I loved the classes and felt leaving so empowered and even excited for birth!

Victoria Australia
Finley 2.730kg
38.6w

Unmedicated water birth

I attended hypnobirthing classes through the hospital I was going to birth at. I loved the classes and felt leaving so empowered and even excited for birth!

I spent the weeks leading up to my labour listening to podcasts about birth, visualising my dream birth, reading and listening to birth affirmations. The days prior to labour starting, I was talking to my son telling him I was ready if he was. I actually guessed his due date and that’s the date he came!I started having contractions on Saturday about 5pm. I wasn’t fully convinced they were real because I was having a lot of braxton hicks and false contractions a week or so leading up to it. I also hadn’t most my mucus plug/had a bloody show. I kept going about my evening and they started becoming regular so I began timing them.

By 12am they were pretty consistent, about 6-7 minutes a part so. By this stage I was using my TENS machine which was helping a lot! I was also using my birth ball, moving my body and listening to calming music. By 4:30am they were 3-4 minutes a part and I was really having to focus to get through them. All of my surges were in my lower back. I knew it was time to call my midwife.

I arrived at the hospital and was 3cm dilated and they wanted to send me home. My surges had slowed down which I knew could happen when going in, I opted to do a CTG instead of going home as the drive to and from was about 30 minutes and I hated being idle.

I spent a few hours in monitoring and the next check I was 6cm. By now my surges were intense, I was rocking into my husbands body and kept saying positive affirmations out loud to get through. “I can do this” and “that’s one step closer to my baby”. Finally I was admitted.

I spent a few hours labouring in the birth suite, moving around, rocking, still using my TENS machine. I started to feel sudden urges to push which I notified my midwife I wanted to push. She checked me and I was 9-10cm and ready to get into the water. I got in the bath and started pushing through each surge.

My body and my baby were working together, they knew exactly what to do and I followed. My water hadn’t broken yet until right before his head came out which quickly followed by his body. After 40 minutes of pushing my son was in my arms. I was overwhelmed and amazed, the unmediated water birth I had been dreaming of had just become a reality. Very grateful for the experience I had and the hypnobirthing classes.