"Positive Birth Program"

My waters broke in the early hours of the morning recently. I phoned the hospital to let them know that my waters had broken and that I hadn't had any contractions yet. The midwife said to come in in the morning to be checked over. By the time we got into the hospital it was mid-morning.

While at the hospital I felt a slight tightening that the midwife confirmed was a contraction. We chose to go home and come back into the hospital later that night to have some antibiotics as this is required after 18hrs of the waters being broken. In the car on the way home I continued to feel slight tightening's that were not yet of concern. We got home and had a nap. At roughly mid afternoon I got up as the surges became more present I could no longer sleep through them. I got onto my fit ball and started to move about on it, legs wide in an almost deep squat. About half an hour later the surges began to be more consistent and we started tracking them, prior to this I was just listening to some music and at this point I needed more of a focus. I played the hypnobirth affirmations track, this was so helpful for me.

As we live 40 mins from the hospital and I had arrived at the hospital for my first birth at 9cm dilated, and almost ready to push, it was a concern of my partner and I to not leave it too late this time around (we were living 5 mins from the hospital last time). My contractions were still inconsistent. I wanted to have 2 in 10 mins, at 5 pm and we got in the car. I was so scared to labour in the car, although the affirmations track kept me focused and calm in the car. I was so in the zone that some of the surges I was fully able to mask the pain. It shocked me but also empowered me. I was just constantly thinking about how each surge was bringing me closer to my baby and visualising that.

We arrived at the hospital in th evening, I had been listening to this same affirmations track on repeat and at this point switched to earphones so that I wouldn't be interrupted. Although the initial conversation with the midwife threw out my focus, the waves started to feel like they were constantly crashing over me without any breaks. We were taken into the birth suite and there I got comfortable on the beanbag and lower beds. I sat here for some time, my surges were getting so much stronger now. The hospital had a tub that we could have used although I knew that given how I was feeling that I may not make it into the tub. Each surge my waters would break a little more, I looked at this as though my baby was moving down and I was opening, getting closer to meeting him. I moved to the shower, there were two showerheads set up, I sat underneath one and let it run over me and the second put the nozzle on my tummy where I could feel the surges to distract myself. I sat here for some time and listened to the tracks. The pain was starting to overwhelm me at this point and the midwife asked me if I would like to be checked at this stage. I moved onto the bed at this point laying on my side and gripping onto the side rail, I was 6cm but my cervix was so stretchy that I could go to 10 and feel the need to start pushing immediately. I know this was not recommended to ask how dilated but at this point I needed some reassurance, I also asked for some gas and breathing this in was a great break and distraction.

I stayed on the bed for some time and the feeling to bear down started to happen. I was on my side for some time, just feeling through the change in the surges and not actually baring down with them. The midwife raised the back of the bed and I leaned over this gripping the back of the bed on my knees, soon enough I was baring down and really breathing through the surges. The affirmations track has a point which tells you to bear down and this occurred right when I was feeling a surge that helped me push his head out, and he was there, I birthed the rest of him and they passed him up from under me, he was so slimy and slippery but it was just amazing.

My son was born about two and a half hours after we arrived at hospital. We had skin to skin for a few hours and he had his first feed. The midwife had used a warm compression on me and I was able to birth him without any tears or need for stitches. Their guidance through this phase was amazing to not rush or get overwhelmed, I felt in control. I was so in the zone I was completely unaware that the Dr had slipped into the room for the birth. It was an amazing experience and they commented on how silent and focused I was, and that you can tell the women that have put the tracks into practice.

With a toddler at home there wasn't a lot of time to listen to the tracks during the day but each night for bed I would play them. I was actually worried going into my birth that I hadn't listened to them enough as most nights I wouldn't make it through the first 5 minutes of the selected track before falling asleep. But this was enough. A little here and there.

With my first pregnancy, I needed an episiotomy and required the vacuum. I think a lot of this came down to the fact that I really couldn't grasp the pushing concept. I was so nervous to move from my back onto all fours, the lighting was bright and I hadn't been able to set up a calm environment in the room.

This time around, I told my partner the most important thing for him to do on arrival at the hospital was to create a relaxing space. The midwife was amazing and also got to putting oils on for me dimming the lighting and creating a relaxing space without us even asking. She also noticed straight away that we were listening to the tracks and asked if she was able to speak to us, I said yes but she kept all conversation to a minimum. I strongly believe that her support and understanding of hypno assisted in such a calm birth. The tools provided for the final stages of baring down and not needing to push for every surge really helped and also gave me a break.