Positive Hospital Birth Story at the LGI In Leeds

My birth was a really positive experience and I felt completely empowered, during and afterwards.

Jordan and Gary attended an online group hypnobirthing course with me to prepare for a calm birth, they have kindly shared their positive birth story with us.

13th of May 2021 - 6:31am

On Wednesday 12th of May, the day was fairly normal. I had my eyebrows waxed and tinted, had lunch with my husband and mother in law and felt completely normal. As the day ticked on I had some period cramp like pains, but there were intermittent and not particularly strong. I decided to have a bath and head to bed about 9pm.

As I laid in bed the cramps began to get a little bit more powerful. As a first time mum I was still unsure if this was surges or braxton hicks. At 9.40pm I decided to track the surges to see if they were consistent. I used an app on my phone to track how often and how long they lasted. At first I did this on my own, but as they grew stronger and more frequent my husband took over this role for me.

I found being laid down just wasn’t working for me and so stood up, legs in a wide open position and swayed side to side. By 1am my surges were now 3/4mins apart and lasting around 45 seconds. I decided at this point to ring MAC at the LGI hospital in Leeds. They asked about my pregnancy and contractions and advised I took some paracetamols, had a bath and continued to monitor my contractions as they needed them to be consistent for longer.

I did as advised (being laid down in the bath did not work for me and so I got out). All the while my husband was tracking my contractions and moving our bags downstairs, ready to go.

At 2am my surges were considerably stronger and now 2-3 mins apart. This time my husband made the call to MAC and stated he felt we really needed to go in to be assessed.

Throughout the contractions I had been using the breathing techniques taught on the course to manage the sensation.

On arrival on the MAC unit at the LGI hospital in Leeds, my husband was unable to join me for assessment due to Covid restrictions. The midwives were lovely and examined me. On examination I had managed to get to 5cm and they suggested we moved to the midwife led unit.

My husband was allowed to join me at this point. We arrived on the MLU at 3:40am. My husband explained to the midwife we had been doing hypnobirthing and that we had a birth plan. She was so supportive and said let me have a read of it. She instantly ran the pool and got me in as soon as possible.

Seeing the birth pool in the birth centre.

In the pool I used gas and air and the breathing techniques again. Whilst in the pool my waters broke with what felt like a large pop. Pretty quickly I felt the urge to push. Using the technique of breathing down I started to push in the pool but was unable to get the position I needed and so the midwife suggested I moved to the bed.

The midwife was great at suggesting positions for this stage. I started on my knees bent over the head end of the bed, followed by being laid on my side and finally on my back with my legs in the stirrups. By this point, I had started to panic. However, because we had covered this on the course I knew this was a good sign that I was transitioning and that Elias was nearly here. Elias’ heart rate had started to decelerate on my surges, so the midwife suggested they may have to give me the drip to ensure my contractions remained strong and consistent as they had started to slow and that I may need an episiotomy. She offered my some local anaesthetic and I accepted.

Listening to her instincts and using the hypnobirthing breathing technique to trust that her body could do this.

Having completed the course and got to this stage I really didn’t want any interventions if I it could be avoided. Using the last bit of energy I had and breathing down, I managed to deliver Elias in the next two surges. He arrived a week early at 6:31am.

As my midwife had read my birth plan, she didn’t even have to ask, she gave us skin to skin straight away and optimal cord clamping.

The most important thing I feel about completing the course is how prepared I felt in advance. The breathing techniques were invaluable at managing my surges. My husband said that knowing what to expect was so important to him, he was able to support me and not feel panicked himself. I would recommend hypnobirthing to anyone, no matter what birth they are hoping for.

My birth was a really positive experience and I felt completely empowered during and afterwards.

Jordan and Gary, Leeds, 2021