Jess and Travis, Birth story. June 2021

Our Hypnobirth Story

I had always been fearful of giving birth, but knew I wanted to have a baby and thought I would just have to deal with it the best way I could when it came about. I had a great pregnancy and felt I was doing all the right things including exercising and listening to pregnancy and birth podcasts to get myself “ready” for the big day. However, I just wound up feeling more anxious about my birthing day the more I learnt about it.

I first heard about Hypnobirthing from my neighbour who had done the course and given birth at Sandringham Hospital and this inspired me to research it. I liked what I read on the website and so when I had a phone consultation with the Midwife from the hospital, I asked her about Hypnobirthing and she gave me the names of people that presented the course. The hospital was only offering the course via Zoom due to Covid and I really wanted to do face to face sessions. As soon as I hopped off the phone, I contacted Robina via email. Robina contacted me straight away and after discussions with my partner Travis, we booked into the course and thus began our Hypnobirthing journey. To begin with, Travis wasn’t as convinced with the benefits like I was but was open to participating in the course to support me.

Once we completed the course, we felt empowered as we now had the knowledge required to prepare for a calm, easy birth. We felt like we had choices on our birthing day, and this is mainly what helped us to feel empowered. I wrote up a birth plan, which I felt was more for us, as I now understood the choices that we may be faced with on our birthing day and knowledge is power.

I began listening to the birthing affirmations daily and fell in love with how it made me feel which was calm and in control of my thoughts. I wrote up some of the affirmations and placed them throughout the house. I spoke to my baby daily, we talked about how the birth will be calm and easy and that he/she will come early or on time. Hypnobirth encouraged me to speak about my birth in positive ways, all of which aided in my ability to stay positive about giving birth. Trav also felt like he knew more and was confident in supporting me on the day after learning some Robozo techniques and how to relieve joint and or back pain during labour. I used a fit ball in the latter stage of pregnancy and was committed to lying and sitting correctly to make sure my baby was in the correct position for birth.

I went into early labour Thursday afternoon, I felt as though I had period pain and I was excited. I was visiting my parents and my Dad panicked and politely told me to go home!!!! This pain continued throughout the night and into the next day. It started to become more intense but very manageable and I was able to stay calm and I was feeling even more excited and relaxed. I rang my mum around lunch time on Friday and she was worried about the feelings that I was experiencing and so I rang the hospital and they told me to come in to check it out. I rang my partner and he met me there after work.

After monitoring the baby and checking that all was okay, we left the hospital. On my way home from the hospital, I had a car accident. I was okay but in a little bit of shock and just worried about the baby. So, back to the hospital I went but in an ambulance as my car was not driveable. I was still experiencing the period pain feelings at this point, but I was still able to remain calm as I knew I would be meeting my baby soon. I kept reciting the different affirmations which helped me such as, “I am relaxed and happy that my baby is finally coming to me”. At the hospital we had to be monitored for four hours and it seemed the baby was healthy and ok. I also had a scan of baby and he/she looked fine, thank goodness. Luckily, I had my headphones and so I was able to listen to the birth affirmations while being monitored. The midwives were shocked to see me back so soon. We left the hospital around 11pm that night, we were tired but relieved that baby was ok. It had been a very eventful day.

Once home, I thought I had better put a towel on my bed just in case my waters broke. I took some bump photos, jumped in the shower and then straight into bed and listened to the birth affirmations, I always listened to them at bedtime. It felt so good to be in bed. Just as Trav hopped into bed and pulled the covers up we heard a huge POP! My waters had broken!!! I rolled out of bed so quick and waddled to the toilet, we had run out of toilet paper that day which wasn’t very helpful either. Trav yelled out ‘Nooooo’ as bed had felt so good and I couldn’t stop laughing. What a day we had had! I rang the birth suite and they laughed and were surprised and said, “Well you better come back in then!”

Trav calmly packed the car and we kept an eye on the time of the surges as we drove to the hospital and they were getting closer together. My ability to stay calm during this time was down to preparing my mind for this day using the Hypnobirth affirmations. I firmly believed that I was going to have a beautiful, calm birth because we had practiced and prepared for this day. I felt safe and supported by Travis and trusted him to care for me. Trav was confident in his ability to support me as he had learnt about the birthing process and what to expect.

Once at the hospital we went into a suite and kept an eye on the time and how close the surges were. We told the lovely midwife, Carolyn, we had completed the Hypnobirth course, and she had training in it and so flicked off the lights straight away. Hypnobirth also encouraged me to have positive thoughts about the hospital. I had been aware that your labour can slow once you get to hospital and so along with my affirmations, I told myself that the hospital felt like home and that it was comfortable and I was supported there, I also did this weekly. I had planned to use battery operated candles and I was going to take my salt lamp, but we didn’t end up doing any on this. Having the lights dimmed was enough for me.

I struggled to find a comfortable spot to labour in, I tried on all fours and on the bed but what worked for me was simply sitting on a chair and then I would stand up during each surge. I felt nauseous during the first few surges and so the midwife gave me something to stop that which was amazing. I then began to use the gas during each surge, I kept my eyes closed while using the gas. I felt that the gas helped my breathing to stay steady. Trav would squeeze my hips during the surges as I felt a lot of pressure in this area.

The midwife left us alone which was nice. It was great just having Trav there to support me. I ended up asking to check my dialiation at one point, I think it was around 4am, I had been labouring at the hospital for around four hours by this time. The midwife checked and I had said that I didn’t want to know as it can slow labour, however, I asked her if it was over 5cm, and she said yes so I asked her what it was and she said 7cm to 8cm. I was so excited about this as I felt that I was so close to meeting my baby.

I ended up standing on one leg and propping the other on the bed to give birth. I felt more comfortable in this position. After each surge I asked the midwife to guide me as to how I was going with birthing my baby and she was able to give me some advice which I found helpful. At one point when I knew it was time to push, I felt nervous, so I took a deep breathe and went for it. I had birthed my baby! As soon as Carolyn handed him to me, I knew it was a boy. I felt so much joy, it’s almost indescribable. I couldn’t put him on my chest as he had a short umbilical cord. I decided to accept the piticon to help with birthing the placenta earlier, and I am glad we made this decision as I was then able to put Max on my chest sooner. He was just perfect! I kept waiting for someone to walk in and hand me a medal, I felt so proud of myself and my achievements during the birth of our baby boy. It was the most incredible experience, and I can honestly say pain is not a word I would use to describe my birth.

I highly recommend hypnobirthing, it was the best decision I have ever made for myself, and our baby and having Travis supporting me in this decision has made our birthing process a memorable one for all the right reasons.

Jessica, Travis and Max