Tara and Dan. May 2022.

Tara’s Birth Story

Pregnancy

My pregnancy was amazing, I loved being pregnant. I loved bonding with my bump, tapping at her and her kicking back, watching her grow and listening to her heart beat at the doctors appointments. At times, it was so tiring, I had shortness of breath, pressure on my back and pelvis, some swelling of my feet and hands and a major waddle when I walked in the last few weeks. 

I am very proud of my labour. 9 hours of labour at the hospital with about 5 hours of surges at home with my partner helping me through them. Both my baby and I were healthy and on track through the labour and so we stuck to our preferences which was no interventions such as an epidural or pain killers. I kept thinking about how each surge would bring me closer to meeting my baby girl and I could get through it if I focused on breathing or looking at my partner for strength. 

I looked into Hypnobirthing because I wanted both my partner and I to be equally involved in the birthing journey. I wanted him to feel informed and myself and I wanted the in-person interaction, not a zoom call. I also wanted to have all the knowledge in a positive way but backed up by research and evidence. 

2. Early Labour

My waters broke at about 3:30am on Sunday morning. I felt a pop in my lower stomach area, and then a slow trickle of liquid. We called the hospital and they advised to come in to be checked that everything was okay. 

After the baby was monitored, we went back home to have surges in a comfortable environment, which went on until about 11am. We waited until they were 3 minutes apart before my partner called the hospital with all the information and head back in. 

My surges were felt in my lower back and I tried to remember and think of my birth affirmations as well as doing my surge breathing to help stay in the zone. I felt focused, and ready. 

3. Active labour

The journey to hospital was a bit stressful, as every bump on the road was felt. Trying to check in - twice, park the car, move the car, being separated from my partner was again stressful, and took me out of my zone. 

When I arrived at hospital I was examined and my cervix was 4cm opened and thinned and I used a variety of positions which felt comfortable to me: standing, sitting or kneeling on a gym ball, on all fours, leaning on my partner. 

The baby’s spine was positioned on my spine and so the pressure was really intense on my lower back. I opted to have water injections to help with the intensity of the surges. 

We then used warm water in the shower and that helped immensely. 

I think I was about 5cm opened at this point. I would stand and rock and sway with my partner holding the shower head on my back or kneel leaning on the gym ball. At times I would check to see how close the head was using my fingers and that gave me motivation to stay positive and keep going. 

4. Birth

At one point, I took a break to lie down on my side and hold my knee in the air. I felt like things were different. We did a vaginal examination and my cervix was about 7cm opened and surges were felt in my stomach as well as my back. The midwife said she could see hair so we decided to set up back into the birthing room, where I stood, then was on all fours and eventually lying on my side again. 

I used my J breath to breathe down the baby and hold her head there as much as I could. The midwife guided me when to breathe down and hold and used a warm compress on my perineum. Another midwife showed me the baby using a mirror which again gave me more motivation to breathe and hold. I tried to listen to my body as to when to be gentle and when to nudge the baby more. 

And then it felt like suddenly, although I’m sure it wasn’t, the head was birthed, I could see her face, a few moment later the rest of her body was through and I pulled her up onto my stomach. I instantly felt so much joy and happiness and the pain was gone. 

She was born with her hand on her face which gave me a first degree tear of my labia. My perineum was intact, no tearing and I received two sutures. 

I tried to breastfeed while the placenta was being birthed and the umbilical cord was pulsing, but she mostly wanted to look around the room or follow my voice or my partner’s voice with her eyes. I then expressed colostrum and gave that to her via a syringe. 

Although I wanted a physiological birth of my placenta, the placenta had to be encouraged after an hour or so with an injection as other natural means weren’t working. 

Our healthy baby girl Rumi was born at 11:42pm Sunday, weighing at 3.59kg and 53.5cm long. 

5. Afterwards

After the birth I felt great, able to walk and have a shower. We were moved to the maternal ward at about 3:30am and in the morning when the midwives had checked me and the baby, we left hospital just after lunch time on Monday. 

In the days and weeks after birth, Baby Rumi has been an alert but calm baby. Pretty easy to soothe and after two weeks already passed birth weight. Having antenatally expressed colostrum has helped greatly to top her up with extra milk and ensure minimal weight was lost as well as  making me feel familiar and comfortable with how to express before she had arrived. 

I couldn’t recommend Hypnobirthing more! 

It has empowered me with the knowledge and choices I needed to have a positive birthing experience. 

It has made my relationship stronger with my partner, we communicate better and express our needs or desires more clearly. It gave us both strategies and tools for labour and allowed me to trust our birthing preferences were going to be fulfilled, all I had to do was stay focused on birthing our baby girl. 

Thank you to Robina and the midwives at Sandringham Hospital. Robina is an amazing and supportive Hypnobirthing course provider. She checked on me throughout my pregnancy and even when I was becoming impatient post due date and postpartum. 

To the midwives at Sandy, you listened to all our preferences and were so motivating and gentle with us. Thank you all. 

Kind Regards,

Tara.