Dimitra and James' home birth hypnobirth
Hypnobirthing really is the sum of many differing parts. Practising breathing, visualisations, self-hypnosis, birth affirmations as well as understanding the human mind and body means that you are fully able to use what you wish in labour… and leave what you don’t need.
During this birth Dimitra is fully aware of what she does and does not need throughout her labour, be that visualisations, comments or gas & air. It is your body, your baby and your birth. This is a wonderful hypnobirthing birth story. Enjoy.
I just wanted to let you know that James and I welcomed our little baby boy three weeks ago today. We had a lovely home birth, and every time I think about the day I birthed our baby my heart warms up :) I wouldn't change it for anything. I felt so strong and capable throughout the whole process and I had no doubt that my body was going to do what it is meant to do. Most of it was down to having interacted with you, having heard your empowering description of labour and birth and listened to your recordings. I am not going to lie, I didn't really use any of the visualisations as I don't think this is my cup of tea (although it might be because I didn't really get into it and practice it) however having changed my perception about labour after attending your course and practising my breathing definitely helped! And I am grateful for that. It gave me the opportunity to believe in my body and birth my baby boy in the safety and calmness of our home.
My first surge came at 4:10pm on Thursday as I was getting dressed to go for a walk in the park with James. Initially I doubted that this was the beginning of labour and I made James wait for 40 mins before calling our midwife. Straight from the start my surges were coming every 3-4 mins and lasting more than 30 secs, so initially I thought that this baby was going to come asap! I was expecting to have long breaks between surges as most people describe during the first stage of labour, and go for a walk to get things moving, however I soon realised there was no chance of leaving the house! We called the midwife around 5pm and she asked whether I wanted her to come straight away or if I'd rather not be disturbed, and we agreed I'd give her a call later on when my surges would last for more than 1 minute and I feel like things are progressing. Three and a half hours later I asked her to come over as my surges where becoming even more frequent and intense and lasting for more than a minute each.
At 8:30 pm she examined me and said I was at a "good 3cm stage" which I found a bit disappointing at the time as I thought that surely with this frequency and duration that my surges were coming the baby was surely due to come soon! The midwife left soon after so James and I could relax the two of us. During this whole time I was just using a TENS machine and breathing to get me through the surges. I kept moving from room to room, standing, kneeling, lying in bed and using my birthing ball. At 10:45 the pressure I was feeling became more intense and I felt it shifting downwards. That's when I decided to take some codeine that the midwife left, however I ended up vomiting a few minutes later so the codeine didn't have any effect! (Poor James didn't know that vomiting can sometimes happen during labour so he got quite stressed when that happened! Managed to hide it well though to avoid making me feel stressed too!). The midwife came back at 11:30pm and I was now at 5cm. About half an hour later I got into the pool and the second midwife was on her way bringing the gas and air with her. To my surprise I was already feeling the need to push, although I thought that this only happens after you are fully dilated! The midwife told me to listen to my body and do what I felt like doing. The second midwife finally arrived at 1:30 am and I finally managed to get the gas and air I was desperately looking forward to!
Surprisingly, again, after trying gas and air I didn't like it at all! It made me lose my focus and lose touch with my body and what my body was telling me to do. So I only used it intermittently, and only for a few seconds as I wanted to be able to feel the peak of each surge to allow my body do its thing, At 3 am I was fully dilated and I started to properly push while still in the pool. After a few good surges things started slowing down and baby's heartbeat after the last surge seemed to have dropped a bit. At this stage I could also reach down and touch baby's head which gave me extra strength and motivation to keep going. The midwives decided to take me out of the pool as it seemed that the water was relaxing me too much and was slowing down the surges. They also wanted me to be in bed in case an episiotomy was needed. I somehow managed to stumble out of the pool and into our bedroom and the moment I lied down I got two strong surges back to back and our little boy was out at 3:45, just after 30 mins of pushing! The midwife put him in my arms and James told me it was a boy (we didn't know the sex till then). Obviously it was the most wonderful feeling ever! James got to cut the cord, once all the blood had moved from the placenta to the baby. I decided I wanted to birth the placenta naturally and while waiting I cuddled our baby boy and tried to give him his first feed and after about 10-15 mins the placenta was out.
The midwives then went and sat in the living room, leaving James and I time and space to relax, cuddle our baby boy and each other. I got tea and biscuits in bed (I had made the biscuits the day before - nesting at its finest!) and I was so happy to be in my own bed and home, feeling relaxed and safe, and grateful to have managed to birth my son safely.
When I think back to that day I am still surprised by the ability of my body to cope with the "stress" and pain of labour. I remember feeling "high" from my own endorphins, empowered and relaxed. I remember feeling strong and mighty completely focused on birthing my baby and not caring about anything/anyone else in the room. I remember being completely in tune with my own body - that's the reason why I didn't use gas and air despite the fact that James and the midwives did encourage me to do so, probably out of fear that the neighbours would end up calling the police :D.
When I first got pregnant I had all sorts of fears! I was scared of the pain, I was scared of "damaging" my body by tearing or needing an episiotomy (i really hate this term now - damaging my body). I was scared of being "exposed" while giving birth - shouting too much, or moving too much or generally being too much! Meeting you and taking your course really helped me change my views and perception of labour and eventually made me look forward to birthing my baby! One of the midwives did make a couple of comments that could have put me off, however I was well prepared and able to shield myself and not let it affect my mentality.
So thank you so much for helping me reshape my idea of labour and birth and helping me believe in my body's ability to birth my baby naturally and with minimum intervention.
Want to learn hypnobirthing with us?
Don’t forget that we have a full Online Antenatal Hypnobirthing Class that you can follow in your own time anywhere around the world. It is only £39/$49.
The Online Hypnobirthing Course
We also teach antenatal hypnobirthing classes in London in person with our One Day Group Hypnobirthing Class.
In-person Antental Hypnobirthing Group Class
If you’d rather prepare for your labour and birth solo with Melanie you can do so in the privacy of your own home in person if you live in London or via the Zoom platform wherever you are around the globe.
Private Antenatal Hypnobirthing Classes