Jo & Ben - 2020 Birth Story

My partner and I were very fortunate to have got pregnant easily, pregnancy journey began as the word COVID began to spread around the world.

I had a good start to my pregnancy, with very little morning sickness and feeling generally well and energised.  I began thinking about the birthing process quite early and was keen to be really informed and as prepared as was possible for the big day.  I liked the idea of hypnobirthing because I felt it would help with my wish to have a drug free birth and I wanted to go in as prepared as possible.  One of the midwives at Sandringham hospital recommended the hypnobirthing classes run by Robina.

We began the classes about halfway through the pregnancy, having never done anything similar before I found Robina to be an immediate calming influence.  I had already naturally felt confident about the birthing process, but the course really solidified this and taught me so much about how naturally amazing our bodies are, and how I can best let my body do what it knows best.  My partner was a little sceptical at first, but he also found the level of detail and expectation setting to be really helpful in preparing for the big day. We prepared by practising the meditations and affirmations and doing exercises to ensure that the baby was in the best possible position.

Things started to change in my pregnancy when I was unexpectantly diagnosed with gestational diabetes at 28 weeks.  I was never able to control the condition with diet so was on insulin quite early and I found this to be a really stressful time.  The inability to control my insulin levels, along with reduced fetal movement and the expectation of a large baby meant that at 36+6 I was considered high risk and the hospital paediatrician decided the baby needed to come out.  I was actually at work that day so needed to take additional leave to have the baby!

In the weeks leading up to the induction I was in constant communication with Robina, she helped prepare me for the paid appointments, and what might happen with everything going on with diabetes.  When I found out about my surprise induction I text Robina to tell her that I was going in for an induction that evening, and miraculously she was on shift at the hospital.

When we arrived at the hospital at 4 pm to find that Robina was our midwife, to say I was relieved and happy was an understatement.  The plan was to insert the balloon that night and for my partner to come back the next day to commence the drip and induction.  The doctor couldn’t believe it when the balloon came straight out and my cervix was also ready to go.  Robina set up the room for us with relaxation music, essential oils and some visualisation props.  With Robina still on duty and beside me we continued to the drip and in 2hrs and 15 minutes, my little boy was born.  I used the breathing techniques to help me with the very rapid contractions and when it came to bearing down.  The techniques helped me to have medication-free birth, the preparation that we did before also meant that I understood what the medical staff were doing and the key decisions that needed to be made.

We were only in the hospital for a total of 20 hours and took our slight prem, jaundice baby home for the first time.  Robina came to visit us at home in those first days and was so much support in helping us to establish a milk supply and build my baby boy up so that he had the strength to breastfeed directly.  After a really challenging first few weeks we got to a point where he had regained his birth weight and was feeding on his own.  We managed to keep him at home through this whole period with the support of Robina and the other hospital midwifes.

Today I have a healthy, happy, 80% percentile baby, and I can hardly believe that we were worried about his weight.  Robina was so supportive through this time and her kind wisdom gave me so much confidence to keep going.

I would highly recommend the hypnobirthing training to prepare you for birth, and to help through the birthing process.  For us, it was so much more than a training course, but a connection and support from a very experienced and caring midwife, who loves what she does and cares so much for those who she teaches.  We couldn’t be more grateful for making this decision.