“Six hours later we had our baby girl in our arms – no pain relief required!”

This birth story comes from Elsie Roe’s mum in Newcastle, who practised hypnobirthing with Shona Baxter of Empowered Hypnobirthing.

“Our little lady Elsie arrived safe, healthy and by a really positive birth on Sunday 21st Jan at 6.22am in Newcastle’s wonderful RVI.

As if by magic, this was the day before we were due to be induced, and the same birthday as my dear father! 

My pregnancy hadn’t been a particularly easy one – pelvic pain, a UTI, gestational diabetes to name a few things – but despite this, I was determined to do what I could to fully prepare myself for a positive birth – and Shona was integral to this!

My theory was very much ‘knowledge is power’ and so I talked to as many mum friends and colleagues as I could about their experience. I didn’t want to hide from the reality, the good or the bad. This thirst for knowledge meant that in the run up to my labour, I was faced with a surprising number of birth scare stories from others  – so I’m grateful that Shona helped me to have a really positive birth experience! 

Under the guidance of Shona I learnt and practised various hypnobirthing techniques, with a focus on visualisation as preparation and using the breath and relaxation as natural pain relief. Shona supported me to build my confidence around birthing my baby, to know that whatever happened during my labour, I had the power to cope with, adapt to, and conquer! 

My labour started spontaneously on a Saturday evening. After breathing through the surges at home, and having my waters break on the living room floor, we entered the RVI delivery suite already 4cm dilated! And six hours later we had our baby girl in our arms – no pain relief required! 

Using the theory and practise of hypnobirthing, under the tutelage of Shona, I entered the labour ward feeling calm, confident and totally empowered to birth my baby! And on reflection I wouldn’t have changed a thing about the whole experience.

Thank you Shona for all your help, advice and words of wisdom! I recommend your support to all women out there who want to have a positive, confident and empowered birth experience!”