"Hynobirth-Kasey Classes"

As a first time mum, I felt clueless. Everyone wanting to throw in their 2c on the pain women go through as they give birth was overwhelming and fear began to set in as my “due date” was looming.

Three months earlier I had the privilege of being there for my nephew's birth. The experience also left me scared. My sister's surges were only a minute apart and she was told to wait in the hallway until someone could see her. Midwives were sitting down having handover and we had to wait an hour before being seen. I was certain my sister would give birth in the hallway - they could barely move at this point. She was put into a birthing suite in full light and told to push; 15 minutes later my nephew was born. I was frustrated and upset for my relative but horrified to think this was going to be me. At this point, I didn’t want to have my baby in any hospital.

I had heard about hypnobirthing classes and I'll admit I visioned a hippy kumbaya circle of pregnant women chanting and swaying. At this point, I was willing to try anything to make my experience different. And boy was I wrong!

Kasey made everyone feel so welcome. The knowledge and passion she has for hypnobirthing are infectious and without taking her classes I wouldn’t have felt confident in myself, my birth team and the midwives going into the birth of our beautiful baby.

My labour was 17 hours long. I got to Bunbury regional in the evening with my waves being 2 minutes apart. There was my husband, my mum, my sister, her newborn and my mother in law. We were all welcomed into the suite.

My mother-in-law had the role of setting up some photos and affirmations, candles, music and air diffusers. My husband and sister took turns with me and I had given the liaison role to my mum and honestly this was a lifesaver!

I was quite and focused on my breathing and keeping calm during my waves and when there was chatter amongst my beautiful midwife Sarah and my mum I had no idea. Mum would come and let me know the things I wanted to know once my waves had cleared. I had asked her not tell me how far along I was or anything medical related, I just wanted to know things like if I needed to move or if my baby became at risk. My wishes were well respected by both my mum and Sarah.

Sarah was an angle. We went straight into the bath. There was no qualified midwife for a water birth, however, she respected my wishes. I was in the bath for three hours and moved to the shower in my suite bouncing on a yoga ball. I then moved to the bed as I was starting to get tired by this point. Sarah thought if I could get some rest now would be the best time.

My team were amazing and Sarah clocked off early 12 hours after I arrived in hospital and told me to analyse everything. She suggested for the doctor to break my waters when he arrived. I was becoming exhausted and it felt like my baby had wanted to enter the world for the last 5 hours my waves were so intense so I was happy to oblige.

The good doctor did so at and my baby was born half an hour later that morning. It was a beautiful experience! I had no idea it was morning as the room was still so dark, my music was still going and everything felt so still. I was so proud of myself for having a natural birth and not needing happy gas, epidural etc. I believe my strength came from the knowledge I had gained from Kasey and her classes. I will be forever grateful!