“My birthing experience was transformational, empowering and not once did I feel afraid or that my body wasn’t capable. I believe the hypnobirthing course and the way Simone educated us on the birthing process played a pivotal role in having a successful home birth without the need for an induction or pain relief. The meditations, breathing techniques and how the partner can support during labour we learnt from the course we found the most valuable. I believe that everyone going through a pregnancy journey should do this course and as a fertility naturopath, I will be recommending this to all of my clients. ”
Jade, Peaceful Birthing Mother
Saturday August 17th, I was 41weeks & 6 days. I woke up at 6am from my waters breaking and had surges starting pretty much immediately. I put on the TENS machine, got back into bed and tried to get some more sleep knowing it was probably going to be a long day & night.
“By 7am the surges were becoming really strong so I decided to get in the hot shower which took away some of the intensity. At this point I was having to really focus on my breath through each surge. After 90 minutes I asked Alex to call Melissa our private midwife and she arrived at 10am. She did an internal vaginal examination and said I was 8cm dilated and told Alex to fill the birthing pool immediately. “
At 11am, I got into the pool and the pain from the surges reduced dramatically. For the next 2.5 hours I continued to box breath my way through the surges. I would be floating on my back or forward leaning over the edge of the pool for each surge, and be holding onto Alex’s arms to anchor me. Once it came time to push, I started by floating on my back holding onto Alex’s arms and looking at Melissa who was guiding me.
“For a few contractions Melissa told me not to push but hold and to just breath to allow the head to stretch the perineum. The affirmation “my mind is calm, my body is relaxed” was on the wall really helped me during this phase. We did this for a few contractions. I was able to reach down and feel his head crowning. The feeling of him turning in the pelvis and the foetal ejection reflex was such a surreal feeling. ”
Once his head was out there was a few minutes where the rest of his body wouldn’t come, so Melissa suggested I stand up with one leg up on the edge of the pool. At this point his cord was wrapped around his neck and shoulder which was pinning his arm preventing him from coming out. Melissa and Alex unwrapped the cord around his neck freeing the arm, where he then slid out quite fast and both midwives plus Alex having to catch him. He was a big baby at 10.1 pounds (4.6kg) which surprised us all.
We decided to get out of the pool and onto the couch where things started to take a turn. Baby boy Enzo was placed on my chest, when we noticed I was losing quite a lot of blood. At the same time Melissa noticed that Enzo’s breathing was abnormal with rapid breathing so gave him some oxygen. My placenta had still not come after about an hour so I had the injection which did not end up making the placenta come. I was continuing to lose blood and Enzo still had to work hard to breath and Melissa made the decision to call the paramedics.
We ended up having 3 ambulances with 6 paramedics turn up where they assessed us, gave me more injections to get the placenta out and decided to transfer us to SCUH. Melissa and Enzo were taken in one ambulance and I went in another with Alex. In the ER I was given medication to stop the bleeding and they were concerned by how much I needed to stop it. There was also a section on the placenta they were concerned about so I needed emergency surgery to make sure there was no part of the placenta retained in the uterus. While in surgery they also stitched up a 3A tear which they think occured when Enzo slid out so quickly.
Meanwhile Enzo was taken to the NICU where he had fluid on his lungs and was diagnosed with Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension in Neonates (PPHN) that resulted in him being hooked up to a C-Pap machine, high oxygen and a drip. We were discharged after 5 nights and are all doing well with no lingering issues.
My birthing experience was transformational, empowering and not once did I feel afraid or that my body wasn’t capable. I believe the hypnobirthing course and the way Simone educated us on the birthing process played a pivotal role in having a successful home birth without the need for an induction or pain relief. The meditations, breathing techniques and how the partner can support during labour we learnt from the course we found the most valuable. I believe that everyone going through a pregnancy journey should do this course and as a fertility naturopath, I will be recommending this to all of my clients.
Love,
Jade, Alex and Enzo x
Welcome earthside baby Enzo!
Enzo was born on 18th August 2024