A little bit about myself and why I chose to do hypno birthing this time round. At 21 years old I delivered my first child in Germany. I was clueless to birth, completely naive and went in blind and did as I was told. I had been monitored over the last few months due to ongoing high blood pressure and on the 30th of December I was told I wasn’t leaving the hospital until my baby was born. This led to me being induced the following day. I agreed to the whole thing, went through horrendous contractions, I was bed bound, fighting every one of them and accepting all external examinations. After 24 hours of contractions and not much progress things turned and babys heart rate dipped leading to an emergency c section where I was put to sleep and I met my son 2 hours after he was born. I was out of control, every decision was decided for me and I blamed myself for his small birth weight. This caused so much birth trauma that haunted me even 5 years later which is the reason I contacted Elle.
Unfortunately for Elle, I pretty much contacted her right after conception. I was around 4 weeks pregnant and desperate to continue the pregnancy without fearing everything that was about to come. She immediately arranged a FaceTime and through with me my previous birth. She understood my fears, spoke about things that should and shouldn’t have happened and really made me understand how it wasn’t my fault. I then quickly signed up to the 12 hour hypno birthing course. We did this over zoom with a few other couples and learnt about everything to do with birth. We were taught to understand contractions, how to remain calm, how to make the right choices, our options and all the juicy bits no one tells you about. She was patient with my repetitive questions and related to my personal experience. Throughout this course I gained confidence to tell my consultants no when I was uncomfortable, I declined unnecessary requests to induce me and told them to forget deadlines and due dates. I was in control of my pregnancy right up to the birth and felt so empowered. Despite my best efforts I didn’t get the VBAC I desperately wanted but because of Elle I was able to laugh through the c section I had feared all those years. It was an emergency in the end but I was in full control, it felt calm despite being a cat2 and I was fully aware of why it happened. I made the choice to go ahead with the c section due to my personal birthing journey and it was the most perfect, beautiful experience that I would do over. I was excited when my waters broke, I breathed through 24 hours of strong contractions, I declined external examinations and confidently birthed my baby in theatre via c section. I couldn’t have done it that way without the knowledge Elle had given me. I throughly recommend hypnobirthing with Elle to anyone due a baby, she’s wonderful!
On Saturday the 18th of June I started getting some small niggles. I wasn’t sure if these were real contractions as they were only slight but at 8 days over my ‘due date’ and in the middle of a heatwave I was really hoping they were something. By Saturday evening they had become more painful but were still only about 1 every 10 minutes. That night I tried to sleep when I could, I watched some feel good movies like Mamma Mia and The Holiday and really tried to get my oxytocin going. Sunday morning nothing had changed. I went for a long walk and tried to keep moving as much as what was comfortable. The pain started to increase but the frequency didn’t but I called the hospital anyway just to keep them informed.
That night, around 3 in the morning I got up from my bed and felt a pop. My waters had broke!!! My husband jumped up from bed, we were so excited. I nipped to the toilet to get myself cleaned up and noticed my waters were green. I knew this wasn’t normal right and called the hospital again and was advised to come down right away and bring my bags. I knew this was it but I was worried about the colour of my waters. We drove to the hospital in silence but to keep my oxytocin flowing we listened to all my favourite songs that brought back lots of good memories. My contractions really ramped up after my waters had broke.
We went straight to the delivery suite when we got to the hospital and was put on a CTG and the doctor confirmed baby had pooed and was showing lots of signs of stress. I continued to breathe through the intense contractions without pain relief remembering the breath work Elle had taught me. After an hour of dancing about on my feet, laughing, and breathing through the pain I unfortunately hadn’t dilated at all since arriving. The concern for baby’s heart rate was increasing and I made the decision to go for a cat2 c section.
I felt empowered that I had stood my ground and avoided induction. I got to start labour naturally the way I wanted and I made the decision to go ahead with the caesarean. I met the team who were wonderful. They wheeled me to theatre once my partner had changed into his scrubs. They all introduced themselves and asked me my wishes. They put on the radio and even sang along whilst preparing everything. The anaesthetist worked with my contractions when giving me the epidural and explained to me exactly what to expect. They got me comfortable shortly after and within a few minutes at 06:42 they said ‘Happy Birthday’ and Rosie was born. We couldn’t believe how quick it was! I felt no discomfort and couldn’t believe she was out that fast. They delayed cutting the cord as I had requested and involved my partner in cutting the cord. I quickly got to hold her shortly after.
Once I was stitched up I was taken to recovery and was able to breastfeed her for the first time. The c section didn’t hinder anything, she latched with the help of the midwives and we were off! The following day we got to go home, I felt ready to have my own bed. I was able to get up and walk and felt my recovery was already so much easier than my previous c section. I was able to care for Rosie myself, one of my biggest concerns that came with c section recovery’s.
I truly believe I wouldn’t have been able to get through the c section and recovery, what SHOULD have been a scary time, so positively if it wasn’t for Elle. The team and I laughed through the c section and I felt calm and in control throughout. Elle taught me so much about birth that I felt empowered and enjoyed every moment, including the contractions. I was able to make informed choices and understand my body and go through the process of birth calmly. I feared a c section before meeting Elle but because of her I enjoyed it and had a positive birth experience.