A "Successful" Hypnobabies Birth Can Have Many Outcomes

​

Natural Induction, Home to Hospital Birth with Interventions

My first Hypnobabies birth (yes MY birth) didn't go as "planned" AND I still had a 100% successful Hypnobabies birth!

What do I mean by that? I mean that I had tools that helped me navigate a challenging situation and allowed me to ENJOY (yes you read that right) my birth... even WITH all the changes! 

Click to read my full birth story

​

Awaiting Induction

I am totally grateful to my hypnomammas experience; my water broke, without contractions the night before and upon rising the next morning and being at risk of induction we used our easy first stage track and belly lifts to get things started and when they checked me prior to induction I was 6cm dilated and didn't need it!

I was able to have a natural childbirth even though I pushed for almost 3 hours. I was given a tiny dose of oxy (at a rate of 3...just to strengthen the contractions for pushing to avoid further medical intervention due to a prolonged pushing stage). Our son was calm throughout the process (as was I!) even though the strength of the waves was phenomenal. I was quite the little birthing side show as all the docs and nurses who came in were shocked at how composed I was...3 days later, it was as if I never gave birth... I am now even more of a raving fan of the techniques :)

Very Fast with Complications

My labour progressed so quickly - skipped right over early birthing time into transformation, and then encountered a few complications when it was time to push. But I have to tell you that I found the relax cues familiar and reassuring (even though I wasn't able to "relax" at all). And with all the information we received in the class, I wasn't anxious or afraid at any point when the complications did arise, because I felt well-informed and able to make the best decisions for myself and my baby. We loved the class and have recommended it highly to other pregnant friends!
 

Malpresentation 

Although it was not known until after she came out, our baby was not in an ideal position.  Her head was tilted and her arm was crossed over with her fist against her cheek as she was coming out, which meant that the birth canal and pelvis had to open much wider than is typical. As a result, the transformation and pushing took longer than expected. I had no idea it would be that intense. However, the Hypnobabies training and philosophies gave me the confidence to know I could plow through the birth without medical interventions. I remained so focused, and Steve and our midwives were so amazing and patient in coaching me through it, that medical intervention wasn't even a remote option in my mind--even when I was going through some rougher moments when progress had slowed to the point that I doubted whether the baby was ever going to come out. Our midwifery team commented that our birth was one of the most incredible experiences they had witnessed, because I stayed so composed throughout my difficult labor. I'm so glad I took the course and practiced the scripts.  Ever since the birth, people have been asking us about our successful home birth experience.  We will spread the word about the benefits of homebirth, midwifery, and self-hypnosis!

Change of Plans

We are parents! Our beautiful little girl was born on April 29th 2010. We started out with a home birth in a birthing pool the evening of the 28th, the hypno techniques were incredible! When my water broke there was lots of meconium, at that point our baby's heart rate became unsteady.  We tried many different positions to see if that would help but with an unsteady heart rate & given the meconium, my wonderful midwife, suggested that we should go to the hospital. I was almost fully dilated when we reached the hospital & once I was fully dilated my midwife encouraged me to push as hard as I could (she would not have normally done this but with the baby's heart rate still unsteady & the risk of cesarean, we felt I needed to push her out quickly).  Overall I am happy with my birth, it was not as I had envisioned; however, I had been open to changes which helped when changes were needed.

*****
The birthing didn't go exactly as planned but I'm happy with how it turned out. I got to about 21 hours and 8 cm using HypnoBabies techniques and opted for an epidural at that point. It was good to be so well informed from your class and we were able to take our time to make informed decisions about how to proceed. It was quite an experience like no other!
 

Discomfort

Even though I had discomfort, not once did I feel afraid at all.  I remained deeply relaxed and focused the entire time; fully tuned in to my body and my baby.  At times, I felt my body naturally tense in response to the waves but as soon as I heard the Hypnobabies prompts I felt my entire body relax and the discomfort was significantly reduced instantly.  I'm so grateful I had the tools!

 

Unexpected Cesarean Birth

Baby Lucca has arrived. He's absolutely perfect.  He gave us bit of a scare making his grand entrance via emergency c section!  I stayed home for 24 hours, listened to my iPod, focused on my lava lamp.  When we got to the hospital, I was in my bubble of peace, very calm & we were very excited but baby Lucca was not coping well.  My midwife talked to me, & explained what was going on and within 10 minutes I was being prepped for the OR.  Everyone kept commenting on how calm I was and what a good breather I was.  Clint and my midwife were amazing and the hospital staff were also amazing.  They were pretty urgent and said they had to go fast but it didn't feel rushed; it felt safe.

Needless to say my hypnomammas birth was a little less conventional but we used our tools throughout our adventure and I am grateful we took the class.  Clint was amazing through it all and I kept calm.  It felt good to hear my family, midwives and hospital staff comment on how calm I was.  I felt in control except for the small nagging feeling something wasn't quite right.  

So I ended up with a cesarean and even though I was really ready to birth, in the big picture I'm so grateful for it.  I know it's for the best and the outcome is sooooo worth it.  It came down to Lucca and his safety.  I'm glad we were at the hospital and I was in good hands.  Lucca had other birth plans and everything happens for a reason.  So that's our story!  He's feeding like a champ, Clint is learning daddy duties and I'm even more in love with my new family than I thought possible.  I thank you for sharing your knowledge and your class was great.  I think it would have been a completely different experience if we didn't have all the tools under our belts. 
Cheers from one very exhausted but very happy hypno-mamma
 

*****
Hypnobabies helped a great deal! My birthing time was 36 hours, but I had absolutely no concept of time which was awesome. We also used our cues the entire time and the relaxation and breathing techniques were so helpful. In the end, because I wasn't progressing much over time, my midwife broke my waters and because there was meconium, we had to go to the hospital. When I was finally dilated enough, I pushed for 3 hours (I felt I could push forever I had so much energy!), but our baby's head was not engaging and the OB recommended a C-section. This is what I wanted to avoid, but in the end it was truly about a healthy and happy baby. I do not feel negative about my experience at all....I would do it all again! We did all we could and it really was a beautiful experience and I learned a lot. I will always share my story in the most positive light and thank hypnobabies for giving me the tools to get through what most would call 'a difficult labour', but for us, it was simply the beautiful birth of our beautiful girl. We spent the majority of our birthing time in our home with loved ones, and I still was able to experience the birthing pool which was lovely! Our baby was was 8 lbs 9 oz at birth- our big, beautiful and healthy baby girl

​