Friday the midwives and doctors weren’t happy with me being an out patient anymore for the induction just because of the baby turning, so we became inpatient. Went on lots of calm walks (18000 steps!) around the hospital. Throughout the day I felt small tightenings every 2-4 minutes, but nothing I couldn’t breathe through.

Saturday they did the next form of induction. Whilst being monitored I felt more pressure, but I was able to breathe through it. Once I was done being monitored the midwife said I could go for a walk, but I was quite content to stay focused in bed, standing over the birthing ball on the bed, and was focusing on my hypnobirthing tracks. My husband was also there for support and to keep me focused.

I ended up asking for some pain relief about an hour after the monitors came off, the midwife said she likes to start at the bottom and offered me some tablets and a warm bath. Was on my way to the bath and made it as far as the toilet before I felt I needed to push. Midwives came running in, put me on a bed and took me to the delivery suite. 20 minutes later and our baby girl was born at 13:07! I had to really focus on the hypnobirthing breathing techniques between the pushing to help, as there was no time for pain relief. My husband was helping me focus on my breathing, he was also blocking the light from the ceiling which was nice.

This wasn’t the birth that I planned, but I was able to do it with no pain relief, with help from the hypnobirthing, my husband and the midwives coaching me through the pushing.

Thank you very much for your help Colleen! Not sure I would have been able to do it with without the course!

Jon’s birth story

Not sure what I can add, that my wife hasn’t already. I suppose with a calmer head and not having to give birth gives a certain clarity that a woman in labour may not have. Colleen told us that hypnobirthing helps makes the process of giving birth better and possibly easier. I was sceptical until the first script read through, which I very nearly nodded off in.

Ok, so this does kind of work, and I can see how this would help. I was sold, and then quickly built a picture in my head that the birth would be perfect and easy for my wife. Despite being warned by Colleen that the videos she showed us were examples of how good it could be, and it was highly unlikely that our birth would be like this. Turns out she was right, the birth was not all we planned. Sarah wanted a water birth, in the birthing centre, in a darkened room with no coaching. I spoke to the midwifes during the inpatient induction about how we would prefer it to be handled, they were all very supportive and honoured as much as they medically could. We had intermittant monitoring, and we were very much allowed to do our own thing, except leave the hospital. We also had to be back for regular check ups.

As the labour moved forward, Sarah felt more and more discomfort with each round of pressure. It got the point where it was painful for her, so we summoned the midwife and asked about our pain relief options. Our midwife was reluctant to push heavy pain relief as she liked to “start at the bottom”. We were happy with this, as it went along with our plans for as little intervention as possible. Paracetemol were taken at midday.

All I was focussed on was making sure that Sarah continued to breathe as she had practiced. It all happened very fast from that point though. Once we were rushed into the delivery room, there was no time to rest, breathe and plan our next step. We had to go with the flow, baby was coming whether we were ready or not. At this point my focus was on Sarah. To make sure that she was breathing between her contractions, doing my best to calm her, re-focus her. Practicing the hypnobirthing scripts with her helped me be useful.

Was it what we planned? Absolutely not. But while we hoped for the ‘perfect’ birth, the hypnobirthing techniques taught to us by Colleen aided us to keep calm. We were able deal with all the bumps in the road, like having a breech baby and an induced labour, on the way to delivering our little angel.

How can hypnobirthing help with a breech baby and induced labour?

I love this positive birth story. It really highlights that being prepared and informed for childbirth can have a huge impact. Jon and Sarah did not plan for a breech baby, or to be induced. However, by working as a team and knowing their options, they had the right birth for them.

As they had already informed me that they might have a breech baby, I was able to provide some information about what their options would be. One of the best resources for turning a breech baby is the spinning babies website. Throughout my course with Jon and Sarah I also covered how to have a positive and gentle c-section. This was to ensure they knew this could also be an option for them. Hypnobirthing techniques can be used for all birth types.