A birth story from one of my clients:
‘I had been listening to music, and bouncing on the birth ball, very relaxed. My first contraction started the minute my husband arrived home from work, at about 6:30pm. We had dinner together, watched a bit of telly, and I even read my daughter a story and put her to bed through the first few contractions.
After she went to sleep, my husband set the scene in the living room, with candles and music, and he rearranged the furniture so I could move around more freely. Because he and I had gone through this with you, we were in tune, and did not have to discuss the next steps. We both knew what to do. He helped me through each contraction, calmly and gently. He knew the right time to call his mum to ask her to come to look after our daughter.
After a few hours, I felt like I was ready to go to the hospital. Thinking in retrospect, at that moment I had reached transition stage. Going down the lift from our flat and walking to the cab was hard. By then the contractions were coming fast and strong. But I was still calm, and breathing, and talking to my husband, still aware of my surroundings, and of the cab driver being much more nervous than my husband and I.
When we got to the hospital, I felt like the maternity ward was miles away from the main entrance. I had to stop with a contraction every few steps, and by the time we got to the ward reception, I saw a wheelchair, sat there and had my first ‘pushing contraction’. I was not trying to push, but my body was doing it regardless.
Once again, my husband was great, very assertive with the midwives, telling them we wanted to go to the birthing unit, and that we wanted a pool. I told them: “I am feeling the urge to push” and I must have been convincing, because they took me straight into the birthing unit. By then I was just getting one ‘pushing contraction’ after the other, and sure enough, my son was born within 10 minutes, I am told. No time for the pool.
My husband and I felt that hypnotherapy, and you, were a huge help with achieving what we did. In the middle of all the emotions surrounding my son’s birth, a particularly strong one was the amazement of having gone through such a primeval experience. It made me feel a deep connection with all my female ancestors, and a sense of legacy.
It was a privilege to have been able to have a natural birth, and you were a big part of it. Thank you.’
Isabel de Meiroz Dias – had an 8-hour labour from first contraction to delivery
Thank you to Isabel for allowing me to share her story.
