Amelia and Arthur - a perfectly imperfect birth

My sisters very kindly bought me a Hypnobirthing course from The Positive Birth Project when I told them I was pregnant with my first baby. I would never have embarked on a Hypnobirthing course myself as I thought it sounded a bit ‘hippy.’ I am pleased to say I was completely wrong and my husband and I both found Katie’s course extremely informative as it was based on biology of the human body alongside strategies that can help during labour.

I consider myself a fairly anxious person who hates the unknown and likes things to go according to plan, so before the course, I found the idea of giving birth frightening. After I completed the course, I felt empowered, confident, and completely informed.

My waters broke on Friday morning and contractions didn’t start until 8pm that evening. I welcomed the contractions and understood that they were a positive, natural sensation, bringing me closer to meeting my baby - not an injury pain to be feared. We went to the midwife led centre at 3am where I laboured naturally until I was 8cm dilated with breathing techniques and by moving around. I genuinely loved this part of my labour.

Unfortunately my contractions then stopped and we discovered the baby was back-to-back so we were moved to the hospital where I was induced. I was really upset as I wanted a natural birth without medical interventions or an epidural. I initially chose not to have an epidural for the first hour but then made the decision to go ahead as I was unable to manage the pain myself. I opted for the active epidural which still meant I was able to move into certain positions instead of lying on my back.

The baby then became distressed and the emergency button was pushed. I was told if I couldn’t push him out in half an hour we would have to consider an abdominal birth. In order to avoid an emergency situation, my husband and I decided to go to theatre immediately where my baby boy was safely delivered by ventouse. He came out crying and was placed on my chest skin to skin as I had requested and immediately latched on – probably the best moment of my life.

Despite my birth not going according to what I had planned, I can honestly say it was an incredible, empowering and positive experience. As I felt completely informed, I was able to make decisions which made me feel in control of a potentially scary situation. I would recommend Katie’s course to everyone.