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I was the talk of the ward

This week’s birth story comes from a Lady Robyn who attended a TCBS Hypnobirthing Course with Bryony Bugg of Beefearless Hypnobirthing based in Cyprus.

Thank you for sharing this wonderful story with us!

For me the latent phase of labour started on a Thursday evening, after jumping up to sit on the kitchen side I felt a small trickle of fluid which I thought were my waters. Trying not to get too excited I kept it to myself and sat down for tea as normal. At the table I started to notice period type cramps coming quite quickly.

Following this I dashed up to the loo, to see if it was infact my waters, but I really couldn’t tell (I was sure as hell I hadn’t wet myself haha). I went back downstairs and told my parents whilst the cramps kept coming they were getting strong at this point, to the point where I had to use my breathing techniques to get through them.

I rang Sam told him what was going on and that I would ring the hospital to let them know I thought my waters had gone. Once I called the hospital, they said to come in to double check if they had gone or not, so Sam made his way down to Plymouth. In the meantime I put on my relaxation tracks, bounced on my birthing ball and munched on pineapple whilst I eagerly waiting for Sam to take us to the hospital.

We got to the hospital and my surges were around every 10 minutes and they were strong, I continued to use my breathing techniques. The midwives checked and said my waters hadn’t gone but could see how intense my contractions were. So, I went home positive that something was still clearly happening.

Over the next three days my surges came and went but continued to get more and more intense. Most of the feeling I was getting was in my lower back, so I found myself in and out of the bath to help manage my comfort.

On Sunday the surges really ramped up, but at most were 6 minutes apart. I used the pain relief chart you provided to help get comfortable. I got to use my tens machine which relieved some of the pressure but I could no longer get comfortable so decided I wanted to get checked to see how thing were progressing.

I was told on the phone that I sounded too calm, and my surges were too far apart but could come in for peace of mind which I did. They then confirmed that I was 5cm and would be staying in to have a baby!

The confirmation gave me a new lease of life and I continued labouring with just my breathing and tens machine for two hours. By this time my legs were beginning to buckle with the labour being all in my back (I found the birthing ball to uncomfortable so just swayed from side to side holding onto the bed). So made the decision to try the gas & air which was a huge relief.

Another hour passed and I was able to use the pool (my contractions were too irregular at first). I got in and instantly disliked it, it really threw me off my breathing and made me more uncomfortable, so I got out. At this point I was finding it hard to keep in control of my breathing so made the decision to have diamorphine which helped to calm me and get back into my hypnobirthing Rhythm.

As time went on before the midwives changed over, I was checked and confirmed to be at 9cm and that the new midwives would re-examine me every couple hours to check if I had dilated the extra cm – which they did. However, this then escalated a series of events.

The new midwives measured me at 8cm, but I stayed positive and thought it’s only 1 cm difference I’m doing well! However they asked if I was happy for the doctor to give a second opinion, which I agreed too. The doctor then confirmed that baby was back-to-back (hence the back labour) and only measured me at 6cm!!  My heart sank but I used my breathing to remain calm and not panic.

The doctor told me I would need an epidural for baby to be turned and that I would need to be placed on an oxytocin drip (my labour had slowed right down at this point). I politely told him I did not want an epidural but was happy to have my labour kick started as I was tired at this point and understood that I hadn’t dilated much in this period).  He continued to say I would need the epidural to deal with the pain, to which I still refused – something I didn’t know was an option until taking your course!

I was moved rooms and Sam (can you believe this) immediately put the candles and fairy lights out to make the now more clinical room comfortable. In this room after setting up my oxytocin drip they continued to push the epidural on me, I kept refusing and Sam spoke up for me saying I didn’t want it, what were my other options. He actually suggested another dose of diamorphine to which they agreed! He also reminded me that being sat on the bed being monitored would make things more uncomfortable, so they set my monitoring up allowing me to move more freely.

Their plan was to put me on 20mg of oxytocin but by the time they got me to 4mg, I could feel that baby was ready to come. The midwives told me I wasn’t ready to which I insisted I was.

Baby’s heartbeat then began to drop with each surge, so then they realised I knew my baby was coming and just 20 minutes after feeling the need to breath baby out – she was born (no turning or epidural involved) weighing a healthy 7lb6. Our little girl Poppy made her entrance after four days of early labour and 15 hours of active labour!

After the midwives came in and congratulated me on standing my ground with what I wanted/did not want. Followed by the doctor who said I was the talk of the ward for how well I did – something that would not have happened without hypnobirthing and the help of your course! Thank you xxxx

If you want to create your own positive birth you can start today!

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You can find out more about Hypnobirthing in Akrotiri, Cyprus here.

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