I get to meet some seriously good people in my line of work. I always have a joke that anyone who practices yoga - or learns about hypnobirthing - is a good person and a good friend to have. Never has this been more true than when I met Erin and Bryn. They approached me early in pregnancy to book in for a HypnoBirthing course and they joined five other couples to learn the tools and techniques they would need for the big journey ahead. They also asked me about my doula service, but I was unfortunately unavailable for their birthing time. I sensed they really needed some extra support so I put them in touch with a student midwife who has previously completed my hypnobirthing course and has birthed two sons using the techniques. Erin faced a few hurdles along the way. Diagnosed with gestational diabetes, her labour started with spontaneous release of membranes at 37 weeks - just one day after she had finished her Yoga for Birth program with me!! With no other signs of labour, the risk of infection grew over the following days, so she opted for induction and antibiotics. With the subsequent constant monitoring she remained calm and focused and made an important decision to allow a monitor to be clipped to baby’s head - and was able to achieve her desired waterbirth. This is what hypnobirthing is all about .... learning about your options, asking the right questions, and making important decisions to ensure the best possible outcome. As you will read from Erin's story, the preparation she put in, the great decisions she made and the SUPPORT she received were crucial in the successful and positive outcome of a journey that took a few twists and turns! "Hi Carrie, it's been a week since we held our little man in our arms for the first time! We've been living in a blissful baby bubble and we've been embracing every moment Last Thursday night we had just fallen asleep when I woke to my waters releasing. Frantically Bryn rushed downstairs to install the baby car seat while I called the hospital and let them know we were going to wait for contractions to begin and we would keep them posted with our progress. By the next afternoon nothing had happened, so we went into hospital to get checked out. They said ideally we want contractions to begin within 72 hours as after that time the risk of infection to baby rises. My birth 'plan' was to have the most natural, intervention free birth as possible. But as we know, birth is unpredictable and can take spontaneous twists. After acupuncture, yoga, meditation, drinking raspberry leaf, and eating eggplant, dates and all other foods that supposedly get labour going, we still felt no progress. The hospital had us booked in for 6 am Sunday to get the ball rolling, but upon waking on Sunday we decided to wait until 10 am to see if baby would come on his own after another walk up the hill near our house. He just wasn’t quite ready to make his grand appearance on his own. We arrived at the hospital at 10 am and by mid-day we were all set up with the Syntocinon Drip. We were trying to avoid antibiotics however if we were to refuse, we were unable to birth in the tub due to my waters being open for so long and the risk of infection to baby being high. I had my heart set on a water birth my whole pregnancy so we decided to have the antibiotics, so I could get in the tub and keep my anxiety levels down and continue our journey for a calm water birth as we had planned. My best friend Lonnie works at a day-spa and she came along to give me massages to keep the calm vibes flowing. Our midwife set up tea lights around the room and the lights were dimmed. I began breathing through the techniques learnt at our Hypnobirthing classes and moved my body through various yoga poses. Because I was hooked up to a drip I had to have the wireless FHR monitor strapped to me at all times, which started and stopped and dropped out due to my stretching. This was a nuisance and eventually they couldn’t keep track of baby’s heart rate, so we had to have a monitor clipped to baby’s head. While we were hesitant at first, this ended up being a better option as it allowed me to move more freely and was optimal for water birthing. At about 6 pm our midwives changed shifts, and I was assigned a midwife who also teaches calm birth classes on the Sunshine Coast. Upon handover Bryn went through all our birth preferences with the new midwife. He reported back to me and I was soo pleased to hear she was on the same page with everything we had visioned in our birth preferences, and she knew all the calm birthing & breathing techniques we were practising. She even had peppermint essential oil in her pocket as a saviour for when I threw up after trying the gas. Around the same time, my student midwife Lauren (who has birthed 2 babies using Hypnobirthing techniques taught by Carrie) also arrived, she was with me throughout my pregnancy journey and it was lovely to have another familiar face in the room for support and encouragement. At about 7:30/8 pm I hopped in the bath, squatting near the side, my surges were intense and the waves lasted 4 and a half breaths. As I hummed and moaned on the out breath, Bryn massaged my hands and stroked my face to remind me to relax and open. I found myself tensing and it was a real mindful practice to tell my body to release, once I released and let my body relax and trust it knew what to do, the pressure of the surges was instantly much less painful. As I came out of each surge Bryn, Lonnie and Lauren would place my positive birthing affirmation cards and sticky notes I had written out on the side of the tub in front of me. They were a great reminder of all we had practised and helped me to stay focused and determined. Each surge brought us closer to meeting our baby. My body and baby knew what to do. I could feel baby’s head was getting close, the midwives held a mirror in the tub and everyone could see the tip of his head as I was surging. At around 10 pm baby’s head popped out, and after one more wave of breathing his body was out too. Bryn pulled baby from the water and put him on my chest. The feeling was a rush of joy, relief, happiness and accomplishment. I was pulled from the bath instantly as I was loosing quite a lot of blood. I had the needle in my leg to birth the placenta fast as I had a high risk of haemorrhaging. I needed 2 stitches due to baby grazing me with his fingernails on the way out, but no tearing. Bryn cut the cord, and put on the first nappy! Elijah River Harper was born at 10:10 pm on Sunday the 9th of December. 5lb 12oz. 48 cm. The whole day was intense, empowering and raw. I felt incredibly supported and grateful for all that were present with me during the whole experience. Even though Elijah’s birth didn’t go to ‘plan’, we still got to water birth and use calm birthing and breathing techniques to birth pain relief free. I would not have been able to be as in control of my birthing experience without the knowledge and education learnt through Carrie’s Hypnobirthing Workshop and Yoga for Birth classes at Joymamma. Thank you Carrie, I can’t wait to attend mama and bub classes in the new year. Erin xx
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The name "HypnoBirthing" may conjure up of all sorts of weird, whacky and nonsensical images. When I first came across it for the birth of my third baby 13 years ago, I was in all honesty ready to try ANYTHING - after the medically managed births of my first two babies. Fast forward to 2018 and I've been teaching this program on the Sunshine Coast for 6 years and have had the pleasure of meeting over 300 couples who have taken the plunge to discover and learn!
For many couples, the events surrounding birth can be overwhelming and dis-empowering; as we move through a time of actively managed labours, where women no longer trust their bodies or their deeply intuitive mind. At 36 weeks Ebony contacted me to enquire about joining a HypnoBirthing course. At this late stage, I offered to take her and husband Tom through the program week by week - just in case baby came before the full program had finished. As it turned out her daughter waited - and gave Ebony another week to ensure she had chance to practice her techniques of remaining patient and calm! At 42 weeks, medical induction was looming and we kept in touch during the lead up. The threat of induction made her feel anxious, stressed and very emotional. Ebony was induced; waters broken, syntocinon administered, constant foetal monitoring, scalpel monitors that failed, a busy hospital room with interference and minimal privacy or intimacy. Not what physiological birth is all about! But this is what can happen in the modern way of birth management. However, Ebony and Tom came away from that experience feeling empowered, positive and at peace from what they had learned through their sessions with me. From what could have turned into another horror birth story, instead husband Tom had the confidence to suggest non-invasive alternatives that helped Ebony find her focus and the trust in her body that she needed to birth her baby calmly and in control. This is a crucial element of the HypnoBirthing program - teaching partners about their role in birth, how they can advocate, speak up and protect their women amidst all the activity in a hospital setting that goes against natural, physiological birthing. Partners that trust and believe in birth, in their woman and their baby can guard the birth space with confidence. Tom did this perfectly and had he not - then the birth of their daughter may not have been as empowering as Ebony writes: "I just wanted to thank you for all of your help with preparing Tom and I for the birth of our beautiful little girl, Callie Eve McGrane on 06.06.2018. My pregnancy lasted for 42 beautiful weeks. After trying EVERYTHING to start labour naturally I was booked in to get induced on Wednesday, 6th June. The threat of being induced made me feel very stressed in the few days beforehand however you were so supportive and helpful throughout that time which helped a lot. Following our hospital appointment on Tuesday 5th, they booked us in to get induced that night. The sudden change made me feel very anxious & super emotional but thankfully my hypnobirthing techniques kicked in to help me come to terms with it. The midwives broke my waters that night and started the drip the following morning. Your classes and the skills you taught us helped immensely. We were able to stay calm and we welcomed our beautiful little girl 7.5 hours after the drip started, without any other intervention or pain relief. Due to being induced the midwives were monitoring our bubs heartbeat the whole time. The first fetal scalp clip didn't work consistently, so we tried a heart rate monitor around my belly. This also didn't work consistently so we tried a 2nd scalp clip. This one also kept dropping in and out & there was a period of time when the midwives couldn't find our bubs heartbeat. Because of this the head midwife suggested we try a 3rd clip. This was in the midst of quite intense surges. Your classes gave my hubby the confidence to ask the head midwife to have a discussion outside (as I had 3 midwives asking me questions whilst I was trying to breathe through my surges). Tom was able to make an informed decision and requested we try the shower for a little while as I knew in my heart that our little girl was OK. Thankfully the shower helped and I was able to peacefully focus back on my breathing. This worked wonders and within another 1.5 hours we had our little girl in our arms. Throughout the majority of my labour, someone was constantly touching my belly to monitor our little girls heartbeat. Because of your wonderfully thorough, supportive & educational classes, I was able to stay in my zone with the confidence that Tom completely had my back. I am forever grateful to you for empowering both of us & helping us achieve our goal of a positive & peaceful birth experience! Thank you, thank you, thank you! Tom & Ebony Xx
I met Brooke and Joel early in their pregnancy with baby Maple. At the time of writing this blog post Brooke is now weeks away from meeting her second baby. Her experience birthing Maple was pretty remarkable; an unplanned homebirth with only her partner present. Brooke suffered intense pelvic pain during her pregnancy and was unsure of how she would cope with labour. Turns out she did just fine - with the emotional support she received from Joel and her own trust and belief in herself and in nature, the birth of Maple makes quite a story!!
I am a huge homebirth advocate after the planned homebirth of my third baby, but it's not the place of birth that matters, it is what and who that are in that place which has the strongest influence. What is important is privacy. This is the key to birthing normally, as all mammals insist on privacy to give birth.
This teaching and doula journey of mine has led me to meet many, many wonderful women. At 7.51 am on 29 April 2017, one of those women gave birth to her third baby at home in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland. I met Renee during her first pregnancy and have been friends ever since. I taught yoga at her beautiful rural home wedding when she was pregnant with her second baby. This woman has a man who is devoted to her, who cried openly as he read his wedding vows - a man in love with life. I introduced this woman to Birth Photographer, Ilsa from Good Wolf Photography - another woman who I've connected with through this journey - who's creativity caught my eye some time ago. These two incredible women came together and shared an intimate, sacred experience - that which is birth. Raw, emotional, cherished moments were captured that show how powerful and incredible women and BIRTH truly are. For many men, the fear of watching their partners going through childbirth is real; feeling unable to help and having no control of the situation. This is one situation where where many men feel helpless and inadequate, especially given the standard education in the hospital antenatal classes, where the couples are told how much pain is involved leaving them feeling fearful about what lies ahead. Bringing a new life into the world is an intense and powerful experience for both the mother - and the father.What if Dads were given the support and education to prepare THEM for birth?
It was three years ago in June 2014 that I attended my first birth. My doula studies and paperwork complete - I was ready for the hands on experience of birth support. That month of June 2014 brought a couple who trusted me to assist them in their journey after a traumatic first birth.
People often think HypnoBirthing is only used for natural, vaginal births, but what happens when that natural, vaginal birth doesn't go as planned - can it help with a c-section birth as well?
The answer is: YES!! HypnoBirthing is a 5 week childbirth education course, based on the belief that for a healthy woman having a healthy baby, birth is a normal, natural bodily function. Based on physiological and medical evidence, it is taught in hospitals throughout the UK, and is starting to be taught in Australian hospitals too.
Many antenatal classes teach women about birth and there is a huge amount of information available on line. However, birth is an event that we need to train for, physically and mentally. HypnoBirthing gives you so much more than a traditional hospital antenatal class. When I first meet couples on their journey to birth, I always emphasise that every experience is unique and there is no template for this ancient and very delicate process. We know birth is unpredictable and is different for each woman.
While I do spend time teaching you breathing techniques that will help you to relax to the point where you can quiet your mind, I do not attempt to teach you how to use your mind to keep your birthing on target. Just the opposite is true. I teach you how to keep your mind out of the way while birth happens to you. Births don't always go to plan and even nature needs assistance sometimes. This is when the support and assistance from the medical team is crucial. Having the right balance between trusting the natural birthing process and having assistance when needed was exactly what Chloe and Michael needed to birth baby Harvey safely. When couples prepare well and stay calm and confident, their skills can be especially essential for decision making when birth doesn't go according to plan. Welcome earthside baby Harvey - I'm immensely proud of your parents and the way they worked together at your birth. And thanks to Sam @laine_tribes for capturing Chloe and her natural beauty. |
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July 2019
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