HypnoBirthing Australia - natural childbirth classes in Brisbane, Gold Coast and Byron Bay.

Health Fund Rebates

melissa — Fri, 18 May 2012 14:12:09 +0000

Hypnotherapy Rebate – Participating Health Funds

As Melissa is a Clinical Hypnotherapist, registered through the Australian Hypnotherapists Association; you may be eligible to claim a rebate for Hypnotherapy.

The following Health funds currently provide rebates, but make sure to check your specific policy for further details:

Australian Unity
CBHS Health Fund
Grand United Corporate
Health Partners
Medibank Private
Navy Health Fund
NRMA Health Insurance
Phoenix Welfare
Railway and Transport Health Fund Ltd
Reserve Bank Health Society
Teachers Federation Health
SGIC ( SA and NT)
SGIO Health Insurance (WA)
Westfund

The Australian Hypnotherapists Association is constantly working for Hypnotherapy to be recognised by all major health funds. If your particular fund is not listed here, please call them as we may not yet have been notified.

Rowan Tilda, born 14 April 2012

melissa — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 10:12:00 +0000

We’re enjoying every minute of getting to know our daughter!

Rowan was 16 days past her due date when we decided, along with our midwife, to do an induction, after trying four membrane sweeps and natural induction methods. I was a little disappointed and nervous, as I was really hoping for a natural birth and knew that induction meant a higher chance of needing other intervention or surgery. But I had been practicing my affirmations, relaxation and breathing every day for weeks and that helped give me the courage and flexibility to accept that this was the best scenario for a healthy mum and bub. I especially focused on the affirmation, ‘I am prepared for whatever turn my birthing may take’.

I ended up labouring for 12 hours on a high dose of Syntocinon before needing a caesarean, but I was able to do so without using any pain medication. To be frank, the surges brought on by the Syntocinon were fairly brutal and my movement was limited by the fetal heart rate monitor, so it was not the scenario I had visualised, and it was tough to breathe through the surges in the same way I had practiced at home. However, I completely relaxed in the small space between surges and used visualisations from Hypnobirthing, and my partner was able to use all the Hypnobirthing prompts to assist and encourage me. The Hypnobirthing allowed me to focus with confidence and to stay in the present moment – otherwise I never would have had the energy to last through the induced labour.

When it was clear a caesarean was needed (my cervix had not effaced), I was able to accept this without any disappointment or grief. I was proud of my ability to get through the surges without pain medication and with the knowledge that my body and baby were still working together, as the monitor showed she was dealing with the surges just fine.

Everyone at the hospital – the surgical team, midwives and nurses – remarked on how calm and alert Rowan was at birth, and it seemed that my efforts in labour helped in this regard. She latched on to the breast within an hour after surgery while I was still in the recovery room, and has been a champion feeder since then. We’ve had her for a week now and she has a very sweet and calm disposition. The Hypnobirthing techniques – affirmations and breathing in particular – are still useful now that she’s here too.

cheers

Erica, Ryan & Rowan, West End, Brisbane

Zaria Lee, born 2 April 2012

melissa — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 10:42:07 +0000

You will be glad to hear John and I welcomed Zaria Lee into the world on Monday the 2nd of April at 4:37am.

It was a long but calm and peaceful labor lasting 50 hours. I experienced “the show” at 2:30 on Saturday morning, then had surges between 30-15 minutes apart until 6:30 Saturday night when they became a little more regular coming between 15-3 minutes. After having surges 3 minutes apart for a solid hour we made our way to the Mater Mother’s Hospital at 12:45pm Sunday and arrived there at a little past 1am Monday. At this point midwives told me bub was only 5cm, being so tired I began to think I’d had enough, but with the amazing support of John and my mum I continued to stay calm and breathe through surges.

My mum was amazed when I was being monitored, every time I had a surge, bubs heart rate went down, she was so calm and relaxed. Midwives told John and I what a great team we made. By 3am we were moved to a birth suite. At around 4am I decided a bath would be great to relieve some of the pressure, 20 minutes later my waters broke and I was being moved to the bed to birth our beautiful baby girl. Unfortunately I did “lose it” a bit and had very small amounts of gas through the last 45mins of surges, I also gave in to my urges (including the midwife) and “pushed”, I found it difficult to resist the “pushing sensation” and just let my body do what it felt like doing. At 4:37am our baby was sat on my chest, she did not cry at all and barely made a sound, midwives were a little worried she had breathed in too much mucus and took her to a table were she could be checked out, she is a very healthy baby weighing 7.25pounds, 49cm, John didn’t leave her side. While being checked over John went to grab her hand, she immediately grasped his pinky and took it to her mouth making sucking motions, she feeds very well.

So far Zaria is a very placid and calm baby and only gets upset when she is hungry or experiencing wind. I believe she is like this because of the wonderfully calm labor/birth she had which wouldn’t have happened without Hypnobirthing. The pregnancy was much the same due to the practice of hynobirthing everyday! John and I thank you for teaching us how to have a more calm and relaxing birth beneficial to him, myself and our baby.
Emma, John and Zaria.

p.s. Attached is a photo of me about an hour and a half before birth and one of baby Zaria.

Zoe Melissa, born 8 April 2012

melissa — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 05:27:51 +0000

Without Hypnobirthing I possibly would have opted for a c-section as I was petrified of ever going through all that (traumatic first birth) again, particularly after the damage that had been done to my perineum.

Last time I spoke to you I think you recommended that I read through the Hypnobirthing book one more time which I did and it turned out to be the best advice. I read over the part about having an anchor – something we hadn’t covered at all and it occurred to me this would be really helpful so I had Mark come in every night when I was in my relaxed state and plant an anchor of holding/squeezing my hand – that was by far the best thing we did as during labour the only way I could relax my body was to hold Marks hands – and boy was that effective!

Over the 2 weeks leading up to the birth I had a few “false alarms” plus we were battling pre eclampsia symptoms, I desperately wanted to go naturally and avoid another induction after our first horrifying experience. Wednesday April 4th my obstetrician ordered bed rest due to my fluid and blood pressure and I really fell to pieces, my acupuncturist then performed an acupuncture induction to try and encourage my body to go naturally before what was looking more and more like certain medical intervention. I was a bit disappointed that I was trying to rush things along but I was assured that if my body and baby weren’t ready then it simply wouldn’t work and it was better then the alternative.

Saturday April 7th was my due date and also marked the 60 hours within which the acupuncture should have worked and nothing had happened. I’d been getting heaps of surges over the previous 2 weeks but no other signs that anything was happening, and the nasty symptoms were worsening. That night I went to bed really disappointed, I’d worked so hard this pregnancy to stay healthy and fit, I’d worked really hard at the Hypnobirthing practice and yet here I was all the way near the very end and my body was failing me. I went to bed and dreamed scenarios of being induced and all the horrors that would follow.

4am Sunday April 8th (Easter) I was awoken by some convincing surges, got up and went to the toilet and passed my show! I was so excited you have no idea, HA my body DID know how to do it and I was going to go naturally after all. My mega fluid (I’d been unable to walk the previous day I was so swollen) was all but gone and if I wasn’t having a baby today I’d jump on my head! Woohoo! It took me a couple of hours to settle down from my excitement and when I did I hopped back into bed and listened to your affirmations on the ‘Surge of the Sea’ album – I’d been drawn to this track the last few days for some reason didn’t want to listen to anything else.

I got a couple more hours sleep then awoke and we did our daughters easter egg hunt. Over the course of the day I’d have a few good surges together then nothing for ages and I began to think it might be the next day instead – didn’t matter now though I knew it was happening. Nothing much had happened for a couple of hours when at about 4.30 I got a couple of good surges close enough together that I felt it was worth timing them to see how close they were. 3 were 7 minutes apart at which point I sent a message to my mum

and my friend who were coming to watch our daughter Mackenzie for us. The next 2 surges came 3 minutes apart and before I knew it they felt like they were coming on top of each other. I could feel this massive pressure too, it felt like my waters wanted to break and as soon as they did baby would follow them. Mark was supposed to go pick my mum up but as he was about to leave I told him to tell her to get a taxi we were going to the hospital very soon and I didn’t want him to leave me alone.

As soon as my mum arrived we were in the car on the way to the hospital which was an uncomfortable drive but I used the slow breathing very well to get through it, thankfully it was only a short drive. At this point the surges slowed to about 4-5 minutes again and I began to wonder if we weren’t going to be told we had come too early but I had a feeling I needed to be at the hospital at that point and I wasn’t leaving. Anyway we got there and they took us down to the birthing centre, I hadn’t known that we’d end up there had expected just a delivery room so this was a bonus, Mark set about putting our rainbow candles out, drawing blinds and dimming lights. He also gave the midwife Ally a copy of our birthplan, but didn’t go over it with her – thankfully it didn’t matter she was fantastic. I tried to lay down to listen to the tracks but it wasn’t comfortable I wanted to be sitting on the edge of the bed and when I tried to play the tracks I found they annoyed me so Mark put some Keith Urban on for me instead – I love Keith Urban it was perfect. I soon discovered that when I held Marks hands through a surge I was able to relax my entire body and just breath through them during one big surge I felt it was a little harder to relax when I noticed my birth colour from the rainbow candles on the back of my eyelids (they were closed) and it helped me focus again – so glad I got those candles! There was the odd one that would bring about a very low moan but for the main part I was silent and at some point my obstetrician Katrina asked if I would be open to an internal, she knew I wanted as few as possible but explained that because I was hypnobirthing so well she had no way of gauging where I was at. I agreed to the check but said unless I was significantly dilated I didn’t want to know how far along I was, I’d told her that I felt like I just needed my waters to release and the baby was going to come straight out.

Well she checked me and said nothing except that she was going to go have dinner and would be back a little later. That was somewhat disappointing but I didn’t think about it too much at that point.

Within minutes of her leaving the surges increased significantly and it did occur to me that I mustn’t be far along as she’d said nothing and suddenly it was getting very hard to handle. I started to talk about pain relief at this point and Mark began talking to me about how I was doing so great and I didn’t need it. I felt it was going to be longer then I could bear at that stage so I told him I loved that he was trying so hard to keep me on track with my birth preferences but I was okay about needing something extra, I was really proud of what I had achieved so far and I didn’t feel it was going to lead me down the same path our first birth experience had gone. When Ally came back I asked about pain releief and we had a bit of a chat about my options I really didn’t want gas or an epidural, was adamantly against pethidine and the remifentanil sounded like it might be worth a shot but it could take a while to get it organised, she suggested they fill the tub for me first and see how I go. We went down to the tub and I hopped in and it was heaven for a few moments when all of a sudden I felt this massive pop which took me by surprise, I said I thought my waters had just broken and she confirmed this to be the case.

Next thing I was getting that urge to push, I tried to regulate it with my breathing but was failing a little at that point. I began to panic and beg for pain relief – clearly in transition which thankfully Ally recognised and gave me the gas – Mark told me later she never turned it up over 25% and I didn’t use it much as when I told her it wasn’t working she just said “oh you must be at that point where nothing is going to help!” – I could kiss her for that! She also fed me the news that I wasn’t allowed a water birth there and so if I really felt it was pushing time I needed to get out of the tub and back to the room.

Getting out of the bath was very difficult as all I wanted to do at that point was bear down, and we had to walk down the hall to the room. This part is the only part I really started to fall to pieces, the drama had caused me to lose focus completely. The next part is a bit funny cause my recollection of what happened and what Mark tells me happened are slightly different. I felt like I was getting snappy and yelling at Mark and making a bit of noise, but he tells me I was almost completely silent – that was all happening in my head only. Mark had recognised my loss of focus and became firm with me at this point, he gripped my hands and looked me deep in the eye and wouldn’t accept that I couldn’t do it – “Yes you can Leah, breathe out slower” he demanded of me. I was getting so annoyed at him because no I couldn’t but he wouldn’t accept that and somewhere along the line it sunk in that he was right I could do it. The conversation I was having in my head at this point is kind of comical looking back “I’m not ready yet I just want to go have a sleep then I’ll come back and finish having the baby” “Oh God they’re setting up this really is happening how do I get out of here?” “LEAH get out of your head and FOCUS” “If I don’t start breathing this baby out I am going to make a mess of myself do I really want that” etc. Somewhere in there I did get a grip and begun breathing the baby down really quite controlled. Katrina had arrived at some point and was leaning over my shoulder saying to me “Leah remember when I said at this point I want you to go as slowly as possible” “Yep I’m on it” – not actually sure if I said that but I was thinking it.

I could feel Zoe’s head coming down through my pelvis and beginning to crown at this point and my body opening up beautifully suddenly I was enjoying this again and wondering how far out she was, I was breathing her down with the surges and it felt so awesome, at one point I said to myself “I wonder if this is the point they talk about the ring of fire, if so they are weak this doesn’t even hurt” I breathed her head out slowly and controlled and the only thing I felt was one tiny little pop which was later said to be a tiny graze – I can’t even feel it. She stayed there like that for a bit between surges and I could feel her moving which was even cooler. Then the next surge came and her body slid out it was the single most amazing thing ever! They helped me get her through my legs and pick her up for immediate skin to skin and with some weird maneuvers we got onto the bed for cuddles.

At this point I began to wonder if I’d been sneakily stuck with a needle without realising when my obstetrician smiled and announced that I had lost next to no blood and we were having a physiological 3rd stage I was stoked. Ally was knocking off and her and my obstetrician were talking about what a great birth it was and that I Hypnobirthed very well, she even thanked me and said it was a great way to finish her day. Before leaving she asked me if I wanted to know how far dilated I’d been when Katrina checked me, I said yes and she proudly informed me that I’d only been 3cm and went from that to having a baby within an hour!

After the cord finished pulsing Mark cut it and I got him to take his shirt off for some skin to skin as the surges were becoming a bit uncomfortable but even after I’d given her to him I didn’t want to move and was beginning to just want the placenta out. Katrina came back and said it had been a while and would I mind if she had a bit of a feel on the cord to see what was happening and I agreed stating that I kind of just wanted it over now but didn’t want to risk anything being left behind like last time. She felt the cord and assured me the placenta had come away and so she helped me ease it out with the next surge, I think if I’d have changed position it would have come out itself then anyway but I didn’t want to move. She made a point of telling me how especially well I had birthed Zoe, she was most impressed with how slow and controlled she’d come out instead of pushing her, that was all hypnobirthing! She then checked me properly for tears to declare everything intact except for a tiny graze or two. She’d handed me the gas before starting the examination warning me it could sting but I never needed it – it hurt less then it did prior to having birthed!

Zoe was born at 9.11pm Easter sunday (April 8th) a mere 2 or 3 hours after arriving at the hospital (I wasn’t really watching the clock). She weighed 8lb 9.5oz and is just perfect.Mackenzie was brought in straight after she was born, and found it all a little scary but loves her little sister. We had planned on having her stay the night with us but decided it might be best for her to spend the night at home with mum and my friend Rhiannon, so Mark, Zoe and I remained in the birth centre for the night and in the morning came home.

It was such an amazing experience, I’m so happy that we did the Hypnobirthing skype course with you Melissa. It gave me all the tools I needed to have an empowering and healing birth experience and I think my favourite part of all was how it included Mark in the whole process, I didn’t birth Zoe, WE did. I couldn’t have done it without him the way I did it was incredible and has made us all feel very close and bonded. I’ll be recommending you to everyone like crazy now!

I can’t believe how easy everything has been, Zoe is such a delightful little baby she feeds well, she sleeps and allows me to put her down to do things here and there and is happy for other people to hold her. Everything is so different to how it was with Mackenzie, absolutely everything had been a struggle for us especially breastfeeding, last night my milk came in I was sitting there and felt my top get wet simple, no fuss… Amazing! I have bounced back incredibly well too, 48 odd hours later and I’m up and about beginning to do light exercise again and getting housework done haha. It’s the way it should be and it’s so, so nice.

I said to Mark, I’m not sure I ever want to do this again, it was so perfect I’d be afraid to wreck it but honestly I know if I ever do go back for one more it will be just as good because we will most definitely hypnobirth again! I have attached a few photos you’re welcome to share also – one of Zoe a few hours after birth, one of us before the placenta was birthed – Daddy had some skin to skin too with our candles set up it’s pretty beautiful and another of Zoe with a very proud big sister Mackenzie

Up until just now we hadn’t yet decided on a middle name for Zoe, we have decided to call her Zoe Melissa, as a beautiful reminder of what was a beautiful way of entering the world. We never even met in person, unless you count Skype, but you had such a massive impact on us and our birthing experience it seems very fitting. You were in both our heads at different points and deserve huge credit for how our birthing turned out. Thank you so much from the bottom of our hearts!

Lots of love

Leah and Mark – Ballarat, Victoria

Jocelyn, born 25 February 2012

melissa — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 06:04:30 +0000

Joc was born on 25 Feb a healthy 3.62kg with lots of black hair!!

Hypno birthing helped me to get through the first stages of labour. The midwives commented how Calm and in control I was.

At one stage my contractions really slowed but listening to my rainbow relaxation relaxed me and sped them up again

The only thing I regret is that as i progressed I didn’t trust my instincts. I went very slowly to 5cm or 6 cm then rocketed through to 10cm once I got into the bath. I knew I needed to push but didn’t think I could have progressed 4cm in 25 mins. This made me panic a bit but it was fine once I got the ok to push and we all got there in the end!

The other thing that was clear was that when I relaxed things moved so much more quickly. I think HypnoBirthing gave me some tools to relax and take control of what was happening. It also gave me the confidence to even attempt a vaginal birth which was a big step for me given all the horror stories I’d been told!

I am so happy we didn’t use drugs apart from a bit of gas and air in the late stages. Jocelyn breastfeed straight away and, from birth, has been so aware and engaged but also calm.

Thanks for your help and support.

Lisa Michael and Little Miss Jocelyn

Matilda, born 8 March 2012

melissa — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 05:41:09 +0000

Dear Melissa,

Hope that you are well. Just wanted to write to tell you of the birth of our sweet little baby girl Matilda (Tilly). I apologise that it has taken a while for us to write to you – busy times!!

As you know just prior to Tilly’s due date a few medical issues arose – and we thank you again for your support during that time. Following our last contact baby’s due date passed and 42 weeks was fast approaching, as such we were left with no option but to reluctantly accept a medical induction for both mine and Tilly’s well being.

The day of my induction Marco and I felt relaxed and well prepared. We were very well armed with hours of hypnobirthing practice and a positive attitude. Fortunately we had also prepared our medical care givers by providing written birthing preferences and educating them at every opportunity as to how we would prefer our baby’s birthing to unfold.

The labour itself lasted 27 hours, a marathon labour that was very well managed by our magnificent obstetrician who allowed us every opportunity to attempt a natural birth free of intervention. Thanks to hypnobirthing and my very supportive husband I can honestly say that I was able to stay in control and manage the tightenings without pain relief. In fact our midwife even passed comment that it was very hard to time the tightenings as she had trouble detecting the start and finish of them, due to the relaxed state I was in. During the long labour we used the affirmations regularly, the Rainbow Relaxation script, the Depthometer and Glove Relaxation Script (which I have to say, I could never get to effectively work during hypnobirthing practice, but worked a treat in labour!!) and listened to the Steven Halpern ‘Comfort Zone’ tracks throughout.

Our midwife and obstetrician were so used to the “BRAN” questions that they addressed these without any prompting from us!

Eventually it came to be that Matilda was going to have to be delivered via Emergency Caesarian Section. My cervix had failed to dilate adequately and Tilly had descended in a posterior position. Marco and I needed to accept that our birthing plans had to change.

I was extremely nervous about having a spinal anaesthesia. Knowing this we were allowed a short time to conduct a fear release as theatre was prepared. The Balloon Ride script worked a beautifully and I felt so calm again as I “threw overboard” the fears I had. I listened to Marco as he repeated affirmations to me particularly asking me embrace whatever turn our birthing would take.

Following the surgery Tilly was given skin to skin time as soon as possible and the noise in the operating theatre was kept to a minimum.

During my recovery I received at least two visits daily from our obstetrician who repeatedly apologised that I was not able to have the natural, water birth that I had wanted. What he didn’t realise and was promptly assured, is that despite our babies birthing taking many unexpected turns he continued to respect our birthing preferences and wherever possible embrace these.

I can honestly say that whilst we did not have a ‘natural’ birth we certainly made great use of the hypnobirthing techniques taught to us. Interestingly Tilly calms and goes to sleep every night to the ‘Comfort Zone tunes’ – she seems to know them!!

With great thanks and appreciation,

Arita, Marco and Matilda, Burnie, Tasmania

HypnoBirthing on the Today Show!

melissa — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 02:47:12 +0000

HypnoBirthing is going mainstream!!! In the past week we have seen HypnoBirthing featured on both The Today Show and Channel 10 News.
HypnoBirthing on the Today Show – Australia

Lee, born 5 March 2012

melissa — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 01:53:21 +0000

Things started happening early in the morning on Monday 5th March when I was woken up by some irregular but convincing surges at around 3am. I put on my rainbow relaxation track and managed to fall back to sleep for an hour and a half but was incorporating the surges into my dreams – so they were certainly still there. At 5am I woke again and decided to time my surges which went from 8 minutes apart to 4 minutes apart within the space of an hour and a half or so. At this stage I was feeling very relaxed and finding the surges very manageable,

although I was having to stop, concentrate and breath through each one. It’s amazing the difference it made having my body relaxed as I met each surge rather than fighting against it which I had done last labour. With the house still quite (w

ith Hugh and Zoe still asleep) I spent some time on the fitball listening to some affirmations and at 7am decided to call my midwife to let them know what was going on. Given my surges had gone from 8 minutes apart to 4 minutes apart relatively quickly, we decided to head into the hospital. Before leaving Hugh read me the depthometer script and we set out feeling relaxed but excited that we’d be meeting our boy very shortly.

At the hospital we were given the opportunity to settle in and make ourselves comfortable without any interference, tests or monitoring. We were met there by our Doula (Simone), student MW (Taylor) and our midwives (Jane & Julie). Although these were not the midwives we had originally though would be ther

e for the birthing day, we had built up a good rapport with them and felt very comfortable with them.

My surges slowed down initially when we arrived at the hospital and I felt like some fresh air, so after Simone popped in a few acupuncture needles, we took the fire stairs down to the hospital grounds so I could have a wander and my birth companions could get a coffee. My surges started coming on pretty powerfully at this stage but I was still feeling great – strong and in control. After a while we took the fire stairs back up to the birthing suite and jumped into the bath for the next couple of hours.

We put “comfort zone” in the CD player and I found this REALLY helped to get me in the zone (I almost hadn’t purchased it because I wasn’t sure I would use it). Being in the water was wonderful and while the surges were very strong at this stage, I was still finding them very manageable.

Between surges Hugh was reading the deepening script and during the surges was using the light touch massage which was heavenly in conjunction with the water. There were a few times when I started feeling a bit overwhelmed with the surges – a few moments of self doubt, but Hugh used the techniques we had learned and affirmations we’d been practicing to help bring my focus back to the task at hand!

The next few hours I alternated between the fit ball and the bed – listening to my body and either resting or staying active depending on what I needed. At around 7pm my (? hind) waters broke and the MWs noticed that they were ever so slightly meconium stained. At this stage the MW suggested that it may be an idea to do an internal to check how things were progressing. I was happy for her to do this

(especially in the context of the meconium) but didn’t want to know how dilated I was unless I was significantly dilated. A quick check showed that I was 8-9cm dilated, with bulging waters, but with the same persistent

anterior lip of my cervix that had delayed the second stage for so long with my first labour. At this stage the MW suggested a few ideas of things we could do to get the baby out a little faster (which I was happy to do in the context of the meconium).

We opted for an ARM & she also pushed back the anterior lip and I almost immediately felt that it was time to start breathing my baby down. I spent a good hour or so using the birthing breaths and could feel my baby moving gradually down. At this stage however, bub started passing copious amounts of meconium and the MWs suggested that it might be time to start actively pushing him out. This was one of the only times during the whole experience that I started to feel a bit panicked, but at the same time I then felt excited that I felt panicked (? transition) because I knew that it meant we were so close to meeting our little guy. After around an hour of guided pushing, Lee arrived into the world a perfect beautiful little soul! The delivery itself was the most amazing experience – having had a very traumatic ‘instrumental delivery’ last time, I never knew that it would feel so amazing to deliver my own baby. I felt so incredibly powerful and it healed me in a way that almost 3 years of counselling had been unable to do! Although we did err from our birthing preferences on a couple of points, I am so happy with how things went and happy that we were consulted every step of the way and included in the decision making process. I think personally by being in a great headspace it made it easier to make clear rational decisions during the latter part of the delivery – and I know we made the right decisions given our unique circumstances.

Unfortunately both Lee and myself had some complications post birth and we both needed to be transferred to a bigger hospital for further management. He had managed to inhale some meconium and wound up needing to spend some time in the special care nursery and I had a significant post partum bleed and retained my placenta which required a manual removal. Even with these complications, I still had an overwhelming sense that everything was going to be ok and I fully accredit this to hypnobirthing! I think Hugh even utilised a few sleep breaths while having to watch Lee have various drips and lines inserted in the SCN!

Thanks Melissa for your help and guidance. This birthing experience was an incredible experience – powerful, healing, cathartic. K xoxo

Kate and Hugh, Murwillumbah NSW

Alexandra Catherine-Rose, born 22 February 2012

melissa — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 01:12:16 +0000

Louella and Nicholas (Mt Isa, Queensland) learnt HypnoBirthing via Skype lessons. Here is their story…

We were very happy with our birthing experience.

I have to admit my hypnobirth was nothing like on the videos we saw during our Skype sessions, however using the breathing techniques and remembering the affirmations helped.

At first I used my own music for birthing but once I was in the labour suite, I didn’t want any music, I just wanted to close my eyes, breath, listen to the affirmations in my head and follow what my body and baby were telling me. My husband and friend were amazing throughout the birthing experience and the only thing I would do differently next time is stay home longer, at least another 2-3 hours.

The midwives and doctors at the Mount Isa hospital were amazing and respected our birthing preferences.

Once my birthing was over it was so amazing, rewarding and SO SURREAL to be holding our beautiful baby girl Alexandra Catherine-Rose in my arms, she was so tiny and beautiful.

Hypnobirthing really helped me to release all my fears about birthing, to listen to my own self and body to believe that I could birth naturally. Thank you Hypnobirthing Australia!!!

Noah, born 10 October 2011

melissa — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 00:23:29 +0000

We had Noah, 3.61kg, 50cm on the 10/10/11, 6 days early.

I woke on the morning of 10^th October, 6 days before the estimated date of arrival for Noah. I wasn’t that fixed on the date so I had decided that he would come in October sometime however I did think that he’d be late by about 3-4 days.

I went to the bathroom and found a sticky clear jelly type thing, I showed it to Mark and we decided that it must be the plug. I still had 1 week of jobs I wanted to do but we decided I’d have a quiet day at home just in case something happened.

I walked Zeus and didn’t feel any different to any other day. When I got home I hopped on the internet are looked up plugs and what they meant and essentially it could mean that labour might start within next 48hrs but could be up to 2 weeks away. I emailed Mark and he was excited because it meant that at some stage our baby would arrive. I still didn’t think anything would happen for 10 days or so.

I had a shower and hopped into bed to read a book (Bryce Courtney, Fortune Cookie)(something I wanted to do before the baby arrived). At 9am I had my 1st contraction. It was just like a tightening across my stomach. They came every 20min approx till midday. Most of the time I could continue to read but some I had to stop reading and gently move my legs from side to side. I breathed my birth breathing but wondered if this was really this. I didn’t have any Braxton hicks so I thought this might be them. At midday they had been consistent for a few hours so I called Mark to let him know i thought it was happening. He was excited but I told him I was fine and not to come home because I wasn’t sure this was it but maybe get his day in order in case it was.

I got up and had lunch and tried to watch some TV. The contractions increased over the next 2hrs to every 5-10 min so I called Mark to come home around 2.30pm. At this stage there was no pain I just kept using breathing and had to hop on the floor on my knees leaning against couch (sitting mustn’t have been comfy but it wasn’t a conscious choice to move during contractions I just did what felt right). I was saving all other hypnobirthing techniques and rainbow relaxation until i needed them.

Mark arrived in a taxi which I was surprised at because I had told him not to rush. I had a text from Uncle Gregory trying to org a day together that we could hang out before baby arrived, I told him I thought I was in labour and he was surprised because how could I not know. Another friend wanted to catch up that week and I told her I was maybe in labour but I’d let her know. Mark eventually told me I was in denial and that I needed to accept the fact that sometime in the next 24hrs I’d be having a baby. We called Karen our midwife to let her know that we had started labour and she said we sounded like we were progressing well and that it was happening and to keep her posted. She wanted me to say on a scale of 1-10 how my contractions felt and they were bearable so I said about a 7. I later retracted this because I didn’t know how bad it might get and didn’t want to say 7 if the scale was actually 1-100. I was focused that I could do it and I don’t think I doubted myself.

Over next few hrs contractions continued. Mark wanted to watch birth videos which I said he could but I wasn’t interested myself because I’d watched enough and I just needed to focus on the birth at hand. Instead we took photos of my belly and of Mark and me. Whenever a contraction came I would stop talking to Mark and close my eyes and breathe. Often I would hop onto my hands and knees. Mark would give me light touch massage which I hated during a contraction but found great in between contractions. Mark had dinner and tried to make me eat a sandwich and apple. By this stage contractions were at least every 5 min sometimes closer and up to 90sec.

It was around 5-6pm that I shifted to J breathing, the process of breathing the baby out. I remember asking Mark at what stage could I start this breathing and he said whenever I wanted. I remember thinking it was early to be doing it but the discomfort during contractions had changed and I was so much more comfortable breathing this way. Mark would time them for a period and then we wouldn’t do it for a while. We listened to John butler and I sat on the toilet as I felt comfy here and this is where I had practiced my J breathing. We put the affirmations CD on which helped me focus on me and the baby.

Mark made me use shower around 7 (he had been asking me for couple hours if I wanted to but I didn’t want to use the pain helping techniques until I needed them). The contractions were coming 2 in 5min lasting up to 90sec. The shower was great. I was on all fours or standing and Mark would come and go but mostly sit and chat to me. In the background I could hear the affirmation cd. We ran out of hot water around 7.30-8. I got out of the shower and hopped on all fours on the yoga mat covered with a shower curtain in the lounge room. They were coming really quickly now and I had to focus all my attention on them. I told Mark I needed to dry my hair and he took forever to get a towel. I was getting really cranky and yelling at him when he arrived with the hair dryer to which I couldn’t believe and told him to not be so stupid and get me a towel (in hindsight that was really sweat but at the time I was astonished). It was around now Mark said he wanted to go to hospital. I said if he thought contractions were close enough than ok. I didn’t realize but he was worried that it was going to happen soon. I think I assumed that it would keep going for a bit longed. He called the Karen and as he was dialing her no. my water broke. It was about 8pm. It sounded like a big pop and than a splash of water. Mark spoke to Karen and told her that he thought my water had broken and I yelled out it definitely broke. She arranged to meet us at the hospital by 9pm. It was 8.20pm.

Getting dressed and into the car was interesting to say the least. Mark had to find me clothes and a pad (which was interesting as they were already packed into the car). In between contractions which were now coming very regularly, probably every 2min, Mark was urging me to hurry up, I was yelling back that I was going as fast as I could but I had to stop everything I was doing when a contraction came so that gave me about 30sec to min to actually do anything. It took me about 20 min to get dressed and get down to the car. Mark was waiting at the front passenger door for me but I looked at him and said there was no way I would be able to sit down. So we went around to the back seat behind the driver and I climbed in. I positioned so that one leg went under driver’s seat and the other went in between the two front seats and I forward leaned into the back seat. It wasn’t a comfortable position due to my legs but better than sitting. We were off and the next thing I know I’m thrown around holding on for dear life, yelling at mark what the hell was he doing. It felt like we took the corner at the bottom of Goulburn St at about 100kms/hr (Mark assures me we didn’t). I climbed up completely onto the back seat and gripped the baby capsule for support, bottom to the window (I had a skirt on so it was ok). From the first corner on Mark gave me a audio navigation for every corner and light (coming to a left corner in 20m) so the trip was bearable. It was in the car that I really was feeling bub moved right down.

Arriving at the hospital I had another large contraction as I got out of the car and another in the lift up to the birth center. It was around 9pm. We were ushered into the birth suite by another midwife as Karen hadn’t yet arrived. I could feel a huge pressure in between my legs and a big urge to breathe bub out. The midwife started to run the bath and as she turned to me I had a contraction to which she told me I shouldn’t be pushing yet. I said to her that I could feel a head between my legs. She didn’t think that could be right but she said for me to remove my clothes. I threw my skirt and underwear off. At this point the midwife noticed we had meconium on the pad and she said we would have to move into the hospital birth suite but essentially I was in my own world by then and was down on the mat birthing bub. I still felt most comfortable on all fours. Thankfully at this time Karen (my midwife) arrived and she said we weren’t moving anywhere as she could see the baby’s head. For the next 15 min or so in between each contraction Karen tried to use the Doppler to monitor bubs heart rate but every time she put it on me I had another contraction. It was really annoying me. She put a mirror in between my legs so she could see easily which also allowed me to see bubs head. Each contraction bubs head would out slightly and then suck back up. Karen tried to get me to change position to one knee up but I didn’t understand her and couldn’t do what see wanted. I said I couldn’t do it and hopped back onto all fours. The next contraction Karen decided she wanted bub out so she said I really had to push. Until this time I was trying to breathe bub out using the natural pushing reflex. So next contraction I really pushed, Mark was next to me the whole time and this contraction he spoke to me saying breath bub out Aims, J breathing, breath baby out.. I breathed bub out but I also pushed really hard. The head came out and next contraction the body came out.

The next minute or so felt like forever (it was apparently 30sec to min max), I yelled to Mark to stay with the baby as Karen apparently cut the cord and bub was rushed out of the room. I couldn’t hear anything and was just sitting there a little distressed as I didn’t know what was happening. I said to Karen that I couldn’t hear bub crying and was it all right. She said it was all fine and that she had heard a cry and that meant bub was fine and would be back any second. It felt like forever and then Mark brought bub back to me and I held and cuddled him. I then found out he was a boy and he had a feed. I also had to be injected with syntocin because there was a lot of blood and she couldn’t tell where it was coming from. Before I had the chance to object the needle was in and my placenta came out. She checked it and it was intact and the umbilical cord was really long, that’s when Mark told me it had been wrapped around his neck twice. We sat there for a while and ate lollies while Mark took everything back to the car. Karen asked me to move onto the bed so she could examine me and this is when she said I had torn but I needed to be examined by a doctor because she couldn’t tell how bad it was. While waiting for doctor Mark, bub and I sat in bed, bub feeding and Mark and I went through the possible name options. This was when we named Noah.

Up until this point labour and birth was a beautiful and wonderful experience. From the point I was injected with the syntocin and the tearing was assessed my memory and experience was not to plan. I had to have surgery and the whole saga was very dramatic. I am rewriting this part so that in the future I remember it this way instead.

After I had spent a couple hours with Noah and fed him twice I had to go and get fixed up so Noah got to spend some wonderful quality time skin on skin with Mark. During this time they cuddled and bonded. When I came back I held Noah skin on skin to my breast on my stomach from 1.30/2am until Mark returned at 7.30am. I slept very little just dosing watching Noah. He is a beautiful baby whom I am astonished is now in my arms rather than inside of me. The love I feel is intense and I am focused on 1 thing, getting us out of hospital and home.

Mum and Dad and Gregory visit and we see Matt and Mairead and Ryan who are in a room up the hall.

The best moment is waiting with Mark and Noah at 9pm to leave and walking out of the hospital to take our little man home.

Noah is a beautiful calm baby and birth was also fantastic not perfect but we did it mostly the way we wanted. I love my family, Mark and Noah (oh and of course Zeus).