Positive Home Birth.

THE BIRTH OF TOBIAS

Liz and Jamie completed an intensive hypnobirthing course with me as they were short on time. This was their first home birth with their second child. Thank you for sharing your story with us and the biggest congratulations on the birth of Tobias.

Feeling a little uncomfortable

“It was ‪the 21st of March 2020,‬ I was nearly a week overdue & I had had enough of being pregnant! (Second baby in less than 2 years.) It got to midday & I started feeling increasingly uncomfortable & was bouncing on my birthing ball. I decided to go for a walk to bring on labour/feel more comfortable. I love the outdoors & it’s my happy place. Whilst walking round Newmillerdam, I started having contractions so was using my breathing techniques taught to me by Hannah. My sister & my best friend just kept making me laugh & taking my mind off the surges, all things that I knew would help me manage the situation.

Feeling in control and managing labour well

We got home I went for a wee & discovered my plug had gone. From this point on the surges became more intense. This pregnancy/labour was so much different than my first born (which lasted 3 days) I felt more in control & able to manage the surges better. I had heard about coronavirus & everything going on in the news but was lucky enough to still be able to have the option of a home water birth. I put the whole situation to the back of my mind & focused on the here & now.

My husband started to set up the birthing pool & my calm area in our living room. He set up fairy lights, tea light candles, baby powder wax melts, photos of our first born, our dog, family & friends all so I could see them to make me smile. He set up an area for the midwives on the table & collected our “birthing box” full of all our hospital bag essentials for our new arrival.

Feeling real and setting up the cosy environment

My brother in law came to look after the dog & my mum came to take our 19 month old to her house & it felt all so real at that point. My husband began to sort the birthing pool ready to fill while my sister & I put on “Hustle” a comedy film. Hannah had said to get your birthing area calm, cosy & a happy place. I was so chilled in our living room, managing my surges with my sister & husband rubbing my back & watching the film.

It got to ‪around 2am‬, 6 hours of me having surges & I knew it was getting more intense. We rang the home birth team to let them know what was going on. We began to fill the birthing pool, listen to music & the hypnobirthing MP3’s Hannah had sent. I had used the MP3’s in the bath during pregnancy so knew they would put my mind into a good place. When the midwives arrived I got into the birthing pool & continued to breathe through my surges. My husband & sister were by my side & constantly making me laugh. Things started to get intense so I asked for gas & air, the midwives listened to everything my husband said (no checking how dilated I was & minimal interference) they were amazing in all honesty!

I knew baby was coming

It got to ‪around 8:00am‬ & the surges were so intense I couldn’t take gas & air anymore. My husband continued to stroke my back & talk to me. He spoke with the midwives without me having to say a word. ‪At around 8:40‬ the midwives told me & my husband I’d need to get out of the birthing pool as the baby’s heart rate was dropping, inside I was gutted, my first born was a water birth & I wanted the same for this baby but I knew it was best. I moved into a squat position from being on my knees & said to the midwives I’d move in a second but I knew a surge was coming. A surge came & I could feel our baby moving so I pushed & the baby's head crowned.

I loved every moment of the birth

I remained in the pool, and continued to push through the next surge & our baby was born. I had my baby cradled in my arms, exhausted but so relieved, I wasn’t even checking what gender our child was. I turned him over & I remember my husband saying we have another boy. I just held him close to me, myself, my husband and my sister were all nearly in tears. The cord was clamped & after a while, my husband cut the cord. Our son was checked over by a midwife whilst the other midwife helped me naturally deliver the placenta. I then got out of the pool, lay on our sofa with our new son & just took the moment all in.

Honestly, after my first birth (which wasn’t exactly as planned) I’d got fear in my mind. Whereas this birth I had fewer painkillers, I remembered every bit but I loved every moment. Doing the hypnobirthing class with Hannah not only prepared me but my husband as well. It felt so calm having our home birth & the perfect environment. I would recommend it to anyone, it just puts you in a great headspace & Hannah has been in touch since to see how everything went & loves getting updates.

Using the hypnobirthing after birth

The day after Tobias was born the UK went into lockdown & he wasn’t able to meet our family & friends. I used the techniques taught to me in hypnobirthing to help me deal with anxieties of being a mum to 2 & now stuck in doors & also weirdly with breastfeeding which has been a breeze. We had a perfect little baby boy Tobias Christopher Wood, born ‪8:46am‬ weighing 9lbs 8oz. I can’t wait for the world to go back to a bit of normality so everyone can meet him & home births can be a thing again.

Liz and Jamie, Wakefield, 2020

Liz and Jamie have since had another baby boy, born at home, you can read their story here

Trending Birth Blogs: