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09 Aug 2021
Despite a lot of twists and turns we had a positive experience.
When researching about different antenatal courses, I came across Anna’s hypnobirthing course and was intrigued by it, especially after reading so many positive birthing stories. I also thought it would be good to help my anxiety by developing techniques to keep me calm and focused throughout the rest of my pregnancy and birth.
We met Anna for a short 1:1 session through Zoom and felt that she was extremely informative and personable. So we signed up for the 4 week course where we met 3 other couples, again through Zoom, thanks to Covid! Over the next few weeks, myself and my husband, Martin, learnt about different techniques to help stay positive, focused and calm, as well as looking at the process of labour and with Anna’s personal touches of her own experiences as well as other couple’s experiences, we felt we understood more about the stages of labour and the preparations.
After the weeks went by, there were a few hiccups along the way and we ended up needing a few more hospital appointments and growth scans to check things were going well. During these appointments, I could feel my anxiety levels rise but with the support of the MP3 tracks, visualisations and breathing techniques that Anna taught me, it helped me stay more focused. Luckily Martin was able to come with me to all of the appointments and it was a great to have him by my side and seeing our baby on the scans.
When we were getting closer to my due date and after a few discussions with doctors, they wished for me to be induced due to my high blood pressure. I was slightly heartbroken since I had my mind set on a natural birth in the birthing suite, and now instead it would be in the delivery suite and possible intervention. After finding this out, I contacted Anna and she was great! She gave us both lots of advice, signposted us to different stories and YouTube clips of positive inductions and was happy for me to bombard her with updates and texts. We felt after speaking to Anna and reading the information she gave us, that we were a lot more prepared for the changes that we would have to make and how we could still make it as positive and calming as possible. I empowered to come away, ask questions, research and make decisions that was right for us as a family before agreeing to a date for the induction.
On the weekend when I was to be induced, I could feel my anxiety levels creeping up, but Anna, suggested to stay with our plan for the first stages of early labour and use breathing techniques to stay calm. So we went for a walk and then I did some baking; which my sister-in-law thought was hilarious and said “only you would bake just before being induced!” We also cooked dinner and watched TV and the next day we were told that there was a bed for me on the ward. I can remember thinking to myself when walking up to the ward, the next time we come home, we’ll be a family of three, and I had a wave of different emotions come over me.
Once we arrived on the ward and after we spoke to the midwife about what was going to happen, she inserted the pessary. By late evening, I had started to feel period style cramps and knew that things were moving forward, so we decided to try and get some sleep. During the night, I couldn’t settle from different noises and lights around me and remember about staying active during early labour so I ended up doing a slow dance around my bed and rocking. In the early hours of the morning, I could feel the contractions getting stronger, and with Martin’s support tried to use the hypnobirthing techniques to keep relaxed. I don’t think neither of us realised that the pessary would work quite so quickly!
This is when things get a little bit hazy, after the midwife examined me I remember being told that I was now 7cm dilated and could be moved to the delivery suite. This is also when things moved a lot faster. I can remember between contractions and the journey to the delivery suite asking the midwife to read through my birthing plan and then asking for the lights to be dimmed.
As the contractions got stronger and I was on the gas and air, I was told that they needed to monitor the baby and check her heartrate. Martin was brilliant and he made sure that I had what I needed and at being my voice. This meant I could concentrate on breathing whilst he listened to the midwife and doctor and asked the right questions. I also kept thinking that at the end of this we would be meeting our daughter and this helped me stay relaxed and as calm as possible.
Then we were told that her heartrate had dropped that they needed to intervene and that I was only allowed to have gas and air since I was fully dilated and they wished to get her out. This was one of my worst case scenarios, but at this point the plan was just to get her out safely. I used my calm breathing whilst they prepped me, as well as the midwives and Martin around me making sure that I was relaxed and had what I needed to help me in the last stages. After some guidance, the suction cap and a lot of gas and air, we finally got to meet our daughter just before dawn! Again, a wave of emotions went over me, our little girl had arrived; a bit bruised but perfect in every way!
Without Anna’s support, guidance and the hypnobirthing techniques there is no way we would have got through the end of the pregnancy and labour. Now reflecting on it, despite having a lot of twists and turns to our journey, I still feel that we had a positive experience and how we managed to adapt to the changes we had to make along the way. Even now, I still use some of the techniques especially when Aoife is being a little adorable sleep gremlin! I also feel that the course has helped me with my anxieties more that I realised and keeping me calmer in different situations.
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
Katherine and Martin - Moseley, Birmingham