It's So Important to Know Your Rights!

What are Birth Rights?

Birth rights refer to the rights of every person to access the necessary resources and services at the time of their birth. This includes the right to safe and adequate health care, the right to a safe and clean birthing environment, the right to informed consent, the right to privacy and dignity, the right to have a support person of one's choice present, the right to informed and unbiased advice, and the right to make informed decisions about one's own health and wellbeing. Birth rights are essential to ensuring that every birth is safe and that every person has access to the best possible care.

How does that affect you?

When it comes to pregnancy, labour and birth, it is so important to know your birth rights and to take control of your body autonomy. After all, the power to make decisions about your own body and your own birth experience is a powerful one. It's important to remember that when it comes to birth, you are in charge; y ou have the right to make choices that are right for you and your baby, regardless of what is recommended or written in hospital guidelines. Taking control of your own body and birth experience is something to be proud of and your care providers should encourage you to be informed and empowered when it comes to choice. It also helps to build a positive anticipation of what's to come, rather than being fearful or scared of the unknown.

How can I learn?

A great way to equip yourself with the knowledge you need to make informed decisions is to do some high quality independent antenatal education. This can be a great way to learn about the importance of birth rights and how to make sure these are respected throughout your pregnancy, labour and birth. So many clients who I have worked with in the past have said how empowering it is to know and understand your rights. Knowing that you can make decisions that are right for you and your body is a real game changer. Being informed and aware of your options can make all the difference in the birth experience and ensure that you have the best possible experience.

Remember:

You are in control (regardless of what you may have been lead to believe) and you have the right to make decisions that are right for you, to say no to something that you do not want, and to decline and accept things as you see fit – so take the time to make sure you know your rights and take control of your birth experience.

Your Baby, Your Body, Your Choice!

About Me!

My Hypnobirthing course is a full antenatal education programme, where you not only learn a number of Hypnobirthing relaxation techniques and Hypnobirthing breathing techniques; but you will also learn about your birth rights, the importance of informed consent, how to plan for a positive birth experience, the impact birth environment has on your labour and birth, the important role of the birth partner and sooo much more. I run group Hypnobirthing classes and also private/one to one hypnobirthing courses face to face and online. My other antenatal services include Doulaing (in Cornwall), private antenatal sessions, birth planning sessions, power hours, birth debriefs, traumatic birth recovery, and clinical hypnotherapy. Please visit www.cornwallhypnobirthing.co.uk to find out more information or email me on info@cornwallhypnobirthing.co.uk to arrange a free consultation.

"I'm so happy I got to birth at home this time"

In this wonderful birth story, Charlie talks us through her home birth of her second baby. Charlie and her partner did my full Hypnobirthing course with their first baby, and refresher course with their second. I love how honest and raw Charlie is about how she roared her baby earthside with full intensity! Birthing bodies are AMAZING and strong! This is an inspiring read! Enjoy!

"After a straight forward, natural, drug free birth with my first baby 21 months ago at a Birth Centre, the plan for baby no.2s birth was the same just at home.

I had a 12 week blood result of low PAPP-A, a which is placenta protein. This can effect growth and placenta function but the growth scans were all fine for us. However, I had a feeling, from about 32 weeks that he was going to be born around the 37 week mark. Baby sat on the 50th centile the whole way through pregnancy with the extra growth scans and at my last scan at 36+6 weeks estimated weight was 7lbs.

3/4pm on a October 2nd [37+2 days] I started having period type pains. Woke up a few times in the night because of cramps then at 2am I could no longer sleep through the sensations. I started having mild-moderate contractions at about 3am which were inconsistent, 5-12 mins apart.

From 2am until My husband and son woke up I was bouncing on the ball, collecting colostrum, using the breast pump, walking etc to get things going but nothing really made things progress. Once the boys were up we just got on with our morning. Dog walk/breakfast etc however I could hardly eat.

10/11am my boy went to sleep for a nap so instead of trying to get things going I just lay down, cuddled him and relaxed which was clearly what I needed. By 2pm contractions were coming strong and 3-4 mins apart

3pm we got my son collected from our house and my husband started putting up the birthing pool.

3:15pm asked our midwife to come over

She arrived at 3:45/4pm. And I asked her to check my cervix dilation which was 5-6cm

As I was in active labour a second midwife was called who arrived at approx 4:30pm.

By 5pm I was having less than 1 minute between each contraction and they were INTENSE. My waters still hadn’t broken and I really wanted to get in the pool. I asked the midwife to break my waters (I was 10cm at this point) and jumped in the pool at approx 5:15pm. [I had my waters with my first broken at this point too as they just wouldn’t break themselves as the membrane was so thick]

By this point I hadn’t eaten really anything for 24hrs and my ketones in my urine were high so my husband was feeding me spoons of Maple Syrup in-between contractions to keep me going

After 20 mins of pushing/howling in the pool. Baby Mack was born into the water at 5:37pm. After maybe 10 mins in the pool I got out with Mack and got on the sofa. Once the cord went white, my husband cut it and my placenta was delivered maybe 20 mins after that.

The midwife said my placenta was maybe a teeny bit grainy so could be because of the low Papp-a? But I’m really not sure if it effected us. My boy came home at approx 7pm to meet Mack which was the cutest thing ever then my husband put him to bed.

After nearly 2 hours of skin-skin and feeding, the midwife’s took Mack off me for his weight and checks etc. He was 6lb6. I was also fine with no tears. My toddler took about 90 mins to fall asleep so at 9pm my husband finally got to come down and hold his boy After a quick pizza we were all in bed asleep at 10pm. Dreamy.

Totally blessed to have had two natural drug free births and so happy I got to birth at home this time! It was pretty hectic and crazy. The dogs barked the entire time as I roared my way through the contractions and we almost didn’t get the pool ready in time.

Grateful beyond words to be supported by the most incredible midwife, who was my main midwife for both my boys births who is honestly the best! And obviously Nate being the best husband and birthing partner I could ever dream of my boys are so lucky to call you their daddy.

We were lucky enough to do Terri’s full Hypnobirthing course with my first pregnancy and did a refresher this time around. Terri not only taught us the Hypnobirthing methodology and how to apply it throughout the stages of labour, she also taught us the science behind birthing, the hormones, contractions, birthing positions etc. I felt like learning everything I needed to know about birth, along with practical ways to work through it was extremely empowering and allowed me to make informed decisions with my birth plan. My thoughts on birth before doing Terri’s course were very much go with the flow, and my husband was absolutely petrified once we had completed the course we both had so much confidence in my natural abilities which ultimately allowed me to have the two amazing births I had!"

Investing in your antenatal preparation can be an absolute game changer! If you want to find out more about my course and about my Hypnobirthing style of teaching, then grab your free place on my Introduction to Hypnobirthing on February 27th at 7pm on Zoom. Take control, get prepared and feel ready for one of the most amazing days of your life - the day you birth your baby! Click here to book!

"We felt incredibly lucky to have the birth we had spent months planning"

Huge congratulations to Jo and Shaun on the wonderful arrival of their son Mack.

Born 12.11pm at Truro Birth Centre on the 6th January 2023, 10 days after his EDD, weighing 8lbs. Below Jo shares her journey from pre labour, birth experience through to third stage. Jo and Shaun used Hypnobirthing and also had me as their Doula. Jo talks about how this and the supportive midwives at Truro Birth Centre played an important role in her having the birth she hoped for and worked so hard to achieve.

Pre Labour

I finished work for Mat leave on the 15th December and Shaun and I became pretty convinced he was going to come any day from then, even though all info suggested first babies typically come beyond due date (Mack’s was 27/12/22).

Due date came and went and no pre-Labour signs, by January 3rd we were getting pretty impatient and there was lots of talk of sweeps and inductions.

Terri (our doula) came into her own at this point and it was with her reassurance that we trusted the natural process, focusing on relaxing / resting and allow things to kick off more naturally.

Latent phase​

I sensed a change in me on the 4th as suddenly had a lot more energy! 2am on the 5th, woke up to the first part of the mucus plug coming, went back to bed and the contractions started. Pretty intermittent but too strong to sleep through.

Morning came and as Terri predicted (reassuring us that this was normal) contractions paused. So we took the time to rest up, nap and met up with friends for a dog walk inc hitting the lusty steps!

Shaun and I sat down for some dinner about 7ish on Thursday evening and then started playing some monopoly deal which quickly ended when the contractions returned - much to our delight. I wired up to the Tens Machine at this point.

Popped the film ‘Sing’ onto Netflix to help keep the Oxytocin flowing and Shaun started timing the contracts which were increasing to 3 in about 10 mins. Shaun also set up the lounge with candles, clary sage on the essential oils diffuser and I found that standing, leaning on the window sill and focusing on the breathing was the best way to embrace them!

3am came and we were thinking it might be time to head in to the Truro birth centre - spoke to Terri and she said we could if we felt it the right time, but we could still be quite early in terms of stages of labour, and therefore have to come back and might be better to wait a little longer for labour to progress at home.

Active Labour

​We reassessed and opted to stay at home - anything but standing became a bit of a no go and I started to feel quite sick as the intensity really picked up. Shaun made some beans on toast which I managed some of and he was massaging my back through the contractions. I just kept focused on the hypnobirthing breathing and getting to meet our son soon!

By 7am I wasn’t chatting anymore to Shaun and he said things seemed to be getting stronger so we opted to head in. The 30 min van journey was…. wild as I hadn’t been able to tolerate sitting for the last 12 hours - popped my headphones on and just focused on the best hypnobirthing breathing possible, to fuel the uterus muscles with max oxygen and that meaning contractions could be as powerful as possible and we would get to meet Mack in the shortest time!

We arrived at the (nearly full) birth centre in Truro and to my relief I was 5cm dilated, so we could head to a birth centre ‘Marazion’ room (about 9am!) as Terri also arrived!

The midwives at the birth centre were amazing from start to finish - honouring the birth plan we had written and by 9.30am I was in the water and it was an incredible feeling of weightlessness. Contractions continued to increase in frequency and intensity - and that’s where Terri applying back pressure and Shaun’s supporting words, love and hydration made all the difference!

By 11.45am there was a definite change in the contractions to a very intense downward pressure on the pelvis region, particularly the back! It was more intense than I was expecting and timed into the ‘transition phase’ where I had a moment of thinking ‘this is an impossible task, how is he going to fit, can I have some gas and air!’ Terri reminded me that the feeling was normal, and it was great sign of us meeting him very soon and to keep the focus on the breathing.

The midwife prepared the gas and air and I then started becoming very vocal with each contraction bracing against the edge of the pool and Shaun! After about 30 mins, his head complete with intact membrane popped out and then swiftly went back in to Shaun’s surprise! As it went back in my membranes released and there was a notable pressure release. Mack’s head then came out with the next contraction and two contractions later he was born into the birthing pool. The midwives remained very hands off and I was able to scoop him up from the water and Shaun and I got the first glimpses of our son who much to our surprise had his eyes open!

Third stage

We ‘waited for white’ on the cord and asked Terri to cut it for us. Shaun enjoyed some skin on skin whilst I was helped out of the pool. We opted for a physiological third stage and the placenta came about an hour after Mack’s arrival with only a slight bit of encouragement needed from the midwife.

Mack also started breastfeeding pretty much instantly and we couldn’t believe how calm and wide eyed he was!

After an inspection from the midwife, we were all pretty surprised / elated to find there was no tearing - just a small graze on each side. The surprise was due to the amount of blood in the pool, but it was then decided this must have been from the membrane release.

Mack then had all of his checks and they were happy for us to head home 3 hours post delivery.

We felt incredibly lucky to have the birth we had spent months planning towards and that the antenatal learning and prep had paid off (we opted for the daily dates, raspberry leaf tea, lots of yoga & swimming and perineal massage) to bring Mack into the world in the calmest way. Hypnobirthing, Terri’s guidance and chatting to lots of other parents completely changed our outlook on pregnancy and birth.."

Hypnobirthing courses available throughout 2023. Doula availability in July, and then from September onwards. www.cornwallhypnobirthing.co.uk