Having had a very medicalised  birth for our first child, complete with induction, epidural and vacuum extraction, we were quite traumatised by the whole experience and determined to do things differently second time round.   I prepared myself with yoga, acupuncture and of course Hypnobirthing. What a gift it was! The birth was intense, ecstatic and incredibly empowering and our beautiful baby was alert, awake and feeding for the first 5 hours.
The affirmation that will stay with me forever is “I am a strong woman”.
After giving birth with no drugs and no interventions whatsoever, I know that to be true and that knowledge will remain deep inside me for the rest of my life.
The breathing techniques were so effective that I doubted I was in labour for the first few hours. I couldn’t believe how easily I could breathe through the surges. As things intensified I had to concentrate more and when we got to hospital I was already in very advanced labour and had to dig deep inside myself to find the inner strength not to fight the intensity of the sensations.  Luckily
I had all the skills to do this. As I got to transition, I had brief moments of self doubt and I relied on my support people to see me through. I intuitively moved into the positions that felt comfortable and finally birthed with very intense breaths on a birth stool. The ecstasy and joy of that moment is something no mother should be robbed of by needless medical intervention. Our bodies are made to do this and it is one of life’s great gifts.
What a shame that our society has moved so far from what this experience is meant to be for us, filing us instead with fear and drugs we don’t need. My OB stood by and watched. I was glad to have him there in case something went wrong, but since everything was OK, I am grateful he had the respect not to interfere. I am urging all my pregnant friends to learn Hypnobirthing so that they too may have an ecstatic and joyous birth.
Karen, Windsor