My husband and I attended our KGHypnobirthing course at around 25 weeks pregnant. Being a yoga teacher I went in open minded and ready to train my mind and body to have the most natural birth we possibly could. My husband is a “scientific fact” person, so he walked into the room a little less open to the idea of “hypno” birthing. That changed within a matter of a morning, and two beautiful (and very different) births later he (and myself) are huge advocates for hypnobirthing.
There was so much we didn’t know about birth, we were about to enter into the single most important day(s) that either of us will ever have in our lives, and we wanted to be as prepared and “in the know” as possible.
My first birth
Darcey’s birth, started at home at 41+5, we had a birth pool set up in the lounge of our tiny London flat, and the community midwives were called out a few time’s to observe. After 24 hours of being in the first stages of labour, we transferred in to hospital for some help, which was due to the fact I had sickness, which could have quickly led to dehydration. I tried really hard to not be disheartened by transferring into hospital, and when we arrived my waters were broken for me which were meconium stained, meaning I would have had to have transferred in regardless of my own sickness. Mentally I had prepared myself for the idea of this happening, and once I settled with my music, and breathing, we created the perfect hypnobirthing space. I continued to labour for another 12 hours but Darcey’s head was not in the optimal position, mixed with both of our heart rates being a little on the high side and the length of labour it was decided a trial of forceps which led to a c-section was the best route for the both of us. Even though this was not the plan or birth we had wanted, each stage of labour we felt that we had the appropriate knowledge to make a calm, well thought out decision on the next step. I look back on Darcey’s birth as incredibly wonderful and hypnobirthing really helped me experience it this way.
My second birth
Matilda’s birth was incredibly different to Darcey. 2 years and 1 month later, I wanted so desperately to have a VBAC (vaginal birth after c-section). Being that I was a “c-section mum” I was put into a high-risk category. Through many meetings and conversations with Claire, my husband and I decided we absolutely knew a VBAC was something me and the baby could achieve. I wanted to have Matilda in hospital because of the risk of my c-section scar rupturing and agreed to be heavily monitored during this time. It was the most beautiful birth, with twinkly fairy lights in the room and my hypnobirthing music playing, assisted by wonderful midwives who were also hypnobirthing trained and supportive. My waters were artificially broken for me, and I did need a little help with pain relief but Matilda ended up being born vaginally with the assistance of forceps. The support from the hospital for my VBAC and my conversations over the phone with Claire during my labour to give me the little bit of extra hypnobirthing support I needed made Matilda’s birth a really amazing experience for everyone involved. I was so proud that we managed to achieve the VBAC birth I wanted.
