Lahdan joined Birth Wellbeing Midwife group hypnobirthing course, online. Here she shares her birth story and tips for what she felt helped her to have a positive birth experience.
"I have to say I had an incredibly positive pool birth and labour experience. After a wonderful and smooth pregnancy I was so relieved, especially since I’d heard a few horror stories before. I agreed to a sweep at 40+2 after declining induction the day before after using knowledge I had gained on the hypnobirthing course to make my decision- if they weren’t going to do immediately, it wasn’t an emergency (they suggested booking it in for later in the week). The midwife found I was already 1cm and my cervix was thinning nicely. I had done Aquafit classes up to 38 weeks pregnant and had been walking everyday for quite some lengths and been getting the odd braxton hicks contractions, which reminded me of the sensation of the downward bit of a rollercoaster. 3 days later during the night I started with mild irregular contractions. I really thought that was the start, I tried some sleep in between (although not much), but by morning things had settled down again, so I spent the afternoon on my birthing ball and decided to brave, what would end up being, one last walk around the block.
That night contractions started again and steadily became more frequent and more intense. I did all of the up breathing techniques and tried to focus on distraction and keeping mobile to ease any discomfort. Heat also helped lots! In the morning I attended the birth centre triage and was advised that I was 3cm and I felt so disappointed in that moment, and briefly felt that I was never going to cope with labour and was going to be hysterical throughout. I went home for a couple of hours and my mum and husband supported me until I returned to the hospital at 5cm! I couldn’t believe it, and it wasn’t as bad as I had imagined it would be at all. I knew I could do this and felt positivity about what I was able to do, and how I needed to listen to how my body was telling me to move was key.
I had a wonderful delivery in the birth pool with gas and air and some cheeky paracetamol at 8cm, what an experience. My husband won’t ever tell anyone about it without saying that “whilst crowning she said - this is alright you know I’d have another one”. And we had a beautiful 9lb 2oz healthy baby boy, no complications or tearing or stitches. I would hugely recommend perineal massage too - I think that’s what saved me ha, ha! Listen to your body, don’t feel that you should be silent either, if you need to make noise, do! Your body knows what it’s doing and don’t forget to breath, staying as relaxed as possible really helps with any discomfort too."
