A positive natural birth: Arran’s birth story
This was a long awaited first baby for us, and whilst my pregnancy was straight forward, I was worried about getting the best preparation we could and were keen to do the online course with HPHB as it seemed to have all the elements and information that we thought we needed and lots of expert advice to tap into.
Matt and I took so much from the course. I started the course with some serious anxieties around childbirth and by the time we finished I had a clear idea of how we could create birth preferences that would fit any labour scenario we could come across. Knowing we could control certain things, and having the hypnobirthing skills to practice throughout the rest of my pregnancy really gave me positive things to focus on ahead of the birth.
My labour started just after midnight, although I wasn’t immediately sure it would develop into labour as I had had similar tightenings for a few days beforehand. I knew I had to just see how things developed so I went and watched a film, leaving Matt to sleep until I was sure I was in labour. We didn’t have as long at home as either of us were expecting...after just 6 hours of contractions which I managed with a hot bath, paracetamol and some hypnobirthing tracks we were heading into hospital.
I’m not a fan of hospitals and was worried about how the transfer would impact on my labour. But during the course HPHB’s Hannah suggested I put my headphones in and I stuck with my hypnobirthing during the drive, admission and first period in the labour room, which worked really well. Things continued to move quickly and the birth was fairly straight forward. Arran was born after 14 hours of labour. I can remember saying to a midwife that after all of the hypnobirthing I had practiced, it didn’t really get used as it had been such a swift transition to active labour – however, she pointed out that one of the reasons things might have moved smoothly and quickly was probably because I had been so relaxed at the start of the labour! So, Thank You HPHB for all your tips and advice and setting me on the hypnobirthing journey!
The first time that I saw Arran I was overwhelmed...it was hard to believe he was there. We had done it! And he was ours!
I had a retained placenta and quite a lot of bleeding after the birth, which in some respects was harder than the labour itself. The room filled with people and I had never planned or even thought about problems occurring after our baby arrived. Matt encouraged me to keep using the breathing techniques whilst all this was going on, which really helped and I just had to trust the medical team to do what was needed.
We would absolutely recommend the Happy Parents Happy Baby antenatal course - it’s fun, interactive, well-structured and very informative. The fact that I still feel supported over 2 weeks after the birth is a god send too!
Top Tips:
Enjoy the simple life that comes with having a newborn as much as you can. Some days you will feel great and want to be up and about. Other days it’s fine to give in, take the duvet on the sofa and have a very quiet family day!
