Niamh’s Birth Story
Sarah and Euan's Positive Birth with Hypnobirthing
Read the extraordinary story of how Sarah used her Hypnobirthing knowledge to birth two babies, 16 months apart.
On Monday 3rd of January, I was pretty tired and feeling a bit fed up. My back was a little sore - nothing major but I didn't feel like I was in labour as it didn’t feel how I imagined labour would. I went to bed that night and couldn't really get comfortable, but I finally managed too when the cat came for a snuggle (I think he knew!) then at almost bang on midnight, as I was just about to fall asleep, I got a surge, like period pain but stronger. I thought, “Oh,” but continued to lie to see if I got anymore. I had another couple of contractions fairly close together and then felt like I needed to go to the bathroom. I went to the loo and had a few more surges so I went back to bed and got Euan to start using the contraction timer.
After an hour they were quite strong and coming every 3 to 4 minutes so we called the hospital. The midwife said we could go in if we wanted but as I'd only been contracting for an hour it would probably mean I would be looked over and sent home for a bit, so I decided to stay home.
Euan ran a bath for me, and I took some paracetamol. Euan coached me with my breathing while I had a bath and after another hour the contractions were very strong, and I began to panic that if this was just the beginning how was I ever going to cope with the end. Euan kept me calm and reminded me that I just needed to listen to my body and focus on my breathing and used some of our affirmations. They were still very strong, so I asked Euan to call the midwife again as I wanted to go in and get checked. Again, she said I might get sent home as it was early doors (only 2 to 2.5 hours’ worth of contractions at this point) but to come in and get checked. By the time I got out the bath and dressed and then arrived at the hospital it was 3am. We had made our own playlist of songs for our drive to the hospital (songs from our wedding and just general songs that we love, make us smile and think of happy times) and Euan helped me with my breathing.
The contractions were very strong, and I was worried I wasn't going to be able to have the natural, with as little pain relief as possible birth that I wanted. The midwife examined me and advised I was 4 to 5cm dilated! This made me feel much better as I thought, “Ok, I'm in active labour that's why they are strong!”
My waters still hadn't gone so she asked if I'd like a sweep to see if that would help, and I agreed. Euan then got the room all set up with my fairy lights and pictures, and again we had made a playlist of songs for labour, so he put that on. The midwife brought me a birthing ball as I was most comfortable leaning over, so I was able to lean over the ball. Euan continued to help me with my breathing and did some soft touch massage and I used a TENS machine. After a couple of hours my waters still hadn't gone and my contractions were very strong, so I asked for Gas and Air, then not long after that I started to feel the urge to push.
Euan buzzed the midwife (she had left us to our little hypnobirthing bubble and just popped in and out to check on baby using the doppler) she said just to listen to my body and go with it. A few contractions later and my waters went but they were very green, there was meconium present. I didn't panic as I knew what it meant, what the risks were and what my options were from doing Claire’s course and through my own research. The midwife wanted to monitor baby more closely so asked if I could get on the bed to allow her to do this and that I may need to be moved to the consultant area.
Birthing on my back, in the bed wasn't in my plan but I wanted to know baby was OK. My contractions were very strong and close together at this point, plus the urge to push was there, so by the time I got from the ball to the bed the midwife said I wouldn't need to move at the moment as we might not make it to the other room and my baby had lots of hair!
They set up the CTG monitoring, and I was still using my breathing techniques with the gas and air. After a few surges they lost baby’s heartbeat on the CTG monitor and asked if they could use the scalp monitor on her head, again it wasn't in my plan, but I knew what it was and what everything meant so I agreed for peace of mind that my baby was ok. They got it attached and found her heartbeat again and then a few surges later she arrived!
Euan got the look at her first and tell me we had a little girl! She was then brought up to my chest for immediate skin to skin. I wanted to birth my placenta naturally and also wait until the cord had stopped pulsing before Euan cut it. Niamh latched on within 15 minutes of arriving which helped boost my oxytocin and birth my placenta.
We asked to delay any checks to optimise the golden hour, so we had lots of skin to skin and Niamh fed, and we enjoyed our little bubble before she was weighed.
So, although there were bits that didn't quite go to plan or bits that were a bit worrying, we had all the knowledge to deal with it all and make informed decisions and I felt so empowered and had such a positive birth experience because of it.
Sarah & Euan - Group online hypnobirthing course