More Inspiring and Empowering Birth Stories
Thank you to all our new parents who have taken the time to share their wonderful stories with you and welcome beautiful babies to the HypnoBirthing Family.
Donna & Richard on Jack's Natural Birth
Prior to attending our first hypnobirthing class it would be fair to say my husband and I were sceptical about the theory. After all we had been used to seeing child birth on the TV portrayed as a situation involving pain reliving drugs and screaming. However, after our first class our thoughts about hypnobirthing changed. We found the course to be extremely beneficial and the techniques we learnt made so much sense. The idea of a natural birth with no pain relief seemed a distant concept before starting the course. However after learning the techniques taught by Allison and Donna I realised that natural child birth was not only achievable but beneficial to both mum and baby. Allison and Donna were fantastic teachers who made us feel at ease with regards to our babies birthing day.
Baby Jack decided to enter the world two and a half weeks earlier than his due date. Initially I was shocked and began to feel anxious. However, I quickly began the relaxation techniques that I learnt during the hypnobirthing classes and I instantly felt calm and relaxed. My husband assisted also by utilising the techniques learned during our course which made sure I was as relaxed as possible during the whole process. During my birthing experience I felt in total control and relaxed due to the methods of relaxation I had learned on the course. I was able to use different breathing techniques to bring baby Jack into the world. My whole birthing experience was completely natural and the most amazing experience ever. Because I was calm and relaxed during my birthing experience baby Jack arrived into the world healthy, happy and content.
Julie and Craig on Khya's beautiful Waterbirth- by Craig
'As a father, I strongly believe that Hypnobirthing not only gave us a truly relaxed and calm birthing experience; it also empowered me as a birthing partner to confidently and comfortably assist in all aspects - right from home preparation through labour, to the birth of our beautiful baby daughter. This is our story...
Friday 6th May. Baby now 6 days post EDD; having politely refused the membrane sweep from the community midwife 2 days prior, Julie now has her "show" - This prompted mixed emotions and reactions and with the two of us pre-empting "this is it"!!!! - we became nervous / anxious / excited.......naturally. A couple of hours elapsed with no further signs or eagerly awaited expectations, so....back to our newly learned skills - a walk along the beach, followed by a night of "Affirmations" & "Rainbow Relaxation".
Saturday 7th May. First surges started around tea-time; this brought on excitement and the bags were moved to the door - however - the surges maintained a pretty irregular pattern right throughout the night. Sunday 8th May. Irregular surges ceased around 7am, which led to slight disappointment and frustration. Julie phoned, whom reaffirmed all our positive practices thus reassuring us that our baby was on her way, albeit at her own pace! This led to a day of full relaxation including a bath, visualisations, positive affirmations and plenty of laughs....
Monday 9th May. 2am. Julie awoke me "This is definitely it this time!" Following her surge breathing, I was able to time Julie's pattern until 8am when she was 3-1-1; from there we proceeded to AMU, to find out Julie was 5cm dilated and still so calm and positive. We were admitted through to the midwifery suite, where to our delight, were told the birthpool was available. After 12 hrs & 21 mins of surge breathing, Rainbow Relaxation, light touch massage, visualisations and finally "J" breathing, baby Khya was born with no artificial pain relief nor medical intervention. We now have a bright, alert and wonderful daughter, for which we owe a great deal of thanks to all involved at AMU and particularly Donna & Alison and the Hypnobirthing Program".
Stacey & Robin on Caleb's Calm Birth
"My birthing experience was wonderful. The breathing techniques that I was taught in the class worked wonders with my surges and because I was in no pain I didn't realise that I was actually in labour. My surges started to get into a pattern so thats when I took note of them and began my relaxation. It felt so good to be in control and enjoy my labour. I remained calm and focused and decided to take a bath when my surges were 4mins apart...Perhaps leaving it a bit too late for going to the hospital. However my waters broke and still I remained calm and kept my breathing under control and then we were on our way to the hospital. By the time I got to the hospital my surges were 2mins apart. When I was finally taken to the midwifery suite I was then able to change from my surge breathing to my birthing breathing. (It was incredible that I just knew to change my breathing myself). This was an amazing feeling, I really enjoyed working with my body and being able to feel my body doing what it was meant to be doing. There was a slight stinging which was the only thing throughout the whole labour that I couldn't control but didn't last long. I felt fantastic when our son was born, he didn't have a mark on him and nor was he crying. I throughly enjoyed giving birth and cant wait to do it all again!
Angela & Gary on Ray's peaceful birth
My husband Gary and I attended Hypnobirthing. Gary was a bit skeptical at first but came along to the first class. We were model students – asking questions, listening carefully and we were drawn in immediately. I listened to the affirmations and relaxation CD very regularly and normally fell asleep before the end, which has to be a good sign! The weeks passed and with each Hypnobirthing class, we both became more conifident and calm about the birth. I carried with me at all times (and still do) the picture of the opening flower that Allison and Donna gave us. It is such a powerful image and I still have a copy of it next to my bed as it is empowering and reminds me of the amazing experience of the birth of our son Ray on 19th April 2011.
My waters broke on the day that Gary was meant to be going to Belfast for work (Sunday morning). It was great timing as I was nervous about him going so close to my due date. So things kicked off 11 days before Ray was due. We went through the process of contacting the hospital, getting me checked out etc and then were told that I had to be booked in to be induced as labour hadn't started. I was very upset as this medical approach was not what we had been working towards. I phoned Donna and she assured me that labour would hopefully come on naturally if I did all the things that had been suggested in the course. So I walked, breathed and listened to the affirmations cd and that night my labour did start on its own. When I came to the hospital on the Tuesday morning, I was so relieved when Helen told me I was dilated enough to give birth in the birthing pool as hoped for. I was whisked away from the labour ward and cried with relief. It was one of the most emotional memories of the whole birthing experience as it could have all gone so differently for us.
We had four hours quietly breathing with Gary massaging my back through the strengthening surges. I kept calm and we listened to the affirmations cd. By the time I was helped into the birthing pool, my breathing was strong and established and I didn’t even consider asking for gas and air. I felt empowered and strong and ready for the challenge ahead. Gary and Helen were amazing at keeping me focused and positive. I centred myself and trusted my body to do what it had to do. The warm water on my back during surges was calming and reassuring and I kept asking for the temperature to be increased to keep me comfortable. Gary fed me Ribena to keep my fluids up and time became meaningless but I knew I was getting closer to meeting our baby and it was so exciting. Being in the water made the whole experience calming and there were no bright lights so I didn’t feel exposed at any point. It felt so natural being naked and I gave myself over to the surges in my body, still believing that I had the strength to give birth. I still couldn’t quite believe our baby was coming but I guess every potential mother feels like this. I thought about the colours from the relaxation cd and at points, I saw turquoise shapes in my head. This made me laugh as I had been trying to decide before what my birthing colour would be when I was relaxing but it just happened for me.
When the baby was crowning, I felt real pressure and stretching but it wasn’t until the last 30 or so surges that I was in discomfort. My breathing took over and somehow got me through the last part. I was tired but there was a determination that came from somewhere. Helen encouraged me to put my hand under the water and to feel my baby’s head. There was lots of hair and it was warm and soft and this was a very surreal moment for me. It gave me the confidence to keep going and that I was almost there. There was constant encouragement from Gary and Helen and I needed this at times. I had to force my breath at the end as I was getting so tired but when Ray slipped out, Helen passed him up between my knees and I knew that every breath was for him. I was so relieved and ecstatic and in awe of what my body had been able to do. From this point onwards, there was no rush, just the opportunity to hold our baby and to try to keep him warm. We stayed in the water for about half an hour and Gary got the birth on video from when Ray came up out of the water and took his first breath. What an unforgettable experience.
The Hypnobirthing course gave us strategies, confidence and knowledge to take ownership of the birth of Ray. I couldn’t have wished for a more amazing experience. I would recommend Hypnobirthing to everyone, particularly to people who are scared of the birthing experience or who have had difficult experiences previously. Donna, Allison and Helen are inspirational and they allowed Gary and I to have the most incredible experience of our lives.
Angela Dickson
