This week’s birth story comes from a gorgeous Libby who attended a 121 TCBS Hypnobirthing Session with Natalie Hindle of Pink Moon Hypnobirthing covering Moray, Scotland, UK.
Thank you for sharing this wonderful birth story of the beautiful Marley with us!
“We had a session with Natalie late in my pregnancy at our house and it was so informative. I had done a good bit of research into hypnobirthing beforehand, but the session helped me to feel more prepared and to start getting excited. I maintained this excitement until the day I went into labour, and this helped with maintaining positive feelings throughout. My mantra was “every step is a step closer to meeting my baby girl”, and this really pulled me through everything.
On the 16th of September 2021 I gave birth to our beautiful daughter Marley after an amazing labour lasting around 10 hours. After a relatively difficult pregnancy, as baby was very low creating a lot of pressure and nerve pain throughout, I was delighted to go into labour eight days early. The contractions started around 2am at night and I woke to some intense pressure. I tried to get back to sleep despite the pain as I wanted to get as much rest as possible but after trying for a while the pressure was too intense and my excitement was building. I decided to get up so I and sit on my birth ball whilst watching TV. I left my partner to sleep for as long as possible as I knew we had a long day ahead. I had some breakfast and began drinking lots of water. I woke my partner around half past four and told him I was in labour – the pain was quite intense by this time, and I thought we should start getting things ready (we hadn’t done much preparation). We tried to remain quiet to not wake up my two-year-old son, but he woke up around 5am and had no idea what was going on!
Following Natalie’s advice, I waited as long as I could before going to Dr Gray’s at around 7am. At this time, I agreed to a vaginal examination which confirmed I was 5cm dilated. Through Hypnobirthing I felt the freedom to design my own environment for giving birth, the room was lovely, and I had a playlist on which I had been listening to for the past few weeks. Once my partner had got the room ready for me, I had a feeling of “ok we are here, this is a big step and not long to go now”. At this point I began getting into my head, the pain started to intensify, and I thought that meant baby was coming. I went into the birth pool which was amazing!!! I had intense back pain and the water lifted so much weight off. I was in the pool for a good few hours but during that time I thought baby was coming but she was actually trying to move. Marley was positioned back-to-back which isn’t an ideal position for labour and so she was trying to move into a better position before coming out.
I requested minimal intervention and for my partner and I to be left alone but asked the midwife to check how dilated I was (this was the only other time the midwife checked me other than the routine heart rate check every 15 minutes). I was only 7cm dilated – I had progressed by 2 cm in 4 hours. After thinking the baby was coming that whole time, I felt quite depressed by this information. However, with the help of my partner reminding me to start breathing and to relax I was able to just chill out on the bed.
I got onto all fours with my head over the headboard and just began breathing slowly and not thinking of anything else. I took a small amount of gas and air at this time and then an hour and a half later Marley was on her way out. I got up on all fours and pushed her out quite easily, she never changed position and came out back to back which was fine in the end.
Marley was passed through my legs into my arms instantly still attached to the cord as I requested delayed cord clamping and I held her there. After a small amount of time my partner cut the cord as there was concerns about my placenta. Despite the worrying attitude of the midwives, I wasn’t paying too much attention and was just taking in my beautiful baby girl. In the end my placenta was fine, I had a catheter put in which was nothing compared to labour! Marley latched on to my breast very quickly and had a long feed for 20-30 minutes after giving birth. I had no tearing and hardly any bruising from the birth.
My hypnobirthing sessions and research taught me how much freedom I can have during my labour and that I am the one who makes the decisions. Labour can be beautiful and positive. The process empowered me and helped me realise that the power is within me”.
If you want to create your own positive birth you can start today!
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