Here we have the wonderful story of Kelly’s Home Birth of her baby boy. Who was born unassisted at home weighing 8lb 7.5oz (as suspected ‘big baby’!) I worked with Kelly and Jim to help prepare them for their first baby nearly 5 years ago using hypnobirthing. Kelly returned for a Hypnobirthing refresher course with me with their second baby.
“It all started on Monday evening. I was hang out on all fours on as he was not settling into a good position and was sitting back to back. (To be honest it was quite a comfortable position to rest in too.) I got up after 15 mins and waters started to leak. Kept leaking on and off all night - had occasional cramps but nothing major. Saw midwife on Tuesday morning- she wanted to check me but was happy with BP and listened to baby. I was lucky with her - she was as opposed to VEs etc as much as I was unless necessary so never felt pressured into any checks. But she did lay on the 24-hour limit and booked me in for induction that evening at 11.30pm if labour hadn't started.
I expressed my concern about going down there unless I really had to - said what if I don't go down until the next morning and she pretty much said risk was only 1/2% more. But I agreed to speak to Treliske later that evening to let them know what I was going to do. I had also moved my last growth scan from that Monday until the following Friday (so it was after my EDD) so I didn't run into another ‘big baby’ concern conversation with consultants.
Anyway, I told myself I wasn't going to Treliske that night - the worry of it didn't help me at all but managed to put that to one side. Had a few more cramps in the car going home and during the next couple of hours whilst sat on my ball listening to Terri’s Hypnobirthing tracks. They were 20 mins plus apart but no real surges and weren't lasting very long. I was getting annoyed it wasn't progressing and by 4pm I got up to pack my daughter a bag to go to mums just in case. Surges started to come out of nowhere - I got in the shower, thought I was going to have a long night ahead of me. Jim (my partner) started to time them and over the next 40 mins they were every 2 or 3 mins but not lasting more than 30 / 40 seconds so I still didn't think I was anywhere near having this baby. Jim rang the midwife and she said she'd be 45 mins. Then pretty much out of nowhere I could feel him coming - told him to ring her back and say he's not going to wait 45 mins.
So a long story short, he arrived before the midwives did whilst I was stood in the shower, with Jim playing midwife!! The Midwife was on the phone whilst Jim was catching him and they arrived about 20 mins later. I was out of my zone without the tracks, so the breathing techniques really got me through. There was no way I was going to Treliske that night. Luckily, we were both fine and didn't need to transfer, had a 1st degree tear but midwife was happy I didn't need stitches. I just didn't have my waterbirth again even though the pool was blown up in my kitchen - we would never have filled it in time. But the shower was actually amazing once I was in there, I wasn't coming out for anything!
It was definitely a bit of a crazy day. He will definitely have a story to tell of how he came into the world! I was the talk of the pre school when my daughter went in and told them all I had him in the shower!
I ought to add to my story above that Ambre the midwife from the Newquay team was really supportive of me having a home birth and using hypnobirthing. It was really lovely to have her for all appointments and then for her to be able to come home once baby arrived, a much better experience than I had 4 years ago with midwife support
I've had 2 amazing intervention free births which I have felt in control of and couldn't have wished for better experiences - even though I didn't manage to get in the pool with either because they were both so quick. I can highly recommend working with Terri, the course gave me the best best labour and birth preparation I could have wished for.."
As you can see by Kelly's story, sometimes babies set their own pace and have their own agenda. This is why it is so important to be prepared and armed with techniques to keep you calm and focused, no matter what birth your baby decides is right for them! My next group Hypnobirthing course starts on July 4th,. You can find out all about me and my course on my free Hypnobirthing taster session on the 9th June at 7.30pm on Zoom. Book your place on my website or email info@cornwallhypnobirthing.co.uk to find out more.