Client Birth Stories

 I found out at 4 and half weeks that I was having my first baby, pregnancy was fine apart from usual sickness until 13 weeks and pelvic girdle pain at the end, we felt very lucky to have a low risk pregnancy. Don’t get me wrong pregnancy was hard at times, work was very stressful and naturally pregnancy bought up a lot for my partner and I about how to navigate this change in our lives. 

I met Lucy for the first time on a free zoom taster session, she was friendly and informative and my partner really enjoyed her honest and frank ways to all things birth. I then went to a coffee morning she held, which I can say is an absolute steal and an amazing introduction to Hypnobirthing full of fantastic information. I went home excitedly and convinced my partner to book a couple of private sessions with Lucy as money was tight and we were too late to join the group session. I’d highly recommend her group sessions over NCT! We both look upon those evening sessions so fondly. Lucy was there to answer any questions we had and she helped keep us informed and aided me in completing my birth preferences. She gave us so much of her time and always made us feel comfortable and Lucy is a huge part of why we felt our birth went well and we feel very lucky to have met her. 

Around the same time I started to look into Hypnobirthing, reading the Positive Birthing Company book, which I couldn’t recommend enough. It blew my mind when I read women were choosing home births for their first babies and that they could take control of their birth preferences and even where/how they had their babies. 

It lit a spark in my mind that perhaps I’d want to birth at home, but I was quickly switched off this idea by families worries that ‘it was my first’ and hospital was ‘safer’. So, I started to explore water birth and water as a form of pain relief. I came across a lot of information about high BMI in regard to not having your birth preferences honored in a hospital setting. Especially when it came down to having a water birth. My BMI is regarded as ‘high risk’, despite having no concerns throughout my entire pregnancy and delivering a very ‘average’ sized baby. I was reading that I would have to strongly advocate for myself (basically convince health professionals that it would be my risk to take on), that I wanted to use a  pool and go to the birth centre. It made me feel uncomfortable, that perhaps my weight would control the birth of my baby if I were to have her in hospital. This bought me back to researching data around home births and asking questions about what it would be like to birth my baby at home. Lucy supported me throughout this and offered knowledgeable advice. 

I learnt about potentially having more time with the midwife than in hospital, having more of a chance of producing endorphins and oxytocin and having access to home comforts which would potentially encourage things along. I decided that for me, home birth would be the best option to feel in control, empowered and at ease. When writing this, I know at home is not for everyone - I would just encourage you to strongly explore where you’d feel most at ease because that oxytocin is so important! 

I felt confident by 28 weeks ish that we had done the research to support our home birth decision. Our midwife was supportive but always informed us of the risks, which we knew of but don’t be afraid to question them as they should be working with the NIICE guidelines but bias naturally creeps in at times too. We are lucky locally as St Richards has a fantastically holistic home birthing team, so we didn’t need to worry about not having availability/support etc.  Also I had access to weekly yoga classes and a mini hypnobirthing day as well as Lucy’s wisdom. For me, I found this amount of learning reassuring as I had a support network who were qualified in knowing the benefits and risks who I could rely upon and understand my body/decisions and future birth throughly. 

I expected a ‘fight’ with health professionals, to convince them that my high BMI wouldn’t affect us. As I chose home birth I ended up not having to advocate for myself as much as I had thought, but I still was exposed to weight bias. I was offered a diet plan/health advice which I refused. I refused to be weighed after initial consultation. I went for extra scans - my partner and I agreed we’d like to see baby more but quickly realised they were measuring baby (another load of bollocks..) I had the first glucose test and quickly realised my body would tell me if I had diabetes, so refused the other two they offered to me. I was asked by a midwife to make sure I could get in and out of the pool and to practice this - tricky for any heavily pregnant woman even with a low bmi! I was referred to an anaesthetist by a doctor to ‘plan’ for a spinal block incase I had too much fat on my back to locate the right area - confirmed at the time that they would do this again in labour anyway. I asked to never see my BMI/weight as a number - something that was forgotten about and was written on many letters. Now I’m writing these examples just to show you that you can say no, you can say maybe or yes. The point is it’s your decision, you know your body and self and if you need extra information you can ask/seek this to help you feel more informed to make decisions that feel good for you. 

So it comes to the labour.. I was around 36 weeks when my mucus plug went and had just come on maternity leave (thank goodness!) I carried on like normal but was secretly hopeful and excited to meet my baby soon. The following week I had mild period pains, checked out by MAU and confirmed I had ‘tightenings’ but it still could mean weeks or days. 

The day before I started labour, I met my friends baby, watched nostalgic movies from childhood, ate a delicious curry I still dream about, dates, pineapple and even raspberry leaf tea! Sex was off the cards.. just how at 38 weeks pregnant, how! I had been listening to Lucy’s affirmation and guided relaxations regularly for a number of weeks now that my brain remembered to remind me of her calming, positive words. At 5am the next day I awoke to stronger period pains but I carried on like normal. I let my partner rest whilst I made myself some tea, in this time I felt a trickle and saw some more mucus and a little tiny bit of blood. The show! How exciting - it was starting! 

I tried having a bath to ease the pain but oddly I didn’t enjoy the heat, I was then sick - I knew this was another sign so we called triage to warn the midwives of our home birth beginning. I can’t recall this phone call much but my partner suggested we had to convince the lady on the phone that we were in labour.. so just be prepared to be ‘turned away’. However, I was supposed to be meeting my midwife that day for a tour of the labour ward (just incase!) so after getting hold of her, she said she’d pop by then (12pm) instead. 

From around 8am-12pm my partner and I began setting up the room and pool. I even ate some strawberries and a croissant! It was a beautiful day so I did some walking in the garden and listened to my favourite chilled music. The midwife came and had to stay, I accepted an examination and I was 6cm! I was so proud of my body and thought I could do this! I had Lucy’s voice in my head to remember the importance of breathing, this got me through the majority of my contractions - up breathing was so important! The midwife also helped me use a tens machine and checked on baby every 15 minutes. Another midwife came too and they set up in the kitchen, I could hear them chatting away. I got in the pool and found the water a dream. There’s a great photo of me eating a solero in the pool whilst my cat watched from her cat tree. The time went so quickly and before I  knew it my midwife was telling me that she had to swap shifts with another two midwives. I found the contractions manageable and listened to a calm playlist on repeat, and Lucy’s positive birth affirmations, it reminded my body of calmness and gave me goosebumps that ‘it was all happening’. My partner read the positive affirmation cards that we had stuck on the wall that Lucy had provided us with too. Throughout the day I refused more examinations but I wanted to check how many centimeters I was dilated before my midwife left as we trusted her judgement. I was 9cm at 5pm! I was thrilled. She wished us well whilst the other midwives came in. 

The one odd thing about a home birth is, the way my lounge was set up, at time I felt like I was a fish in a fish bowl being observed. However, you soon don’t worry about this as things ramp up! Contractions were very close together and lasting a while so I knew my body was doing its job but wondered why my body hadn’t felt the urge to push. The midwife suggested it may have been because my waters hadn’t broken. She suggested she could break them, as I was going for low intervention I was reluctant to say yes but in fact if I had accepted sooner I probably would’ve had a much shorter labour. We used our B.R.A.I.N learnt from Hypnobirthing and she broke my waters at 9pm which felt like a huge relief! 

I jumped back in the pool and hoped for the best. I felt my sacrum move to allow her head to come down - an amazing but uncomfortable feeling! I felt the majority of contractions in my lower back but was lucky to gain relief from the rest in between them. I accepted gas and air occasionally but found it disorientating at times. Around 10pm I was reminded that if I could push, to try. I think we all wondered why baby wasn’t quite here yet. This is when my doubt came in, I was convinced I’d have to be transferred into hospital even though I could feel how low and ready she was. I quickly reminded myself this was my transition stage and that I was closer to meeting my baby. Quickly after this I asked the midwife to pull her out! If only! I found the pushing the ‘hardest part’ and even though I had written in my birth preferences to not coach me to push - I welcomed being told exactly what to do. After a few in the pool with no success, my thighs began to cramp which distracted me from pushing. Frustrating for all of us! The midwife encouraged me to move and perhaps try out of the pool but it was hard to make decisions/movement especially how much I had relied on the water this far. At 11pm I managed to get out, kneel by the sofa and start pushing. My noise changed and I felt like I was connected to my inner cave woman. My partner and midwife talked me through it. 

An hour and five minutes later, our baby girl was born. Healthy, average sized and safe. The midwife supported my perineum so I had no tears. I can’t praise the midwife who delivered her more, she informed us when we needed to, she trusted my body and was just incredible. I accepted the injection to deliver my placenta as I was naturally tired, whilst delayed chord clamping and skin to skin were achieved. My partner had her on his chest whilst I was inspected for any tears which was a special bonding time for them both. She was here, I had done it.  

I write this 6 weeks post partum, I feel lucky that I had this experience but also wish that others can too. I feel in awe of my body and mind. I feel grateful for everyone that supported me. I feel emotional but positive. I hope my story shows you can have the birth you wish despite BMI and gives you hope. My mind did change at points but that’s okay, trust your intuition and everything will be okay! 

" At 3am, at 39+6 weeks, I woke up to a short but sudden gush of liquid, which felt completely different to peeing, so thought it may have partially been my waters breaking. I’d started losing my mucus plug the day before so I knew labour was imminent. 

Not long after contractions started, they felt like heavy period pains, very low down but would roll through my back. These were coming every 3 minutes or so, occasionally tailing off for a little longer but gaps were always shorter than 8 mins. I used hypnobirthing up breathing techniques and used the Freya App to time the contractions. 

Woke my husband James up around 4 as it definitely felt like this was labour starting. He said I needed to call triage, who suggested that we see how I go and call back at 8.30 and a midwife come out to check if it was my waters had broken. 

Well we didn’t make it that far, by the time 8am had rolled around the contractions had become so intense I was ‘mooing’ through them, I knew baby girl was coming soon. We called triage, said we were coming in to the hospital. 

We arrived at the hospital, after a pretty intense car ride; it was 8.30am at this point and we were stuck in rush hour traffic, but I continued to use my up breathing to do my best to remain calm through the contractions. When we got to the hospital, I had to stop periodically to hang off James to breathe through another contraction. Thankfully the midwife was ready for us at the birthing centre when we arrived. The contractions at this point felt like I wanted to push. I got examined and I was 7cms dilated! 

I laboured on all fours on the bed for a bit while they filled up the birthing pool, and then promptly got in as soon as it was ready. My midwife read my birth plan through badger notes and immediately dimmed the lights and kept the room very calm. I had James put on the playlist of music I’d put together ready for the birth. 

Not long after I got in the pool my waters popped; what I’d thought was waters at 3am was actually a different cervical fluid. The instant relief after my waters popped was amazing! Then came the time to push. Knowing that the surges would last a certain amount of time and that I was able to rest between them really helped; at no point did I feel like I needed any pain relief. Don’t get me wrong, it was painful but a different painful. Almost euphoric / orgasmic is the best way to describe it!  James helped me through every contraction, and during the breaks he would ensure I had something to drink and something to eat. After only 2 hours of pushing after that, my baby girl Freya was born at 1.12 in the afternoon. 

We stayed in the pool for delayed cord clamping and golden hour skin to skin; honestly the whole thing was magical. I did end up with a small 2nd degree tear; it was sore but not nearly as bad as instagram makes them out to be. It was my bodies way for my baby to come into this world. 

I truly believe that Lucy’s hypnobirthing course proved to be the most valuable birth prep I could’ve done, just being fully informed on my options and being able to remain calm is what allowed me to have such a smooth birth."

"I'm so grateful to be able to say that I had a truly positive birth. I know this was impacted by several things - reading up on the mechanics of birth, having a supportive birth partner, and both of us understanding and using hypnobirthing preparation and techniques. All of these things were hugely helped by the Mind Over Mama course.

I would recommend discussing with your birth partner what you will do if you go into labour at different times of day - I went into labour at around midnight and I had agreed if this happened and I could manage the early contractions (which were like period pains) then I wouldn't wake my partner so he could get rest. When the morning came and I was in early labour, we already knew from the course ways that we could promote relaxation and the right hormones to help labour progress. I had hoped for a home birth but due to concerns about baby's movement went into the the hospital - hypnobirthing helped keep me calm even in the car on the way and whilst being monitored.

Both at home, and in hospital, we used all the senses to move through labour - listening to affirmations and relaxation audios that I had listened to many times in my third trimester, using calming smelling oils, eating tasty snacks, watching favourite comedy, using massage.

I was also really glad I had practiced the breathing - even a little practice helps with this.

Hypnobirthing especially helped my partner know what to do when I reached active labour - we had an awesome birth playlist and he helped remind me how to breathe which meant I got the best out of the gas and air, too.

I used a birth pool but had to get out at push stage to use a catheter as my full bladder was blocking baby's route out and I hadn't been able to wee! I used my knowledge of active labour positions to keep baby moving down and I paced myself during the push stage so I could help baby come out as smoothly as possible.

My partner stayed calm throughout and used the tools and techniques advised to really help me. We can forever look back on our birth story and feel great and this is in no small part thanks to the M.O.M course - thank you."

 'Our birth story really couldn't be any more boring but for that I am so happy! I started feeling surges around 10 pm, 3 days after my due date, at first I wasn't sure if these were braxton hicks but soon after they started i really felt them in my back and could tell that they were just different. my husband ran me a bath and i got in, topping it up every so often, the water really helped me relax. the surges became intense pretty quickly but i practiced my 'up breathing' and visualizations each time, riding the wave! I actually smiled because i knew i was doing it, i was having my baby and i began actually welcoming each surge! i spent time in and out of the bath, moving around and listening to positive affirmations, my husband read these out to me too. at around 5 am i felt the urge to push kick in and my waters broke as i was stood in the bathroom. i had a moment of overwhelm but very quickly got my breathing back on track and i had a good idea that we needed to go to the birth centre which is where we had planned on birthing the baby. the journey was tough, it wasn't far but i had really enjoyed moving around at home so being sat in the car felt uncomfortable.   When we arrived I really really felt like pushing and was examined the minute we got through the door. I was 8 cm! In the next hour I was on all fours and with just a few gentle pushes and my down breathing our beautiful baby girl Olivia made her way into the world weighing 8lb 3oz! I couldn’t be more thankful for the online course that my partner and I did with lucy from mind over mama hypnobirthing. I had always been pretty scared of giving birth but I actually understood what was happening at each stage, what I did and didn't need to do. I felt so confident in my body and actually felt excited during labour which feels crazy to say! I'm so happy to have started this new chapter in our lives feeling good and most of all confident! thank you lucy!' ... Katie & Mike

 The birth of our beautiful daughter, was a lot different to what we had planned. But after our lessons from Lucy we felt informed and confident throughout the journey. We religiously practiced all of the tools and techniques,  and did our own research on the lead up to labour which made a huge difference. 

Our journey started on 31st, where my waters had broken but only a small amount ( I didn’t realise at the time that this is what it was!). The Labour ward weren’t concerned so we waited till midwife 3 days later & then the midwife confirmed it was actually my waters. We were told we had to go to labour ward because worries of infection. My midwife told me ‘I was going to have a baby today’ Toby and I were so excited.  I had planned on labouring at home for as long as possible before this but It felt right in the circumstances that we went to the hospital. 

When we arrived I was offered an induction and advised that I would need antibiotics, which was not on our plans but we were happy to do what was needed to bring our little person into the world safely. We felt in control and informed as Lucy had talked us through different ways of induction prior and I knew what to expect. 

I was soon put in a room where they put me on hormone drip and antibiotics. I was being monitored continuously,  and for some time laid on the bed, because babies heart rate was inconsistent, and midwives needed to monitor my contractions. 

I made the decision to stand for a while and even took the opportunity to play cards with Toby. This was my favourite part of labour! I felt so in control and happy to be contracting. The midwives even commented that I was ‘too calm’. 

But it was only because I was completely in my element, using my Hypnobirthing breathing and relaxation techniques;  and knew I’d been meeting my baby soon. 

My wishes were respected on the labour ward in regards to low lighting, using candles & music. This really helped the atmosphere in the room. These tips really helped me keep calm and relaxed in the environment and grounded me. 

My waters were broken for me, and the surges ramped up so much!! I proudly lasted 7 hours on gas and air. I truly believe the pain was manageable using the Hypnobirthing techniques that I learnt from Lucy and support I had from Toby. I couldn’t have managed this without the Hypnobirthing for sure! We used tools such as light touch massage, music and positive birth affirmations. 

Toby did an amazing job, he reminded me of small things we learnt throughout the course with Lucy, such as how to effectively use the gas and air.  

After 7 hours I felt really exhausted and upon discussing it with Toby I chose to have an epidural, not without giving it a good attempt without first! It was also on my own terms, so again I felt in control. 

It was then just waiting game, around 2am I was 2cm dilated, and at this point I was offered a c-section. Toby and I discussed how I felt and we made the decision to wait and see if things moved along themselves. I caried on labouring and became fully dilated. I was told that baby’s head was in awkward place and because I was on epidural I couldn’t move to help baby to move down. I agreed to forceps, and if that didn’t work, then we would have a c-section. Before we agreed to this we discussed the pros and cons with the doctor first, so we felt fully informed.  We had deviated further away from our original plan however nothing was a complete surprise to us, as we had learnt about and prepared for the alternatives. Because of this I still felt in control. 

I was taken to theatre and they tried to move baby via forceps, but she was feeling stubborn and didn’t want to come. So I agreed to have a c section! 

Earlier in my Pregnancy I was apprehensive about having a c section and there had been talk of a planned c section because for a little while I had a low lying placenta. However, after discussing this with Lucy, she taught us about caesareans, the different options and what I could/request to ensure I was still calm, relaxed and had a positive experience; if this is was how I was going to give birth.  This really put my mind at ease both during the course and when we found ourselves making the decision to have a caesarean on the day! So I felt prepared for this option. 

My wishes were respected for Toby to tell me the gender and to have immediate skin to skin when she was here. It was just incredible when she was born and Toby told me we had a baby Girl. Seeing her was just the most magical experience for both me and Toby, making the whole journey worth every second. Even though our birth journey turned out different to what we had planned, I still felt confident and in control throughout.  I honestly and completely believe it would have been very different for me and Toby if we hadn’t have done Lucy’s hypnobirthing course! So for that we are so grateful! Honestly from the bottom of my heart, thank you! I think without it, I could easily come away with birthing trauma. Instead we were informed, in control and felt so supported from each other and  supported by the knowledge we had learnt from the course. 

Thank you so much!