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Bill’s Birth, 10 July 2006

Initially, arranging a homebirth wasn’t easy. At just five weeks pregnant, I tried to find a midwife but each of the four midwives who cover the Dublin area was either booked up for July or planning to be away at that time. I then contacted Holles Street to see if I could join the domino scheme but was turned away as I live outside the catchment area. Plan C was to book into Our Lady of Lourdes in Drogheda and hope that I would be allocated a place on the Midwife Led Unit. As the MLU scheme is still a randomized trial, I was told that I had a 2 in 3 chance of getting a place but that I wouldn’t find out if I was successful until after my first appointment at seventeen weeks – some three months down the line. It wasn’t ideal but the alternative was booking into a Dublin hospital so I decided to take my chances with Drogheda. At sixteen weeks however, fate intervened. Kate Spillane called me to say she could take me on and I breathed a sigh of relief.

I liked Kate immediately. She was knowledgeable, kind and funny and her expertise inspired confidence. Each visit reinforced the decision to give birth at home.

Following a very straightforward and enjoyable pregnancy, my labour started at 1.30am on Monday, 10 July, three days past my due date. Towards the end of the pregnancy, people constantly remarked that I was probably dying for it to be over with. But I really wasn’t. While the baby was due on 7 July, I fully expected to go at least two weeks past this date. Both my sisters and my mother had gone two weeks over on many of their births and I was confident that the baby would be born on or after 21 July. At the time, we were extending the house and renovating our bathroom and the job wasn’t due for completion until mid July so I really hoped that the baby wouldn’t come on time. I was also attending a series of hypnobirthing classes and I wanted to complete these before labour began. But the best laid plans….

Since I work for myself, I hadn’t yet managed to start maternity leave. I had some work still due so I was working late at home on the Sunday night. When I tried to go to bed at half past one, I realised that I was too uncomfortable to lie down. This was new since I had had no trouble sleeping throughout the pregnancy. I was experiencing very mild period-like pains in my lower back at regular intervals – perhaps ten minutes apart. I went back to the study to work and put my hypnobirthing CD on to play. This is how I spent the night, working at the desk, pausing occasionally to breathe through the discomfort of the contractions but recognizing that they weren’t causing any real pain. I don’t recall actively listening to the CD – rather, every 40 minutes or so, I realised that it had come to an end and I would press play again. Mostly I just concentrated on getting the work finished. I still wasn’t convinced that this was labour since it seemed much too manageable. At about 4am, I had a show and I started to think it might be happening for real. At this point, I woke Aidan. I remember distinctly that his reaction to the news that I was probably starting labour was ‘Oh bollocks’. Then he rolled over and went back to sleep. I felt reassured that he was behaving normally, and not jumping around weeping or panicking. I’ve no time for those antics! I went back to the office and continued to work.

The builders were due at the house at 8 o’clock that morning. At 7, Aidan asked me if I wanted to cancel them. I told him that they should come ahead since the contractions were so mild that I could be in labour for days. It was my brother-in-law’s firm that was doing the work. When they arrived, Aidan told Brian what was happening and he and his team focused on getting the new kitchen finished, painted and as ready as possible to give birth in.

Aidan kept asking me to ring Kate but I was reluctant since I still felt that I was a long way off established labour. At about 9.30am, I called her just to let her know that something had started. She said she’d do a few visits first and see me later. I’m sure she knew from the sound of my voice that I was nowhere close to needing her. After that, I phoned my mum. It was funny since I was very calm and very practically-minded (I wanted to ask her to collect a couple of items that I still hadn’t managed to, like a birthing ball and other bits and pieces), but as soon as I heard her voice, I started to cry. I was obviously quite emotional just below the surface.

The morning continued with the contractions coming somewhat more frequently and gaining slightly in intensity. I still couldn’t describe them as painful. I was no longer playing the CD, but just trying to get the work finished. Aidan was a terrific help, since by this time, the phone had started to ring and he fielded calls and managed to deal with lots of work queries without once mentioning to anyone that I was in labour.

At 11.30am, I got into the shower, assuming that it would be a comfort. I stood, directing the spray onto my back but quickly found that it became uncomfortable. I got out of the shower and got dressed. I found it easier to sit upright through the contractions.

At about 12.30, my mum and sister arrived, and it was just lovely to see them. They stayed only a short time but it was a relaxed visit; I felt fine and the contractions still felt okay. I tried the birthing ball for a time, but found it awkward so I abandoned it. Kate arrived at about 1.30 and encouraged me to try to sleep. She did ask if I would like to be examined but I wasn’t keen on the idea. While I knew I was most likely still in the latent phase, I don’t think I wanted confirmation that I hadn’t even started to dilate. Kate didn’t pursue it. She attached the tens machine and put it to the lowest setting. She suggested that I play around with it but I just didn’t feel inclined to interfere and it remained at that setting all day. I really can’t say with any certainty whether it helped or not. After some time, Kate arranged the pillows on my bed and I lay down on my side while she sat on the edge of the bed and chatted. Kate sent Aidan out to buy hot water bottles and she placed two of them on my back and side. They felt lovely. I think her intention was to have me fall asleep, since I had already lost a night’s sleep and the birth was most likely a long way off. But I couldn’t fall asleep and I found the contractions more difficult to cope with lying down. They felt intense at the peak, but they still seemed very short – no more than 20 seconds in duration and coming every four or five minutes or so. At about 5.00pm, I heard Brian and all the builders leaving. Kate asked if she could examine me and this time I agreed. I suppose I was curious. It was the first and last VE of the pregnancy and birth and was over very quickly.

She announced that I was between 4 and 5 centimetres dilated. I was delighted since I still felt that the contractions weren’t too bad at all. Kate told me that I was sufficiently dilated to get into the birthing pool and she and Aidan headed downstairs to set it up. I continued to lie on the bed for a short time but eventually felt I’d cope better standing up. There was a pile of towels and sheets sitting on the chest of drawers which reached chest height. I found it helpful to stand and lean into the pile and bury my face in the towels at the height of a contraction. After a while, I headed downstairs where Aidan and Kate were filling the pool with some difficulty since the tap/ hose connection wasn’t working. I was struck by how perfect the setting was. That morning, the extension had been full of rubble and building equipment. Now it was a huge, empty box with the evening sunshine streaming through the windows.

The guys had painted the walls and bonded the concrete floor. It mightn’t sound like everyone’s idea of a perfect birth setting but I was thrilled with it. I wandered about a bit, watching as Kate and Aidan continued to fill the pool, and sending text messages to my mum and sisters. After a time, I went back upstairs in search of the pile of laundry and brought it down to the kitchen counter, leaning into the contractions once more.  I didn’t know it at the time, but the trips up and down the stairs were helping to move the baby down.

I felt that the contractions had started to change. They were still manageable and I still got great relief from the gap between them, but they were more intense and coming every two or three minutes. I started to feel a sort of bulging pressure in my bum at the end of each one. I told Kate and she just nodded and told me that was fine. The contractions still felt no more than 25 seconds in length. And between contractions, I felt completely normal – as though I wasn’t in labour at all.

At about ten to seven, the pool was ready and I got in. I know many women describe the sensation of getting in to the pool as miraculous. I found it pleasant but not radically different. I sat in the pool and continued to feel those pushy, bulgy contractions.  Kate instructed Aidan to give me a cold, wet facecloth, which he did. I hadn’t looked for it, had no idea I wanted it, but it was just lovely. With each contraction, I buried my face in the icy, wet cloth. After a while, Kate suggested that I feel what was happening. I put my hand down and felt the bag of waters bulging. It was a peculiar sensation! Shortly afterwards, I felt the waters break with a loud pop. At some point, Kate gave me some homeopathic remedies to suck but I don’t recall which ones they were.

At one point, Aidan came over and put his arms around me but I pushed him away. I was concentrating hard and I had sort of retreated into myself. I didn’t want the contact or the distraction although I was very glad of his presence at a distance. Kate asked me if I wanted some gas and air but I couldn’t bear the thought of any interference or of putting a mask over my face. The contractions were gaining in intensity and coming more frequently but there was always a gap between them which made them manageable. I was pretty much silent throughout all the contractions.

Kate asked me if I wanted to get out of the pool to give birth.  But I had no desire to move and there was no way I was leaving the pool. I felt I was going further into myself. I continued to kneel in the pool, leaning over the edge, with my face in the cloth.

Within a few minutes, Kate knelt down beside me, told me that the baby was coming and that I should push on the next contraction. I remember my irrational reaction: I said no and turned my head in the opposite direction. She came around to the other side and repeated it very gently. And so, on the next contraction I pushed and the baby’s head was born. Somehow, I had raised my hips so that the head emerged from the water. Kate told me to stay raised so that the baby’s head wouldn’t be resubmerged. In what was only seconds, I felt the baby’s body come out. I heard a loud cry. It was 7.40pm.

I continued to lean over the edge of the pool for a few moments. I think I was almost afraid to turn around to look at the baby. Kate and Aidan coaxed me around, both refusing to tell me if it was a boy or a girl. I turned and saw it was a boy. I was surprised since I had become convinced towards the end of the pregnancy that I was carrying a girl. He looked very big and very red and very beautiful. I raised one leg and Kate manoeuvred him under and into my arms. I sat back down in the pool and cuddled him. It was an extraordinary feeling. The chord was quite short and it stopped pulsating very soon. Kate clamped it, Aidan cut it and baby Bill and I were separated for the first time. Kate produced a baby sheepskin and wrapped him in it. Aidan held him while I stood in the pool and delivered the placenta.

Then it was out of the pool, and immediately upstairs to bed where Kate set about getting Bill properly latched on and feeding. Kate stood beside the bed, and patiently  latched and relatched the baby until he took to it. It must have taken an hour and I remember wondering, where’s the lovely tea and toast that everyone talks about after birth? But the breastfeeding has worked like a charm with no problems whatsoever. In hindsight, I know that it is because of Kate’s efforts immediately after the birth. After the first hour, Aidan appeared with tea and bacon and eggs and we all ate sitting around the bed.  The baby was weighed and we discovered that he was 8lb exactly.

We made our calls to the family to let them know that Bill had arrived. My other sister and her husband (Brian the builder) called around briefly to meet the boy.

Kate stayed the first night. And I’m embarrassed to say that with the building work going on, she was forced to sleep on a dusty sofa in a rubble filled sitting room. When the baby woke during the night to feed, she came up and sat with me while I tried to get it right, gently advising and helping with the positioning.

The next morning, she ran me a bath and then took the baby while I soaked. I came back to find a beautifully made up bed with a mountain of pillows. She then bathed the boy and tucked him up beside me. She left that morning only after ensuring that I had everything I needed by my side.

I lay on the bed watching my amazing son and feeling tired but so, so happy. Kate continued to visit daily for ten days after the birth and weekly after that until he was six weeks old.  The fabulous post-natal care was a revelation and one of the surprise bonuses of the whole experience.

Homebirth has been the most rewarding experience. I had been sceptical about hypnobirthing and though I never actively thought about it during the labour and birth, I’m sure that it must have played a part. I didn’t have a pain-free labour but it was wonderful nonetheless. The contractions were always manageable. I kept waiting for it to get really hard but it never did. I think the single most important factor was that I was never, ever afraid and I’m convinced that fear sabotages childbirth. I felt confident, safe and secure, in my own home with Aidan and with Kate.

Emma Walls

Some additional thoughts about HypnoBirthing by Emma
Just to add a couple of things about my experience of hypnobirthing:
I had the (apparently common) problem of falling asleep before the Rainbow Relaxation part kicked in so consciously I was much more familiar with the affirmations part. I guess the RR worked on the subconscious as I was very relaxed in labour.

When we first met, you mentioned that some of the affirmations would resonate and to find the ones that fit. I liked a lot of them, but I think I particularly loved ‘I am safe, I am confident, I am secure’ and that stayed with me. I had heard you say and had read in the book that ‘you determine how your birth energy is received’. The message being that you could feel the contractions as energy, as pressure or as mild period pains or whatever you choose. I don’t consciously remember deciding that I would feel it a certain way but the idea of feeling contractions as period pains stuck in my memory, mostly because I found it kind of unlikely! But in the end, that’s exactly how I experienced contractions – mild (to moderate!) pains in my lower back. At the time, I was very surprised that I had no labour sensations in my stomach. (And this was not a posterior labour). So clearly, my subconscious had soaked up that idea as well.

I suppose the point I’m trying to make is, that with hypnobirthing, you don’t even have to fully subscribe to it for it to work, you just have to follow the advice. As you told me, you can remain sceptical right up to the end but still discover the benefits.

Emma

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The Swift Arrival of Baby Christopher Robin !

Having watched my tummy expand and having felt movement where there hadn't been any before, and having gone nine months with having no control over which direction my body was expanding, I knew that I was going to have control over one thing the birth.  No fear, and being able to control my body when it came to the big day, thats what helped me through the whole pregnancy. To add the icing to the cake was the fact that I had achieved the birth that I had planned and prepared for.

 Robert was in awe the fact that the experience was so calm and relaxing, it was amazing I would definitely do it again.  I tried HypnoBirthing before I knocked it and I know with the next birth I will do it all over again, such a wonderful experience with no fuss or excruciating pain like I had once been told, a natural progression of life aware of your senses what's going on around you and that final knowing of what's happening next.

Sonia & Robert

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The Unexpected Arrival of Baby Lucas

Hi Tracy

I was surprised to give birth to my son a month early! Lucas came on Saturday July 29 at 5:34 pm, after 9 hours and 45 minutes of labour. Although he was premature (36 weeks) he was perfectly healthy, and the birth was considered 'normal' by the hospital.

I was admitted into hospital on Friday night after my 36 week ante-natal visit showed I had high blood pressure. This was the first problem I had experienced during my pregnancy, but I was admitted to the maternity hospital for observation overnight. My blood pressure returned to normal, and I was to be discharged Saturday morning. While waiting for the the doctor to discharge me, my membranes released! This was at about 7 am, and then the surges started to come very strong and very regular.

By the time the doctor arrived to examine me at 9:30 I was 3 cm dilated.

Because Lucas was premature I was given antibiotics and put on a blood-pressure monitor. This restricted my movement considerably but I was able to leave the bed and sit on a chair.

The time passed quickly and I was experiencing minimal discomfort. At 12:30 my blood-pressure was still really high, and I was told I had to have an epidural to bring my blood-pressure down. I refused at first, but ended up taking the epidural  for the safety of  my baby. I was about 7 cm when I received the epidural.

Amazingly, while the surges had been manageable up until that point, as soon as I was told the danger my baby was in, and that I had to have the epidural I started to experience excruciating pain. I witnessed the fear effect first-hand and was shocked at the difference in just a couple of minutes. As soon as I felt scared, my body responded with intense pain.

After the epidural set in, I was calmer and focused once again on my visualisations and all the affirmations I could remember (I did not have the CD with me, as I went into labour so unexpectedly). I did the breathing exercises I could remember and stayed with my baby, visualising his safe passage down the birth path. I felt very connected to my baby, and time passed quickly. He was born without assistance or any complication. He seemed quite content when he came out, and was placed at my breast.

Even though the birth was nothing like what I had planned, I still felt very in control and confident in my choices each step of the way. I had a different birth experience than I wanted, but it was still a very positive experience. I wish I had had more time to practice the Hypnobirthing techniques, but I really think the daily work I did over the four weeks prior to Lucas' birth really helped me and Fred and especially Lucas.

Patricia