Jen & Marc were motivated from the moment we met for their hypnobirthing classes. Having experienced an induction with an epidural for her first birth, along with a severe postpartum haemorrhage, Jen was really hoping to achieve a spontaneous birth without using an epidural for the arrival of her baby boy.
Using hypnobirthing tools and really empowering themselves with knowledge and understanding their options, both Jen and Marc went on to experience a truly beautiful birth that is inspiring.
Written by Jen herself this story features - spontaneous labour, active birth tools, tens machine, affirmations, physiological third stage, the golden hour with the breast crawl.
Sunday, 19/3/2023, I woke up very early on this day at around 2:30 AM which at that stage of my pregnancy was pretty common for me. I had a quick breakfast and went back to bed. I felt more tired than usual and decided to listen to my body and have a sleep in. I woke up again at around 9:30 AM and got all ready to go to Costco. I went to the toilet at around 10:20 AM prior to leaving and noticed that my mucus plug was released. I called the hospital to notify them, and the midwife provided some advice that labour would start in the next few days. I decided to just rest and stayed at home. I had another bloody show at 4:13 PM and then another one at 5:50 PM. On both occasions the hospital was contacted to keep in touch. I started having surges from 6 PM that evening. The surges presented as dull, intermittent, low back ache. I stayed on my birth ball during the surges, rocking, swaying, and on all fours whilst playing the affirmation track and doing surge breaths. From this time, we (predominantly Marc) started to time the surges using the Full-Term app. At around 8:30 PM the surges started to become more intense, we asked one of our friends to pick our 4-year-old daughter Elle up as I had a feeling, we would have to go into the hospital overnight. We also continued to stay in touch with the hospital to report how my labour was progressing. Marc started packing the last-minute items on our list to bring to the hospital whilst I continued to manage the surges using the birth ball, surge breathing, and affirmations and I asked Marc to put the TENS machine on me. I was not sure what time we left the house as I was already in the zone during this time. I placed my eye mask on as soon as I got in the car and continued to play the affirmation track with my earphones in. Marc called the hospital to say we’re on our way. (We live about 40 minutes away from the hospital).
On the way to the hospital the surges became closer together in frequency, roughly around 2-3 minutes apart. I cranked my TENS up with each surge and remained calm.
We arrived at the hospital at 10:35 PM, I was able to walk with assistance but as soon as we reached the admissions, I felt the need to kneel down. I kept the affirmations playing and my eye mask on. The midwife escorted us to the birthing suite. The lights in the suite were dim and the midwives were talking in hushed voices, and I remember telling myself, “This environment is perfect, I feel safe.” At 10:40 PM, my hind waters started leaking and I had a large amount of bloody show on my pad. I asked Marc to play the affirmation track over on the speaker phone as I assumed an all-fours position on the mat on the floor with the peanut ball. As soon as the midwives had heard the affirmations playing, they recognised that we were doing hypnobirthing. My midwife gently inserted a cannula on my left hand for access as I had a large postpartum haemorrhage with Elle last time. She also did intermittent foetal heart rate monitoring via the handheld doppler so as not to interrupt my progress. Chase’s heart rate remained calm the whole time. As the surges got more intense, I moved into using the birth ball and I cranked the TENS up. I remained relaxed and calm in between surges. At some point I felt an intense pressure on my pelvis, and I felt the need to go to the toilet. I was very aware that I started vocalising during the surges. I had a sudden crash in confidence and asked Marc to get me some pain relief. I remembered saying a couple of times “I can’t do it...” My midwife Laura knelt down beside me and said to me, “You’re doing amazing, just keep breathing through the surges. This means you will see your baby very soon.” This somehow brought my confidence back up and I kept going.
I then felt a sudden, immense pressure on my pelvis, then my fore-waters subsequently broke. Being on all fours did not feel comfortable anymore and my body instinctively led me to kneel down and hold onto Marc. I remembered saying, “He’s gonna come out. Please put some pressure on my perineum” which my midwife did, and I felt instant relief. I felt a stinging sensation on my perineum with each surge and my midwife continued to apply warm pressure against it. My midwife then asked me to touch my baby’s head as he was crowning. After breathing through and letting out guttural roars for about 4-5 surges, I knew that Chase was fully birthed at 1:17 AM and I felt an instant relief. Chase let out a soft cry. I picked him up from the mat and placed him on my chest and the midwives covered both of us with a warm blanket. He instantly became so calm. I was assisted to sit down on the mat with Marc supporting from behind me. I was asked if I wanted an injection to help birth the placenta and I said I wanted to birth the placenta myself. After about 5-10 minutes, I felt another surge coming and I was assisted to stand up whilst still holding Chase against my chest. After about 2-3 surges I birthed my placenta. I was assisted back to bed with Chase remaining on my chest for continued skin to skin and my placenta was placed beside me in a pan. Chase successfully crawled on the breast and was leisurely breastfeeding on and off for the first 3 hours after birth. We remained uninterrupted (including the cord clamping) during these beautiful 3 hours. I was supported by my midwife in getting an early discharge at 5 PM the same day as I felt I can recover better at home. Marc and I had the most positive birth experience with Chase!
My name is Vanessa Barnard, I am the founder of Illoura Birth. I am a Childbirth and Newborn Educator, Doula and Paediatric Nurse. My mission is to support families on the journey to meeting their baby with holistic and evidence-based information. My focus is to empower, and boost confidence within you to make an informed decision.
I can be contacted by email at illourabirth@gmail.com or visit my website and learn more about my educational services, postpartum support packages and more blog articles.