Hypnobirthing | Birth Centre | First time Mum
Hypnobirthing really is about preparing for a positive birth regardless of the circumstances – including a lockdown due to Covid! I reached out to Claire on the day Perth went into a 5-day hard lockdown, just to check in how she was feeling given her impending estimated due date. It turns out she was already in labour and handling it beautifully.
Claire and Tom’s beautiful Hypnobirth
Well, indeed I was very much in labour when I wrote that last email, I probably didn’t quite want to pre-empt it! Things carried on building all day last Monday and by night time labour was pretty established.
That afternoon we were still organising baby’s clothes, picking up a car seat, Tom had to get his whooping cough vax and we were taking pregnancy photos at sunset – still unconvinced whether a baby was really on its way! I really wanted to go for a swim at the beach as it had been so hot and I’d been doing lots of snorkelling in the preceding week which I loved with my belly. But as the sun set I thought ”hmm maybe not quite enough time between surges”.
It went on like this for several hours with surges that varied in length and intensity…. I used the TENS machine with caution knowing that I couldn’t go backwards… and one we went into the night. I felt torn between whether to manage surges quietly with deep relaxation or actively with vocal tones and movement. I think I did a bit of both, but the release of energy through the voice and movement was really helpful. All my affirmations and preparation I’d done came to me at different moments. Thinking about the strong women in my red line, my mother and grandmother. I listened only to music in the background at this point – though I’d used the hypnobirthing tracks way earlier in the day and days leading up.
It’s time to go to the birth centre
We kept going and kind of waited for a sign that it was time to go to the birthing centre…that sign ended up being as my membranes ruptured and I immediately started to feel like pushing!!! The TENS machine only got to 12 out of, I think, 37 levels! In hindsight there were other signs too – of transition probably, like my passing thought of “I hate being pregnant” and “why did I think this was a good idea” (haha) and getting the shakes, curling my toes, a few vomits….but they were just so subtle and momentary or seemed too early in the process that I didn’t pay them much attention. Tom thinks probably the thing that turned things up a notch was when I asked him to use the Rebozo to pull my belly up during a surge, then things ramped up. I think I was waiting for it all to feel unbearable but I never really did feel out of my depth or uncomfortable enough to want to disturb things by getting in the car.
Time to push
So when I suddenly felt the need to push we were pretty surprised and in a flurry of mild panic that the baby would be born at home, we jumped in the car and only just made it to FSH in time – not without Tom accidentally going to the St John of God entrance first! Boy was I relieved when we finally made it to the birthing suite room and heard them filling the bath. There was no time for any examinations, so pretty much I hopped into the bath as soon as it was full and soon after that the baby was crowning, then I was pushing a head out, and his body came out in one last push! I heard the midwife saying “shit shit shit” as his body came out and thinking “oh no, that’s not something I want to hear!” – but she had just dropped her phone in the pool trying to catch the time! I felt every little bit of him come through me, it was the most amazing feeling and I distinctly remember thinking “that wasn’t so hard” haha! He swam up to me and it was just the most incredible awestruck moment. I couldn’t believe it was over already! He was alert and eyes wide open.
That was at 3:33am, on Tuesday 2/2/21. I realised I should check the sex as that was also a surprise. He was a boy! We didn’t have a name for him then but we have since named him Otto George.
The pool was a bit too hot (maybe in the rush there was no time to check it) so I had to get out to help bring his O2 levels up but as soon as I stood up over the side the placenta dropped out in a huge splash that caused an epic mess… the rest was a bit dramatic as I blacked out from the heat change and adrenaline rush of what I’d just done, so baby was taken aside and they jabbed me with oxytocin in case I was haemorrhaging – the midwife later told me she regretted this jab as she thinks my blood loss was normal, just looked dramatic because of the placenta drop. But it meant Otto got to hang out with his placenta attached for a good 15 mins while they tended to me.
Life with Otto
We planted Otto’s placenta under an apple tree yesterday, and today marks his one week birthday. It’s been an intense week with so many waves of emotions (and a stress/disruptive overnight hospital stay on day 2 – he developed some jaundice and needed to be on the bili blanket), navigating the milk and feeding journey and processing the birth itself. other than the hospital stay where Tom was allowed to be with us, Covid has been a blessing as it’s kept other visitors at bay and prevented us from wanting to be out and about.
I was going to write you a quick update that I’d had the baby but have ended up writing my birth story unsolicited in a bit more detail! I hope you enjoy and it’s not too much information. I want to say thank you so much for providing us with such amazing resources and knowledge so that Tom and I were able to approach this magical experience with absolute confidence and openness to the process. Tom, I know, got so much out of your course, as did I, and I am sure that our smooth birthing experience was enabled by all the tools we learned during those two days in December.
Claire, Tom and Otto
Kate Vivian is a self-professed pregnancy and birth geek who is finally learning to embrace the chaos of having 3 kids. It was the birth and ‘bringing baby home’ experience of her first baby, and the overwhelming guilt that went with it, that led her to start Bright Mums – and create a world where Mums matter.
A Certified Hypnobirthing Australia Practitioner, childbirth educator and birth and postpartum doula, Kate works with Mums-to-be not only supporting them through pregnancy, and birth but also teaching them to honour themselves at a time when the world is telling them their baby is the most important thing.
With almost 2 decades in adult education, Kate has the ability to create a safe space, a non-judgey space. A place where Mums can relax and feel supported regardless of what their journey looks like.
A keen traveller in a former (pre-kids) life, Kate dreams of the day her kids are big enough to take skiing and they can completely show her up while she is busy falling down mountains.
Find out more about Hypnobirthing Australia Positive Birth classes or how you can work with Kate to have your own calm, positive birth.