Positive Induced / Assisted Hospital Birth

We talked about how excited we were to meet our son and I went to bed feeling calm and ready for the birth.

Rachel and Jordan attended a group hypnobirthing course with me this year and whilst they experienced lots of challenges throughout pregnancy and labour, they were able to remain calm and in control. Here’s what Rachel had to say about the birth:

At the beginning of our pregnancy journey I was considered very low risk. However, I contracted covid at about 19 weeks pregnant and I ended up going into hospital with mild pneumonia. This meant that we had to delay the 20 week scan twice. At this point my birth partner, Jordan and I decided after having several recommendations from friends that a hypnobirthing course would be beneficial in helping us prepare for a calm birth.

I had an additional scan at 28 weeks as a precaution as a result of having covid. This revealed that the baby was measuring smaller than they hoped so I was booked in for another scan 4 weeks later.

We began our hypnobirthing course with Hannah when I was 32 weeks pregnant. At this stage Jordan and I were still both planning a natural water birth at the birth centre and to spend as much of early labour as we could at home together.

At 32 weeks the baby’s growth had not changed so I had 2 additional growth scans at 34 weeks and the day before I was 36 weeks pregnant. Our second hypnobirthing session discussed interventions and all of the things still within our control if this were to happen. We also discussed the BRAIN technique which I found incredibly useful when going into my appointments, as I had to attend all of these alone as a result of covid restrictions. I also used my breathing techniques learnt during the sessions at these appointments.

The challenges start but using hypnobirthing Rachel and Jordan were able to make decisions that felt right for them

After the 34 week scan the reality of being induced early began to hit us and Jordan and I both became quite anxious and emotional about this and the health of our baby. We discussed our worries with Hannah at the end of our final session and she was really supportive. She offered to read our different birth plans and reassured us that we could use all of the techniques we had learnt regardless of the birth we were going to have. We packed our hospital bag and got everything we needed for our calm birth ready.

At the scan the day before I was 36 weeks baby had still not grown so the consultant decided that I needed to be induced the following day. Despite expecting the induction I felt overwhelmed and shocked at how soon it was. I used the BRAIN technique to make sure it was the right decision and spoke to Jordan on the phone. We agreed to the induction as we believed it was the safest thing to do for the baby.

The induction was booked and all of the hypnobirthing techniques were brought out

Jordan picked me up for the appointment and we went home and began preparing and building my oxytocin levels. We rang our parents and sent a text to our friends to let them know what was happening. I told everyone that I needed to get in the zone and would contact them again once the baby was born. We batch cooked some meals and watched tv with our candles lit and lavender oil burning. We listened to our hypnobirthing tracks and I took a long bath. We talked about how excited we were to meet our son and I went to bed feeling calm and ready for the birth.

I remembered “I am one step closer to meeting my baby”

The following morning we had a good breakfast and watched some more comedy. We arrived at the hospital at 10.30. As soon as I arrived at the hospital the midwife saw me and an hour later my induction began. I set up my room by shutting the curtains and putting my electric tea lights around the room. I looked at some photos from home and watched some comedy on my laptop and made myself comfortable. I began to feel something in my back a couple of hours later. As the surges intensified I took a paracetamol, listened to my hypnobirthing tracks, moved around the room and breathed through them calmly. I consented to being monitored to ensure that the baby was coping with the surges. I stayed focussed and remembered I was one step closer to meeting my baby.

Birth was such a special experience, despite the fact that it was not their plan A

By about 8pm the surges were coming every minute or two so I requested an examination to see how far along I was. I was 7 centimetres dilated so I called Jordan who quickly arrived as I was moving to another room. The midwives prepared the room for me with the lights off and tea lights all around. During this last part the midwives were struggling to monitor the baby and were beginning to get concerned so we consented to an episiotomy to help get the baby out. Once he had arrived we had skin to skin for an hour or so with a short break to have him weighed and checked over. He was 5lbs 3oz and healthy. Jordan stayed with me for 4 hours and we continued to listen to the hypnobirthing tracks and relaxed with our new baby.

It was such a special experience. I honestly feel so happy about the way the birth turned out despite the fact that it was not how we had planned originally. Hypnobirthing helped me to feel calm and confident with whatever came our way and meant that Jordan also had such an influential role in the birth of our son.

Rachel and Jordan 2020