Hi Steph,
I’m just getting round to letting you know we had a baby girl on 27th March 2020, one week into full lockdown.
I had been getting lots of practice contractions and thought labour was starting at 37 weeks but it never came to anything more than Braxton hicks…
I had been looking after my toddler single handedly all week, my husband Matt was at work, nursery was closed, friends and family weren’t allowed to visit…
But the weather was really warm and sunny, so I’d been sitting in my garden the whole time supervising my toddler who was super happy playing outdoors.
7pm in March, I went for a brisk ‘fast’ walk alone around the park to see if I could kick start my labour, I could feel the head low down in my pelvis pressing down.
Third trimester, I hadn’t been sleeping well and I was uncomfortable so decided to sleep in the spare bed, I wanted the soft old mattress to comfort my aching hips.
3am I started to feel the usual ‘practice contractions’ but thought nothing of it…they hadn’t come to anything before…but this time they didn’t go away…
I didn’t wake up my husband because I didn’t know if this was really labour and if was, how long was there to go?
6.30am My sister was our planned babysitter so I told her to be on standby…
7am I told my husband I was in labour. I wanted a shower and Matt phoned my sister, asking her to come over.
Then I texted my friend (who’s now signed up to your group hypnobirthing classes!) and told her I was in labour.
She asked a few questions:
- had I called the midwives yet?
- why not?
- but I sounded quite far along
I felt fine, but this was the prompt I needed!
Matt helped me put on a TENs machine and as soon as my sister arrived we left for the Spires Maternity Unit.
Covid restrictions in place:
- Matt wasn’t allowed in the hospital until I had been assessed
- Measured at 4cm dilated
- Contractions were fast and intense
- So we could stay!
9am I opted to walk up to the Spires and we would collect Matt on the way.
Labour really progressed…
And I didn’t make it into the birth pool because there wasn’t time to fill it up!
9.50am my baby was born with gas and air.
The last part of labour was very fast and intense and baby arrived quickly and safely.
I think I even shocked the midwives!
One midwife said that when I arrived on the unit she was about to send me off for a walk to get my labour going a bit more… It turns out the baby had other ideas!
Looking back (to covid), going into the Maternity Unit on my own was hard, but I think my mentality was ‘head down and get on’.
There was nothing else we could do about the situation and there was no wiggle room because we were in absolute lockdown.
And I’ve been thinking a lot about the being on my own part. It was really hard. I didn’t have a midwife or support worker with me in the assessment room either. On reflection, it shows how important a birth partner is.
Your birth partner can help, be an advocate, and you need it, you can’t think straight when your in labour!
For example, they asked me for a wee sample and left me to sort it out myself, which entailed going across the hallway to find the toilet etc, all while having strong contractions.
With hindsight and a clear head, I should have asked for help!
Why did I decide to do a full Hypnobirthing course again in my second pregnancy?
Hypnobirthing helps me to keep the nerves and anxiety at bay. And there’s a phrase that always sticks with me, I can’t remember if you you said it….
You wouldn’t go into any other important part of your life unprepared….exams, driving test, job interviews etc, so why would you go into childbirth unprepared?! To me, it just seems logical.
Also, I don’t think you or your partner can truly get into the hypnosis zone without the focus of a course to do together. So that’s another reason I chose to do Hypnobirthing again for baby n
Hypnobirthing helped me keep the nerves and anxiety at bay
And there’s a phrase that always sticks with me, I can’t remember if you you said it….
You wouldn’t go into any other important part of your life unprepared….exams, driving test, job interviews etc, so why would you go into childbirth unprepared?!
To me, it just seems logical.
Also, I don’t think you or your partner can truly get into that hypno zone without the focus of a course to do together. So that’s another reason I did it again for baby no 2.
I don’t think I would have given it enough dedicated time otherwise.
Thanks for all your help.
It was the time, labouring longer at home, in my relaxed and calm state that really was the key.
Alice xx
Conclusion
Alice joined one of my Hypnobirthing courses a few months before covid…and understandably, none of us saw it coming.
She had done Mindful Mama Hypnobirthing with baby no 1 and she had a gorgeous birth. But as busy parents she knew they’d struggle to find time to do it all themselves and joining my Hypno-birthing classes felt like the logical step.
If you are also a repeat Hypnobirther, your other options are:
- Hypnobirthing refresher classes which is a private class, just for you inwhich we cover the things you need to focus on most
- KG Online Hypnobirthing Course which is a learn your yourself and at your own pace digitial thing. This link is an affiliate link, meaning that if you buy the KG online hypnobirthing via my link, you pay the normal price (including any special offers they may have at the time) but rather wonderfully, KG will send me a small affiliate payment to say thank you for telling you about them. Their gift to me will not affect what you pay and because KG is in my professional lineage, I’m always here to help too!
Happy birthing,
Stephanie McGee x
