Here is a wonderful calm water birth story sent to us by the lovely Georgia! Thank you so much for sharing your story!
“The writing of my story is long overdue as my little girl Dolcey-Olivia Collings was born 8 days early on 9th October 2017 but I really want to share my experience because I feel it is so empowering! Before Hypnobirthing I was anxious and worried about how I would cope but I actually found myself looking forward to the birth because it made me believe I was in control and more than capable.
I spent the weekend with my partner, Charlie, during which time I had cuddles with my niece, who was four months old, a roast dinner, foot massage and a lovely relaxed bath. My waters released at 22:20 that night and I truly believe all those endorphins brought this on!
I called the birthing unit to let them know. They asked me to come in to confirm that this was the case so we made our way to the hospital where we were told they had released but as I wasn’t having any surges I was sent home to try and get labour underway and to return in 24 hours.
By the time we arrived home again it was around 23:50 and I was beginning to get slight twinges in my lower back so I dimmed the lights, sat on the birthing ball and put my favourite radio station on while we looked through our family and friend’s guesses of my birth date to pass the time.
My surges progressed very quickly and Charlie made me a hot water bottle for my back which he cleverly strapped onto me with a scarf and it did wonders. I spent the next few hours on the toilet, falling asleep between surges and being coached by Charlie for my breathing. I had no idea how long I had been on the toilet until Charlie suggested we started timing my surges.. they were 55 seconds long, a minute apart and had been coming for nearly 2 hours!
Charlie called the birthing unit and they did not seem alarmed and asked us to call back if anything progressed. I think as this was my first baby they may have thought we were exaggerating slightly! Charlie encouraged me to make my way to the bed and I reluctantly laid down as the toilet felt like my safe place so I didn’t want to leave it. 5 minutes later my body was telling me to push and I knew it was time. We called the birthing unit back who told us to get to the hospital immediately.
The journey there was much calmer than I imagined as I concentrated on breathing and trying not to let my surges calm down. Upon arriving I was examined and the midwife said ‘I think we had better get you in the pool..’ which translated into ‘you’re fully dilated’ and this was at at 4:09am!
I watched the pool being filled painfully slowly as my surges continued. The midwife placed a pillow underneath me and told me that if i felt like pushing I should. I was determined to be in the water so I hung on intently. The room was decorated with fairy-lights and was very peaceful. My Hypnobirthing wishes were respected although my midwife barely had time to look through my birthing preferences as I was progressing so quickly!
Entering the water relaxed me so much and by 05:44am I had breathed Dolcey-Olivia down and she was born with a small amount of pushing towards the end. With each surge I told myself it was bringing me closer to meeting my baby and this did wonders to keep me believing that I could handle the discomfort and get the job done!
I would never have thought I could bring a baby into the world without any pain relief at all as I would usually panic in situations like that. But the MP3’s, affirmations and relaxation techniques really made me believe in myself and breathing correctly was my saviour. I genuinely feel that Hypnobirthing taught myself and my partner so many things that allowed me to deliver our baby peacefully and calmly.
And I can’t say thank you enough for that!”
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