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Baby Mia Louise and Chris’ story – February 2008 class "It was wonderful. A feeling that will stay with me forever"  “When
I found out I was pregnant for the second time, I was of course over
the moon; however quite early on in the pregnancy, traumatic memories
of my first birth began to resurface. I knew that I wanted a different
birth experience second time . The First Birth When my first daughter Lola was born, it was an exceptionally busy evening at the hospital - we saw midwife after midwife, and we were left to labour alone much of the time. Although my husband Chris was with me throughout, we felt abandoned and unsupported by the professionals. The cycle of fear, tension and pain began, and I was to experience an intense and painful labour.Finally, after much pushing during a second stage that seemed like very hard work, Lola was born, followed by the most devastating part of all – my baby was not delivered into my arms as I’d requested, nor was the placenta left attached until the cord stopped pulsating as I’d written in my plan – instead the cord was clamped and cut immediately, and Lola was taken off to be rubbed down, and wrapped in a blanket. Despite there being no medical reason to take Lola off for checking, the midwives seemed to revert to the ‘traditional’ model and presented a neatly wrapped and cleaned-up baby into my arms. Those minutes without my baby were agony, as I was on all fours in the position I’d given birth, almost paralysed and unable to speak. I could feel the distress rising up; my entire being was saying “where is my baby?”, but my brain wouldn’t respond with the power of speech (as I was still in the birthing phase, governed by my primitive brain, not by my neo-cortex which can reason and rationalise). I cannot think of that time now without filling up with tears. To an outside observer, it would have looked liked a normal, natural birth; to me, there were things that upset me each time I relived the birth, which I did for many months afterwards, and increasingly as I neared the time to give birth again. The Second time Around – HypnoBirthing Classes So, my husband and I resolved we would achieve our birth plan the second time around. We took the Hypnobirthing course. As well as teaching us the HypnoBirthing method and immersing us in positive natural birthing imagery, the course also allowed time for a fear release session and some one-on-one time with Mia to help me to deal with how I was feeling and to recognise that none of it was my fault. We also decided we needed more support at the birth, and so we asked Mia to be our birth doula and attend the birth with us. The Birthing Day I
laboured calmly and quietly all morning, sitting on my birthing ball,
listening to my Hypnobirthing CDs and using the Hypnobirthing breathing
to deal with the surges. I think I found the birthing affirmations the
most powerful part of the whole program, and listening to them one last
time before getting down to serious labour set me up in the right frame
of mind for a confident and positive birth. We decided to head to
hospital, calling Mia to meet us there. I really hesitated before going
to hospital as I was coping so well with the labour I felt I must have
hours to go. In the end, we got to hospital only an hour and a half
before Mia was born, so it’s a good thing I didn’t leave it any later! This
time, fate dealt us a beautiful hand and we were allocated a fantastic
midwife, Kerry, who was aware of Hypnobirthing, took my birth plan
really seriously, and supported us all the way through. She was trained
in aromatherapy and quickly got some lavender diffusing in the room
which was lovely, and we had just talked about which essential oils we
should use in the pool when she said: “let’s examine you so we know
where you are and if its time to fill the pool”. I knew deep down that
I was nearing completion of the first stage as I had started to feel
the baby moving down, but I was not experiencing any pain or fear. She
examined me, looked puzzled, examined me again, then said
incredulously: “Louise, you are fully dilated, there is no cervix
around this baby, you are about to give birth!”. She called for the
second midwife, then a few more contractions, lots of primal birthing
sounds and an amazing experience of surging power and Mia was born
quickly and effortlessly. I gave birth to my beautiful 9 lb 2.5oz
daughter with no medical pain relief, intervention or assistance. We
did it all on our own, with everything Mia had taught us, with the
Hypnobirthing CDs playing in the background in the birthing room lit
only by the late afternoon light, with a calm and quiet midwife in
attendance and with gentle relaxation prompts and encouragement from
Mia and Chris. My Mia was delivered straight into my arms and I felt
her warm and wet body, something I had never experienced with Lola, and
it was wonderful, a feeling that will stay with me forever. After the Birth Afterwards Kerry told me she had been completely ‘thrown’ when she found me fully dilated as I had given her none of the usual signs – no cries of pain and fear, no asking for pain relief, no vomiting. She told me she checked me twice and thought she had missed something and almost got a second opinion! She also told me she’d never seen a baby with such good colour – thanks to the gentle birth and the cord being left attached to supply her with extra blood and oxygen in the 20 minutes or so after birth, Mia was a wonderful deep pink colour and so healthy and robust. I
was absolutely high from the birth, and experienced the wonderful glow
of love from the birthing hormones for hours afterwards as I bonded
with my baby. With this Hypnobirth I was healed. I have fulfilled my
birthing potential and will be forever grateful to all of my teachers
and supporters, not least Mia Scotland – thank you Mia from the bottom
of my heart".
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