Lucy and Mike. May 2023
We were having a good pregnancy with little no to sickness or other symptoms but with all of the negative birth stories I had been hearing I was absolutely petrified of the birth. I had heard about hypnobirthing and after doing some research online I came across Robina, one of my close friends was also half way through the course and was saying amazing things so I know I needed to book onto the next course with Robina. My partner Mike is extremely supportive and wanted to be as hands on as possible. We really wanted to educate ourselves on the process and ensure we had all of the tips and tricks to bring our baby into the world happy and healthy. The course was absolutely fantastic, each session was filled with so much information and we felt more empowered and gradually more comfortable and even excited for the birth. It really changed our perspective from anxiety and worry to looking forward to bringing our baby into the world together in the calmest, most loving environment.
At 41 weeks my waters broke at 4am, we went to the hospital, the midwife confirmed and sent me home to get into natural labour myself. We spent the day reading scripts, using the rebozo, listening to our birth playlist and creating a beautiful space for myself and our baby. My contractions didn't start naturally so the midwife recommended an induction after 24 hours. We had our birth plan prepared for this and handed it to our midwife at 8am the next day. We started the oxytocin drip at 10.30am. The room was dark, the salt lamp was on, Mike started the light touch massage and reading scripts, I shut my eyes and visualised my yellow room safe space. I felt safe, protected and ready to meet our baby. Once the contractions started, I put on my tens machine, stood at the side of the bed and swayed my hips with the surges. My midwife advised that my baby was posterior and I should move around as much as I could. We planned for an active labour and I was very happy to continue to move around the room as much as I could. Quite quickly the surges became closer together and I felt a deep pressure and felt the urge to push. Mike read affirmations and kept me calm, my favourite one was 'each surges brings me closer to my baby'. My baby managed to turn herself around in the right position and we were ready to go. My active labour was 1 hour 30 mins and was the most incredible experience I have ever had. Feeling every inch of my beautiful baby making her way down the birth canal was so special. Hazel Méabh McGhee was born at 4.18pm and weighed 4.2kg. She was born extremely calm and only babbled a little when on my chest, she was so perfect! We opted for delayed cord clamping, Hazel found her way naturally to my nipple for her first feed and we spent the most amazing time skin to skin before Mike cut the cord and the placenta was birthed.
We are two weeks into our newborn bubble and fall in love with her a little more each day. We are so thankful to Robina for the hypnobirthing techniques she showed us and we continue to use in our everyday lives. We would 100% recommend hypnobirthing to any couple who want to be educated about birth rights, rid any negative feelings about birth and feel empowered and excited. Thank you again Robina.