Birth Stories
'HypnoBirthing meant we could relax and enjoy the pregnancy for what it was - an incredible and fulfilling experience, rather than something to be endured in the run up to a terrifying event.....'
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Paula’s Story
Hi Wendy, We hope you're well.
Great news!! Our little boy, Ewan James Clarke was born on Monday 18th May 2009 at 18.06hrs. We're over the moon - he is absolutely perfect.
Thought we'd drop you a line with some information about the birth etc - the HypnoBirthing techniques were fabulous and we have been really pleased with the impact they have had on not only the birth but my pregnancy as well.
After attending the HypnoBirthing course with you, we also signed up for an NCT class in our area. (I have to say that we'd have preferred to do these the other way around but it wasn't to be because of the timing available). Both Gareth and I had a really positive outlook on birth after the HypnoBirthing course but it struck us how terrified everyone else in our NCT class was about birth. We said right from week one of that course that if HypnoBirthing had done nothing else for us, it had allowed us to enjoy my pregnancy and look forward to the birth rather than spend the last few months dreading the experience. I can't imagine how fearful the other women in my NCT class felt judging by what they were saying. So - first lesson - HypnoBirthing meant we could relax and enjoy the pregnancy for what it was - an incredible and fulfilling experience, rather than something to be endured in the run up to a terrifying event.....
Anyhow - I digress! My due date was 1st June but on Sunday 17th May at about 7pm, my waters broke. We had planned a homebirth but because of the timing with the birth pool ordering, we hadn't ordered the pool and were due to do so the following day. We phoned the midwife and she asked us to pop into QMC to check for any sign of infection but assured us we would be allowed to return home to labour at home. We had planned to get back home and make a decision later in the labour about whether we were happy to go ahead at home without the birthing pool. However, when we got into QMC, the midwife checked my blood pressure and immediately contacted the consultants because it was far too high. They monitored my blood pressure for the next hour and then advised me that they thought I had developed pre-eclampsia and that I should stay in hospital rather than go home - furthermore, they wanted to keep me on consultant lead care rather than midwife lead which meant no pool!!! They also established that the baby was back to back and let me know that I was likely to have a more painful labour as a result!!!
We weren't panicked by this and remained calm. My surges had started at the same time as my waters had broken so I settled down onto my birthing ball whilst Gareth got some sleep and continued with my relaxation breathing. A couple of times, the midwife came in and asked me whether I wanted anything for the pain but I explained that I wasn't in any pain and carried on labouring using my breathing techniques. She looked slightly confused but went along with what we asked for and I was chatting to her as normal in between the surges and just going silent to concentrate on my breathing whenever a surge came along. She commented a couple of times how well I was doing "with the pain".
After about 12 hours of surges, the consultant came in and advised that they were concerned that the baby's heartbeat was dropping abnormally low during my surges. They said that because my waters had broken, they needed to put me onto a Syntocinon drip to get my surges stepped up a gear to give us the best possible chance of labouring without any intervention. (The hospital policy is to have the baby delivered within 24 hours of waters breaking and whilst we could probably have argued with them about this, I didn't have any objection to using the Syntocinon if it meant we were less likely to have them hassling us later in the labour). When they hooked me up to the Syntocinon, my surges became very intense and whilst I still wasn't in pain, I became more tired more quickly so I started using Entonox in order to relax and store up my energy for later.
Everything moved along well although they had hooked me up to monitors in order to keep track of the baby's heartbeat. The monitor was a pretty useless bit of kit and really restricted my mobility but I was determined not to lie on my back and Gareth kept insisting that I be helped to sit upright and move around as much as possible. Because the monitor kept moving, the midwife suggested that she was going to ask the consultant to put a scalp monitor on the baby but Gareth put a stop to that immediately and refused. We weren't about to have the baby's scalp pierced in order to make anyone else's life easier and Gareth kept the belt monitor pressed against my tummy to keep track of the heartbeat.
Eventually, we moved into the second stage after 22 hours of surges, having been pumped full of Syntocinon. This lasted 50 minutes when the consultant came in and advised that they only gave me 1 hour of 2nd stage time before intervening. She said that they "needed" to intervene with forceps and that this would include an episiotomy and ultimately stitches not to mention some large bits of metal clamped around our baby's head to yank him unceremoniously from the birth path - the midwife was clear about our birth plan and knew we didn't want any intervention so took her time in helping the consultant to prepare the equipment to give me an extra few precious minutes. Gareth and I really focussed and put everything we had into getting the baby to crown and within 3 surges Ewan was born just as the consultant has all of her equipment ready!!! We took things slow and steady and I got away without any stitches.
Ultimately, this doesn't read anything like our birth plan but we view it as a really successful birth. We made educated decisions about what procedures we would or wouldn't allow for the birth and we managed without any significant intervention. Within an hour of giving birth, I had showered and was up and walking around whilst Gareth sat cuddling Ewan. Because of the time at night, we agreed that Ewan and I would stay in overnight whilst Gareth came home and got a good night's sleep. Gareth picked us up the following morning. We have spent the next two weeks thoroughly enjoying being together. Ewan is an incredible little boy and everyone who meets him comments on how relaxed and contented he is, we couldn't be happier.
I don't know whether you will remember me telling you this but when I first became pregnant, I was determined that I wanted to be "pumped full of as many drugs as it was possible to fit into these veins" but having been through the experience with the added complication of Syntocinon and only resorting to Entonox in order to get some rest, I wouldn't do it any other way than with the HypnoBirthing techniques.
Thanks so much for all of your help - I can't recommend the course and the techniques enough!!
Best wishes
Paula, Gareth and Ewan Clarke xxx
Paula, Gareth and Ewan Clarke - Loughborough
