"It felt so good to have a birth plan and know what we wanted at every eventuality."

On my Hypnobirthing course you will learn relaxation and breathing techniques, but... you will learn so much more than that too. We will go in to detail about the importance of a birth plan, and looking at your options and choices for all eventualities. This knowledge really can make all the difference to your antenatal preparation as Charlie's story shows. Here we have Charlie's wonderful birth story. I met Charlie when she was pregnant with her 3rd baby and I worked with her and her husband Angus, doing some private antenatal classes and hypnobirthing. Charlie was determine to have a calm, gentle birth this time around and wanted to birth in water. She made sure she was not taking anything to chance, and her and Angus invested in a course with me. Charlie tells her story below:

Welcome to the world Margot Ruby Rumbold 17/01/2021 01:45am 8lbs 8oz Truro Birth Centre

"I had always dreamt of having a waterbirth it was third time lucky for us. Our first 2 births hadn’t gone exactly according to plan so when I found out I was pregnant with our third child one of my first thoughts was another chance for my dream waterbirth!

Although I had done hypnobirthing before, my husband Angus hadn’t, and we decided to do a private course with Terri. Learning about birth rights was eye opening and talking over birth plans was invaluable for us as we were divided on a homebirth vs the birth centre. After our session with Terri we were able to get clarity on what was best for both of us and made our birth plan. I wanted a natural birth as far as possible. It felt so good to have a birth plan and know what we wanted at every eventuality. It made me feel calm and relaxed as the birth was approaching. I also regularly listened to Terri’s hypnobirthing tracks (especially when I couldn’t sleep towards the end of pregnancy!)

I started getting a few mild cramps around 5pm on Saturday and thought I could be in early labour. We didn’t want to take any chances following the last rapid birth so spoke to our midwife Amy who was amazing and phoned the Truro birth centre to let them know we would be coming in, although I wasn’t in established labour. When we arrived at 7pm it was like walking into a spa, fairly lights, quiet and a feeling of calm. The staff were so lovely and were very understanding of why we were there so early. I was offered an examination if I wanted on, which I accepted as I wanted to know if this was it. I was 2cm dilated and we were shown to ‘the Nook’ to see how things went. I was just so happy that we weren’t being sent home and that we could actually have chance to relax and enjoy the start of labour. I spent the next couple of hours bouncing on a birthing ball with my clary sage oil whilst watching old Gavin and Stacey episodes with Angus massaging my back. I was having mild surges every 7-10 minutes. We were left undisturbed other than to check if we needed anything. Around 10pm my surges started getting closer together 3-4 mins apart and we were offered to move to the birthing suite…yes!!

The birthing suite was lovely, loads of space with fairy lights and the pool. This was the moment when I thought this is going to happen for me this time! Angus unpacked everything I might need, and we got settled in. Although my surges were much closer together they weren’t much stronger so I was happy bouncing around and eating snacks. At around 11pm our midwife Amy arrived. I was so lovely to see her as she had been my midwife the whole way through and we had had so many conversations about the birth and how I wanted it to be. I felt a could relax now Amy had arrived. My surges started getting closer together and I put the TENS machine on and got comfortable on the ball leaning over the bed and using the breathing techniques I had learnt with Terri. Angus was amazing encouraging me, bringing me coconut water and massaging my back. My waters broke around this time and my surges began to get stronger.

Once I started feeling pressure Amy said I could get in the pool, it felt so amazing to be in there. Angus put on music from our wedding day and Amy put lavender oil on a towel I was leaning on so I felt comfortable and relaxed, exactly what I had pictured. As I entered the transition phase Angus and Amy were literally cheering me on the whole time which helped massively as this was the point when doubt crept in for me. I was so glad I had practised the breathing techniques. Having Angus supporting me with this was invaluable. I felt my body bearing down and I knew I had to trust in my body and surrender to the birth journey. What felt like only a few minutes later baby Margot was born at 01:45am and I was able to lift her out of the water and onto my chest. It was a magical moment and exactly how I had envisioned the birth being.

One of the best things was that Angus (previously a birth phobe) said afterwards ‘that was amazing’ and it really was! Thank you Terri for your support in helping us have the birth I had always wanted."

Are you ready to take control of your birth experience? To work towards the birth that you want, feeling prepared, educated and with a tool kit full of useful techniques to help you on your journey?! Then sign up to one of my Hypnobirthing courses. I start my May course this Sunday 9th, and I have one space remaining in May for a private hypnobirthing course, and 2 in June. My next group course is in July and you can find out more about this or book your place on my website. My Hypnobirthing course really is a game changer - even if you have done a hypnobirthing course before (like Charlie) I can guarantee that you will still get some much out of my course.

My first words were ‘is he really mine?’ I couldn’t believe it.

This is Connie’s birth story. Connie did Hypnobirthing with a different provider (she won a free place) and I was her Doula. Connie talks us honestly through her birth journey - the ups, the downs, and everything in between! But what this story shows is courage, strength and an open mind to change. It was an honour to support Connie through the twists and turns that unfolded. All the way through she asked so many questions, took time to think and process, and made decisions that were right for her and her baby.

“From the beginning of my pregnancy, I knew that birthing alone was going to be one of my biggest challenges in life. I started obsessively watching One Born Every Minute, reading horror stories online and filling my brain with the idea that birth is a painful and stressful thing. As time went on, I started to follow different ideas and opened my eyes up to the world of positive birth and hypnobirthing. The word initially scared me and I wasn’t sure if I would be the right candidate for it as a young single Mum to be.

Hackney Hypnobirthing was one of the first accounts I followed - and through some force of nature I won her competition for a free course over 4 zoom calls with other parents. I quickly learnt how the world of birth has been so stigmatised and that actually, it’s a beautiful, natural experience and one that should have the Mother’s best interests at heart. From these sessions. I learnt to speak up of myself every time I was told I couldn’t ‘do’ something due to my BMI. It was definitely empowering!

I then started looking into hiring a doula to be with me at birth, as I felt I could potentially be coerced during labour if I didn’t have someone with me to advocate for me. Terri from Cornwall Hypnobirthing was one of my teachers at school and it just seemed so perfectly coincidental - we already had some rapport so there was no doubt in my mind that I would like her to be at my birth. The world works in funny ways sometimes! My birth plan was a natural water birth in the birth centre. I was adamant I didn’t want any interventions or to go to hospital unless me or my baby were sick. I was fully prepared to go over 42 weeks!

At 39+5 I was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia. I had a gut feeling something wasn’t right that day, I had been feeling very unwell, vomiting, headaches and seeing light spots for about a week. I went to hospital for blood tests and the doctor came and told me he would want to induce me ASAP, preferably that day. It was all so unexpected and I was tired after waiting for blood results for over 5 hours. I decided to decline and go home to think things over. The next morning I woke up feeling worse than ever.

I called triage and they told me to go to hospital straight away.

When we got there, baby was absolutely fine and healthy but my health was deteriorating and I don’t think I could have carried on for much longer so I accepted an induction. I had the pessary inserted, 24 hours went by and by the morning I was having regular contractions. I went up to delivery to see about having my waters broken. I told them I was calling my doula and I didn’t want any intervention until she was here to advocate for me and calm me down as I was very anxious at this point. Once Terri arrived, I agreed to have my waters broken but only with use of an epidural due to personal reasons. The epidural was not a pleasant experience for me and had it not been for Terri I would have definitely not been able to stay as calm as I did. She was on hand to hold my hand and give me water when I needed - it took them about 40 minutes to fit the epidural correctly.

Hours went by and I stayed at 2/3 cm dilated, my contractions were still regular - around 3 in 10 minutes but my body wasn’t progressing how we had hoped. After 49 hours of having the pesssry inserted, to being in delivery and my waters broken, I was still only 3cm dilated. I was mentally exhausted, physically drained and Terri was starting to get tired too!

A c-section was definitely not what I had ever planned or hoped for, and Terri reassured me it was absolutely my choice and if I wanted to decline I could, but I had to be prepared to be in labour for potentially 24 or more hours. Through careful thinking and weighing out the pros and cons with Terri, I decided to accept a c-section. Instantly I felt so much calmer - I was making my own choice and I was going to meet my baby soon.

When we got to the operating theatre my anxiety started to come into play again, and Terri was so helpful in reassuring me and reminding me that baby Ezra would be in the world very soon.

The c-section was pretty traumatic for me - I can’t lie and say it was an enjoyable experience. I felt like I could feel everything and I wanted more pain relief which they couldn’t give me. They told me that my only option would be general anaesthetic if I couldn’t handle the pain. I decided then to just breathe through it as much as I can. Terri helped me and before I knew it Ezra was out and crying the most beautiful cry. My first words were ‘is he really mine?’ I couldn’t believe it. We did skin to skin and Terri took so many photos and I’m eternally grateful for her presence in making a potentially very traumatic experience into a positive one I will remember for the rest of my life.

Hypnobirthing really helped me prepare for birth and I truly think it empowered me beyond belief, I’m so glad I invested in a doula and did my research wherever I could.”

NB - I am currently taking booking for my March and May Hypnobirthing courses, and I have one space remaining for a private course in March and 2 in April. My Doula services are available from the end of April 2021. I do get booked up quite a lot in advance for my Doula services as my availability is limited, so if you are interested in finding out more or booking me as your Doula then don't hesitate to get in touch early.

"I will be forever grateful for him supporting me to birth exactly as I wished"

Welcome to the world Sonny Koa Evans! Born on the 19th January 2021 in water at Truro Birth Centre, 7 days before his EDD and weighing 7lbs 3oz.

This incredible birth journey is written by Sonny's mum, Charlie. As you read it you will see it is packed full of strength, faith, amazing support and the importance of having a well educated and prepared birth partner. Huge congratulations to Charlie and Nate, and thank you so much for sharing your story to inspire others and to break the society cycle of beliefs that birth is a traumatic experience!

"The plan for my birth was to be as natural as possible. I didn’t want any drugs or interventions to disrupt the natural birthing process and prevent me from experiencing EVERYTHING! I asked for pain not to be mentioned and for no one to offer me any pain relief.

We did the most incredible Hypnobirthing course with Cornwall Hypnobirthing, so I had been practicing all the breathing techniques. Both myself and Nate were feeling super confident about everything.

I wanted to stay home as long as possible so I was in my safe space to let the hormones do their thing for optimal birthing.

My first surge came at 11:30pm on Monday the 18th and it lasted about 2 minutes and my first thought was, if this is how bad it’s going to be I’m going to take all the drugs! After that small blip I settled into the surge and was just moving around the room and breathing through the waves. Starkey (our dog) came and sat on the bed next to me and I feel like he knew what was happening. Nate was SO excited!

At 12:30 I was a bit sick.

1pm I called the midwife as my surges were every 4 mins lasting 1 min. They suggested to try rest.

I tried lying down but my surges slowly got further apart and I was like nah I’m not letting this slow down. So I got the exercise ball and started bouncing, continued to breath through surges. I think I bounced on that ball for about 4 hours while Nate was drifting in and out of sleep!

5am I puked so bad. Having surges while being sick is... wild!

6am called the midwife again as surges were about 3 mins apart and lasting 1 min and they said to come to hospital soon. The car journey was hell and I was thinking, I swear to god if I get sent back home I don’t think I can actually get in the car again.

Got to Truro birthing Centre at 7:30am, had an assessment and I was 6cm dilated, waters were bulging but not broken. His head was right down and they thought my waters would go any minute. I was actually over the moon at this point that I had made it that far

8am we were given a room and at 9am I got in the birthing pool. Surges were strong and intense for the next 4 hours but I didn’t feel like much progress was being made. Nate was just hugging me and basically being my number 1 fan the entire time. He was awesome!

After continuing to be so sick for the first few hours while in the birth pool I then managed to drink a litre of coconut water which gave me a little bit more energy. Nate then made me eat a squishy, just one. And I actually projectile vomited all over him!

1pm was my I can’t do this point. My waters STILL hadn’t gone. So the I asked the midwife to manually break my waters to try and help things along. Shortly after that sh!t got real. Having my waters broken did the trick and it was go time. That hour was the hardest hour of my life but I knew I was going to get the best reward at the end.

2pm Sonny arrived after 14 and a half hours of labour.

After a few mins of cuddles and tears Nate cut the cord and then my placenta came out straight after. I had no tearing as well!

The one thing that made this possible for me was having Nate as my birthing partner being so damn solid for me. He was honestly amazing. With him knowing about everything from our Hypnobirthing course it helped so much. He studied all the information Terri gave us so much; he was so on it! He never doubted me for a second and understood the entire process so well that he has the ability to stay calm [even when I was screaming] He showed me so much love, cuddles and support which allows the hormones to do their thing.

I will be forever grateful for him supporting me to birth exactly as I wished."

Charlie and Nate did a private Hypnobirthing course with me in October 2020. They spent time leading up to Sonny's birth practicing the skills they had learnt and getting in the zone, so that they both felt calm, ready and fully prepared for when the day came. I am so grateful to be able to share their story with you.

If you would like to work towards a positive birth experience then sign up to my free taster on the 24th February at 7.30pm, or book on to my next group course which is in March. All the details can be found on my website.