Our midwife turned around and asked her to use her tranquil voice in this room / Jaydin
In my first birth I’d had an epidural, stayed on the bed the whole time and was coached through the pushing stage and ended up with a 3C tear. We were craving a better experience with our second birth and had hoped for a water birth however our application to the Birthing Centre was denied due to my previous tear. Meetings with two Obstetricians left me with a high risk label and it was recommended we have a planned caesarean to avoid another severe tear. After some research, I came across an info session with Renee and Dr Kaitlyn which was a godsend and just what my partner Ant and I needed to head us onto that pathway and we booked in for Renee’s Hypnobirthing Australia course. We did half group/half private classes and we found the course gave Ant some amazing tools and techniques to help me in labour and it really gave him purpose; he knew what he needed to do, he was my voice and he was there to speak up for me while I was in my zone and support me when I needed him and then give me space when I needed it . He set the room up so I could carry on and just focus on me. This was a huge step up as our previous birth he really felt helpless. Thank you Renee 💛
In the lead up to my estimated due date, I was manifesting my labour time (6-8 hours), would listen to the affirmations track in the car and our hypnosis tracks which made me fall asleep every time which was perfect , my body was relaxing. My favourite was Surge Of The Sea. We created our vision board and had little affirmations and pictures all over our bedroom and saved as screen savers on my phone.
Fast Forward to our birth we had gone to bed around 9pm and I remember waking at 11:50pm with surges. We were aiming to labour at home as long as we could so I tried to get some more rest but my surges seemed quite close so I started to time them on an app I had downloaded. The app kept saying go to hospital so we decided to call ahead as I’d said to Ant this felt different to my last labour. Surges were intense and not too far apart (he was trying to keep me home a little longer).
Ant made the call to the hospital and he asked for someone experienced in hypnobirthing.
We arrived and were assessed and moved to a birth suite where we dimmed the lights and put our hypnobirthing tracks on. Our midwife arrived, she took my birth plan and went over it came back and said she would follow and respect all of what was on there and really just observed me, she respected our space I was so grateful.
I was so determined to labour standing but ended up on my knees. I wasn't comfortable on the bed and we soon found out I also didn’t like to be touched so every one left me to labour. I found a comfy spot leaning on the bed for support and after a few hours on my knees I started to shake and felt uncomfortable as my body went through transition. I moved up onto the bed to try and get into a more comfortable position and my midwife started to apply a warm compress to my perineum through my surges as indicated on our birth preferences (I believe this had a huge impact on not tearing again). It was time to bear down. My waters hadn’t broken yet and I remember another midwife coming into the room and making a very loud phone call to somebody panicking that I was ready to go, Our midwife turned around and asked her to use her tranquil voice in this room. After a few pushes my body just took over and almost automatically started to push before I’d registered I was having a surge, Then my water broke just as she was starting to emerge. The first push was her head and second or third was her whole body at once. I DID IT with no drugs only gas and air and no intervention. She was here 6 hours and 30 minutes of labour. We had prepared for this birth we finally got to experience the magic.
We had over an hour skin to skin time with no weighing until we were ready. I had no tearing externally and tiny fissures internally - nothing compared to a 3C tear!. Once she was weighed, I got up and had a shower. I couldn’t sleep after the birth I was just so ecstatic all of our prep work and education had paid off. That endorphin high was epic and lasted 3 days. I used to think people were on another planet when they had a magical amazing birth but I had now experienced it myself.
Renee and hypnobirthing played a huge part in our amazing experience and I recommend it to anyone who may be expecting.