Oliver’s Birth
This pregnancy from the beginning was a …surprise to all of us, 10yr gap is a pretty big thing to get your head around so I decided to try a new birthing path aswell. I was due on the 10th Dec and my 10yr son’s bday was 3rd Dec, I kept telling everybody that I was having this baby in November. My whole pregnancy was great not sick, kept exercising and stay positive. I was fortunate to get Emma Matthews details at the CMP (community midwife program) and sent the email, dragged my husband along to the first class and he loved it as did I. It was exactly what I needed. I went to the hospital too early with my first 2 labours and had the epidural but were pretty straight forward births. This time I wanted to stay home as long as possible and have no drugs and have my 12yr old daughter and 10yr old son there as soon as our baby was born.
My surges began at 4am Tuesday 24th Nov 2015, I just listened to the tracks until it was time to go to the hospital as we had 45kms to drive. We left for the hospital in wangaratta at 9.06am and Oliver arrived at 9.56am after a couple of bearing down surges. My husband was parking the car and nearly missed the whole thing. Oliver was a little adventurous and slipped through the midwives grasp but landed comfortably on the soft pillows. My midwives were fantastic even though we didn’t have that much time together, they told me that the Obstetrician said I would be like a first time mum and it wouldn’t be a quick birth…haha, we showed him. After all was done I felt fantastic and could have gone home then and there, Oliver has been a very relaxed baby and I do believe the hypnobirthing has made a massive difference. Thankyou again Emma Matthews for coming into my life and believing in me……Xx

Astrid’s Story

Dear Astrid,

Our Birth Story.

I felt pre-labour (practice) contractions from about midnight on the Thursday night. They were strong enough to wake me up about every half an hour and they were gaining in momentum and I was preparing myself mentally for this to be it! At 7am Friday morning the surges stopped completely. Granny May and Poppy G arrived that morning, Jeremy had taken the day off work and we all had lunch at together with Grandma and Grandad. Around 2pm, very light and inconsistent surges began again. We decided to head to Wangaratta that afternoon, in no hurry, but thought there was a good chance things would kick in again that evening. Surges were around 20mins apart and very light. We got into our hotel room, watched the footy and ordered a very spicy vindaloo curry (classic pre-labour move, not sure if it works but it was delicious, I remember worrying that if I did go into labour and poo on someone it would be especially stinky! Hahaha, the things you think matter before you actually are in labour!) Overnight on the Friday I laboured fairly lightly, sleeping between surges as Dad slept beside me. By morning, I was feeling them quite a bit stronger, but they were fairly inconsistent still, anywhere from 5 to 25 mins apart, however I felt we were well-and-truly in labour at this point. Surges were consistently 5 mins apart from 10am to midday and we called the midwife who advised we come in to hospital. I was feeling great, I was really focussed, we had been listening to the hypnobirthing tracks and and breathing well with surges, but I agreed it was time to move to the hospital. I was completely lucid between surges and with hindsight these contractions were VERY mild compared to later, but I wasn’t to know what was to come….

Janet from the CMP program met us at the hospital, and I think almost immediately on entering the hospital I knew it was too soon and just like that my surges completely slowed down. Janet did an internal check and I was told “there could be quite a way to go yet!” I was devastated. Janet did her best to comfort me and assured me we were ‘in labour’ at least! I did my best to hold it together. She offered me a stretch and sweep whilst she was checking me which I wanted as I felt I had all ready put in some hard yards and didn’t want to coast along like this for another 24 hours. Janet said we could move along from here fairly quickly or it could be another 12 hours, there really was no telling how it would progress from here, but that we should leave the hospital and go for a walk and have some food and relax as best we can. As soon as I stepped out of the hospital I burst into tears and has a massive intense surge. Surges came on hard and strong from then! We stopped in town to get some food, Jez ran into a café and ordered some takeaway as I was standing and leaning on the side of the car having intense surges in the main street of Wangaratta- brilliant!  There was no walking to be had and we headed straight back to our hotel room.

Emma was waiting for us when we got there, as soon as I saw her I burst into tears, I instantly felt we needed her there! She held me and told me I was amazing and we all went to the room. I couldn’t  even explain or talk to her properly I was so emotional at that point. From then on I was in ‘active labour’- back to back intense surges, I lost time and place and was just focussed on the sensations taking over. I was very aware of Dad and Emmas’s voices and encouragement and my breathing. I was just working on each surge, moment to moment. I felt very safe and was able to let go completely. I am told we stayed like this for a couple of hours and then went back to hospital, as they sensed I may be getting close.

When we got to hospital I was having surges with only a minute or less between them, I had one as we entered the front door and all I could do was stand and hold onto Jez in a slow dance formation with my head buried in his chest until it passed, then I would shuffle forward as best I could until the next one hit- then repeat. People arrived to help and I remember being offered a wheelchair but I could imagine sitting! All I needed was Jez

during the surges and to be left alone! Apparently my surges slowed down again, but I don’t remember these details from here, I was in labour land and experiencing deep intense feeling and emotion. I took a kneeling position on the bed against the back of the bed, and later moved to the floor kneeling at the foot of the bed. I had a couple of showers too but kneeling was my chosen position for the entire first stage of labour. It was long. I remember I took a glimpse at the clock at 8pm. I had begun to feel really tired and a bit desperate at this point and saying to Jez I couldn’t keep going. The surges were very powerful. If I was focussed and could get a hold of myself as the surge began I felt good, breathing with them and using the horse breath (breathing out through floppy lips) to relax myself, the surge was significantly easier to get through and I felt connected. However, as we approached this point in labour I was feeling like the surges were getting the better of me and almost catching me unawares, these times they were very intense and I was feeling like I wasn’t coping. Classic ‘transition’ signs but I couldn’t recognise them at this point. Physically I was having full body hot flushes and cold sweats as surges came and then full body shakes as they passed, I was feeling exhausted like I needed to lie down. I remember being told I could lie down if I wanted- but I couldn’t imagine lying down through surges! There was also the tiniest hint of a change in the feeling with the surge but at that point I didn’t recognise what was happening. It was suggested we change positions, probably as I was physically so exhausted and has been at the end of the bed for hours. We decided on a shower, I needed multiple people to help me get up and literally rub circulation back into my legs before I could take any weight at all.

As soon as I got into the shower there was a major shift. I became lucid, having conversations and laughing between surges. I was standing in the shower and felt like this was the first ‘break’ I had had since we arrived at the hospital some 7 hours or so beforehand. I felt energised, drank some juice and did a poo actually on the toilet! Earlier poos had not been so civilised- in fact I had been holding myself back earlier during labour because I had needed to poo but couldn’t manage the toilet and couldn’t quite fully let myself go and this was hindering the contractions because I was thinking about this other sensation- I had told Jez when we were last in the shower hours and hours ago and he said ‘just go for it baby’ and so I pooled in the shower in front of him, somehow letting go of all inhibition and then demanded he push it down the drain almost instantly as I didn’t want to stand in it! Hahaha and thats love baby!

Emma was back at this point of showering and Dad got to have a break and eat something because I was doing so well and could manage the contractions without holding his hand. I couldn’t handle a surge under the shower and had to lean forward on the ball resting my hands and knees on it as someone held the ball for me, then I would stand straight back under the shower in between. The falling water was such a relief and then as a surge came it felt like daggers into my lower back. I knew now that there began to have a different sensation during surges, my body was just sneaking a slight push into the end of the surges and I could hear my moaning changing along with it. There was a deep groan at the end and my body was bearing down, just as it has been described but how I had not managed to fully understand until it was happening. Amazing! I remember saying to Emma I had felt like things were changing and asking her if I had just been through transition. I dont think she was completely sure- but I knew. I was SO pumped that the sensations were changing and I felt relief that we were moving forward. After so long during the first stage of labour I was completely invigorated by the shift and beyond excited.

We got out of the shower and I got back into kneeling position (I figured if it was working for me??) I had the ball in front of me on the floor and I was able to move forward and back with the surges and I was moving significantly to a full stretch and back down to an almost seated position- very fluid with the motion inside me. After a few surges I was well and truly bearing down, the entire surge was focused on this internal pushing. I was completely present, focussed and feeling strong. I don’t remember pain here. The energy in the in the room was different, all of us present were excited and we were united and it felt wonderful. I felt MASSIVE support and complete faith in my body and you, Astrid. I had Emma and Dad on either side of my head whispering words of encouragement and support in each ear and I knew we were doing an amazing job. I had a very tight grip on Dads hands and we all dug deep. The crowning and stretching of the perineum which causes an intense burning sensation was not painful- I welcomed it- I was SO ready to meet you. The second stage was only about 30 minutes which I was told is quite quick, it can be far longer especially considering you were not in a hurry throughout the first stage and you were our first. When your head was born you made a little squark straight away and Dad became very emotional at that point saying “She is here baby, you did it, our little girl.” I remember this moment VERY clearly. I was so happy and high and feeling no pain. Then your little body slipped out and you were passed through my legs as I sat right back on my heels. I was just looking at you for a split second and I think Emma had to remind me to pick you up! I was in some sort of state of shock- a blissful surreal moment that is burnt into my memory! It was the most magical wonderful moment that has ever been! I am still in awe of all of us, you me and Dad, we were all so strong and united. You were cool and calm though out the whole labour and were born healthy and strong and we are so grateful.

We could not imagine the journey without Emma. She was nothing short of amazing. We felt so sure of how we wanted to bring you into this world and Emma was right there with us from the VERY beginning and made sure we never had to compromise or question our capacity to birth naturally and peacefully, in love and support. Thank you beautiful friend xxxx

Vance’s Birth

Ok SO…Unfortunately I had to be booked in for an induction and while we tried to push it back as far as possible in the hope of going into labour naturally, we could only go to 11 days as that’s all that was available at the hospital. So I never got to labour in the comfort of my home and also work up to established labour because with the oxytocin drip, that begun established labour quite quickly and I was quite sensitive to the drug so it had to keep being altered and by about 9.30am it was quite strong and very close together. With the situation that we were given- that was so far from what we hoped for- we still used a lot of techniques we learnt and I stayed very calm the whole time and we worked with what we had. We started the process at 8.30am (I had him at 11.58pm!) and tyler closed the curtains, turned off the lights and put our soft lamp on, got my oil burner going and my music and tracks. As I sat on the ball and changed positions he gave me some light touch massaging which was very soothing and kept me relaxed, he got cold face washers for me, made sure I kept up fluids and gave me regular little snacks like mandarin pieces, museli bars etc. he was very calm and attentive to my needs and kept up the supportive words, he was amazing and we really worked together throughout the whole thing. Because the contractions got quite strong quite quick and barley any rest In between with the drip, I ended up trying the pethadine with gas which relaxed me enough to continue on for the next few hours. About 8 hours in we discussed having an epidural as I thought I was on the verge of not being able to cope. I got upset though because it was just so far from what I’d hoped for, I’d prepared myself to be so strong for this labour and here I was at the point of an epidural. We discussed it for a bit and decided it was the right decision. I could still feel my urges to push and once I started could still feel the whole pushing process.

Even though I had all the pain relief, we always felt in control of our choices and felt we calmly made the right ones! The midwives were respectful of our wishes and our room was kept quiet and they only came in as they needed. Vance’s heart beat was calm and normal the whole time (15 hours) and there were never any signs of distress which we believe was a lot to do with the way I was throughout the labour. I had my friends comment on how they couldn’t believe I’d just had a baby because of how relaxed I was in the hospital, and that way about me has continued on. Like you said all of my relaxation preparation would have benefited Vance as well! Plus my mind set throughout my pregnancy and through to today. We will definitely do a refresher course for our next baby because my labour was overall a pleasant experience because of what you taught us!!

Belle’s Birth

Hi Emma!
Thought I should let you know that our little miracle, Belle Alice Taylor, arrived on Sunday!
I want to thank you again for the hypnobirthing weekend. Even though she decided it was time to come a week after and we hadn’t had the opportunity to fully make the most it, it definetly made the whole experience a positive one. Especially since the birth didn’t go to plan.
I started getting regular surges Sunday morning at 3am, and got into the bath around 4 when it was looking like I was actually in labour. At around 7am, I decided it was time to go into the hospital. Karli from CMP, was there waiting for us at 7:30, and got straight to work on inflating the pool. Unforatently I didn’t get a chance to get into the pool. As I was ready to start bearing down by 9:30, when Karli finally had it set up.
Unfortunately Belle had managed to get her head stuck sideways, and was having trouble getting out. Karli was great at sugguesting some different positions to try to get her head to move. After 3 1/2 hours of bearing down, the doctor said that because of the swelling she would have to try foreceps and was confident for a vaginal birth. Unforunently there was too much swelling around Belle’s head and her heart rate had started to drop a little. She wasn’t able to come out vaginal, so she was born via c-section at 2:20 that afternoon.
Hypnobirthing helped me keep calm and relaxed when given the worse possible situation. I really don’t know how I could have coped without it.
Thank you so much for helping us to have a positive birthing experience
Megan

The Birth of Mia Grace

Mia Grace’s Birth Story…. By Kylie.

I had been sleeping on the couch for the last week leading up to the 24th due to pain in my ribs that felt as though I had maybe pulled a muscle off my rib cage or something similar. It hurt to laugh, bend, sneeze, and of course, lie on my side. At about 4:50am I rolled over on the couch to find a new position and with that felt/heard and internal clunk. It was different to a kick. I then felt a small gush of fluid and went to check it out. There was a little pink and brown colour in this and I knew at that moment that something different was happening. I was sure I had had my “show”. I called Gary after having a shower and let him know what had happened. He had been at work for about an hour. I then decided to call the midwife and let them know what was going on. Caitlin answered the phone and asked had my contractions (surges) started, I said no. I had been having stronger Braxton Hix and period pain like sensations going on through the previous day and night but nothing serious enough to keep me awake. About 5 mins after getting off the phone to the midwife, my surges began.

At that point I figured I was not going back to sleep and quickly downloaded an app to time my surges. They started at 10 minutes apart and lasted for about 1.5mins. After half an hour, they shortened to 5 mins apart, then 3 mins apart for 1 min. By 7am I called Gary back and said he should come home as it might be time for us to go to Wangaratta Hospital. As we had a 45-minute journey ahead of us, when to get in the car and make the journey was always the question in our minds, that was going to be the hard decision, though we had arranged with Keith & Kerry Marsden to use their house to labour in if we needed to and it was very close to the hospital.

The journey down the road was ok. As we drove along, I looked at the trees, I looked at the blue sky and the green grass. It was a beautifully sunny day and I was soaking in what I could from Mother Nature’s display. I was feeling quite nauseous with each surge and about every 5th one would be significantly more intense than the others where I had to focus a lot more on my breath (which helped immensely) to get through them.

When we got to the hospital, I was able to get out of the car and walk up to maternity where Janet from the CMP (Community Midwife Program) met us. We left everything in the car in case we were sent away after they checked where I was up to. At about 8:30am, Janet asked me to lie on my back so she could check to see how I was progressing. This felt absolutely uncomfortable and was the only time my ribs hurt though the whole process. that would be

the only time I was on my back and I remember feeling huge sympathy for any woman who had ever been forced to labour on their back! Janet didn’t tell me how far along I was as we had requested but instead told Gary to go and get the bags from the car, we were staying! I was so relieved when she said we were staying though in my head I was prepared to be told to go away and come back later as I knew full well I had not been in labour very long by this point. But we were staying I was happy to hear it. Apparently my membranes had broken, it wasn’t just a show I had earlier. The “clunk” must have been my waters breaking. I had been trickling ever since.

It was about 9am and by this stage Gary had stopped timing the surges and just focused on supporting me through them. He put on some Hypnobirthing tracks and rubbed my back, continued to offer supportive affirmations we had talked about and gone over in our preparation. He was such an incredible support through the entire experience. We moved from leaning against the bench, to walking around, to hang and swaying off him, to sitting on the bed, to kneeling at the end of the bed – no where was comfortable! We had asked to have the pool set up but as it turned out, we really didn’t have time to set it up, though I do remember at this point wishing I could be in a pool and be weightless. As my legs felt as though they were struggling to hold me up and again, it had not yet been a very long journey. We had also bought affirmation posters to hang up, lights, candles, etc. etc. but none of it made it out of the bags.

There was a time where we were sitting on the end of the bed, listening to a track, trying to tune into my body and breath and out of distraction. I sat through a few surges with my eyes closed and just breathed. Though as they went on, I was getting more uncomfortable down south and more shaky and nauseous with each one. The surges became progressively more intense and the nausea I was experiencing during each surge was becoming really challenging to deal with. Janet offered me something to help take away the nausea. I happily accepted! I didn’t know it at the time, though I did wonder if that’s where I was – I was entering transition.

I started doubting myself completely. I was getting to the point where I thought I couldn’t do it anymore. Where I thought “well you have given it a red hot go but this is too much and you have to ask for help”. I looked at Janet and said “what are my options?? I don’t think I can do it……”. I wanted “out”. This was about 11:30am. Janet reassured me I could do it and was doing it. She suggested we go to the shower and the water may help sooth the intensity of the surges. It did help. But boy had they ramped up. At a guess they were coming every 30 seconds or so and seemed to last for about the same length of time, though I didn’t really have much of a concept of time. I didn’t want to look at the clock. I moved in the shower and Gary came in to help support me. I tried to focus on the water on my skin, the feeling of it running down over me. My breath, relaxing my jaw as much as possible. I tried making different sounds. Different shapes with my mouth. I had to lean on the wall every time a surge came on.

I started to feel too hot and got out of the shower to cool off. As I walked out of the shower area, I looked around and thought, I don’t know where to go, I don’t know that anywhere is going to work for me, unsure how to navigate what was coming next…. Standing in the middle of the room, Janet offered to set up a bean bag on the floor so I could kneel and be

belly down. I said yes, but wasn’t sure at that stage I could even get down there. Turns out that was a great position for me as it took the weight off my legs and I could actually relax between surges, flopped over the bean bag, a little lop sided at first but just grateful to be down there and feeling some relief. That was where I stayed as when I had emerged from the shower, I felt like it might be time to push – but again I wasn’t quite sure if I had been at it long enough to get to that stage. Once down on all fours, Janet checked me again to see if there was any cervix left that needed to thin or move and heard the words come out of her mouth – “No, that’s all head, you’re going really well Kylie!”. Again, another rush of relief to hear her say that. Gave me such a boost of confidence.

From there the surges started changing again. They were intense for sure, but they were different to earlier when I thought I couldn’t go on any more. They felt more and more like I wanted to bear down and Janet encouraged me to do just that. I could hear Gary reminding me of affirmations again, like “your baby is the perfect size for your body” and “trust your body and your baby, they know what to do”. He was rubbing my back and saying all the right things at the right time.

I realised that Mia was making her way progressively down the birth path and I tried so very hard to relax between surges and let my body have a rest. I had read plenty about all stages of labour but I could not quite draw on the reminders I needed at that moment other than telling myself to breath deep, keep my jaw relaxed and try to rest when I could. I could hear everything the midwifes where saying and by that stage Carli (another CMP midwife) and a student midwife had joined us in the room. Through the process, Janet had been checking Mia’s heart rate to see how she was coping and each time, she was fine. It was so reassuring to hear. Janet encouraged me to do what my body was telling me to do, so with each surge, I started to bear down, big time! I could feel Mia come down a little further, then go back up when I relaxed between surges. Come down and go back a little. Again, I had seen this in footage before so I knew what was going on. The urge to bear down with each surge was so incredibly overwhelming that it was a fine line between extreme intensity and feeling good to bear down. I registered that I was making a kind of deep guttural grunting noise with each surge as I was bearing down to get her out. I did not want to tear though and was trying hard to breath with each surge. This was super difficult not to hold my breath and push/grunt my way through it.

Finally, it came time for Mia to crown and at that point I felt the “burning” I had read about. She had made it to a point that she was staying where she was and not going back. Another rush of relief! The next I knew, Gary was showing me footage on his phone of Mia’s head crowning – WOW! He kissed me and encouraged me, and all I could say was – “Our bubba’s coming!!”. At that point I knew we didn’t have far to go and with next one or two surges, Mia’s head was out. I heard Carli say loudly “Kylie, your babies head is out”. In my mind I was fist pumping the air – “You did it, head’s out, now for the rest and you’re there!”. Mentally I was preparing for the next big push to get the rest of her out.

It was then Janet said – “Kylie, the shoulder is a little bit stuck, so you will feel some pulling but don’t worry, we need to just get the shoulder free”. I felt her pulling on Mia to get her to rotate. With the next surge, I was determined to get her unstuck and with that, I used everything I had in that one last push.. I let out an almighty noise as I felt myself tear when

she came through. It was fast, I heard Carli say “Pant, pant!!” which I did immediately. In that moment when she came out there was the internal thoughts, feelings, sensations, the sound of my breath, the sounds I was making, all so incredibly intense and just happening to me to a degree, rather than me consciously deciding to do them. What followed was such a feeling of relief. Gary had caught her, and I bent down and pulled her up to my chest so fast Janet had to tell me to slow down and make sure there was enough cord. I turned around and tried so hard not to drop her as she was slippery and wriggling immediately. She was letting out little squawks which again I was relieved to hear. There was a lot of blood.

I laid back in the bean bag and looked at her, letting out huge sighs of relief. Then Janet asked “What have we got” – I looked and there she was, a little girl!!! She was soooooo beautiful – even for a newborn. I thought she would have a pin head, but Janet said she didn’t have time for that. Gary and I lay there and gazed at her for a while. Gary took a few photos – I look completely blissed out in on taken moments after she was born. It was time to then deliver the placenta. I was still feeling pretty full on surges, but they had of course change again. This time, their job was to get the placenta out and I was ready for them to be over.

We had asked to allow for a physiological third stage if possible. Janet was coaching me to push when I felt a surge, but I pretty depleted and like I had virtually nothing left to push with. Janet advised me to go to the toilet and sit there for a bit. I was holding Mia and trying to push and not really getting anywhere. Due to how much blood I had lost, Janet was keen to get the placenta out. About 15 minutes later, she checked the cord which had stopped pulsing. So Gary cut the cord and took Mia so I could finish the job. Within a few minutes, I gave another big push and there it went, into a bed pan that was sitting in the toilet. When I birthed the placenta it felt like my whole stomach contents had fallen out of me! Both Gary and I looked at each other with gapping mouths! And then the intensity inside me was gone. My legs where like jelly, I made my way to the bed and hopped up to receive Mia for some skin on skin time. She took to my right breast instantly and fed for about 1.5 hours as we lay there in awe. I was completely blown away by what had just happened. I was so incredibly in love, grateful, feeling proud, feeling overwhelmed. We did it, not a sniff of intervention and she was so perfect.

A little while later, as I lay there getting stitched up, I was going through some feelings of disappointment that I had pushed too hard and fast and tore. But I was so ready for her to come out, and doing what Janet encouraged, I did what my body felt it needed to do at the time. And that was PUSH!! I could have taken another 15 minutes, a few more deep breath surges to ease her out a little slower, but at that point, I was far from slowing down! I stopped beating up on myself and started celebrating that fact that we had laboured for 7 hours, given birth naturally to our beautiful daughter. And I could not have wished for it to go any better. All the ward nurses, midwives, doctors all kept saying how great I did and that they were really impressed. I wasn’t sure if they say that to everyone to help them feel better after such an experience but I took it on and gave myself a bloody big pat on the back. The stitches will heal I told myself, and you did it! She is here!!

I was just so grateful for the whole experience to unfold the way it did. Grateful to myself for having down the work before hand, grateful for my years of yoga practice, grateful for having done the Hypnobirthing course with Emma Mathews at Indigo Gentle Beginnings who was a

wonderful support through out my pregnancy. We had asked her to be at the birth but it wasn’t to be. We had also asked our dear friend Katie to be present if she could but that was also not to be. I was so happy to hear Janet and Carli where on shift when we got to the hospital as I felt I had connected with them well through our visits to the CMP. Gary had known Carli from a previous job many years back and felt really good about them too. Gary’s support was unwavering, his back was killing him, he was probably exhausted as he got up at 3am that morning to go to work. But he was there the whole way, by my side, being my number 1 support. Grateful to Mia for choosing us to be her parents, for helping Mumma birth her naturally, for being such a beautiful blessing in our lives. Thank you!

Mia Grace Bertuch Haynes was born at 12:13pm (after my waters breaking at 4:50am at home) on the 24th of October, 2016. She was 7.14 pounds (3.58 kgs) and 52cm long. Head circumference of 35cm. I remember saying repeatedly I would be very happy with a 7 pound baby & 7 hour labour through my pregnancy. Mia, you’re absolutely positively the most beautiful thing we have ever seen. We love you Mia!