"Birth was simply transformational and your course allowed me to relax and trust my body"

The birth of our Son was everything we visualised for 9 months.

Shari, Mark and I can’t thank you enough! Birth was simply transformational and your Hypnobirthing course allowed me to relax and trust my body and baby.

Our Son, Henry James Haylock Born by natural water birth, labour lasted only 5 & 1/2 hours and he weighed over 9 pounds with no tearing!

It’s 3am, Thursday 9th June 2022. I’m woken up by contractions that are 3 minutes apart. By 4am I wake Mark up and we know today is the day. I shower and we go about the morning knowing first time labour can take some time to get going.

The time between contractions is getting less and less, Mark suggests timing them. By 5am they are 1-2 minutes apart. During each contraction, I sway my hips and visualise our baby moving down.

By 6am we call our Midwife to let her know we’re definitely in established labour and that we’ll call her when we’re going to head to the Birth Centre.

The next hour is where things ramped up. I ate some toast only for it to come straight back up. Mark packed the car whilst I sat on the toilet not wanting to get up. Mark remembered that this is a sign of 2nd stage being near. He’s now encouraging me to get in the car but I was in denial and questioning whether I should put a load of washing on before we go. My next contraction I felt an immense pressure and decided it was time.

The car trip was going where I had my most intense contractions, I was in the back seat on my elbows and knees. Mark reminded me that conscious breathing is my anchor. The contractions came and went like waves.

We arrived at the Birth Centre at 7.30am, I waddled in and before I could greet the staff at the entrance I vomited again. Upon reflection I was transitioning at this point. As soon as we entered our suite, I went and sat on the toilet again. My waters broke with a big gush! Mark filled up the pool, strung fairy lights and put my favourite meditation tracks on.

Our Midwife arrived and I was straight in the pool. Between contractions I could completely relax and found myself almost asleep. Then she checked how I was going with a mirror and could see our baby’s head! I spent the next 23 minutes breathing our baby down and instinctively changing positions in the pool. With a strong exhalation, our baby’s head was born. 2 minutes later, Mark caught his body and directed our Son up into my arms. We did it. In that moment I felt one with creation.

Over the next few hours, we shared skin to skin and baby led breastfeeding. My placenta arrived 49 minutes after birth. Mark cut his umbilical cord once it was drained white.

That evening we were discharged from the hospital and arrived home, now a family of 3.

Thank you again Shari

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