Birst Stories
April’s Birth Story
Despite having a good understanding of the physiology of pregnancy and birth, and having attended Parentcraft classes, I was not well prepared for the arrival of my son in 2007, born slightly pre-term. My labour was very quick, I was pretty tense and decisions were made that I looked back on and remonstrated with myself about. In preparing for my daughter’s arrival, Madina’s hypnobirthing course gave me the tools to have the birth I really wanted – a peaceful, natural water birth, at home.
Through hypnobirthing practice, I released past negative thoughts and experience, set my worries aside, and felt confident and positive about the way I wanted things to go. Deep relaxation and visualisation grew my connection with my baby and made for a birth that I could only have wished for with my son. Aruna was born on Christmas Day, 6 days early, after a wonderful, calm labour. Although the labour was again short (3.5 hours), it proceeded in a more gentle way and I felt much more in tune with what my body and baby were doing.
There was no forced pushing or undesired intervention. My experience of pain was not accompanied by the negative emotions that pain normally elicits and was only during the last few minutes as she was born where the intensity and power of her birth took over. This, for me, was such an overwhelmingly positive experience. Aruna was calm, breastfed well straight away and I feel the deep bond that we now share rests well upon the foundations laid down during the pregnancy and birthing experience that hypnobirthing gave us.
Madina was warm, patient and professional during our meetings, so I was put at ease and really enjoyed them. This will be such a joyous facet of the memories of my pregancy journey. I feel very strongly about women being fully informed of all the birthing options available to them, and also saddened that so much intervention occurs in what is probably the most singularly profound experience a woman can undergo. For any mother wishing to prepare for an experience of birth in its purest form, I cannot recommend this course highly enough.