A beautiful birth

Here is a beautiful video of one couple's home waterbirth experience...enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niJ6F2p9Ql8

"Pregnancy and homebirth/water birth experience of our daughter olive. Music by ben harper. Birth should be an empowering experience - this is just one small snippet of what her birth was like for me. I felt powerful, present, connected to all women before me, truly doing what God made my body to do. Special thanks and praise for our midwife Kathy Mitchell who rocks!!"

For more information about the benefits of a homebirth please go to gentlebirth.org or mothering.com

For more information about the benefits of a waterbirth visit waterbirth.org.

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

The benefits of water during birth

Here is an extract from The Yoga Journal about water therapy.

Bathe In It*

When you add a bit of art, science, and ritual, taking a bath is much more than getting clean—it's balneotherapy. A form of therapeutic bathing, balneotherapy has been practiced since the days of the ancient Greeks and Romans to preserve health and treat a range of ailments from injuries to eczema. Like yoga, it's also a great way to melt away stress and bring the body back into a more balanced state. "Submersion in warm water calms the physiological part of the fight-or-flight response," says Jonathan P. DeVierville, vice president of the International Society of Medical Hydrology and Climatology and director of the Alamo Plaza Spa in San Antonio, Texas. In other words, as you soak in the tub, your blood vessels dilate, your circulation increases, your muscles relax, and your nervous system chills out.

IN THIS ISSUE

Soak Away Stress http://www.yogajournal.com/health/1450

Sore Muscle Soothers http://www.yogajournal.com/health/1231

So, you can see why being in water, preferably in a bathtub, but also in a shower, positively affects a birthing mother...the fight-or-flight response is calmed, which means mom & baby are relaxed & have endorphins running throughout their bodies. Ahhhhh....

http://www.awelllivedlife.net/

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A HypnoBirthing story

Here's a HypnoBirthing story from one of my past class members. She took the classes very close to her "guess" date. Enjoy!

Hi Carol,

I hope you and your family are doing well. James and I are doing great and are enjoying every second of parenthood. Blake is the sweetest boy and we are absolutely in love with him.

I have been meaning to call you and tell you my birth story but it seems something always comes up so I decided to write you. I first want to thank you so much for all of your help in getting us prepared for Blakes' arrival by giving me the confidence and important information that I used during his birth. I truly believe if it wasn't for you my birthing experience wouldn't have been so wonderful. Here is my story:

I just hit my 38th week of pregnancy and I started having some surges on April 3rd at around 1:15 A.M. I first thought they were the braxton hicks contractions I had been having for weeks so I didn't think much of them. I stayed in bed for a little over an hour until I noticed that they were becoming regular and were 8 minutes apart. I decided to get out of bed and walk around to see how I was feeling. I noticed that I was having some lower back pressure so I decided to start getting everything ready in case this was it. About a half hour later the surges started becoming more frequent and more intense so I began to get myself ready and I jumped in the shower. I thought that I would have still several hours at home before I needed to go to the hospital but I was wrong. While in the shower the surges became so intense that I could no longer stand. I finished my shower and tried to go downstairs to let James know that we had to get going to the hospital but I only made it to the master bedroom. I yelled for James several times but he couldn't hear me because he was finishing up all the things that needed to be done before we left. By the time he got upstairs it was about 3:00 A.M. and my surges were about 2 minutes apart, he then called Dr. Zaid and got the car packed up. In the car I started to listen to the rainbow relaxation on the hypnobirthing CD (If I would have known my labor was going to progress so quickly I would have started earlier). On the way to the hospital my surges were 1 minute apart and I could feel myself starting to get panicked because my labor was progressing so fast. I calmed myself down by using the relaxation and visualization techniques you taught me. I could feel myself relax and gain control over my emotions. Once we got to the off ramp where the hospital was I felt the urge to push!

Once we got to the hospital we checked in and a nurse checked me to see how far I had progressed. I was fully dilated and Blake had already started to descend. Unfortunately we forgot to bring the mp3 player and our camera with us when leaving the car and the nurses wouldn't let James go to the car and get them because as they put it 'this baby is coming!' So I was unable to listen to the hypnobirthing CD during the rest of my labor. But because of all your information and relaxation techniques I learned during the classes I was still able to stay calm and mostly relaxed. When the nurses would tell me to hold my breath and push or open my eyes and focus on a spot in the room I didn't. I went inside myself and listened to my body and did what felt right for me and because of this I had a great birthing experience and that is all thanks to you. Throughout the birthing experience I was totally present and didn't let other people take control of my sons' birth.

Blake was born at 5:12 A.M, which makes my entire labor only 4 hours and I probably only pushed for 20 minutes! I think that is pretty amazing for a first time birth. I didn't have any tearing and I account that to staying relaxed and listening to my body, which included getting in different positions. Now I wouldn't say that I had a pain free birth but it was definitely manageable.

I had such a great experience because of you and if you ever need a reference I would be more than happy to recommend you and tell to other woman interested in hypnobirthing my birth story.

Thanks again,

Erica H

http://www.awelllivedlife.net/

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

A HypnoBirthing testimonial

Hi Carol:

I want to take a few minutes and share with you that I, like many, had a misconception about hypno-experiences, as the idea of being out of control or susceptible to outer influences was a turn-off. I found that in Yoga classes I had too much mental chatter, for example I would make note list of all of the errands I needed to do; either that, or I would be in the back of the class cutting jokes and not entering “the zone” or finding the opportunity even remotely Zen-like. The other students seemed to find a peace and sense of surrender that I envied.

It was not until preparing to give birth that I came to realize that it is that exact type of experience that would enable me to have the most miraculous day of my entire life! Being alert, receptive, and non-sedated during every moment of the childbirth experience contributed to making my first day as Mom even a greater personal achievement. My husband, right at my side, was my coach (trained partner), and the exercises we had practiced helped us focus, block out pain, and most importantly, keep me calm! My commitment to learning the skills in the classes prepared me for a total drug-free experience; my reward being a brand-new human being that literally crawled across my body in her first minutes. Fully present, I watched her latch right on to the “leche mobile”. It was pure heaven!

There is absolutely nothing that has been a more rewarding/organic experience as the morning my firstborn entered this world. Without the skills that are instructed in HypnoBirthing, I would not have been so sure of my commitment to going totally natural, nor would I have had the discipline to stick with the initial pains of nursing. My surrender to a more healthful, less risky approach was a form of empowerment that has made me a stronger person, and to this day I use the same skills to get through physical pain, as well as to find calm during those days I wish I could just bury my head in the sand. I might need a HypnoLiving course (if there is such a course) soon, as a little refresher, though!

I praise you, Carol, for your gift that you offer the community and am happy to share my story. The money and time is an investment that will be life-altering to many. What a bargain!

Thank you,

Stacey Ross
San Diego Bargain Mama~For Moms Who Love to Find Deals
www.SanDiegoBargainMama.com

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

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!

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

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

www.AWellLivedLife.Net
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Beautiful HypnoBirth story--an unplanned, unassisted homebirth

A fellow HypnoBirthing practitioner just had her 3rd HypnoBirth. She describes her birth beautifully using some of the Birthing Affirmations. Enjoy reading it! And congratulations to the Arthur family.

Our family would like to share the great news that Clark Douglas Arthur arrived last Thursday March 20th at 1:45am at the time of the Spring Vernal Equinox he was received in the hands of his mother and father. Clark was 7.2lbs and 19” long.

Here is our story…
(I know the Affirmations are copyrighted but they are my favorite part of the program & could not possibly write this without them as they inspired me so much)

Fully expecting to carry our baby beyond 40 weeks Todd and I were both very surprised when my membranes released at 11:45pm on the evening of March 19th.

I am prepared to calmly meet whatever turn my birthing may take…
I had found out earlier that day that I had tested positive for Group B Strep but did not have the antibiotics from my Dr. for the midwife to administer. At midnight we decided to call my midwife and let her know that my membranes had released but surges had not yet begun. We planned that once my sister arrived we would call her back and she could come and check things out since surges began while we were talking. If my labour was progressing slowly we would go to the hospital for antibiotics and if things were moving along I preferred to stay home and forgo the antibiotics.

I am relaxed and happy that my baby is finally coming to me…
We were overjoyed to realize that we would be meeting our baby in a few hours(throughout my pregnancy I had focused on a labour of about 4 hours).
Todd went downstairs to begin preparing the birthing pool and I decided to relax in bed listening to the Affirmations while I waited for my sister to arrive.

I breath up slowly with each surge of my body…
As I lay in bed relaxing our 3 year old Julia woke up and climbed into bed with me. It felt so good to have her snuggled up to my body as I relaxed.
What an amazing feeling to know that each surge was bringing her new sibling closer to us.
It hardly seemed an hour had passed when my sister arrived, she found Julia and me in the bathroom.

I determine how my birth energy is experienced…
On the way from the bathroom to the bedroom I had 3 surges yet it didn’t occur to me that things were really moving along as I was talking easily only to pause and go within my birthing body during each surge. It felt so good to sway my hips and rock my baby through the surges as it moved the energy through my entire body.
Renee and Julia went downstairs to help Todd.

I release my birthing to my baby and my body…
It was now about 1:20am and the surges were feeling stronger with more pressure. I was still very relaxed but felt it was time to get in the water. Much to my disappointment when I went downstairs I found the tub only half full. I trudged to the bathroom thinking “Great, now I have to wait to go in the water…what will I do with myself in the meantime?” Luckily my baby and body had other plans. As I sat on the toilet I felt that amazing shift in my surges and an involuntary grunt escaped my lips. I smiled because I knew my baby must have also thought “why wait for the tub now?”

I am confident; I am safe; I am secure…
I returned to the family room to tell Todd that I felt the urge to breathe down was coming and that he should call the midwife. He then helped me upstairs to our bed as I told him “our baby is coming out now!”

I trust my baby and my body to know what to do…
In light of the realization that the midwives would not get there in time, I trusted that this was my baby’s choice and my baby must know what he was doing!
I layed down on the bed in a lateral position and breathed deeply while Todd ran downstairs to get the birth supplies.

I put all fear aside as I prepare for the birth of my baby…
(The final moments of the birth of our second daughter Julia were quite traumatic as the OB panicked and gave me a rather nasty episiotomy; this was very distressing to me as the birth of our first HypnoBirthing® daughter was so calm, gentle and my perineum remained intact.) Throughout this pregnancy I focused on having an intact perineum and knew that in order to do that I had to believe in my body and allow it to gently open. The fear momentarily set in but I recalled Nancy Wainer telling me at the HypnoBirthing® Conclave to give birth in a lateral position and give lots of support to my perineum. (Thank you Nancy!)

My baby gently moves through the birth path in its journey…
I could feel the baby moving down and asked Todd to tell me what he saw during the next surge and he said “the head”. I then asked him to support my perineum and be prepared to support the baby’s head as I thought it would emerge with the next surge. I worked very hard to detach my mind from my birthing body and allow only the reflex of my body to move my baby down and out. I was in absolute awe at the strength of my birthing muscles as with the next surge I felt my baby’s head emerge when Todd applied some pressure to my perineum. Todd asked me what to do next and I asked him to continue to support the head and guide and support the shoulders as they would come out with the next surge. As he did this I took over supporting my perineum and as he supported our baby’s head and shoulders, a sweet little bottom dropped into my hand!

I welcome my baby with happiness and joy…
This affirmation obviously really struck me as I was so overjoyed at seeing our baby, I began to gush warm welcomes to our little boy with so much excitement I woke Olivia up! Olivia ran down the hall and Julia ran up the stairs and both jumped on the bed to meet our baby. For the first 20 minutes of Clarks’ life he was surrounded by his parents and sisters. We all told him how happy we were he was here and how much we loved him. This was the most magical moment I have ever experienced with my family. There was no one there but us to just melt together as a family. It was pure bliss. So much so, that as my sister looked on she noticed that Clark, although only moments old appeared to be grinning as he drank in the outpouring of love being given to him.

My baby emerges; my blood vessels close to the appropriate degree…
When the midwives arrived 20 minutes later they were amazed at how calm we were. Our baby was perfect. They could not get over that his head had no molding and I told them that I allowed him to emerge on his own. They were in a bit of a hurry to get the placenta out and I was apparently being “resistant” but I did not want cord traction. I wondered what the hurry was; it was then that the back up midwife checked to find almost no bleeding. They relaxed a bit and told me I could “try” to birth the placenta on my own. I decided to get up and squat at the side of the bed to do this. The placenta birthed with only 4 drops of blood and they were both amazed…I told them about the affirmation.

So after only an hour and half of surges we had the most incredible birthing experience ever! We had planned on our photographer being there to film it and take pictures for the HypnoBirthing® Institute but everything happened so fast that got missed!

I feel so lucky to have had three awesome HypnoBirths and each so different. One calm gentle hospital birth with a 6.5 hour labour, one induced hospital birth in 3.5hours that really tested my HypnoBirthing® techniques and finally a beautiful homebirth surrounded by only those I love most in the world!

Darcy Arthur
HypnoBirthing® Mom & Practitioner
“There is a secret in our culture. It’s not that birth is painful, it’s that women are strong.” -Laura stavoe harm

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

p.s. Please respect that the Birthing Affirmations are copyrighted by the HypnoBirthing Institute.

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
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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

Here is a wonderful homebirth HypnoBirthing story from Ohio:

Greyson’s Birthing

I woke up on Friday morning at 3AM with some pretty regular surges. This had been happening pretty consistently for weeks now, so I wasn’t even sure that labor was coming that morning, but I had a pretty good feeling. I knew that I had been sleeping through some pretty strong surges through the night so I decided to see how close together they were coming. I timed for about a half hour and they were almost exactly five minutes apart, so I decided to wake David just to let him know. He was so sleepy, so I told him to go back to bed while I took a shower.
At 5AM I woke David and asked him if he would call his mom to come pick up Fletcher, our 4 year old. Although many people like to have their little ones with them when they birth, I was worried that Fletcher would be a major distraction.
When my mother-in-law arrived at 5:30 I was starting to go into my birthing body to relax through the surges and to me, this is when labor truly began. David called our midwife to tell her we were in labor and she asked to speak with me. She stayed on the phone with me through a surge and decided that because I was so calm and coping so well, we still had some time and she said she would call in an hour or so. I knew that she only lived 2-3 miles away, so this was okay with me.
I was lying on my side and I didn’t want to move at all, but I kept having to go to the bathroom so I had no choice but to get up. Every time I would go to the potty I would get so cold and shivery and start shaking. David had been moving around the house doing last minute things and filling the birth tub. I called on him and told him I needed him now and whatever he was doing needed to wait. So he stayed with me, turned on our Steven Halpern music (the background music to the Rainbow Relaxation) and read the birthing affirmations we had been practicing while I continued to breathe correctly to maximize each surge and rest between. I immediately calmed down and was able to go deep within myself to where Greyson was; it was amazing. The shivers passed and when I got up to go to the bathroom I realized that I wanted to stay upright, so I started pacing around the room.
When a surge would come I would get into different positions that just felt right (hands and knees, head resting on the bed, etc.) I was totally listening to my body and breathing. When my midwife called again David told her that I wasn’t up for talking and that she needed to come over now (he was a bit forceful – I apologized for him later).
At this point the birth tub was finally filled up enough to get into so I happily did. Within a few minutes our midwife arrived. I stayed on my hands and knees in the tub which felt really good, but really hot. David kept giving me a cool cloth for my face while reading affirmations as I would have surges, reminding me that Greyson was coming and to trust my body, he was perfect.
I was feeling sensations to push the baby down, but I could tell that I wasn’t quite ready yet and I was getting too hot so I decided that I had to get out of the tub.
When I got out of the tub I felt a surge so I squatted right where I was between the bed and birth tub in one of the smallest parts of our room and my water broke. There were already several towels there from the tub so I decided that this was as good a place as any to have my baby. Around this time our birthing assistant, another midwife, arrived. My midwife threw some chux pads down under me and I squatted for a few surges, then decided I was too tired for that position so I ended up in a sitting up position with my weight on David who was on his knees supporting me. I had my feet pressed against my midwife’s knees and felt totally ready to push, so I did. I was a bit louder than I expected to be, but it just felt right so I continued to go with the flow. I remember David telling me he was uncomfortable and that he wanted to move, I told him he was crazy. A few moments later Greyson’s head was out and my midwife asked that I do some small grunting, I did and when she said it was okay, I felt my body gently push Greyson into the world. It was amazing!
When Greyson was born he was purple and totally limp, apparently his cord had been wrapped pretty tightly around his neck, but after just a moment he coughed and breathed and started to “pink up”. He went immediately to my chest where he stayed. Although he had responded on his own the midwife assisting suggested that we wave a bit of oxygen in front of his nose, just to help him out a bit. He responded to that very well and I was thrilled. When the cord had stopped pulsating it was clamped and cut, I delivered the placenta and we moved to the bed.
Immediately David started saying how good I looked. After I had my first child in the hospital I looked and felt like I was hit by a train for a long time. With this birth I was able to recover so quickly. I am totally convinced that our experience was due to our hypnobirthing techniques and our dedication to practicing them.
The midwife who was there assisting said that it was an honor to have been at my birth and asked if she could borrow my hypnobirthing book to check it out, I was thrilled and gave her the book, CD’s and workbook I had created for myself. I told her she should consider becoming a practitioner, San Antonio really needs one. After this experience I feel invigorated and empowered. I was able to have the birth that I visualized, planned and prayed for because I believed in my baby and my body. Greyson was born after 3 hours labor. He weighed 8 lbs, 2 oz and was 20.5" long. This was what I believed birthing could be!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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 HypnoBirth story & youtube birth video

Here is a recent HypnoBirth story from a couple that I taught a VERY accelerated 2 day course at 38 weeks pregnant. It is told by the dad, Joshua.

Here is the link to see the youtube video of it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-k50QVBO6l8

Story:
Ilisa began labor at 11:30 PM Feb 2nd. Throughout the night her surges (hypno birth lingo for contractions) were anywhere from 12 minutes to almost an hour apart. We got little sleep (except for when the were an hour apart and Ilisa let me sleep 2 hours straight!).
9:00 AM Sun
In the morning Ilisa rode out most of her surges in the Tub, as per recommendation from our hypno coach, Carol, and many others. After a few hours, the surges were within the 5 min apart, 1 min long, for over an hour, so Ilisa lied in bed while I did last minute preparations for the trip to the Hospital. The Drive to the hospital was nice and relaxed. Different from what it stereotypical.
11:20 AM
Once at the Hospital, we were first taken to Triage, where many Women go home, not yet ready. In our case we were 6 cm dilated, and 90% effaced. This is further along than most make it! 12:00 PM
Then the labor and delivery room. The first curve ball was as soon as the surges got really strong, Ilisa instinctively lost her cookies (hence the tray next to her) to the pressure. Then there were so many people around and so much going on it took everything she could to remain in the hypno state. She just kept listening to her rainbow relaxation MP3's and continue with her birth breathing. We had Pat Grenada (our Doula), Paula (Ilisa's Mom), Margie S (Nurse, and wife of a Landscape Architect Ilisa knows well), and myself in the room for the entire birthing.
1:30.
Ilisa was feeling so much pressure at this point, ok lets face it, it was PAINFUL! While she tried a minor sedative through the I.V., she decided to get the Epidural. The nurse contacted the Anesthesiologist, who was already in another procedure.
2:00
Ilisa was now fully dilated, no epidural yet, and her water had just finally broke. She continued to push, and now the baby was starting to really descend and the top of the head was crowning. Now you can finally hear her moan (low tones to keep the head down, and stress lower) with each major surge. At this point, the epidural was too late, so regardless of what she wanted, the baby was coming naturally. The pushing was starting in full swing....
3:04
Ilisa kept pushing and pushing, and finally Anabel Marley G was born. Just in time for the kick-off of the super bowl so Pop-Pop and Uncle Adam could get back to their game. We immediately put Anabel to the boob for skin to skin instant bonding. Ilisa did absolutely AMAZING!!! I was so proud by her and the little baby she gave us.

Note from Carol:
After watching the video, I think Ilisa did an amazing job! Even though she did have some pain, she was calm, her body remained relaxed & she vocalized in low tones to keep her cervix relaxed....at least in the 6 minutes of the video! But seriously, with the little bit of time she had to practice & with the help of her doula, she was able to have a natural birth & a happy, healthy mommy & baby.

Congratulations to you & thank you for sharing your birth video for all of us to see!

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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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The Chemistry of the First Breastfeed

The Chemistry of the 1st Breastfeed
Falling in Love: The chemistry of the first breastfeed
There are many different types of love: sexual, romantic, platonic, filial, maternal, paternal, spiritual, love of self, love of country, love of possessions to name a few. Love for our mother, our first love, could be the pivotal love around which we build our ability to love in every other way.

This paper will look at the chemistry that is involved in the baby's first opportunity to love at that crucial time surrounding birth and the consequences of denying that opportunity. Love is as important to the individual as it is to their society and our world.

At the time of birth, and for about an hour following birthing, the mother and her newborn baby are swamped in a cocktail of hormones. This time is a crucial time for the mother and baby to bond, to become attached to fall in love.

A baby born after a normal, unmedicated birth and immediately dried and placed in his mother's arms on her bare chest gives an initial cry but quickly becomes quiet and alert, seeking visual contact with her. He rests for awhile, looking at his mother intermittently. This is followed by lip-smacking, and mouthing of the fingers begins, with an outpouring of saliva onto the baby's chin. Then the baby begins to inch forward with his legs to push strongly into the mother's lower abdomen. His hands reach from his mouth out to her chest and breasts, moistening her nipples with his wet fingers. When he reaches the tip of the sternum, he bounces his head into her chest. While moving up, he often turns his head from side to side. As he comes close to the nipple, he opens his mouth widely and, after several attempts, makes a perfect placement on the areola of the nipple and begins suckling.

The baby's heart rate and respiratory rate are rapidly stabilised, oxygen saturation remains normal and thermoregulation is rapidly achieved. There are no signs of stress.This species-specific set of innate behaviours is governed by and responsible for the release of the neurotransmitters that will influence the baby's and mother's relationship for a lifetime.

The hormones (neurotransmitters) involved: Interesting studies have been conducted on voles. The prairie vole, or prairie dog, is one of only a few mammals that are monogamous - they mate for life with one partner. Both parents nurture their young and the adult pair spend most of their time together. The montane vole, a close cousin of the prairie vole, on the other hand, is very promiscuous; its life being filled with one-night-stands and is uncommitted to either a partner or their own offspring. Very little genetically separates these two animals...only the presence of receptor sites for oxytocin in the area of the brain responsible for reward and pleasure, the limbic system, being one that the prairie vole has but the montane vole does not.

All of the neurotransmitters, the chemical messengers, that are involved in love and loving, care and being cared for and our emotional state arise from the Limbic System. This is an 'old' part of the brain, sometimes referred to as the 'mammalian' brain. Responses that arise from this part of our brain are not under the control of our 'thinking' brain, or the neocortex. Oxytocin is produced in the hypothalamus, a part of the Limbic System, and sequestered in the posterior pituitary gland to be released in a pulsatile manner when stimulated. This stimulation could occur from sharing a meal with friends; in response to a hug from a friend; while making love; during birthing and immediately after birth; and it is an integral part of breastfeeding. Oxytocin is described as the 'hormone of love' because it is consistently involved in all forms of love.

All of these releases of oxytocin occur during a form of love. The hormones present at the same time as the oxytocin release determine how this love is directed. For example, during a shared meal with friends, oxytocin causes sociability; during romantic love oxytocin in the presence of high levels of dopamine and low levels of serotonin stimulates a desire for caring love making. When high levels of testosterone are present it causes sexual lust. In the presence of prolactin, the love is directed at nurturing and"mothering", and sexual desire is suppressed. Oxytocin also causes a reduction in stress and later stress-related diseases. For oxytocin to have an effect on behaviour it must be available to the brain and for the brain to have receptors for it. Oxytocin cannot pass from the peripheral blood stream back into the brain - ie, artificially administered oxytocin cannot enter the brain and cause behavioural effects.

Around the time of birth oestrogen, progesterone, and prolactin blood levels are reaching all time highs in the mother, and circulating into the fetus. Beta-endorphin has also been steadily rising throughout pregnancy peaking at high levels during labor in response to the pain felt, and is also generated by the fetus. Oxytocin is released in a pulsatile manner periodically throughout the pregnancy by both mother and fetus, while labor is characterised by strong pulses of oxytocin that cause uterine contractions. After birthing Matthiesen et al (2001) reported a significant rise in maternal oxytocin in response to the massaging movements as well as the suckling of the newborn baby. During the last contractions before the baby is birthed, adrenalin blood levels peak. Each of these hormones has its own characteristic effects, and in combination they are dynamite!

Beta-endorphin is a naturally occurring opiate that, like other opiates, acts as an analgesic, inducing feelings of pleasure, euphoria, and dependency or, with a partner, mutual dependency. Beta-endorphin is found in high concentration in pregnancy and increases throughout labor when levels of beta-endorphin reach those found in male endurance athletes during maximal exercise on a treadmill. It influences the beginning of attachment between mother and baby. Beta-endorphin is also found in colostrum - the neonate receiving it from his mother transplacentally prior to birth and more as soon as he starts to suckle, as well as his own endogenous production.

Prolactin is the 'mothering' hormone, regulating maternal behaviour and suppressing sexual desire. Oxytocin and prolactin together in high concentrations after the birth of the baby cause the mother's love to be directed toward her baby. The innate behaviours exhibited by the baby when placed on his mother's chest combine to increase oxytocin and prolactin levels in his mother - you could think the baby is pre-programmed to make his mother love him. Adrenalin is the stress hormone - not usually associated with oxytocin! However, in normal birthing it only appears during the last couple of contractions prior to birth. The action can be seen in the mother as she gains energy, focus, strength, and alertness and may complain of thirst. The baby also gets a burst of adrenalin - being born alert, wide-open eyes and dilated pupils. The mother is fascinated by the newborn's eyes - returning the gaze like star-struck lovers. The scene is set for a dependent baby who wants and needs love and protection, born to a mother who is primed to love strongly and protectively.

How could this go wrong? Easy - introduce both to the technological world of birthing. A mother who doesn't understand or trust her body puts her fate and that of her baby into the hands of a paternalistic system where birthing interventions are the norm. The chemical cocktail gets shaken, not stirred! Fear early in labor causes the labouring woman to release stress hormones, which inhibit oxytocin release and therefore contractions. So begins the cascade of interventions that start with an exogenous source of oxytocin that is unable to reach the brain to cause desirable behavioural responses, but increases labor pain levels to such an extent that analgesia or anaesthesia will be necessary. This in turn increases the incidence of birth complications, inhibits the release of beta-endorphin, and makes both mother and baby drowsy and less-responsive to each other. Baby is quickly separated from his mother for resuscitation.

A baby separated from his mother is stressed! Stress and love are mutually exclusive! Picture the newborns contorted facial expression, the exaggerated body movements, the crying, and know that there are undesirable changes in heart rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure, oxygen saturation, vagal tone and plasma cortisol. These are the signs and symptoms of stress. Raine, et al (1997) studied criminals at 18 years of age, and the same cohort at 34 years of age. In both studies these researchers were able to predict which ones committed a violent crime (ie rape, murder, robbery, domestic violence and assault) by studying their birth records. The violent offenders were the ones who experienced a complication during their birth (eg. forceps delivery, breech delivery, cord prolapse, preeclampsia, or long birth duration) and experienced maternal rejection. Odent (1999) describes this as the ultimate form of an inability to love - no love for self or others or society. There are other studies, particularly in the psychological literature, describing the effects of birth trauma and a failure to love or be loved at birth and long-term psychological and psychiatric defect. The number of children reported to authorities in Australia as suffering some form of abuse in 2003/4 totalled 146,562. The age group most affected were babies less than 12 months old.

With increasing medicalisation of birthing and thoughtless separation of mother and baby the picture is not pretty, but we can do something very basic, very quickly, with minimal cost . and it starts with empowering women to trust and care for their bodies and trust in normal childbirth. After a natural birth it is a natural response to put the newly born baby into his mother's arms to be held against her bare chest, but essential that this is done after a birth where there was any intervention. When birthing has been disturbed, the mother and her health carers must work extra hard over the next few hours and days to re-create an environment that will cause oxytocin and prolactin and beta endorphin to flow naturally in both mother and baby, giving them every chance to fall in love with a love that will last the baby a lifetime.

Bibliography:
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Child Protection Australia2003-04. Retrieved 11/2/05 from:http://www.aihw.gov.au/childyouth/childprotection/index.cfm
Buckley, S. (2002). Ecstatic Birth: The hormonal blueprint of labor.Mothering Issue 111. Retrieved 30/3/05 from:http://www.mothering.com/articles/pregnancy_birth/birth_preparation/ecstatic.htmlEconomist, Science and Technology. The Science of Love. I get a kick out of you. Published 12 Feb 2004, retrieved 11 Feb, 2005 fromhttp://www.economist.com/printedition/PrinterFriendly.cfm?Story_ID=2424049Fisher HE, Aron A, Mashek D, Li H, Brown LL., 2002. Defining the brainsystems of lust, romantic attraction, and attachment. Arch SexBehav;31(5):413-9.Lewis T, Amini F, Lannon R. (2000). A General Theory of Love. Vintage House,NY.Matthiesen AS, Ransjo-Arvidson AB, Nissen E, Uvnas-Moberg K. (2001).Postpartum maternal oxytocin release by newborns: Effect of infant hand massage and sucking. Birth; 28(1):13-9.Odent M. 1999. The Scientification of Love. Free Association Books, London.Odent M, Preventing Violence or Developing the Capacity to Love: WhichPerspective? Which Investment? Retrieved 11/2/05 from:http://www.birthpsychology.com/violence/odent1.htmlPorter FL, Grunau RE, Anand KJ. (1999) Long term effects of pain in infants. J Dev Behav Pediatr.;20(4):253-61Raine A, Brennan P, Mednick SA. (1997) Interaction between birthcomplications and early maternal rejection in predisposing individuals to adult violence: specificity to serious, early-onset violence. Am J Psychiatry; 154:1265-1271Rand ML. As It Was In The Beginning: The Significance of Infant Bonding in the Development of Self and Relationships. Retrieved 11/2/05 from: http://www.birthpsychology.com/birthscene/ppic2.html#asitwasZanardo V; Nicolussi S; Carlo G; Marzari F; Faggian D; Favaro F; Plebani M.(2001) Labor Pain Effects on Colostral Milk Beta-Endorphin Concentrations of Lactating Mothers. Biology of the Neonate; 79:87-90Paper presented at the Australian Breastfeeding Association "HealthyChildren, Families and Communities" Workshop in Canberra, ACT. 17 March,2005.Last revised: 30 March, 2005.

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Anne's HypnoBirth Story

Hi-
One of my accelerated private class client's shared her HypnoBirth birth story with me & gave me permission to share it. Congratulations again, Anne!

Here it is:

Anne’s Birth Story:
Hmmm…pregnant with a third child…
After two birth stories that ended with very long and difficult recoveries, I was ready to do some homework/research with this third pregnancy that I hadn’t done with the others. I lived in panic of having to care for 2 other children while going through the pain and discomfort I had endured with the other 2.
My first delivery was a vaginal birth. Although, in the end it was called ‘textbook’, I always wondered how it might have played out differently had I NOT gone for the epidural. I HAD read a book on the Bradley method that did really put me on a good road, but being my first birth and not having dug deeper into the birthing process, I went to the hospital early and ultimately was swayed with the "now or never" line about drugs and went for it. Of course, this slowed things along to the point of my heart rate being too low and then the baby’s being too low. They then had to go back to the pitocin to get things going again. After numerous bags of fluids and drugs, I did have a pain free birth and delivered a beautiful baby girl. Then the fun began. I ended up with numerous complications that I deemed as normal until finding out most stemmed from the road of drugs I went down.
My second delivery was a planned c-section. Being that I had placenta previa, I didn’t have a choice. But, again the recovery was even worse. It took almost a year for me to feel back to my normal self. This was emotionally difficult with wanting to be there for my children and being in a constant state of discomfort.
So here I was, pregnant with a third child. I wanted to do everything in my power to have a VBAC (Vaginal Birth After C-section) and to do it without drugs. I began reading about doulas and decided to research them. I read the statistic on how much more successful you could be with a VBAC if one was used. Through my doctor (Dr. Robert Biter), I found the most amazing lady (Doula Dawn)…but, even in our first discussions I wasn’t too confident I could do it COMPLETELY drug free. I don’t have the highest tolerance for pain and thought I could just get as close as I could to delivering and then maybe take something. Very patiently, Dawn (my doula) gave me a book (Journey into Motherhood by Sheri Menelli) on birth stories and asked me to read it. Her encouragement & the confidence she had in me made me decide to read a few of the stories.
Well, I ended up finishing the book in 2 days. The book had numerous stories with numerous methods of birthing. But, the one thing that stuck out for me was this method called HypnoBirthing. I was curious to find out more but was only a few weeks away from my due date. It was only 2 days after that I met Carol. If I had not literally ran into her, I’m not sure I would have preceded in my research being that I thought I was too far into my pregnancy to get a full ‘class’. Carol was able to meet with me and give an accelerated 3 ½ hour class. I was hooked. She was able to walk me through tools so I felt confident I would use them…if not just for the birth but for everyday stresses in life.
I diligently practiced the techniques Carol had gone over with me until 4 days before my due date & then my surges started. I found the relaxation CD was useful for the beginning stages. But, as the birthing progressed, the techniques I thought were going to be useful weren’t. What I did do was modify them to work for me. While in the tub at home trying to go into deep relaxation, I realized I had a clock that had the perfect soft rhythmic ticking that helped me stay focused. I continued this in the shower with me.
At this point I thought I was still in my early stages of labor and decided to call my doula so my husband could do a few things. But, when my doula arrived, she informed us it was time to get to the hospital. It had happened so quickly and I had been focusing so deeply, I hadn’t really been counting the duration of the surges so it came as a surprise to me. My husband was also surprised being that I had been so quiet. He didn’t think much was happening yet.
When we arrived at the hospital, it was almost full. I was able to get the last room. Because of all the chaos and the nurses being pulled in every direction with it being so busy, it took a little more concentration to stay focused. When my doctor was able to exam me, he told me I was fully dilated and ready to push. I could not believe it! It took a little while for me to get my mind around no longer relaxing through the surges, but gently working with them. After the 3rd or 4th surges passed, my doula had to remind me to work with it. So, although I supposedly ‘pushed’ for an hour, I probably only REALLY worked with the surges for about 30 minutes or less. The only time I really started to lose my concentration was during this final pushing stage. My husband felt I was loud when sternly telling my doctor I wanted him to get the baby out…but, my doula said she felt he probably perceived it that way because I had been SO quiet for the entire time prior to this stage.
When the baby came out I could not believe I had done it! I was able to hold my baby, I had no tears/episiotomy and I was able to shower and walk to my room immediately after. It was amazing! Over all it was an amazing experience.
I know that HypnoBirthing helped me stay completely calm and relaxed throughout the experience. I was deeply relaxed and never felt "pain" per se...uncomfortable at times with a lot of pressure in certain areas. My doula played an integral part in my experience. Her knowledge of HypnoBirthing helped me stay focused & calm. Her knowledge of positioning and just what to do for me was invaluable. Also, having an OB that was completely supportive of a VBAC that I knew I could trust completely was another key factor in my successful VBAC experience.
I would say that the combination of having the HypnoBirthing techniques, having a wonderful, supportive doula & OB was the answer to my prayers for a natural, easy, beautiful VBAC birth. Having this experience helped heal my past negative birth experiences. It really helped me release the fear I had prior to this birth as well. I am telling everyone I know about HypnoBirthing! I can't believe now, after having this life-changing experience why anyone would choose to have medication...and this is coming from someone who never previously believed in non-medicated birth! I highly recommend taking Carol's classes. She has a gentle, calm manner that really lends itself to the HypnoBirthing philosophy and techniques.
~Anne, 3rd time parent, Encinitas, CA.

Amazing 67 Hour HypnoBirth Story

Hi-

I wanted to share a really amazing HypnoBirth story from one of my class participants:

Kristin & Will (July 2007 class) shared their birth story with me. I spoke to Kristin over the phone & took detailed notes.


Here is Oliver's birth story:Tuesday 11/6/07--Kristin's mom arrived in town. She had been eagerly awaiting her arrival.


Wednesday in the middle of the night--felt surges start, tried to sleep

Wednesday day--all day the surges were about 4 minutes apart, lasting 1-1 1/2 minutes. Her husband, Will, made sure she drank water after each surge. Went to the UCSD birth center/hospital & was sent to the labor & delivery floor to get checked. She had her ipod on & listened to the Rainbow Relaxation, which helped her from hearing the screaming woman next door. She was 1 cm. She was sent home & was feeling discouraged.


Wednesday night--had her weekly checkup at the UCSD birth center at 6 pm. She was 3-4 cm & was allowed to go to the birth center. When she was checked there, she was 3 1/2 cm. She was so calm, they sent her home even though she was feeling surges on a continual basis. She went home discouraged again. She was able to sleep between surges for 3-4 minutes at a time.

Thursday--still having surges but not feeling more intense.

Thursday night--layed down & felt really uncomfortable, so she spent most of her time walking & standing for surges. She found that if she stayed awake, she could use the techniques & stay in deep relaxation, whereas if she slept, she would sleep but then wake up in a panic & have a hard time getting back to a state of deep relaxation


Friday am--midwife called to check on her & told her to take a Benadryl so she could sleep for a couple of hours, which she was able to. The surges got really intense so they went the hospital again. She got checked & was 4 cms so they were admitted to the birth center. They walked, rested & sat in the shower. At 5 cm, she got in the jacuzzi for a couple of hours. She felt time distortion because she said that 5 hours went by really fast. The surges got more intense & she had Will give her prompts more frequently. She got to 6 cm after the 5 hours. The midwife/RNs said that things weren't progressing enough, so she had 3 options: 1) go home, 2) break her water, or 3) use pitocin. She didn't want to go home because she really felt like she would leave an emotional wreck. She didn't want pitocin either. They agreed to break her water. She progessed quickly after that & got to 0 station & fully effaced. She had 5 hours of active labor which she desribed as really hard & at times "awful". She said that the surges were like waves & at times she was overwhelmed due to utter exhaustion.The midwife massaged her ankles on the labor pressure point. She felt scared & overwhelmed at one point, but she remembered what I said in class...that at some point, you may feel like you can't do it anymore, but remember that means you're almost there. She kept saying to herself that the next surge, she'd ask for drugs, but she never did end up asking for the drugs. They knew it was time to push when she threw up. She tried using the birth breathing & was breathing her breath out of her mouth. She sat on the toilet, on the bed, on hands & knees, on her side with her leg up.She had an anterior lip on her cervix. The midwives encouraged her to really push with some force, so she sat on the birth stool with her mom sitting behind her. The baby's head kept coming out a little & then going back in, so she pushed really hard, put her chin down to her chest & groaned while pushing to get his head out. Then his shoulders got stuck, so she squatted & the midwives were able to help slip the baby out. She did end up tearing & needing 3 stitches & admits to doing "some" perineal massage, but not enough.

Oliver was 9 lbs 3 oz &21 1/2 inches long. He was born on 11/9/07. Will was able to receive the baby & cut the cord. The placenta took awhile to come out & she remembered what I said in class about the fact that it could take up to 1/2 an hour. It came out naturally right at the 1/2 hour mark. She stayed in the hospital for 2 days after having a 67 hour HypnoBirth...WOW!


Here is what Kristin said about Hypnobirthing: It was really amazing. HypnoBirthing was awesome! I still had lingering doubts that it would work beforehand & I have a lot a practice using meditation for other things, but it turned out to be a great experience. He's a really mellow baby & he's so alert. I wouldn't have been able to have a 67 hour birth without HypnoBirthing." She said the midwives were very impressed & said they've never seen a woman talking through the transition stage. One midwife said "I've never seen anything like that...smiling & talking while you were pushing!".

The beautiful side of birth

Hi-
This is a video of a woman birthing at home & singing while having contractions/surges. It is amazing...what a wonderful thing to see. Her voice is beautiful...what a gift she is giving to her unborn baby...the peacefulness, tranquility, the loving kindness. That's what birth is all about! Giving your unborn baby the gift of endorphins...the gift of a peaceful, calm birth.

For those pregnant moms watching it, visualize yourself being this woman...so calm, so peaceful. If you don't sing, you can hum or rock back & forth or listen to calming music...whatever brings you that sense of calmness during your contractions/surges. The more relaxed you are during your contractions/surges, the better your body & uterus will be able to do the work for you instead of against you & therefore, you'll feel less discomfort.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3WA9iHz5ww

Enjoy! Please forward this to anyone you know who is pregnant or planning on becoming pregnant so they can see how amazing birth can be.

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