and negativity. I highly recommend it!
Kevin & Shauna and baby Kieran
At 9 am on the 9 of Sept regular surges started. They were well paced out at 20 mins apart. Kevin and I decided to take the dog for a walk so we hiked up Horth Hill, did a bit of yoga and meditation at the top of the hill.The rest of the day I kept busy, felt good and excited about getting to meet the baby. The whole time I was able to talk and have conversations and felt that everything was manageable.
Around 6:30 that night surges were coming around 10 mins apart. At this point I went for some acupuncture to bring labour on. At 9pm that night things felt like they were really moving along. Surges were 5 mins apart and lasting 30-45 seconds. At this time I called the Midwife and the Doula, both agreed relax and rest try to get some sleep.
Sleep was not coming to me, I had to keep changing my positions, however I still felt excited, calm and totally in control and the surges were very manageable.
At 1:00 am on Sept 10 got into the tub to relax, then went back and forth into the tub getting chores done whenever I was out. I was quite happy to have Kevin sleeping because I knew the baby was coming that day and we would have an emotional day, so I was comfortable to let him just relax into it.
At 5:00 am the Doula called and timed the contractions with me, at 5:30 got out of tub and had the Birth Show. 7:00 am surges coming 3-5 mins apart lasting 45 secs. I was still totally calm, relaxed and just letting my body do what it had to do. The work was worth it and I knew it wouldn’t be long now.Kevin is up, calling people and helping me breathe through the surges.
Our Doula and Midwife show up around 11:30 that morning. Since about 7:30 that morning I found that I had gone further into my birthing body.
All during the opening and thinning phase I never once asked for drugs or felt the need for them.
Note From Diana: I arrived@ 12:15 to a very calm and happy Shauna, she was at about 9.5 centimetres, when the phone rang Shauna answered it, had a brief conversation then informed her girlfriend that she was in advanced labour and could she please call her back. I’m sure her friend had no idea that Shauna was in full labour and typically what the rest of the world would call transition. It was absolutely amazing to see.
I was happy that I was fully dilated, hardly believing I was through the worst of it feeling refreshed and ready to push. My contractions were slowing a bit so the Midwife broke the water in hopes that it would move baby down a bit and speed up the very end part. At 1:30 was told I was fully dilated except for a small piece of the cervix that just wouldn’t seem to let go. When I was pushing the rim would move but then go back to the original position. I had been visualizing the “slated J” and breathing the baby down for approx of an hour, and still very excited. By 2:00 the Midwife said he was not moving, so I sat on the toilet for a while hoping that position would help move him down.
Note from Diana: at this point I can see that Shauna, although frustrated, is still calm and loving to those around her. We helped every way we could.
After sitting on the toilet for half an hour, and then trying other positions, the baby was still not descending. I still felt really good, I had people to lean on, knew I was safe and felt like I had energy but was starting to get drained. I also felt the mood in the house shift the longer it took, even so I still felt supported.
At about 3:30 the Midwife makes the call to go to the hospital. We talked about options, and left for the hospital around 4:15. The car ride was difficult and long, I now felt like I had to really think through each surge and went back to the slow breathing.
Note from Diana: watching these two come to the decision to go to the hospital might have been stressful for some couples but because the prevailing mood was so calm they talked about it and made a choice that was not based on panic, over tiredness and with drug free minds. They also knew exactly what going to the hospital meant for them and the baby.
When I got to the hospital I was offered a wheel chair which I wanted but found extremely uncomfortable because it was made out of heavy wire mesh. The Doctor met with the Midwife and did an examination, confirming that the baby was not moving down the birth canal. The Doctor was very good with us, explaining that the baby was doing well and that I could keep pushing if I wanted to. They both felt that I was pushing, or breathing down the baby, effectively. He was just not moving. The doctor also made it very clear that it was our choice, which empowered us to make the informed decision to have a C section.
I opted for a local anaesthesia instead of an epidural, and at 6:42 Kieran Liam was born weighing 8.5 pounds.
Birthing was a wonderful experience, empowering me to embrace my femininity and mothering instincts. I am very glad that I took HypnoBirthing, the education HypnoBirthing gave me prepared me mentally and gave me the confidence to trust the physiological process. I love the fact that you are told what to expect, and the breathing techniques really helped. I would highly recommend HypnoBirthing to anyone wanting to give birth naturally, and will definitely use the techniques again if we have another child in the future.
