Hi Melissa,

My partner Mark & I participated in your course back in Feb and I wanted to share our birth story with you and also thank you for giving us the knowledge & tools to prepare us for the arrival of our baby. I practised the techniques religiously in the months leading up to the birth and I believe it had such a positive impact on our birth experience.

At my 39 week antenatal appointment the midwives were happy with how me & baby were doing, we didn’t plan a 40 week appointment but scheduled a 41 week appointment in case I hadn’t gone into labour by then. At 40 + 4 I went into natural labour at 10pm and by 4am my surges were consistently 3 minutes apart so we made our way to hospital. I felt so in control breathing through the surges, I was surprised at how well I was coping.

When we got to hospital I was assessed by a midwife and that’s when things started to get complicated. She called for a doctor who conducted an ultrasound and I was diagnosed with Polyhydramnios (excess amniotic fluid in the amniotic sac). My plan for a water birth was quickly thrown out the window due to the risk of cord prolapse when my membranes ruptured. Not what I wanted to hear, but I could deal with that. Then they were concerned about how big our baby was, estimating 4.5kg (give or take 500g). Again, not ideal but I still believed my body wouldn’t grow a baby that I couldn’t give birth to. The doctors weren’t so optimistic and after discussing it they gave me 2 options. Option 1 – if I wanted to attempt a natural birth they would have to artificially rupture my membranes in the operating theatre (in case of cord prolapse requiring an emergency caesarean) followed by syntocinon drip + continuous monitoring to make sure baby wasn’t showing signs of distress, or, Option 2 – an elective caesarean. Neither option sounded at all natural or what I had planned for. Throughout my whole pregnancy I never actually considered I might have to give birth by caesarean, I believed in my bodies’ ability to give birth naturally. And to be honest, the idea of having a c-section freaked me out more than the thought of trying to push out a 4.5kg baby.

When I fell pregnant I was terrified of the thought of giving birth but Hypnobirthing had really changed my perspective and I had been looking forward to going into labour and using all the techniques we’d learnt to welcome our baby into this world in a natural, calm & positive way. So initially I couldn’t help but feel disappointed about the situation we were faced with & a little bit robbed of the empowering experience of giving birth to my baby. If I hadn’t participated in your course I think that those feelings would have stayed with me long after the event & I probably would have broken down at that point. After weighing up all the potential risks (and there were a lot) of the (not so natural) ‘natural’ birth option we decided to have an elective caesarean.

The midwifes present during my surgery made the atmosphere so calm & positive and we were able to have delayed cord clamping, immediate skin to skin contact, the vaginal swab wiped on our baby and he started to breast feed whilst I was being stitched up.

Ollie John was born at 3.05pm on Monday 30th May. He weighed 10lb 12oz or 4890g, was 57cm long and had a head circumference of 38cm. We love him to bits and I am glad I didn’t try to push him out haha. Attached are a couple of pics for you.

Using hypnobirthing techniques I was able to overcome the negative feelings I felt surrounding me and also the fear of having a caesarean and even though we didn’t have the birth experience that I had hoped for, at the end of the day all that really mattered to us was that our baby was safe.

Once again, thank you for everything you taught us, it has been invaluable.

Georgie (Brisbane)