Millie
Thank you to MoorMum Penny from Menston for sharing her story.
I was lucky enough to have a very easy pregnancy, with no sickness, sleep problems, or back pain. I was determined to keep as active as I could & being a keen walker, managed to continue walking – all be it at a much slower pace & avoiding any hills! However, I had always been terrified of the thought of giving birth, to the point where I would have described it as being something of a phobia. A good friend had used hypnobirthing, so I decided it was worth giving it a try. Although it took a bit of persuading to get my husband to agree, when it came to labour and giving birth, we were both really pleased that we’d done the course.
On the evening of my due date, I felt the first contraction at 11pm, but as it just felt like a mild period cramping, I managed to go back to sleep. I woke again around 3am, with similar discomfort, but managed to focus on my breathing & dozed off for another couple of hours. Around 6am I needed to get up, so ran myself a bath & had a good long soak. Although I tried to eat breakfast, I could only manage a few bites of toast & my orange juice tasted way too orangey (don’t ask!), so I stuck to sips of water.
Over the course of the day, I phoned the hospital three times & spoke to the midwife for advice. Each time they were really helpful, encouraging & supportive; asking a series of questions & suggesting I stay at home for as long as I felt comfortable.
My husband helped me to put on the TENS machine & sorted out my hypnobirthing CD to listen to & I went through it several times, alternating this with getting up and walking around the house. I did find myself having to hold onto something (the banister, sink or husband!) whenever I had a strong contraction, some of which stopped my in my tracks. Some were definitely more powerful than others, but I felt able to cope with them at home for most of the day.
As the afternoon wore on, the contractions gradually grew more powerful & started to become more regular, happening every few minutes. Around 3pm, I decided that I would slowly get myself ready to go to the hospital. By this time, I felt as though I was doing everything in slow motion! I had remained in my pyjamas all day, but now I had to put ‘proper’ clothes on which felt like a huge effort. With my husband’s help (I couldn’t manage to reach my socks or shoes!) I got dressed and ready to go to the hospital.
I don’t think my husband had ever driven so carefully before & it wasn’t the most comfortable journey, especially waiting at the lights as we drove through Ilkley. However, we made it to Airedale General Hospital & I was determined to be able to walk from the car onto the ward.
We were greeted by the midwife who I’d spoken to on the phone, but as the contractions were every couple of minutes by this time, my husband took control and gave the midwife my notes & birth preferences. When they took my through to the delivery suite, the midwife examined me & said that I was 8cm dilated. I was really relieved about this as I had wondered if they would send me home if things hadn’t progressed enough! I was offered gas and air which was great & just took the edge off things.
Besides the qualified midwife, we were asked if we would mind having a student midwife in attendance. Both were absolutely excellent; supporting our wishes, making suggestions, but not pushing anything on us that we didn’t want. They checked out if there was anything else they could do to support us in our wish to use hypnobirthing & we both felt very at ease with them. I really liked having the student there as it meant we were never left alone during labour when the other midwife had to pop out of the room a couple of times.
During the second stage of labour, the midwife suggested not using gas and air & she was helpful in getting me into more comfortable positions to try. This stage was quite long for me; two hours and 20 minutes! My husband laid out some photographs that I had printed to focus on during the birth as inspiration. He kept passing me water to drink and a cold flannel for my face & encouraging me that I was nearly there. Our baby seemed slightly reticent about whether or not to leave the comfort of the womb & kept peering out, but disappearing again! I was offered a mirror, but being squeamish I immediately declined this!
When our baby finally decided she was ready to arrive, she really made her mind up & came out in one go, shocking my husband who had to be prompted by me to tell me whether we had a boy or a girl! The midwife immediately put her on my tummy & my husband cut the cord; exactly as we’d hoped for in our birth preferences. I was also able to breastfeed her in the delivery suite, which was really good and a really nice way to bond straight away.
I think we were both a bit shocked by this point. I had predicted feeling quite emotional, but if I’m honest, I was just so exhausted that I didn’t feel anything very much! After we’d been left alone for a while, another midwife came in to do the stitches. This wasn’t a very pleasant part of the experience, but the lovely midwife did everything she could to make it as comfortable as possible & I continued to use the gas and air which made me feel as if I was floating.
After this, we had the best tea, toast and strawberry jam I have ever tasted. I was ravenous by this point! I then had a shower, before being wheeled up onto the ward with Millie, my brand new baby girl & proud husband in tow. The ward staff were lovely; it must have been around 1am by this point, but everyone congratulated us as we went past and they didn’t rush my husband off the ward, even though it was well past visiting time! I didn’t rush to go home either, having decided to stay in hospital for a couple of days to make sure that I’d got feeding sorted. Although it was really exciting to come home with the gorgeous Millie, I was really grateful for all the help I got from the hospital staff whilst I was in as I think it helped me to feel more confident when I did come home.
Top tips
- Obviously, everyone’s different, but I’m sure that remaining as active as possible during pregnancy was helpful for labour
- If you’re on ML and get bored with the housework, get your photo albums sorted!
- Find some time to discuss your birth plans with your partner so they know what you’re hoping for and can speak up for you
- Don’t take too much notice of other people’s birth horror stories – everyone’s experience is unique
- I got really hot during labour, so found using a cold wet flannel helpful
- Be prepared to ask for help with breastfeeding. I don’t know anyone who has taken to it immediately without some help & support. And don’t worry about asking for help several times over – if you do decide to breastfeed, it’s a lot easier if you ask for help early on, but be prepared to ask for lots more when you get home.
If you would like to know more about hypnobirths, visit the hypnobirth website. If you would like to contact Penny to discuss her story or ask any questions, please contact us.
