BIRTHING DURING THE PANDEMIC AND HOW HYPNOBIRTHING HELPED
So...I was 12 days overdue and I was anxious about being induced. You sent me that message about pointers for induction, that helped massively just getting me into a calmer frame of mind. The most important thing I kept saying to myself was what we discussed about a positive birth being a birth where I felt in control and like I had a say in how things went so I made sure that I got as much information as possible from the midwife about which methods of induction would allow me to stay at home/with my partner for as long as possible rather than alone in the hospital (which was one of my biggest fears).
My due date was 11th October and was due to be induced on the 23rd. So, at about 2am on Thursday 22nd I was in bed and started getting contractions but I remembered the illustration you sent and the first stage of labour how important it is to get rest so I made the decision not to wake Piers up just yet! I couldn't get back to sleep myself so I thought I would see how long I could last without waking him up - then about 2 or 3 hours later I woke him up with the classic "I think it's happening!".
I think I've said before but one of the reasons I'm so glad we did your course was because it was just great to know what to expect in terms of the timing/the physiology etc. I think often people talk about it or see it in the movies where the woman's water breaks and then an hour or two later the baby is born! It was great to be able to manage our expectations over how long it may take. Anyway, we went for a walk around 5am and it was still dark out and you could see the stars which will stick with me as a lovely memory because I remember thinking this is the last time it will ever be just the two of us.
So, throughout Thursday day time the contractions increased in intensity but I managed them. I was mostly in bed with some candles and I had the tapes playing on my iPad. I also had my oils and all my anchors to keep me calm. I was also breathing through the contractions and that helped MASSIVELY.
My mum came by for an hour or two and Piers put some food together, so looking back I have a really positive view of that time because I felt like I had all my things around me and I was being well looked after. As we got into Thursday evening things really started to ramp up. I spent a lot of time in the bath which helped a lot. Eventually I got to a point where I couldn't really talk too much and was just trying to breathe through the pain. I got quite sick and was really hot and then cold so I kept getting in and out of the bath. After another few hours we decided to go to the hospital. As I had been worried about getting into the car and losing my focus, I made sure I had my pillow, my T shirt that smelt of Piers, my oils and we played the tracks on the car speakers too. I really remember closing my eyes in the car with the seat reclined listening to your voice guiding me.
The first time we got to the hospital it was quite a stressful environment, remember that because we were in London the Covid 19 restrictions were such that Piers wouldn't be allowed in until I was in established labour so I had to go through to triage on my own and because it was late at night, there weren't many staff on duty. To be honest I found it super scary and the staff that I had encountered were either rude or stressed and just tiny things that wouldn't normally bother me did matter to me (like calling me Katie instead of Katia for example) and made it hard for me to stay calm.
When I was examined the midwife said to me, "You're only 1cm" (remember we joked about how if P was there, he would've been like WOW-1cm WELL DONE!). She said to go back home and although I felt disheartened, I did think, at least at home I have control over my environment and I have Piers there.
Fast forward a few hours at home, I was really going through it. To be honest there are parts I don't remember but I think that's my minds way of dealing with it. I remember being really sick and Piers bringing me a bucket in the bath to throw up into. That part was really full on. I wasn't on any pain killers and the paracetamol I had tried to take just came back up so it was intense to say the least. After a couple of hours of this we decided to go back to the hospital...
This time I went through to triage but the woman who showed me in didn't even speak to me! She took me to a bed in the corner of the room and put the curtain around my bed and I was in agony just waiting for someone to come. That was, hands down, the hardest part. Even if it wasn't the most physically painful of the whole labour, it was the hardest part because I felt a bit abandoned. Piers said he could hear me from the car park. I remember shouting "Is anyone coming to help me" and was about 40 mins before I was seen. I was trying so hard to breathe and I remember tracing my eyes in a rectangle around a whiteboard on the wall of the hospital and breathing in and out in and out. I also remember overhearing a nurse say to another woman "I'm really sorry but there are no birth pools free". At this point I felt pretty defeated but just kept trying to say my affirmations in my head. When I was finally examined, I was 7cm!
They then took me through and let Piers in and that was a huge boost. I also had two midwives that took me through that were amazing and so supportive and immediately made me feel better. Piers was great at communicating with them what I wanted and when he told them how much I wanted a pool they said they would do as much as they could do get one in time. We went through to a room without a pool at first and I was over the beanbag on all fours, they said to me "I can see from your birth plan.." which made me feel relieved that I knew I was going to have a positive experience with them because I was going to be listened to.
A while later I remember the midwife was saying, "We've found a pool! We need to clean it so if you can wait then we'll have it for you as soon as we can but also if its time to push just listen to your body.".
The next part is all a bit of a blur but I remember them asking did I want to go through to the pool which I did! I remember her helping me up the little steps into the pool and stepping into the warm water and it was like the best feeling in the world, it was so warm and I lowered into it and instantly felt calmer...my little boy was born 40 mins later! It must've been the oxytocin at that point. Looking back, I also think it's funny that he was born the morning of the day he was due to be induced!
Everyone that asks me how it was, I always make sure I say to them "would you like to hear the full story without sugar coating" because I'm so aware myself that the best thing I did leading up to the birth was to make decisions about the information I ingested and only listen to positive stories. It's just like you explained about your brain searching for references. It really does work.
Looking back all I feel is pride. I feel so proud of myself and of my body. I also feel proud of Piers for supporting me and speaking for me exactly as I needed him to when I couldn't and I don't know that he would've been able to do that without us having done the course together. I also remember thinking that I did it how I wanted to and even though everyone kept saying to me "it's your first baby, you have to have epidural, you have to do this and that...you won't be able to do this bla bla bla" and now I look back and I can say to those people, It wasn't easy...and he was 10lb!! but I did it how I wanted to. AND I didn't tear...remember how nervous I was of that!
Thank you Katia for writing your birth story so beautifully and descriptively and sharing it for others to read.
You can hear her partner's Pier's version of the birth on Episode 3 of his podcast! "So, you're going to be a Dad"
My due date was 11th October and was due to be induced on the 23rd. So, at about 2am on Thursday 22nd I was in bed and started getting contractions but I remembered the illustration you sent and the first stage of labour how important it is to get rest so I made the decision not to wake Piers up just yet! I couldn't get back to sleep myself so I thought I would see how long I could last without waking him up - then about 2 or 3 hours later I woke him up with the classic "I think it's happening!".
I think I've said before but one of the reasons I'm so glad we did your course was because it was just great to know what to expect in terms of the timing/the physiology etc. I think often people talk about it or see it in the movies where the woman's water breaks and then an hour or two later the baby is born! It was great to be able to manage our expectations over how long it may take. Anyway, we went for a walk around 5am and it was still dark out and you could see the stars which will stick with me as a lovely memory because I remember thinking this is the last time it will ever be just the two of us.
So, throughout Thursday day time the contractions increased in intensity but I managed them. I was mostly in bed with some candles and I had the tapes playing on my iPad. I also had my oils and all my anchors to keep me calm. I was also breathing through the contractions and that helped MASSIVELY.
My mum came by for an hour or two and Piers put some food together, so looking back I have a really positive view of that time because I felt like I had all my things around me and I was being well looked after. As we got into Thursday evening things really started to ramp up. I spent a lot of time in the bath which helped a lot. Eventually I got to a point where I couldn't really talk too much and was just trying to breathe through the pain. I got quite sick and was really hot and then cold so I kept getting in and out of the bath. After another few hours we decided to go to the hospital. As I had been worried about getting into the car and losing my focus, I made sure I had my pillow, my T shirt that smelt of Piers, my oils and we played the tracks on the car speakers too. I really remember closing my eyes in the car with the seat reclined listening to your voice guiding me.
The first time we got to the hospital it was quite a stressful environment, remember that because we were in London the Covid 19 restrictions were such that Piers wouldn't be allowed in until I was in established labour so I had to go through to triage on my own and because it was late at night, there weren't many staff on duty. To be honest I found it super scary and the staff that I had encountered were either rude or stressed and just tiny things that wouldn't normally bother me did matter to me (like calling me Katie instead of Katia for example) and made it hard for me to stay calm.
When I was examined the midwife said to me, "You're only 1cm" (remember we joked about how if P was there, he would've been like WOW-1cm WELL DONE!). She said to go back home and although I felt disheartened, I did think, at least at home I have control over my environment and I have Piers there.
Fast forward a few hours at home, I was really going through it. To be honest there are parts I don't remember but I think that's my minds way of dealing with it. I remember being really sick and Piers bringing me a bucket in the bath to throw up into. That part was really full on. I wasn't on any pain killers and the paracetamol I had tried to take just came back up so it was intense to say the least. After a couple of hours of this we decided to go back to the hospital...
This time I went through to triage but the woman who showed me in didn't even speak to me! She took me to a bed in the corner of the room and put the curtain around my bed and I was in agony just waiting for someone to come. That was, hands down, the hardest part. Even if it wasn't the most physically painful of the whole labour, it was the hardest part because I felt a bit abandoned. Piers said he could hear me from the car park. I remember shouting "Is anyone coming to help me" and was about 40 mins before I was seen. I was trying so hard to breathe and I remember tracing my eyes in a rectangle around a whiteboard on the wall of the hospital and breathing in and out in and out. I also remember overhearing a nurse say to another woman "I'm really sorry but there are no birth pools free". At this point I felt pretty defeated but just kept trying to say my affirmations in my head. When I was finally examined, I was 7cm!
They then took me through and let Piers in and that was a huge boost. I also had two midwives that took me through that were amazing and so supportive and immediately made me feel better. Piers was great at communicating with them what I wanted and when he told them how much I wanted a pool they said they would do as much as they could do get one in time. We went through to a room without a pool at first and I was over the beanbag on all fours, they said to me "I can see from your birth plan.." which made me feel relieved that I knew I was going to have a positive experience with them because I was going to be listened to.
A while later I remember the midwife was saying, "We've found a pool! We need to clean it so if you can wait then we'll have it for you as soon as we can but also if its time to push just listen to your body.".
The next part is all a bit of a blur but I remember them asking did I want to go through to the pool which I did! I remember her helping me up the little steps into the pool and stepping into the warm water and it was like the best feeling in the world, it was so warm and I lowered into it and instantly felt calmer...my little boy was born 40 mins later! It must've been the oxytocin at that point. Looking back, I also think it's funny that he was born the morning of the day he was due to be induced!
Everyone that asks me how it was, I always make sure I say to them "would you like to hear the full story without sugar coating" because I'm so aware myself that the best thing I did leading up to the birth was to make decisions about the information I ingested and only listen to positive stories. It's just like you explained about your brain searching for references. It really does work.
Looking back all I feel is pride. I feel so proud of myself and of my body. I also feel proud of Piers for supporting me and speaking for me exactly as I needed him to when I couldn't and I don't know that he would've been able to do that without us having done the course together. I also remember thinking that I did it how I wanted to and even though everyone kept saying to me "it's your first baby, you have to have epidural, you have to do this and that...you won't be able to do this bla bla bla" and now I look back and I can say to those people, It wasn't easy...and he was 10lb!! but I did it how I wanted to. AND I didn't tear...remember how nervous I was of that!
Thank you Katia for writing your birth story so beautifully and descriptively and sharing it for others to read.
You can hear her partner's Pier's version of the birth on Episode 3 of his podcast! "So, you're going to be a Dad"
Piers and his new baby
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Katia and Piers with their new baby
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