I felt my first surge at just after 3pm, however was not aware that was what it was as it was a completely different feeling to when I had Robyn, this time I was feeling more of a pressure feeling.   They were very frequent from the start, coming every five minutes.  I listened to my affirmations disc for a while whilst doing my breathing and it seemed to make it more bearable and comfortable. 

At 4pm my husband suggested ringing the midwives, however I was still unsure that this was 'it' and so brushed his suggestion off. He then decided he would take Robyn to my Mums just in case it was the start of something. He left the house at 4.20 telling me that if he wasnt back by 5 I was to ring the midwife just to see what they say. 

I then paid a visit to the toilet, the pressure getting more intense and a lot more frequent. It was whilst on the toilet I realised my waters had broken and felt at ease being sat on the toilet so this is where I stayed! 

At 4.50 my sister rang the midwife who said they would send someone round (I was scheduled in for a homebirth).  At 4.55 my husband returned home and began to get ready to fill the birthing pool. It was at this point I screamed to him it was too late and he was going to have to deliver the baby as I could feel him coming! 

Using my breathing techniques Caleb entered the world at 5.10! Five minutes later the paramedic turned up, and a further five minutes later the midwives turned up! 

Caleb is totally chilled out, and as with Robyn I believe this is down to the calm way he was born. 

Thank you again for all your help! 

Sarah, Clint, Robyn and Caleb, Derby Xx

 

It was a really enjoyable experience and i'm so glad that I found hypnobirthing- although everything didn't go quite as we had planned I wouldn't change a thing! 

 

We found out the day before her due date that she was breech again, so they booked me in for a few days time to try and turn her and if not for a c-section, we were told to phone in if my waters broke or I felt any surges before that day. 

 

However the next day I started to feel mild surges, we gave the hospital a call and they said to come in when my surges were fifteen minutes apart.  My partner and I went to a party then when they were coming every ten minutes we left the party and went to the hospital. 

 

I was kept in all night strapped to a monitor, and continued having surges all night and all of the next day.  My mum and James came to keep me company as by this time I was BORED! The doctor came to see me and told me that the baby's bottom was fully engaged and there would be no way of turning her so I would be having a c-section that night at 6:15pm. James left for a while, Mum stayed with me reading her book while I slept and listed to good old Marie!

 

However... I was getting more and more uncomfortable (I wasn’t on the labour ward, lots of other patients = very hard to relax) I had three surges within 4 minutes, I was feeling a lot of pressure in my lower back and at this point I told my mum that I was definitely in the transitional phase and that she should probably call the midwife! I knew it wouldn't be long before I would be taken to theatre but thought it best to give her a call anyway. 

 

I was rushed down in a wheelchair and examined in the delivery room, at this point I knew she was coming as I felt like I wanted to push, turns out i was 8cm dilated!  I heard the doctor say "i'm calling it a red light get her into theatre!" it was all very surreal and looking back must have been really funny! We entered theatre at 6:17 pm.

 

I got into theatre, the breathing techniques were AMAZING at this point, and only three strong pushes and she was out, I can't imagine how hard it would have been if I hadn't been practising that breathing! 

 

She came out folded in half, at 6:33 pm with her feet up by her ears! My mum got to hold her while I was being stitched up (they had to make a cut) and then I got a cuddle :) 

 

The natural birth I wanted and no pain relief!

 

We are all so pleased everything went so well, and I can't thank you enough for all the help you gave us through the whole process! i'm so glad I took the course! 

 

Hannah, James and Eden, Derby x

We are a family of 4. Emmeline was born on Wednesday 20th July at 10pm. The birth went really well. I was able to use the breathing from the Hypnobirthing to help me and Jim was also much more able to help.

We had a really great midwife called Sue who was very knowledgeable regarding hypnobirthing and the breathing. The labour itself was very fast (4hr) and that in itself was challenging. However, I only used gas and air and Emmy was born with no intervention. I had no stitches and am recovering quickly. This has made it much easier to breast feed and also look after my 2 year old!

I feel much more positive about the birth experience this time.  Thanks for all your help

I went into labour at 2am, I did my surge breathing thru the contractions but couldnt get back to sleep.  We went to hospital, where I was examined at 7am.  I was 4-5cm but had thick meconium so had to go onto consultant led care and wouldn’t be able to have my pool birth.

 

I felt quite sad that all my birth plan and 'training' would go out of the window as there was talk of rapid induction even c section.  However, it was agreed if I continued to have good contractions and baby’s heart rate was good I would be left for a while. I continued to do my breathing and she even asked Barry if I was always this calm, they were going to re-examine me at 10.30 am.

 

Around 9.30 the surges became really strong and I felt that she was really low and something was happening and had the urge to push. When I was examined I was fully dilated.  The consultant wanted her to be delivered quickly so I was asked to push.  Nothing happened as she wasn’t quite ready to be born and I got very tired, I just wanted to breathe through them, so in the end we agreed to try a suction cap rather than forceps, induction or c-section but I would have to push harder.

 

Unfortunately, at this point the fear-tension-pain cycle started.  I thought they would offer me some pain relief – they didn’t, and I didn’t ask. The cap was really unpleasant but she came out in 3 contractions and was placed on me as soon as the paediatrician had checked her over.  She is beautiful!

 

Both the doctor and midwife couldnt believe how calm I was, especially with the last bit, Barry then told them about the hypnobirthing and the midwife said she thought I must have been doing something like that. That made me up no end, even though I thought it wouldnt be very helpful in the end it certainly was!!

 

Thank you so much Ellena

 

Angie, Barry and of course little Hollie. Belper

Hypnobirthing really does dissolve all the fear around childbirth. It gave me the confidence and tools needed to give birth naturally. There was a long 2 weeks of starting and stopping, a couple of false alarms and trips to the hospital. Then the final bit happened really quickly. I remember needing all my concentration to stay focussed on the breathing and visualisations. When I was fully present with the process it was fine. If I drifted, then the sensations got really intense. As my husband slept, I sat kneeling in the kitchen of our boat and I suddenly felt a very strong urge to push. To my surprise, I realised that I had reached the final stage of birthing. In between surges I woke him up and gathered my stuff for the hospital. Our boat was moored 500 metres from the road and from our car. We walked as quickly as we could in between surges. When I had a surge i had to stop and go fully into it. I remember really trying not to push but my body was taking over. In hindsight I realise how crazy it was to make the journey. When we got to car and my husband asked if I want him to drive safe or fast. I said both. It took less than 10 minutes to get to the hospital. I asked my husband to speak for me because I needed to concentrate on the surges. The midwife did not realise how imminent it was because I looked so calm. She took some details and then showed us into a room. She left the room to read our notes and collect some things. I was standing holding onto the bed and using the hypnobirthing visualisations when I felt a change, realised I was crowning and alerted my husband. He quickly hit the button to call the midwife and pulled off my trousers and pants. The baby shot out still in her water bag. Thankfully my husband is good at catching. He caught our baby as the midwife walked into the room.

We had such a positive birthing experience, I haven't stopped talking about hypnobirthing. It truely is an amazing thing to do for you, your baby and your partner. Ellena is a wonderful teacher. She explains things clearly and insightfully, with serenity and humour. 

Rachel, Oxford

Started brilliantly with me being totally blissed out in the birthing pool at Chipping Norton (birth centre), but unfortunately the second stage went on too long and I ended up getting transfered to the Horton. But the 5 hours proceeding it were amazing. Patrick was brilliant, we were a great team. When i describe the birth now i describe 90% blissed out, confident, trusting, 10%  bright lights and doctors.

Anyway, we would definitely do HypnoBirthing again, and if you were still local we would certainly think about asking you to come over and refresh us if we are lucky enough to be able to have another child.

Sally-Ann, Oxford

I was terrified of giving birth, but was dubious when I first heard the word 'hypnobirthing'. I decided to go and buy the book before committing to anything. I was immediately convinced and we signed up for Ellena's course, which really helped to get my husband up to speed. I listened to the hynobirthing CD obsessively!

Our baby's due date came and went, and eventually I was sent to the local hospital (just round the corner) for daily check-ups. As all was well and we had our hearts set on a home birth, we declined the offer of an induction. A midwife gave me a massage and by the time I got home I was complaining that she had given me back-ache. Things were kicking off at last (at a little over 42 weeks). Surges started off pretty gently and various midwives popped in to check how we were getting on. I'll be eternally grateful for their calm, reassuring presence and their helpful advice, as well as to my husband, who was completely present and involved thanks to the hypnobirthing techniques he'd learned. These surges, though not enjoyable, were manageable, and I told my husband that it must be the crowning and birthing phase that is the difficult bit! That part came about 24 hours later and my husband caught our daughter, still in her sac.

Hypnobirthing has enriched my life well beyond my daughter's birth. The relaxation techniques come in useful every single day.

Alice, Oxford

Sean was born early at 36 weeks, weighing 4lb 11oz.  His arrival was a complete surprise – especially when my waters broke at lunchtime in the office! I was discharged from hospital as my labour had not yet started.

At 5pm we finally made it back to our home town (25 mile drive) – and hit the rush hour traffic!  By this point my labour had progressed and I really needed to walk about, but of course couldn’t and needed to keep the seat belt on so I was fairly uncomfortable.  Fortunately, our drive home didn’t last much longer.

Once we got home, things improved dramatically.  I instantly felt more relaxed and happier as I could take some clothes off and get comfortable, the pain gradually started to subside.  Its amazing the effect comfortable surroundings has. He spoke to the hospital.  I then had a bath and shower together whilst he carried out light touch massage, which took me fully into relaxation.  Which was such an amazing state!

My partner realised my labour was moving along quickly and stated I needed to get dressed and go to the hospital.   I was less than co-operative as I was comfortable, had an amazing urge to go to the toilet and really didn’t want to go anywhere.  He finally persuaded me and we left home around 6.45pm. 

We arrived at the maternity unit at 7pm and was seen by a triage midwife.  She declared to my partner the “baby will be here soon” and we went around to the delivery suite.  Sean was born at 7.34pm, with my knickers still around my ankles!  

I had such an amazing labour, despite all the unusual circumstances.  The whole thing lasted 4.5 hours from my first surge without the need for pain relief, including gas and air.

We had a natural third stage.

Abigail decided to make an appearance at home on her due date, weighing 7lb 10oz.

I had been having practice surges for a few weeks, so when these woke me around 2am on her birth date I wasn't particularly surprised.  However, being so large by this point I couldnt get comfortable again in bed so rather than risk waking Sean I came downstairs, watched some TV and dozed on the sofa, with the viewpoint if they were still there when I woke up then I would alert my husband (the same philosophy I had had for the last few weeks). 

At 4.45am I woke and they were still there, so I went back upstairs and woke my husband up.  I think that was the release I needed!  I went from telling him I wasnt sure to definitely being in labour!  My surges were coming every five minutes so he phoned the midwife and put his mum on alert to collect Sean when he woke.  During the time between these calls and his mum and the midwife arriving my surges had intensified and were lasting around a minute every minute.  Once again light touch massage was my hero with my husband not allowed to stop!  At 6.15am with Sean safely out of the way the midwife was allowed to examine me.  I was 9cm!! A discussion was held regarding the birth pool but we decided with the speed of labour it would remain in its box unless hubby could blow it up and fill it one handed whilst maintaining the massage.

At 6.45am the second midwife arrived.  I continued to labour.  Discussions were held regarding breaking my waters which were still in tact.  It was decided against.  The midwives as requested were very "hands off" during my labour allowing me to just be and to help me to change position if I needed.  Due to the intensity I did struggle to remain calm, however, with lots of all round encouragement and my continued mental mantra "jaws relaxed, hands relaxed" my labour continued nicely and at all times remained completely bearable.  

At 7.04am my waters finally broke, Abigail rushed into the world at 7.10am.  We waited for the cord to stop pulsating, my husband cut the cord and we had a natural third stage.

Again, despite the intensity and speed of this labour no drugs were needed.