Hypnobirthing classes allowed us to remain calm and relaxed

Melissa’s Birth Story

Melissa & Justin Baby Kip March 2021 Geraldton Hospital

After a traumatic emergency caesarean 13 years ago with my first child, I had a lot of anxiety throughout my second pregnancy. Due to covid, regular antenatal classes were not available.

Luckily for us, we were able to take part in Geraldton Regional Hospitals first ‘Positive Birth, Hypnobirthing’ program. The classes were great for keeping me in a positive mindset towards the end of my pregnancy and leading up to my scheduled caesarean.

They also helped me to develop a birthing plan to advocate for the things we wanted during the delivery of our son and after – We had our own music playing throughout, delayed cord clamping – dad got to cut the cord (surgeons made the initial cord cut but left it long so dad could still cut near the clamp) and I was able to have uninterrupted skin to skin immediately after delivery, in recovery and back to my room.

The skills my partner and I learned through the Hypnobirthing classes allowed us to remain calm and relaxed – we were even laughing and joking while the surgeons were making their first incision. A few times throughout the
surgery when my partner could tell that I was starting to tense up, he was able to bring me back to my happy place using his grounding touch and the affirmations he had read in the booklet we received during the first class.

I believe that going into theatre with a positive mindset and calm attitude played a massive role in my body also being relaxed. Because of this, I had far less pain than with my first and managed with just Panadol and Neurofen 24hours after surgery and was discharged after 48hours. I am so grateful for everything I learnt during the Hypnobirthing classes and say that they were a major factor in creating the calm environment my baby was welcomed into, helping him to be the calm, content boy he is now.

I was lucky to have a student nurse available to take some great photos so we actually got to see him being delivered.