Rory's birth story.

My lovely friend Jen has kindly written about the birth of her second son. It is so beautifully written and shows how hypnobirthing gave her the tools and confidence to have an empowered and positive birth.

Looking back, I was woefully unprepared for my first birth - naively thinking that I would just go with whatever happened. It meant that although I knew it would be painful, I was ill-equipped with coping strategies to focus on. I knew I’d do some breathing and try and move around, but when it came to it, the experience was so intense that everything I had ‘planned’ went out of the window and I ended up with a long slow labour, every intervention and eventually an emergency c-section. 

A number of my friends had talked about hypnobirthing and initially I had been sceptical but seeing the difference in their experiences and the confident way they approached second births in particular made me decide to give it a try.

I can’t say that my second experience was one of blissful ease (!), but it was completely different to my first. The hypnobirthing I did to prepare was fairly basic, focusing on some key principles, but what it gave me was the confidence to speak up and ask for the birth I wanted and be more switched on and prepared for what was to come. This was particularly important following a c-section, as a lot of the advice I was given seemed destined to send me down the same route as before and I could see it ending up in another c-section. All I wanted was to give birth as naturally as possible, and I honestly believe the hypnobirthing got me there. 

My second birth was 7 hours start to finish with only gas and air pain relief and felt so different to the first time round. I was prepared for the different ways my labour could develop and I felt much more in control. I was able to make informed choices and ask the questions I needed to so that when I reflected on my birth afterwards, I was happy with what happened and how everything had progressed. It was a huge achievement for me and I instantly felt bonded with my baby and my recovery was so much quicker, both physically and mentally.

I have since recommended hypnobirthing to other friends, if nothing else to just ensure they are in the right headspace for birth and what can happen. Hypnobirthing may not give you the pain-free ‘perfect’ birth (whatever that is), but I definitely felt it empowered me to have a positive experience with more choice and confidence in the natural process of birth.