“We feel we had an amazing birth experience”
“We attribute much of this to the HypnoBirthing course we undertook with you!” This Western Australian couple sent in this letter of thanks, and shared the empowering story of their daughters birth.
My first “waves” started at about 2am on Tuesday 8th September. They were like very mild cramps and were occurring maybe 1 to 1.5 hours apart. By 8am when I got out of bed they had ceased. Earlier in the morning when I had gone to the bathroom I noticed the mucus plug had come away, but I didn’t realise this until much later. Throughout Tuesday I rested and visualised the blue satin ribbons and the rose bud opening. I did not experience any further waves until 5pm when they commenced in earnest. J. arrived home from work at about 5.30pm to find me in somewhat of a trance, pacing the hallway and stopping to lean against the wall to breath through each wave, as you had taught me. The waves started at 20 minutes apart and quickly became 8 – 10 minutes apart. By that stage I felt most comfortable lying on my side in bed. J. sat next to me, held my hand and assisted me to relax. We listened to the birth affirmations early on, then the Rainbow Relaxation and some chanting, which was given to me by my yoga instructor. It all helped to take my mind off the intensity of each wave. It was a really beautiful part of our birthing experience – working so closely and lovingly as a team to assist our baby girl to enter the world.
Following a particularly long wave (which we think may have signalled my transition to the second stage of birth) and some time in the bathroom emptying my bowels, J. filled the bath for me. The warmth of the water was beautifully relaxing, but it wasn’t quite deep enough to be comfortable. After only a few waves we realised they were 4 – 5 minutes apart and that it was time to go to the hospital. I would have much preferred to stay at home. We notified the hospital, packed our bags and birthing equipment in the car and headed off.
During the car trip to hospital my waves started coming two minutes apart and it was a huge effort to get myself to the maternity ward. We arrived at about 10.10 pm. I emptied my bowels again, and shortly after felt the urge to push. It would be the strongest urge I have ever felt in my life. It took me by surprise. I didn’t think I had transitioned to the second stage of birth. By then I knew the baby was very close. I managed to get onto the bed and lie on my side, which was comfortable. During the very next wave I put my hand between my legs and felt my babies head. I was again surprised at just how quickly she was going to greet the world. I was told to push, but tried hard not to. My body “pushed” on its own.
Three waves later, at 10.52pm, our darling A. was born. Six hours had passed since my first real waves. She was put directly on my skin and J. cut the umbilical cord after about 5 minutes.
On reflection, the HypnoBirthing course was the most valuable of all our research / courses in preparing us for birth. I had visualised a 5 hour birth, and so am extremely happy that it was 6 hours. The breathing techniques, birth affirmations, rainbow relaxation, and our team work were the foundation of our first stage.
We wish to thank you for your knowledge, support and guidance in shaping our wonderful birth experience.”
This couple took HypnoBirthing classes with Christina Petersen in Western Australia.
Christina Petersen is one of our wonderful HypnoBirthing® Mongan Method Gold Seal Practitioners from Western Australia, and is a member of the Australian Steering Committee.
Christina originally trained as a Physiotherapist in Germany over 20 years ago. Through her own personal journey, she became very interested in the power of the mind and natural ways of healing, which lead her to become a Clinical Hypnotherapist, NLP Practitioner, HypnoBirthing Practitioner, HypnoBirthing Fertility Consultant, Reflexologist and Infant Massage Instructor. Christina works now since 7 years in private practice in Perth and works also as a Trainer and Assessor. She has become aware of the importance of the prenatal period 20 years ago and is a founding member of the Prenatal Education Association of Australia promoting awareness and education through talks and events.
Christina is passionate about empowering and assisting parents to create a relaxed, joyous and satisfying pregnancy, birth and postnatal period and to give theirs babies the best possible start in life.
Visit her website: http://www.joyousbeginnings.com.au
