Charleen, breach, planned caesarean

This little bub was born a couple of months ago and I wanted to share her birth story as it is a perfect example of the empowerment, support and knowledge the Hypnobirthing Australia course gives you when faced with a change in circumstances. Hypnobirthing Australia isn't about the 'perfect vaginal birth', it's feeling safe, supported, educated and calm, It's having a positive birth experience - no matter how it all plays out. Thank you for sharing your story Charleen & Matt. It was a pleasure to teach you....

"A few years back I heard a friend mention an amazing hypnobirthing course she had done. I wasn’t pregnant at the time but when I did become pregnant I knew I wanted a positive birth experience. I had honestly only heard of negative experiences, and felt as women we all have to go through this horrible experience. Pain was a major word in my mind, not ever thinking that the experience could be anything but. No one around me talked about a positive experience and I felt my mind had been shaped to think of the process in the wrong way.

I found Renee online and we connected. We attended her courses and my mind shifted. We changed words around, for example instead of contractions we would talk about surges, we learnt that every surge was one closer to meeting our baby. We started using positive words for a positive experience. Taking my husband along made it a learning experience for us both. Understanding the woman's body and realising we are made to give birth really had a profound impact on me.

I felt excited and empowered to birth this baby I was privileged to carry, and I knew my body would do what it needed. I had to go along with it rather than go against it.

I started listening to the affirmations and music and felt a real peace about this experience we were going to go through. At around 34 weeks we found out that our little girl was breech. We did what we could to turn her and after an ultrasound we also found out the amniotic fluid around her was also very low and dropping. There was talk that weekend about an emergency caesarean. We were so deflated by the thought as it was the opposite to our current birth plan.

In the few weeks that followed I was told that the chance of a normal birth was getting dimmer and a caesarean was the safest way to get her out. That took some time to process and accept.

What the course taught us is that whatever happens in the end is out of our control, but what we do have control over is our attitude towards it and how we react to it. We chose to stay calm, to accept whatever came our way and to see it as a positive experience regardless if it was how we had planned it or not.

We were attending a hospital for monitoring and had numerous meetings with different options presented to us. We decided to go with the recommendation of an elective caesarean. We felt at peace with the decision and started prepping for the day. On the day we were excited and surprisingly calm (apart from the husband nearly fainting when he saw me getting needles prepping for the operation ;) ). I believe the course taught us so much about this and the affirmations and music helped us to accept what was lying ahead. Indii Mae was born, an initial cry and then a very relaxed and calm baby. She has been just that ever since and we feel so blessed and grateful to an amazing Creator who created her and to my amazing body which went through so much to carry her.

Looking back on my experience I can only tell those around me how positive it was and how amazing the experience was. I'm so grateful my husband went along to the course with an open mind as our partners are such an important part of the journey. I have chosen to not feel guilt or regret that I wasn't able to experience labour and natural birth as that eats away at you. But rather I feel grateful for the amazing health care around us and that we were able to have our baby delivered in the most safest way for her at the time.

I’m excited to rest my body and recover and when we get pregnant again I’ll be using all the skills Renee taught me to have a VBAC (vaginal birth after caesarean) and if not, to accept what lays ahead of us.

Thank-you Renee for your constant support, for the texts, emails, messages of encouragement, your gift box and continual communication. We are so grateful we stepped into the unknown and attended this course. I’m so amazed at a women’s body, how we grow a little human and regardless of how it enters this world, it’s a miracle and so worth the 9 months."