Sita is doing a guest post to share her experience about success with Hypnobabies. I shared this in an earlier post.
Moms need to start asking the questions,
- Did Hypnobabies help you during your pregnancy?
- Did Hypnobabies help you during your birth?
Sita replied:
I love that you brought this up. I totally agree with you.
I have had 2 *Successful* Hypnobabies births
– ONE of them was comfortable and one of them was NOT!
My first Hypnobabies experience was the comfortable one.
I still had a little doubt whether it would “work” or not back then. But I did my homework, and I was prepared for my birthing. I used the release cue a lot and repeated “Open Open Open” to myself a lot. My DH put ice on my low back when I was nearing transformation. I stayed upright for the whole birthing, using my birth ball and pacing. I felt pressure, but I never felt pain. When the midwife arrived, I was 6-7cm and then I got in the birth tub, transitioned quickly and held a baby in my arms 40 minutes later. When I started to push her out and the pressure became intense, I *instinctively* said “Peace peace peace peace” to myself (and I didn’t even realize it until I saw it later on the birth video!)
After having that amazing experience with my first, I have to admit that I defined my “success” by how comfortable I was during that experience. I was in total awe and so was my husband.
I became a Hypnobabies instructor after that first experience. It was only after teaching for over a year and then my 2nd Hypnobabies birth that I realized how narrow my idea of “success” was and had to redefine.
I think my 2nd experience really helped develop me into an even better teacher. No two women give birth the same, and different babies are different even for the same woman.
With the second Hypnobabies birth, my sweet baby was posterior.
I have such a passion for teaching about optimal fetal positioning and have been doing it way before I became a Hypnobabies instructor. I did *everything* to get her turned right and she just would NOT go. I have a profound new respect for women who experience back labor and who go through the birth experience that way. I had an incredibly easy birth prior to this baby and was expecting it to go much the same. But, she could not turn and did not turn until right when she was coming down and out, and that made for a *much* more uncomfortable experience. She ended up having her cord 3 times around the neck and once under the arm.
However…
- I listened to my birthing affirmations
- I listened to my other Hypnobabies CDs
DH gave me birthing prompts - He was great about guiding me deeper when he noticed that I needed it.
- He and I were very connected and he anticipated and met my needs very well.
- He applied counterpressure to my low back
- We did the Belly Lift (A LOT).
- I felt confident in my body and I kept affirming to myself that I was going to have the birthing that my body and my baby needed and that I was OK with that.
She was my longest birthing time of all 3 and I know that if I hadn’t been using Hypnobabies, I probably would not have been able to stay as strong as I was and make it through an un-medicated homebirth experience.
Both were successful
I am getting longwinded now, but my point is that I consider BOTH of those experiences to be successful Hypnobabies births. I tell my students about both experiences. I want them to *expect* it to be comfortable and believe that it can be, but not feel like they “didn’t do it” if it’s not.
My circumstances with the 2nd hypnobaby were different, and my experience was different. But it was still a wonderful, awe-inspiring event. It helped me realize a whole new level to the program by having this experience. And it helped me be able to redefine my idea of success. I had a “Hypnobabies” birth because I USED the program! I did it. I prepared with it. I grew closer to my husband. I released my fears. I stayed calm even when things got very intense and uncomfortable. I feel like I climbed a mountain that 2nd time. That *is* success, whether it was comfortable or not.
Sita
Just found your blog. I’ve had 3 babies, and I find it interesting that fetal position (aside from breach) is rarely talked about. I went into my first labor with the goal of going as natural as possible. It was a 36 hour, back-labor ridden, slow progressing marathon labor. The doc wanted to do a c-section at the 24 hour, and I held them off for 12 hours because baby was not in distress. I ended up getting an epidural at 24 hours as the back-labor was unbearable and I was beyond exhausted. The nurses told me the baby was posterior and turned at the very end.
Baby number 2 was a 2 HOUR labor from first contraction to first breath. I got to the hospital at 10 cm, no drugs obviously, and he came out beautifully.
Baby #3 was a 12 hour slow-progressing (sometimes stalling) labor with back-labor again. Had an epidural and baby came out. It wasn’t until I looked at pictures later that I saw he came out completely face up. Nobody even told me! Totally explained why the labor was so slow yet again.
I’ve read that some people’s pelvis’ are shaped in a way that baby has more likelihood to settle posterior. 2 out of 3 births makes me think I do. Not sure what I could have done differently, but it would have been nice to know how that can effect the birthing experience.
It is an important thing to know, so it is a shame that care providers are not more proactive about that. Spinning Babies has a lovely site with a lot of information about this.