Amanda & Wayne's 2nd HypnoBirth

Amanda & Wayne took my HypnoBirthing classes as a refresher class in preparation for the birth of their 2nd baby. They took my Thursday classes at Seaside Women's Health in Encinitas, CA in January of 2011. They had an amazing HypnoBirthing experience with their 1st birth and wanted to make sure they had all of the tools that helped them with their 1st birth.



Here is their story:

This is something that I dreamed of and imagined since the minute I saw the positive pregnancy test, something that I was so excited to do all over again. Not only because I enjoyed Anella's labor and delivery so much but also because after 40 weeks of pregnancy the anticipation of meeting the miracle growing inside of me and finding out if it was a boy or girl is the most life changing experience.

I was approaching my "guess date," and everyday felt fleeting moments of "today could be the day" and then the next moment thinking "I'm never going to have this baby!" Around the 10th of April, I started having daily cramping and contractions, usually in the middle of the night sometimes enough that it would wake me up. Every time I'd wake up with cramping or contractions all I could think of is "Is today the day??!?!?!?!" and the excitement and anticipation would keep me awake for a little while. I'd eventually fall back asleep, wake up in the morning and think, "well today is not the day." For some reason I just knew that for me labor would happen in the middle of the night. Night after night as I climbed in bed I'd wonder if tonight was the night.

The night of April 21, I went to bed thinking that maybe this baby was going to be "late," my due date was April 23, I laughed to myself thinking that I'd make my "40 week" OB appointment after all seeing that it was the afternoon of April 22nd. Little did I know.

After Wayne got home from work I took a bath, as I did almost every night in the last trimester. Got out, put on my pj's and headed downstairs for dinner. As I sat down for dinner I just felt "off," I can't explain it really I just felt like things were happening. I got really hot and just felt different, I mentioned it to Wayne in passing but didn't really put too much thought into it. Wayne made dinner and as we sat down to eat I just didn't feel like eating it, a little nauseated but more than anything just "off." I mentioned to Wayne that maybe we should go to bed earlier than normal. Around 9:30pm we went to bed. I actually slept the best I had in months, I wasn't up every hour on the hour to pee like I had been. Actually I only woke up once, at 1am I rolled over to get up to pee and felt a gush of water. I laid there a second wondering if I had peed myself only to have it happen again. I knew immediately what was going on it was the exact same thing that happened with Anella. I got up and went to the bathroom to pee, checking my pants to make sure that there was no odor and that it was clear. I peed and knew that labor was around the corner. I walked out of the bathroom and woke up Wayne. Now I was quite surprised when he asked "Are you sure?" I actually laughed and said "Yes, I'm sure." I immediately called my parents as they were coming over to watch Anella for us and asked Wayne to call Dr. Biter. After I got off with my parents Wayne still hadn't called, he was still in a sleepy haze. So I called Dr Biter's office.

I decided to take a shower and just enjoy the warm water. We headed downstairs to wait for my parents and I sat on my birthing ball. I was starting to get stronger contractions, nothing regular but I could tell they were doing what they were supposed to be doing. All I could think about was how Thursday April 21st, was my last day of just the three of us, my last day with just Anella and I asked Wayne to go get her so I could give her a kiss before we left. My parents showed up at 1:30am which was perfect timing, they were surprised to see Anella awake and I of course started crying. I just knew that our life would never be the same, her life would never be the same and although I was so excited to meet my miracle at the same time I was just overwhelmed by all that was going on. I told Anella that "mommy was having the baby," and asked for a kiss she gave me a kiss and then gave baby a kiss which she had done a million times during the pregnancy, then she gave Wayne a kiss and we handed her to Grandpa, he took her to bed.

We had a 25 minute drive to Pomerado hospital and knowing how fast my labor with Anella had gone we wanted to get there ASAP. We left at 1:35am. I was so glad that it wasn't rush hour seeing that rush hour could have potentially added an additional 45-60 minutes to our drive. As we got on the freeway I was very surprised to see that it was stopped, the three left hand lanes had been closed down and the freeway was narrowed down to one lane. The traffic was SLOW, I laughed and said to Wayne "who would have thought that we'd get stuck in traffic at 2am!" We decided to take the side streets to avoid getting stuck in the traffic. As we drove, I was able to get myself into a very relaxed state during each contraction and I was noticing by the time we got there I was having them about every 4 minutes.

We checked in, got in our room, I changed into my gown and waited for the nurse. She came in and immediately wanted to hook me up to the monitor, this is something that I remember with disdain from Anella's delivery. This time around, I took it with stride. I laid down and she hooked me up, I was counting down the 20 required minutes. During each contraction, I would go within and be completely relaxed (I would repeat some of the birthing affirmations from Hypnobirthing in my head over and over), after it ended I would be with Wayne and the nurse. We gave her our birth plan which she read and immediately changed some of her wording (not using any reference to pain) and she was really excited to find out that we didn't know the sex of the baby. She said that she only has one or two deliveries a year that they don't know the sex. After the 20 required minutes, the nurse mentioned that she didn't get a "reactive" strip from the baby so she wanted to keep me on the monitor. I agreed to stay on the monitor, she then wanted to do an internal exam. Since I hadn't gotten a cervical check during the last few weeks of pregnancy, I had no idea what I'd been, when she checked me I was 5cm. She then got me some ice water hoping to get the reactive strip that she was looking for, I drank it fast. Still with each contraction I would go to my relaxed state and then chat with the nurse and Wayne after. It took much longer to get the reactive strip than I planned, but I had gotten so comfortable on the bed that when she told me I could get up I realized I didn't want to. I kept telling Wayne how nice it was to have these "breaks" between contractions I never had them with Anella and I was thankful to have them this time.

I spent almost my entire labor in the bed hooked on the monitor, this is NEVER in a million years how I pictured my birth. At one point the nurse came in to check me, I'd had the monitor off and she wanted to check the baby's heart rate before, during and after a contraction. She put the monitor on the heartbeat and waited, after a few minutes she said "Can you tell me when you're having a contraction because I can't tell by looking at you!" This made my day! Wayne had kept telling me how amazing I'd been doing but to have a stranger reiterate it was invigorating. She did another cervical check and I was a 7 cm. She told me she'd go call my Dr and let him know to come in. I had drank a ton of water and gotten up a ton of times to pee and would continue to lay back in the bed and go into my relaxed state during each contraction. I remember thinking to myself, I wish we were taping this for Hypnobirthing class (we do have a short video of me at around 5am, 8cm and just watching it it still amazes me that I was in labor). Dr Cobb showed up a little after 5am, at that point he checked me and I was 8cm, my water was still intact and so Dr Cobb asked if I wanted him to break it. I had always thought if I was in this situation I'd say no but I really wanted to get to the pushing phase so I asked him to go ahead and break my water. I continued going deep within with each contraction. We would talk and with each contraction I would close my eyes and get quiet. Dr Cobb would put his hand on my leg and Wayne would do light touch massage. I got up to pee for what felt like the 100th time, as I was sitting on the toilet I heard Dr Biter walk in. I had two more contractions while sitting on the toilet then came out of the bathroom and gave Dr Biter a hug and said "let's have a baby."

I got back in the bed and went into my relaxed state with each contraction, I started to feel a lot of pressure and asked Dr Cobb to check me again. At this point I was 9cm, I was disappointed because with all the pressure I had really thought that I was fully dilated. I started to lose my focus and it was suggested I get up out of bed to help move things along. As I went to get up things intensified even more. I slow danced with Wayne and all of a sudden got so hot, I couldn't cool myself down. Dr Biter brought me ice cold wash cloths which helped but I was still so hot I had to pull off my gown. The intensity was starting to overwhelm me. Dr Biter took a sheet and wrapped it under my belly with each contraction he'd pull back on it to help lift baby. I got to a point where I could barely stand and I wasn't getting a break between contractions. I mentioned that I had even more pressure so Dr Biter suggested I let Dr Cobb check me again. Just the thought was overwhelming so I had to lay back down on the bed. I got back in bed and lost all control I'd had, with each contraction I was taken over by the sensations and pressure from the baby. When Dr Cobb checked, I was fully dilated but I had a small cervical lip on the right, so they asked me to lay on my right side. I rolled over and tried to gain control again. With each contraction I would moan, I remember hearing myself thinking "is that coming from me?" I got to a point where I had no control and my body started pushing for me. I said "I have to push". Dr Cobb & Dr Biter said to let my body do what it needs. We had a mirror set up so I could see the pushing phase (something I had regretted not having with Anella). I started the pushing phase which with Anella had given me a feeling of relief, I was so looking forward to this phase. Well, as each labor is different, I did not get the relief feeling this time around. I remember looking in the mirror with each push thinking that the baby was never going to come. I finally found the right "push" Dr Cobb & Biter told me when I hit the perfect push and I was able to continue to recreate it knowing that it would bring me my baby. I looked in the mirror and saw the baby's head and that was all the motivation I needed. I pushed with everything I had and the head was out. Dr Cobb had to remove a cord wrap from around the baby's neck and then I was able to push again. The shoulders came out and Dr Biter told me to reach down and grab my baby, I grabbed under the arms (thinking to myself WOW this baby is slippery) and brought my baby to my chest. Dr Biter asked Wayne if it was a boy or girl and I looked in the mirror and saw testicles. It didn't matter though I KNEW the entire pregnancy our baby was a BOY! I laid there in complete awe of the last 40 weeks and the miracle laying on my chest. I immediately started breastfeeding. Orion latched within the first 10 minutes after birth.



Orion was born at 7:13am, born 6 hours after my water broke at home. Almost an identical story to Anella's birth. Both born the day before their due date, both having some of my water break at home which sent me into labor, Anella's water broke at Midnight and was born at 6:01 am, Orion's water broke at 1am, born at 7:13am. The similarities are crazy.

The nurse asked me if she could administer Pitocin for the placenta. Dr Cobb, said "no she doesn't need it." The nurse said "Let me ask the patient." She asked me and I said "No, I'd rather not." The placenta came out shortly thereafter, which we asked to have kept as I planned to encapsulate it. I had a small tear so Dr Cobb sewed me up. We waited for the cord to stop pulsating before Wayne cut it.

I laid there with Orion on my chest skin to skin (he was never even cleaned off or rubbed down) for over an hour. He would nurse and then take a break and I would just relish in him on my chest. We asked the nurse to come in so we could weigh him, I was so excited to see how much he weighed. She put him on the scale, it came up with grams which means nothing to me she changes it to pounds and I see 8lbs 14oz! HOLY MOLY!!!! The nurse told me that when she saw me pushing and she saw his head she didn't think I'd be able to do it. I thought to myself "How else was he going to come out at that point?"

The transition from one to two babies has been so easy, both Wayne and I feel like Orion has always been here.



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Congratulations to Amanda & Wayne! Thanks so much for sharing your birth story! I hope you're enjoying being a family of four!

If you'd like more information about Carol Yeh-Garner's HypnoBirthing classes in North County San Diego, CA, please visit her website at www.AWellLivedLife.Net. If you are outside of San Diego, CA, please visit www.hypnobirthing.com to find a practitioner near you.

If you'd like more information about Dr. Biter & Dr. Cobb's OB/GYN practice, Seaside Women's Health, in Encinitas (North County San Diego), CA, please call 760-642-0800.

www.AWellLivedLife.Net
www.AWellLivedLife.blogspot.com

The Story of Two Moms

Mickey Mongan, the founder of HypnoBirthing, recently did a presentation called "Believe in the Magic of Your Thoughts". She told the story of 2 pregnant mothers & how their thoughts helped create their birthing experience.

The Story of Two Moms:

This is the story of 2 beautiful pregnant mothers. They have lived side by side for many years and have become great friends. They enrolled in a HypnoBirthing childbirth class. As they attended the classes with their amazing and supportive birth companions, they realized and decided to take a brand new turn in their lives by getting rid of their worn, musty and non-functional hand-me-downs. In this process, they scheduled a moving company to come to their homes on the same day.

Birthing mother A who lived in a house with a red door, graciously welcomed the workers from the moving company. She showed them the way into her house to take everything out. As each and every piece of furniture, linen, appliances and dishware were taken away, she got more ecstatic at the process she partake. They took the last item, she closed her door and jumped for joy, excited to take another journey of shopping for new furniture and appliances.

Now, Birthing mother B who lived in the house with a blue door, was very hesitant to even open her door when the moving company came knocking. She cancelled her request of removing her hand-me-downs as she felt uncomfortable of letting go as the items had served many generations of her family. Instead, she had the items stored in the shed in the backyard.

The following day, Mom B, who had never replaced her old things, looked around and realized that her home was empty; and so she went out to the shed and took in one of the pieces of her old hand-me-downs. The following day, she did the same, and she continued, day after day, to keep retreiving bits and pieces of the old non-functional goods until, at last, she had every piece of the goods and furnishings back in her home, and she felt content surrounded by those things that she had lived with for years.

One of the moms had a wonderful HypnoBirthing; the other mom had a traditional birthing, overshadowed by interventions and management. Can you guess which was which?

Question is: Have you gotten rid of your "old stuff" - to have the calm, gentle, comfortable birth that you so desire?

Each birthing mother will bring to her birth thoughts, feelings and beliefs that she feels comfortable with, even though she thought she wanted something different. Birthing is bringing forth new life, new beginnings, new journey...then, pregnant mothers need to bring forth new thoughts, new feelings and new beliefs approaching the birth they want to achieve for their unborn baby.

Thanks, Mickey, for sharing this story!

It's so important to release the fears, doubts, & concerns you have about your birth experience & about the adjustments you'll have to make in your life so that you can go into your birthing confident without anything that can cause you to have the fear that causes the tension that causes the pain. This is why I believe HypnoBirthing classes are so valuable...because the classes allow couples to learn to get deeply relaxed so that the mother's body can do what it is naturally capable of doing PLUS the couples are able to experience several fear-releasing hypnosis sessions so that they can let go of their "old stuff".

For more information about HypnoBirthing classes in San Diego, please visit my website at www.AWellLivedLife.Net or the main HypnoBirthing website at www.hypnobirthing.com.

www.AWellLivedLife.Net
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What a calm, peaceful birth can look like

Here's the link to a wonderful video of a woman chanting throughout her labor. The lights are dimmed, candles are lit & the mother chants "Ommmm" & "Wowwwww" throughout her labor. This is an example of calmness by using your breath & voice to keep your body relaxed, loose, limp & open. In HypnoBirthing, we teach moms to use their breath to keep their body relaxed & limp. I always encourage moms to use their voice if they need to but to be sure it's a low voice. This video shows exactly what I'm talking about. This mother shows no signs of fear & truly embraces labor. She moves her hips, squats, & chants. I'll be showing my kids this video (along with the HypnoBirthing videos) someday so they can see what birth can look like.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7yo8v_naitreenchantee_lifestyle

Enjoy!

www.AWellLivedLife.Net
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What birth should look like

Orgasmic birth...sounds crazy, doesn't it? Well, the reality is, if you're relaxed during birth instead of tense & fearful, your body can really enjoy birth! Sometimes even have an orgasm!

20/20 recently highlighted the documentary, Orgasmic Birth, on their show about extreme mothering. Here is the link to the clip: http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=6569030
I think every pregnant woman...heck...every woman & teenaged girl...should watch this video! If more women saw that birth could be like this, they might experience birth in a more peaceful way, which in turn means a more peaceful journey for that little baby. This isn't just for hippie, granola, tree-hugger types...this is what every woman needs to see! Women need to regain trust in their body & the birthing process instead of handing it over to someone else. Women need to question why the c-section rate is so high in the U.S. when we're supposed to be the most "advanced"...birth has become highly medicalized here in the U.S. & it's become quite a money-making industry. When the reality is, birth is a natural process & if left alone, can happen quite naturally & normally without all the interventions that most people think are "necessary".

The woman that is interviewed at the end uses hypnosis (probably HypnoBirthing or another hypnosis for childbirth education class) to teach her how to get her body to remain calm & also to release any fears she has. I love that HypnoBirthing teaches women the physiological process of birth & why it doesn't necessarily have to be a horribly painful experience. It teaches techniques to use during birth not to mask the pain, but to relax the body so the body can birth the baby without the interference of tense muscles, which is what causes the pain. It also helps them learn how to release their conscious & unconscious fears about birth & becoming a parent. All of these things help prepare her (& her partner) to go into the birthing experience more prepared & in control. This leads to calmer moms & calmer babies. Go to www.HypnoBirthing.com for more information &/or to find a practitioner near you. If you're in the San Diego area, contact me to find out about my classes.

So, I encourage people to share this link with their girlfriends, spouses, family members, daughters, etc. so more people can be exposed to the fact that if a woman's body remains calm & relaxed instead of tense, birth can really be more than just manageable, it can be a beautiful, enjoyable experience!

www.AWellLivedLife.Net
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The Unnecesarean

The Unnecesarean (www.unnecesarean.com)

Have you heard? The c-section rate in the United States is at an all time high. One in three babies is brought into the world by surgery.

Do you care? Maybe not. Maybe not until you, your partner, your mom, your friend or your sister is told that her baby is too big for vaginal birth and is wheeled off to the operation room for a major abdominal surgery that she doesn’t need.

The World Health Organization recommends no higher than a 10-15% for all nations, which is based on its 2004 study in which higher rates of morbidity were found in countries with rates below 10% and higher than 15%. This ideal rate is sometimes dismissed as arbitrary at best, yet even if the “ideal rate” was 20%, it would still amount to approximately 421,000 unnecessary surgical deliveries in the United States.

The Cesarean section is an essential, life-saving surgery for both mother and child when performed with medical indication. However, too many women and their partners are unnecessarily coerced into the surgery by doctors and hospital nurse-midwives under the argument that it's what's best for their baby or babies and for their body.

Doctors have been pressured to lower their rates for decades and yet the rate climbs. The onus of lowering this rate does not rest solely on the shoulders of the medical hierarchy.
The current cultural trend in the United States is for women to check themselves into hospitals in labor with a savvy consumer mentality that they are going to receive a series of safe technologically and scientifically based management services from doctors and nurses which will result in the following:
*Pain alleviation
*Information about their numbed body’s progress
*Delivery of a perfect baby

If the consumer is not happy with the end result of the services that they feel the hospital was responsible for providing them, they will do what any American consumer will do when they are not happy with a product or a service—demand reparations.

Hospitals now create a paper trail and preemptively counter the unrealistic expectation that their medical training and expensive technology will guarantee a safe birth experience for mother and baby by over-managing pregnancy and labor—unnecessary tests and drugs, induction drugs of questionable safety and, frequently, prophylactic vaginal bypass surgery—the unnecesarean.

Read more by going to the website (www.unnecesarean.com) , the blog & make sure you read the page about how to avoid an unnecesarean! (For you HypnoBirthing moms, make sure you "cancel, cancel" anything negative & focus on what you want rather than don't want after you visit this site.)

Please share with your friends...more people need to know that they have options!

www.AWellLivedLife.Net
www.AWellLivedLife.blogspot.com

HypnoBirthing & Interventions

This is from another HypnoBirthing practitioner from the UK. I thought it was worth sharing...

HB and Interventions


We teach our couples to negotiate and accept any 'necessary medical intervention', so I believe to describe a 'good/bad' HypnoBirth or refer to births as 'not a real HypnoBirth' is arrogant and bad psychology for our mums. It is nonetheless a HypnoBirth because HB at its best covers almost every eventuality.
In my early teaching days I was suitably evangelical and the 'p' words -pain & pushing - had no place in my vocabulary or my classes; the visualisations were exclusively of the 'perfect' HypnoBirth. When the inevitable 'necessary' interventions occurred - from a forceps delivery to elective c-section and emergency c-section - mums reported back to me that the lack of preparation for those eventualities had left them a bit lost at the time of their decisions to agree to the interventions and a sense of failure that they'd somehow done something wrong or 'failed' their HypnoBirthing 'final' - and leaving me wondering if I'd omitted something essential.


My own cousin had an amazing HypnoBirth - following a whole series of 'interventions' throughout her very difficult pregnancy. She had wanted a homebirth - massive fibroids made that inadvisable. Her baby was stubbornly breech, despite every turning technique and baby appeared to be doing his best to turn. My cousin was a vaginal breech herself; she changed consultant at 37 weeks to one who agreed to support a vaginal breech. At 41 weeks, the same consultant gently asked her to consider elective c-section. She took herself deep into self-hypnosis and following a dialogue with her body and her baby (ALL very valid HypnoBirthing skills) decided her baby needed help to be safely born. Her consultant at all times stressed that he would support whatever decision she came to - he respected her knowledge and ability to make informed decisions . . . which came purely from HypnoBirthing . . . and he would still support a vaginal birth if that was her decision.


She accepted the offer of the c-section, remaining calm, focusing love and good hormones - and oxygenated blood - down to her birthing body and her baby all the way and requesting lights/sounds/voices, etc. be considered for as gentle a delivery as possible. She adjusted her visualisations to include a gentle delivery and good recovery for herself and baby. This was an adjustment - a negotiated intervention, based on an informed decision (made possible by HypnoBirthing training), not a capitulation or, horrible word - failure.


Again, her surgeon did his best to give her a HypnoBirth. Baby was to go skin to skin with dad while she was 'busy' after the procedure and not to be taken to another room. As soon as possible, baby was to go to the breast. They modified their birthing preferences to take the changes into account - again, making their own informed decisions with every change that occurred. All good use of HypnoBirthing skills.


At the time of Jack's birth it was discovered the cord was twice around his neck, quite tight and thus and very short - which explained why he seemed to be making his best effort to turn and not quite making it. A vaginal breech could have been a bad decision.


As far as mum is concerned, HypnoBirthing worked for her and she's my greatest advocate. Without HypnoBirthing, she would have had no control or choices whatsoever - it would all have been taken over and become a totally medical procedure. As it was, she and her husband used all their HypnoBirthing knowledge and skills to effect the very best birthing experience they could in the ever changing circumstances surrounding Jack's birth day.


Jack - now 10 months old - is an amazing little boy - a glowing example of what we describe as a HypnoBaby, successfully and exclusively breastfed and the most blissful parents you could wish for.


So yes, HypnoBirthing works - DESPITE any circumstances that prevail. HypnoBirthing works - if the parents have total confidence in their ability to make informed decisions. Continuing calm and relaxed, breathing down and communicating with baby exactly as for a vaginal delivery - explaining to her body what is happening and visualising healing afterwards - as hypnotherapists, exactly what we would do to prepare for surgery, ensuring no post-op shock and good recovery.


My teaching now includes mention of this - and urges parents to adjust to any change in circumstances without disturbing the calm focus and continuing with their HypnoBirthing breathing until baby is in their arms.


With Birthing Preferences - they will make a few notes under an 'EVEN IF' section, then put them out of sight. I use the words "EVEN IF" in response to parents' question of "WHAT IF?" It suggests a smoother process and an acceptance that nature's way isn't always the quick and easy way, but HypnoBirthing will still be there for them - working away "as if by magic". Knowing the contingency is there reassures them of continuing control and keeps the fear away.


This is a long post - but this minor emphasis has changed things for my mums who do accept necessary intervention. They still feel empowered and, just as importantly, that HypnoBirthing didn't let them down when it counted.


Geraldine Vinall

Essex UK



Thank you Geraldine for your insight & wisdom...I feel it is our job as HypnoBirthing practitioners to educate our clients to have true informed consent & to empower our clients to have the best birth they can have. Your words ring true...



http://www.awelllivedlife.net/

http://www.awelllivedlife.blogspot.com/

A HypnoBirthing story from Costa Rica

Here's a HypnoBirth story from Sara R. I Hope you find it inspiring...

Our birthing story in Costa Rica

I need to start this birthing story by remembering the wonderful pregnancy I had. I had some nausea and upset stomach in the first three months, mainly due to the prenatal vitamins that were not really in sync with my system until I found the right ones for me. I suffered from some heartburn in the 8th month and the last month was tough on my swollen ankles which I tried to relieve by swimming 3 times a week for an hour until the very last week ofpregnancy. I also suffered from mild sacrum pain during the 7th and 8th month but yoga , swimming and some chiropractic appointments really made things better. Sleeping has never really been easy for me throughout my life and during pregnancy it got worse , especially the last few months, but I guess I was just getting prepared for what followed. Overall it was a really easy and peaceful pregnancy where I tried to exercise and be as healthy as possible. I practiced prenatal yoga, walked, followed a HypnoBirthing course and practiced visualizing the most peaceful, easy and fearless birth possible. I had prepared my body and was as healthy as I could possibly be.

On Friday, October 5th at 2 AM I woke up with some uncomfortable surges and noticedthey were coming each hour or so. I went through the morning by going to the supermarket and running a few errands, as contractions were slowly risingand getting closer together. I kept hydrated with water and Gatorade and really never felt hungry all day so I skipped lunch. After lunch I noticed some brownish mucus-like-thing when I went to the bathroom and thought.. "OK, this must be the famous uterine seal. Here we go".

At 3 PM I called my doctor to tell him my waves were now every 20 minutes. He asked me to go see him in his office and after he checked me he told me I was already 4 cm dilated and I should calmly make my way to the hospital so they could keep Emma's heart monitored. Jeff and I went to buy the last few things, prepared our hospital bag and headed to the CIMA hospital, in Costa Rica . I registered in the hospital, signing all the paperwork and walked to my room. I placed my yoga mat on the floor and Jeff turned on the Ipod where I had prepared my birthing music, especially the sound of waves. Emma's heart was monitored and she seemed to be doing well. It was amazing to see that through each contraction her little heart beat would slow down and then pick up again right after the wave was over. We also had a machine where we could see the peak of each contraction and it would measure theintensity and the time between them. Jeff and I were pretty entertained by this machine, although I was only on it for about 20 minutes since the nurse considered everything was just perfect. Surges were now coming every 10 minutes or so and I just concentrated and breathed through them.

My doula, Ansu, arrived at 5:30 PM and that is about the time when the second stage of labor began. My surges were 5 minutes apart and beginningto get laborious. A nurse checked me and I was about 6 cm dilated. We began really breathing through each wave and enjoying the times in between.

At 8 PM my doctor came in and checked, I was 8 cm and we decided together to go ahead and break my waters. After that, surges really picked up. I was standing, leaning on a couch we had in the room and during contractions it felt really nice to squat. I sounded like a wounded cow and the whole hospital probably heard me , but I think they must be somewhat used to it,even though Costa Rica has 93% C-section rates at the moment and very few women have natural births without epidural or some kind of drugs.

Jeff was there the whole time. I would grab on to his hands and arms during contractions and he was pretty amazed at my strength. Ansu asked me if I wanted to get in the shower. We placed the yoga ball inside the shower and I sat on it as the warm water ran down my back and felt really good. I stayed in the shower for about 30 minutes, breathing deeply through each surge. When I got out, Ansu would massage my back and acupressure points and it all felt really relieving.

By 9 PM I was tired , my whole body shaking like a leaf between contractions, probably from the release of so much energy, and I was ready to ask my doctor for an epidural. In fact, I did. Thankfully, Ansu remindedme of my birthing plan, of what a great job I was doing, of my strong belief of having a completely normal physiological birth without drugs, of helping Emma to come into this world naturally and with her sweet voice, motivated me by reminding me how strong I was and how I could do it without interventions, how I had chosen a natural birth in order to prevent Emma from being exposed to drugs and their side effects. Her support was so important for me. I listened and focused on my goal. Deep inside of me Ireally didn't want any interventions, I knew I still had the strength to carry on, I knew I could do it, that I didn't want any drugs to affect Emma, that my body had the power and wisdom to give birth and have the control over this experience. I wanted this freedom, and I told Ansu I would keep going. I had the confidence and faith in my amazing birthing body. I followed my instincts in labor and allowed my body and my baby to do exactly what they knew to do. I surrended to the power of birthing energy "and I let go"!

Soon after I began to feel a strong urge to bear down and push. I kept squatting each time a contraction arrived and felt I was becoming louder and louder, my voice deeper and deeper. Doctor Paer was close to me and trying, with a flashlight to check if Emma's head was seen, but I realized he was very uncomfortable when joking with Ansu, told her her he would need to make a hole in the floor and go down to the first floor of the building to be able to see anything. It was pretty funny afterwards, but at the moment I was so focused that I couldn't really laugh.

I moved to the other room and sat on the bed in a V position. I knew it was all happening, I knew I just needed a few more breaths, some more strength and I would finally have her in my arms. I breathed down and finally someone announced the little head was beginningto show. Jeff was watching, Ansu was motivating me, and I felt like a ring of fire in my perineum, a lacerating, excruciating pain (still not sure about that through HB) . Her head was fully visible, one more deep breath and her whole body came out. Doctor Paer received her and placed her right on my chest. And, THAT is the image and feeling that I will never forget for as long as I live. That tiny, warm, wet body moving on top of me, her voice, her cry, that little miracle being had just come out of me, I felt time stop I felt like in a trance. All I could do was stare at her in disbelief and welcome her into this world.

Emma was born alert and ready to interact with us. Giving birth naturally has definitely increased my self esteem and confidence. I find myself replaying my birth story in my mind over and over. I have discovered power that I never knew that I had! I made Emma and I went through the experience of giving natural birth! It's amazing. I am confident that I have prepared her for the best start in life and myself for the best start at motherhood.

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A Powerful Film

This is a documentary made for partners/Dads. It really follows HypnoBirthing's philosophy of the baby being aware before being born & even during the birthing experience. It talks about how fathers/partners really need to be informed & empowered so that they can protect their partner & their baby.



A very powerful film...can't wait to see it!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVf4rzam0Xo



http://www.awelllivedlife.net/

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Childbirth after Previous Birth Trauma

Here is some information about a new Study on PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder):

Subsequent Childbirth after Previous Birth Trauma:
In order to help clinicians provide better care to mothers who are having a subsequent childbirth after suffering through a previous traumatic birth, Cheryl Beck (Professor at the University of Connecticut) and Sue Watson (chairperson of TABS) are now conducting a research study on this topic.

Women who have had another child after having experienced birth trauma are invited to participate in this research study. Just like Professor Beck's previous studies on birth trauma and PTSD after childbirth, this study will be conducted over the Internet. Mothers will be asked to describe their experiences during pregnancy, and labor and delivery after having suffered a previous traumatic childbirth.

If you are interested in participating in this research or wish to find out more about this study, please contact Professor Cheryl Beck directly at the University of Connecticut. Her email address is Cheryl.Beck@uconn.edu.

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An analogy for birth

An Analogy for Birth-by Mickey Mongan, Founder of HypnoBirthing

There is a rhythm and a flow to each individual labor, just as there is for all of Nature.

I told of a lemon experience story in my last class that made me become even more aware that very little in Nature is synchronized to all happen at the same time and according to someone else's expectation with no consideration of time variation.

As the story goes, I went out to my lemon tree a few months ago to grab some lemons. Well, that's just what I did. The first just wouldn't release no matter how I pulled, so I reached up beyond the lemon and tore the stem from the limb. Yes, I damaged the bark on the limb, but the only thing that really counts is that I ended up with a healthy lemon and a tree that would mend. I next took another lemon and twisted it until it separated from the stem. I had a slightly bruised tree from all the pulling and twisting, but I had a healthy lemon, and I was happy.

I then reached up and cupped another lemon that immediately fell into my hands from the star-shaped end of the stem. I ended up with a happy tree, a healthy lemon, and I, too, was happy.

We need to be able to see labor as individualized as we would see other factors of Nature. For everyone to be happy, we need to wait for the clues from Nature that will come only when Nature is ready. If we trust birth and believe in it's perfect design, then we cannot expect to see everything happen in one time frame.

By the way, I apologized to the tree for attempting to approach the task with a one-size-fits-all mentality.

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Are you eating enough fruits & vegetables?

Are you eating enough fresh fruits & vegetables? I know I don't...

It’s the one recommendation in almost every diet plan, every guide to nutrition, every fitness book. Even organizations such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the World Health Organization, the American Heart Association, the American Cancer Society, and the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion agree. But as much as it’s preached, most people still don’t eat enough fruits and vegetables every day (it's recommended that you eat 5 servings EACH of RAW fresh fruit & vegetables). Juice Plus+ helps fill that gap. I've just become a Juice Plus Distributor after doing a lot of research about it. I know I don't eat enough fruits or vegetables & my kids definitely don't. I worry about that, but can now feel good about the fact that they can get all of the benefits from eating 10 servings of fresh fruits & veggies!

The HypnoBirthing Institute is now endorsing Juice Plus as well. I'm particularly impressed with the fact that they put a good share of their profits into research and development. I'm impressed with the independent, retrospective study that shows that pregnant women who were on Juice + had few incidences of low birth weight, pre-term births, next to zero pre-ecclampsia, no babies needing NICU care, and not one baby born respiratorily compromised. More studies on its effects on pregnancy and birth are in the works right now.

I'm also impressed that Dr. William Sears and the younger Drs.Sears (pediatricians) use it themselves and have all of their patients on it, and they say they never see their patients--little ones--because they don't experience the ear infections, sore throats, and usual plethora of colds and viruses.

If you'd like information about how you can purchase Juice Plus for your family, you can go to this website to learn more information about the product & the costs involved: www.AWellLivedLifeJuicePlus.com.

Also, for those of you with kids age 6+, you can receive FREE Juice Plus for your kids! All you have to do is have one adult purchase Juice Plus supplements & one child in your family will receive FREE Juice Plus supplements! How cool is that?!? Please do NOT order until you contact me to let me know you would like to participate in this program. To learn more about the Children's Health Study using Juice Plus supplements, go to: www.childrensresearch.org.

Please feel free to forward this email to anyone you think might be interested...

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A VBAC HypnoBirth testimonial

I just wanted to let you know that little Baby Ella was born on Friday June 13, 2008.

I was able to have a successful VBAC, and was also able to do it naturally. It was an amazing experience and I couldn't have asked for it to be any better than it was. I truly have your classes to thank for so many reasons. I was able to use HypnoBirthing throughout the process. I think that the most helpful was that I was able to relax between surges. The surges were quite strong, and I didn't exactly fit the mold from all the videos we watched. However, I was always able to come back to a relaxed state before the next one. The other way in which your classes helped was that it showed me that I could have a natural delivery and VBAC. Prior to these classes I was not sure it was possible. I did actually switch to Dr. Biter who made it absolutely amazing. I also used Dawn Thompson as our Doula, who was also amazing. I really learned that by having the right people and the right frame of mind anything is really possible. It was an incredible day, and I thank you so much for your part in making it that way.

Thanks again for everything.

Jenni & Greg, 2nd time parents, Encinitas, CA

A Beautiful Video

Here's a link to a beautiful video of one family's journey through the births of their children--from natural hospital births to homebirths to unassisted homebirth:

http://www.onetruemedia.com/otm_site/view_shared?p=4ac8e7d36cef07fba37a44&skin_id=601&utm_source=otm&utm_medium=text_url

What a wonderful, inspiring video! Enjoy!

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A HypnoBirthing VBAC story

This story came from a HypnoBirthing practitioner that is also a doula...

A HypnoBirthing VBAC story

Just had to share. Attended a birth early this morning. Mom called me at 1:00am saying they had just arrived at the hospital and they were going to keep her. She was 7cm going on 8. And she didn't have a clue.

I rushed to the hospital which is 30 minutes away only to find her up walking around, playing with her three year old, taking a breathing baby down minute and then going on about her business. She and I walked the halls for a while, stopping only for her to breath down and then back to her room where she chose the squatting position as I massaged her back.

Midwife came in, checked her she was at 9 going on 10...all in 30 minutes time. Mom decided to get into bed using a squat bar, began pushing and in less than 30 minutes there was a new addition to their happy family. And three year old brother had slept through the entire last 45 minutes. 2 hours from when I arrived. Mom was more than excited, for that is something that she had really, really wanted.

So in our last two classes we did a lot of fear release work and I added affirmations for her that she would birth fast and very easily. She wanted to get to the hospital at least at a 6 so she used that affirmation as well. After baby birthed, she made the statement that there was no way she could have birthed a baby vaginally if it weighed over 7 lbs. Well guess what? Baby was 7lbs. 6oz. She was shocked. The nurse simply stood in awe for most of the birth or did busy work for she could not believe what she was seeing.

So just goes to show how powerful the mind is with positive reinforcements. Mom cannot understand why every woman does not use HypnoBirthing. She plans on spreading the word. Yeah!

Blessings to all, Sonja Parker

A Beautiful HypnoBirthing Story

Here is a story that was shared by another HypnoBirthing practitioner. Enjoy!

Here is a birth story from one of my mothers. She has posted it to Orgasmic Birth (www.orgasmicbirth.com) and Rikki Lake's site...it is so well written and a beautiful description of the work that we all do...enjoy! Pauline Nardella, HypnoBirthing Practitioner

We Follow Nature

Eli´s birth story doesn´t begin with my water breaking. It really begins with the support of the childbirth educators who empowered me and offered the revelation that there are birthing options. Without them, I would have continued to believe in the limits of prenatal care (dipping a stick in my urine, checking my weight and warning me of the various fetal maladies by another OB in my five minute checkup.) In this system, I understood that labor can only take place in a hospital with interventions and that giving birth is a medical event. We are reminded that women can "fail to progress" and labors become "unpromising" and necessitate drugs and major surgery. And worst of all, despite the battery of tests, we are reminded that the baby can go into "fetal distress"for any unforeseen reason that no amount of prenatal care can prepare for or prevent. In this system, pregnancy is a congratulated precarious condition.

As is true of life, situations arise and bridges must be crossed. But we all know not to focus on the "what ifs", so why is pregnancy the exception? The truth is that there are things one can do to prepare both physically and emotionally. And there are things one can do to ensure the best possible outcome for mother and baby. Pregnant women are not passive victims to their bodies. I learned these things from women like Pauline Nardella, HypnoBirthing Childbirth Educator, Anne Margolis, Certified Nurse Midwife and the filmmakers Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein, who made "The Business of Being Born".

For every woman there are specifics that stand out in their prenatal care. I did not have to be subjected to constant pelvic exams, since most of the time, there was no medical need for it. When my midwife had to determine if the baby was head down she respectfully offered me options: a pelvic examorsonogram. Until that point, I had always been told to undress from the waist down. Never asked. Never aware I had choices.

I also learned that women are suggestive when pregnant. This is not because we are suffering from "pregnancy brain" or any other one of those derogatory descriptions of a woman expecting. We are suggestive in this condition by nature because it assists in the birthing process. A pregnant woman can be told she can bond with her unborn baby and therefore she can. A pregnant woman can be told that the contractions are surges, or simply a tight feeling and therefore they are endurable or even pain free. Being suggestive is critical to the birthing process and being exposed to fear in a suggestive state puts women on a dangerous path toward labor. This is why numbing drugs are so critical in an optionless system, not just to medicate the pain, but to numb a women´s fear and even the fear of fear.

My homebirth midwife asked me questions about my pregnancy. She asked questions about my life situation and my concerns. She let me speak and she listened. I was an active participant in the prenatal check-ups to determine the well-being of my baby. She did not overwhelm me, and with each visit she provided simple handouts of things to do or assist me in my pregnancy. I did not feel pressure to do everything (like walk a mile a day, drink a gallon of raspberry leaf tea and do 1000 kegel muscle exercises while sitting in traffic) but to do what I could and even without doing anything at all, my body knows what to do. Women do not "fail" to give birth. This truth was reaffirmed in my Hypnobirthing class. My body and my baby know what to do. We follow nature.

Despite this, the moment my water broke, I felt fear. "I am not ready", I thought. At nearly 42 weeks I should have felt ready. But I still could not let my thoughts go. Did I practice enough with the tapes? Do I have the stamina? Am I going to fail to progress like I did in the hospital with my daughter? Can I take the pain without meds? The first contraction was powerful. It took me by surprise. This is where my prenatal care began to demonstrate its effect on me. Instead of thinking "OW!" I thought "WOW! My body is strong." Holding on to that thought, I went from contractions every 10 minutes to every 5 in less than an hour.

Apparently positive thinking and relaxation does have an effect on the cervix. The "proof" was now in action. I actually did not plan in advance the positive affirmations I would use, but once in labor, I no longer referred to them as contractions but as waves because they were not isolated to my uterus. I felt them from the tips of my toes to the top of my head. I called my midwife to let her know the contractions were coming strong and quickly.

My husband ran around preparing the bath and trying to figure out why the heat wasn´t working that cold February night. My 2-year-old woke up looking for me. "The baby is coming?" If someone told me she was going to wake up and pine for me before our babysitter arrived, mid-transition it would have scared me. I cuddled with her and tried to put her back to bed as my husband stopped between errands to hold my hand. My midwife had the wisdom that I should prepare and inform my daughter with videos and a homebirth children´s book. She was a little afraid but more excited mostly because I was not afraid. I did not know I had the strength to care for my daughter and my labor at the same time.

At my first birth my husband could not be out of my reach for two seconds. I needed his strength to get through the 20 hours of pain. Without any rubs this time, I made it one wave at a time. I realized that the waves only lasted for about one minute or so and at this point the endorphins kicked in and the calm between lasted for three or more. It felt utterly divine so I focused on this. Since I was so suggestive, all I had to do from my practice was say the word "relax" and I was completely weightless, and floating. I did not mind the contractions as much simply because the strength of them and my thoughts were instigating this blissful relaxation.

My midwife had not yet arrived as my cervix reached 10 cm, and my husband and neighbor had just completed filling the tub. I went back into my head since I did not expect to be in the bath alone and I got scared. My Midwife and Doula arrived just before I felt the need to push. I let her know I was scared and she asked me of what. And I said of being alone. My husband was with me at that point, the babysitter arrived and so did my caretakers. She only needed to say "You are not alone" and I was not alone. In the warmth of the tub, my husband was holding me, sharing our strength to birth our son. In the timelessness of following nature, I remember my midwife´s words as I fell into what seemed like a trance. She said, "Go with your body", after I announced the urge to push. And I did. She said, "Open your pelvis and let the baby through." And I did. She said, "Push past the burning ring." And I did!

My son was nearly 10 pounds. We brought him into this world without fear, and after only three hours of labor and 15 minutes of pushing, he arrived into our arms with a feeling of love that cannot be described. Perhaps it was the Oxytocin I heard so much about. Still, the experience was life changing. It gave me strength through the turbulent changes of the first weeks of post-partum and a feeling of empowerment that I can carry with me through life.This story of trust, birth and love has bonded us immediately as a family and I have no doubt this birth story will continue to shape our lives.
Ruthie

Pauline Nardella
www.BirthingWisdom.com

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Orgasmic Birth?

This looks like an amazing film. I can't wait to see it! It goes so in line with HypnoBirthing. For those HypnoBirthing mommies out there, just "cancel, cancel" when the trailer mentions pain a few times. I totally agree that women can have orgasmic births. My 2nd birth was so enjoyable (although not orgasmic...darn!), I really wish I could birth more babies. Not be pregnant & not be a mommy to a newborn again, but just birth again!

Enjoy the trailer!

What would happen if women were taught to enjoy birth rather than endure it?
In answering that question, Orgasmic Birth poses the ultimate challenge to our cultural myths.
Filmmaker Debra Pascali-Bonaro reveals a revolutionary approach to birth that is statistically safer and healthier for both mother and child than the birthing and delivery methods that are standard in many parts of the world today.
The viewer becomes an intimate part of the birth stories of 11 women who said YES to this journey. Each is shown laboring undisturbed in a free, sensuous, joyous moment.
With commentary by Dr. Christiane Northrup, Ina May Gaskin, and other experts in the field and stunning moments of women in the ecstatic release of childbirth.

Learn more at: http://orgasmicbirth.com/

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Another great HypnoBirth in Ohio

This is from a HypnoBirthing practitioner in Ohio...I especially like what the mom says about welcoming her surges.

One of my moms who has moved to Texas, just had her second little boy. We worked together in 2006. Here's her latest birth story:

Just wanted to let you know Zachary made his arrival on March 18th at 8:07 he was 8.2 lbs and 20 in long. My labor was 6 hours. I was able to walk through several hours and we made it to the hospital about two hours before he made his appearance. I labored so silently the nurses just ignored us and Zach was born before the doctor was even called. We tried to tell them but they were too concerned with the fact that I wasn't going to have an IV or drugs that they didn't believe us. Oh well, you always say the doctor doesn't do anything any way. In our case, Zach came so quickly I was at 7.5 and about 15 mins later my water broke. I told Scott he was coming. The nurse skeptically checked again, was surprised to find I was around an 8 and less than five minutes later Zach was born. I can't say that I "breathed" him out or really pushed, honestly he sort of shoved his way into the world! I didn't have a lot of say in the whole thing. My first words after he was born was "was that it? Is he here?" I couldn't believe it!
We found that we were able to stay calm and collected the whole time, Scott was wonderful yet again and this time I really found myself inviting each surge. I understood that each surge brought me one step closer to Zach's birth and I told myself that the stronger the surge the more ground I was covering. Overall another wonderful hypnobirth.
Its funny though, with most things in life people are more likely to believe in your methodology if you can repeat a phenomenon. Unfortunately it seems to be the opposite in this. Now people assume that labor must just be easy for me. Oh well you can't convince people if they don't want to listen. Thanks for everything!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Heidi Wilhelm
Owner, Labor of Love, LLC
Athens, OH
740-593-3618
MAKE YOUR BIRTH EASIER AND MORE PEACEFUL!
www.ohiobabies.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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A wonderful HypnoBirth story

I received permission to share a fellow HypnoBirthing practitioner's former class members' birth story with you. Here it is:

This is from one of my couples that switched to Brooklyn Birthing Center at the end of their 8th month. She was waiting on the approval from her insurance company and kept on top on it, bugging them until she got the answer she wanted. I still remember being in the supermarket when she called to tell me it was approved. Permission was granted to share this story.

December 29th, 2007

This was a normal day, much like any other Saturday, with the exception that I was now officially 2 days past my due date and very anxious, but lo and behold, I started to feel something at 11:30 am. I was very excited; this is the day we’ve been waiting for! I called my midwife and let her know that surges had begun, but it was the very beginning stage, and told her that I would keep her abreast about the situation. It was at that point that I decided to have a talk with my little girl, it was a major day for football, me being a Patriots fan and my husband being a Giants fan we were gearing up for the last game of the regular season. I told her that she could come before the game or after but not during.The surges were coming every 5-10 minutes and lasting about 30-45 seconds.

I went out did some light shopping for some snacks to bring to the birthing center and came back home. The intensity of the surges started to increase as well, but with all the excitement of the football game I didn’t really notice it much. After the game (the Patriots won that one) around 11:30 pm the surges really kicked it up a notch! I spoke again with my midwife who informed me that she was ending her on-call shift and that Yulia would be on.

At that point my wonderful hubby Michael began giving me my prompts, and I went into a deep relaxation. He walked me through each surge and I allowed our Hawaiian music CD to bring me to another place, free of any pain. At 3am I called the midwife and told her that I wanted to come in to be checked out, the surges were very strong at that point, and I wanted to know what progress had been made. After being checked out I was 3 cm dilated and 100% effaced, but the baby’s head was still floating, so we were definitely having a baby today but just not now!

We went back home and I took several showers, went through more exercises and relaxed. Around 8 am I started to get dry heaves,(interesting to me b/c I went the whole pregnancy without any morning sickness) and we called Yulia at that time and she said that was good (later we came to find out that I was in the transition stage) and that she would call us around 10AM. At 10 I went into yet another shower,and spoke to the Yulia again gave her another update and she told us to meet her at the Birthing Center at 12pm.

By this point I was exhausted and wanted this baby out. I remember telling my husband that if we went to the birthing center and I didn’t hear what I wanted to hear, I was going to check myself into the hospital and get drugs, because I was worn out! My hubby knowing how bad I wanted to have a natural birth gave me some very encouraging words and told me that although the ultimate decision was mine, he believed in me and knew that I had more fight in me.

When we arrived at the birthing center I was 7 cm dilated and the baby’s head was engaged, the midwife could even feel the curls on her head! So we were told to walk around the block for an hour, which we did and when we came back I was 9 cm dilated! I was very excited at this point and I got a second wind of energy. I went into the birthing room and started to go deep into relaxation and I don’t really remember how long I was in there but then my waters released around 3 pm, and then things really started to pick up!!!!

The assistants then filled the birthing tub and I got in. Ahhhh that was heavenly!! I brought our cd player in there and listened to ocean waves, and just drifted into my own world, I just let go and let my body and the baby do what they had to do. I suddenly had the urge to bear down – so I knew it was time to go into my birth breathing. The midwife was called and it was time!!! It took 3 big birth breaths, and I pushed a little on the last one and Michaela Marie was here. I received the baby and she looked up right at me, the emotions that came over me are indescribable!

I was told it took at total of 10 minutes for her to emerge into the world from the time I started my birth breaths! It was finally over and I made it, no screaming, no bright lights, no rough handling of the baby – everything was perfect just how we envisioned it. Thank God I found Hypnobirthing and Debi Tracy, because I don’t think I would have been able to make it without Hypnobirthing and my hubby being an amazing birth companion.

Sincerely Jonelle & Michaela

Debi Tracy Hypno Mom of two
NGH Certified Consulting Hypnotist
HypnoFertility®
HypnoBirthing®
Pediatrics
http://www.onebirthatatime.com/
Touch of Health Wellness Center

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A Dad's viewpoint of HypnoBirthing

Here is a great article written by a father, who originally was a skeptic, but quickly became a believer in HypnoBirthing.

I swore I'd never be there, but my baby's birth was mesmerising
By TOM SYKES 29th November 2007 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/femail/article.htmlin_article_id=497190&in_page_id=1879#
A few months ago I wrote in this newspaper that I had no intention of being present at the birth of my second child. The whole business of childbirth, I wrote, was messy, alarming, puts men offsex and was not something that I wished to witness again. And what use would a husband be in the delivery suite anyway? Well, that noise you can hear is the sound of a man earnestly munching hisway through a giant-sized portion of humble pie, because my wife Sasha has just given birth to a perfect baby girl - and I was there. And I'm told I was more than a little bit useful as well.
So what happened to my conviction that I'd rather stick red-hot pins in my flesh than be in the delivery room? Well, in the course of my research, I spoke to a number of birthing gurus,including Marie Mongan, the American creator of a program called HypnoBirthing that is sweeping through fashionable society moms in the United States faster than a Californian wildfire.
It was a conversation that didn't turn out too well. You see, Ms Mongan and I disagreed on the role of the father in the birth of his offspring - somewhat violently. I tended towards the school of thought that the father should be down the pub awaiting the good news. Ms Mongan, by contrast, insisted that "men do feel wonderful" being present at the birth, and that being on hand is, "part of completing what you started as a couple" and that my prespositionedence was necessary to pass on the right "energy" to the child.
My reaction? I wrote, "Frankly, most men I know consider such psychobabble a load of old cobblers." While some individuals find words like "healing", "chakra" and "energy"soothing, they actually make me angry, and HypnoBirthing sounded like exactly the sort of hippy-dippy, New Age nonsense that I abhor.
But then came a strange coincidence. Two couples told us that they had used HypnoBirthing, and credited the program with the easy births they had experienced. Sasha wanted to give the system a try. When faced with a choice between his principles and the wishes of his pregnant wife, a wise man will abandon his principles in a flash.
And so, I somehow found myself lying back in a remarkably comfortable,reclining armchair, being gently lulled into a trance by hypnotherapist Aisling Killoran, who runs the Dublin clinic Accomplish Change. In a lilting, mellifluous voice, Aisling began to intone affirmations about how easy and natural the birth would be into our ears. "My baby is perfectly for an easy and comfortable-birth," she chanted, "I am relaxed and happy that my baby is finally coming to me." Despite all my deep-seated hostility to alternative healing methods, I went under like a light. One moment I was thinking, "I can't believe I am listening to this tripe,"and the next Aisling was summoning us both back to consciousness by counting down from five to one. I felt incredibly refreshed when I came round, and it was at this point that Aisling delivered the bombshell; during labour, I had to be in the room for HypnoBirthing to work. My job was to repeat the affirmations and massage Sasha's arm and back to trigger a relaxed, fear-free state that would make it easy for the baby to emerge.
Over the next few weeks we listened to Aisling on repeat on the CD player,and I even read up all about the system in Ms Mongan's book, HypnoBirthing. Maybe something had been planted in my brain by the hypnosis but the more I read, the more I began to appreciate her alternative approach to birthing. Her theory is that in many non-Western cultures giving birth is not something that is feared and, because it is generally assumed that everything will turn out OK, women are a lot more relaxed and give birth more easily. But in our society, women have learned to fear birth, says Mongan.
Pick up almost any modern pregnancy book, and it's hard to disagree. As a result of that fear, when the time comes to give birth, there is a flood of adrenaline coursing around the body of the average labouring mother, and the whole affair becomes incredibly fraught. Techniques like self-hypnosis and guided meditation aim to reduce this fear, and affirmations serve to reprogram the mind. In essence, HypnoBirthing says that instead of thinking about all the stuff that might go wrong, why not see it all going right?
Why not indeed, I thought, as my credentials as a sceptic disappeared out of the window. And if it all turns out to be a load of nonsense, well, at least it's harmless, and Sasha can still opt to be hooked up to an epidural.
Then, one Tuesday night, around 11pm, something started to happen. In the few short minutes it took to throw a nightdress and some other essentials into a bag, we were gunning at top speed through the inky blackness towards the hospital. As the surges (the touchy-feely HypnoBirthing word for contractions) started coming - eight minutes apart, then seven, then six - I felt increasingly helpless. And then I thought, well, what the hell, it might just help, and I told Sasha to close her eyes and concentrate on my voice. "I meet each surge with confidence and joy," I found myself saying, "I am happy and excited my baby is finally coming to me." Sasha let out a deep breath. I felt ridiculous but I carried on, suddenly understanding why people say there are no atheists on a plane which is crashing. "My baby is perfectly positioned for an easy, comfortable, birth," I said, in measured tones, consciously imitating Aisling's singsong delivery on the CD, "I turn my birthing over to nature. My body knows what to do."
"It's helping," said Sasha, "I just had another one and it didn't hurt as much." By the time we arrived at the hospital, we were totally chilled out. We sat in the car park for another ten minutes while I took Sasha on a guided meditation around the woods she used to play in as a child - the "safe place" that we had identified with Aisling as a relaxing location for Sasha's mind to go to at the crucial moments.
It felt oddly cozy - almost magical - in our old Citroen, but we couldn't stay in the car park all night. So in we went, to the bright lights of the hospital. As we made our way up to the maternity department, Sasha continued to use the self-hypnosis and meditation techniques and stayed incredibly calm and relaxed.
It was all very different to last time when Sasha was wailing in agony on the street in New York where we were then living as we tried to hail a taxi. A few minutes later her waters broke, and we were rapidly moved into the delivery room as the birth began in earnest. For all her calmness previously, Sasha screamed the hospital down for the few minutes when she was pushing the baby out, but it all happened so fast that there was no time for her to be given an epidural, or any other chemical pain relief except puffing on gas and air. Instead, the poor girl had to make do with her crazy husband mumbling in her ear, "Breathe in the green! Feel the colour flowing through your whole body! You are more relaxed than you ever thought possible!"
But then, very quickly, the baby was out, and she let out her first little cries of life.
We had signed into the hospital at 12:15am and baby Eleanor was born one hour and 19 minutes later.

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Being wrong rarely feels this good.