We are thrilled to announce the birth of Benjamin, born June 23rd, 2016, 8pounds even, 7:34pm. I have all my HypnoBirthing prep to thank for a wonderful beautiful experience. Went into natural labour (water broke spontaneously) and had to go right into hospital because I was GBS positive. (I had actually been on 1 month of bed rest because of high blood pressure but was able to negotiate to not be induced until I absolutely had to be and they respected that :). The nursing staff and OBs at TEGH were so supportive and accommodating of my wish for minimal intervention/ monitoring and privacy as much as possible.

The breathing and relaxation exercises helped me stay very calm throughout most of the (in total) 8hours of labour. Unfortunately at around 8cm dilation I started to repeatedly vomit and this really made me distracted from being calm and I ended up requesting an epidural…they gave me “lighter” numbness at my request so I could continue to feel as much as possible but gave me the opportunity to relax further…within 1 hr I felt the urge to breathe baby Benny down. I actually think it was a perfect blend of exactly what I wanted in birth (although getting an epidural during the transition phase of birth is less than ideal because it is very difficult to sit still while repeatedly throwing up and being in back to back contractions).

 What was soo amazing was that when the OB and nurse tried to get me to hold my breath and push (I tried this twice at their request but nothing really happened except my face went red and I felt like I was going to pass out), my husband just encouraged me to do what we practiced with the J breath and within 5 minutes he was out. My OB and nurse both asked me after what it was I had done because they were amazed at how effective and calm the breathing down process went.

This birth was so calm and beautiful for all of us and I am still enjoying “the high” of a wonderful experience. We want to thank you so very much for all your teaching and support. We are definitely believers in HypnoBirthing.