What is Hypnobirthing?
Hypnobirthing uses relaxation and hypnotherapy techniques to help you achieve a calm & comfortable birth. It is a complete antenatal programme, giving you and your birth partner the knowledge and confidence to have a positive birth experience – no matter where or how your baby is born. It can be used for all births.
Welcome to Sarah Dwyer Birth Center
My body and my baby were working perfectly together
Our daughter Lou was born on thursday morning, at home, in the water, just as we had envisaged, but actually the reality was far better than we could have hoped for. For me, the fear of repeating any part of the 4-day labour and epidural/forceps birth of our first daughter 9 years ago was strong, especially the fear of tearing badly again. But trusting in the information and wisdom of you and your hypnobirthing course, and practising together with Ben every day for the last month of my pregnancy, meant I didn’t tear at all this time.
On Wednesday last week, the day before our “due date” it was half term. A friend had our other daughter to play in the morning, I relaxed at home, and then we all met for a fun family music performance in the afternoon (run by the charity I work for), with lots of singing and dancing. After that I drove my daughter to her cousin’s for a sleepover, returned home and went to my usual pregnancy pilates class. we went to bed and I woke up about 12.30 and my waters passed in the bathroom. Surges followed not long after and we played The Ultimate Birth Relaxation audio in the bedroom, and with each surge Ben talked me through the up breathing and rubbed my sacrum (both of which helped so much) as I lay on my side. There were some moments I felt overwhelmed by the surges if I was on my way to or from the bathroom at the time, but ben always guided me back to the breathing and it got easier and easier to focus on his voice and nothing else, and trust my body and the process as the night went on.
Midwives came at 1.30am, they pottered about a bit, but my surges were still irregular so they left again. Ben and I continued together and between surges he would rush downstairs to check on the progress of the pool. He didn’t miss one surge and I felt so supported by him. After a while, probably 3-4hours, which passed very quickly, I felt something change and my body felt the need to move things down very strongly. I was still on our bed, but had moved position to kneeling up against the back of the bed which felt more comfortable as things had clearly shifted to moving downwards. Ben called the midwives to return.
The midwives arrived around 6.30am. Ben helped me to go downstairs between surges and I knelt over the back of the sofa. The pool was still not hot enough so I stayed on the sofa for a while longer. Each surge now came with a very strong need to push down, but I also sensed a slowing or resistance in me… I think I was waiting for the pool. Eventually the pool was ready and Ben and the midwife helped me to get in. As soon as i entered the water, everything felt aligned in my body and now with each surge and downwards movement, I could feel how my body and the baby’s body were working perfectly together. Ben was still right with me holding me as I lent over the side of the pool. And the midwife was gently reassuring me with each surge which was very welcome – she was talking at a normal level but to me it sounded like a whisper on my periphery, and I think this came from the lovely, clear focus that I had on Ben and his voice guiding me with my breath.
With each slow downward surge I could feel the baby moving down. I had time and space to enjoy the breaks between surges and to let my body gently and slowly open in its own time, with the baby. At one point between surges the baby brought itself out a little further on its own, helping me along, getting ready. It all felt completely calm and incredible. Then I felt the baby’s head with my hand, connecting with my baby as she prepared to enter the water. Slowly but surely the baby arrived and I brought her up to me.
Our baby was born at 8.24am in the calm and she was peaceful and tranquil and completely present with us from the second she arrived. She just gazed up at us and the world with huge open eyes.
We will never forget this most incredible, life-changing experience that we shared together, thanks to you, and your belief, faith and confidence in the power of women to birth their own children naturally and calmly and with such dignity. You gave us such a gift by sharing your experience and wisdom and trust in birth. Thank you so much.
Your course also gave us the confidence and ability to decline or delay certain measures that the midwives and professionals suggested at different points of pregnancy, birth and postnatally. For us this included waiting for the cord to go white before cutting it, and declining the injection to speed up the birth of the placenta to give me the time and space I wanted to birth my placenta myself (which took an hour).
And you were so right, it was much quicker than we had even imagined, and if everything had been in order with the pool, I have no doubt I could have given birth even sooner. But it didn’t matter that the pool wasn’t ready sooner, because of the techniques you gave us.
Welcome to Sarah Dwyer Birth Center
It was intense but somehow felt familiar
I am writing you this message as I hold my absolutely beautiful baby in my arms.
I had my dream birth almost 3 weeks ago and it was only possible because of how well I was prepared after taking your online course.
I had been planning for a home birth as soon as I found out I was pregnant. I refused to do it any other way regardless of all the ‘what ifs’ I was getting from family and friends. My husband was always on my side encouraging me to do what I felt was most natural for me. We moved to Miami a few months ago and I was lucky enough to find a wonderful team of two midwives and two doulas
We were expecting baby to arrive October 17th onwards but I never clung to a due date as I knew that baby would come whenever he was ready.
To my surprise, my waters broke at 38 weeks at 9:30 pm on the 2nd of October after a lovely day with friends at the pool and a cosy dinner at home.
I felt fine but there was a slight issue as there was too much blood gushing out with my waters and my midwives advised that I meet them at the hospital for an emergency ultrasound as they were worried my placenta could be ruptured.
I knew in my heart that nothing was wrong and that this was the way my body was reacting to my waters breaking but I went nonetheless to ease theirs and my husband’s mind.
I spent what I would call a ‘silent early labor’ at the hospital from 10:00 pm till 2:00am.
Hadn’t it been for the information I was shielded with from your course- so much could have gone wrong. The amount of interventions I was offered and the urging from the staff to keep me at the hospital was outrageous!
But I knew better than to let it get to me and I spent those few hours there listening to your meditations and chatting with my husband about how I can’t wait to go back home and birth my baby!
After waiting for 3 hours with staff coming in and out putting negative thoughts into my mind, I finally was able to get an ultrasound which showed a perfect placenta and a perfect healthy looking baby.
I refused the cervical checks and made it clear that I will not accept anyone touching me or checking me down there. I asked to be discharged more times than I can count until I was finally given some papers to sign that stated I would be leaving under my own responsibility. I happily signed off and after 4 long hours my husband was driving me back home.
Our two midwives were with us at the hospital and advised us to go get some rest as I was not feeling my contractions yet and that they would see us in the morning. I laugh now, because six minutes after leaving the hospital I felt my first contraction. It was like my body had refused to feel anything earlier!
As soon as I got home I knew I was already in active labor and asked my husband to call the team as baby was not going to wait for anyone!
I labored on my birthing ball while listening to my wonderful husband playing the hangdrum. My doulas arrived and updated the rest of the team that the baby was coming soon. I then labored and vocalized in the shower until the rest of the team arrived and set up the mood and the birthing pool.
I used your breathing techniques and welcomed the surges as they came. It was intense, but somehow it felt familiar – As if I had done it a thousand times before!
As soon as I got into the pool I felt so much lighter and more relaxed that I didn’t even notice I was in transition. My husband’s loving arms were around me and the room was filled with music and candles and soft lights. I felt like I was floating!
Soon after, the pushing urge began. I breathed and pushed gently with each surge. It was as if my body and my baby knew exactly what to do. I danced, I laughed, I cried, I vocalized, and before I knew it my baby boy came flying out into my arms. He was perfect. He gave us a slight cry as to announce his arrival. I held him while my husband held me. We cried as we welcomed our little angel earth side. He arrived at 6:51 am at sunrise and the whole experience was over in about 4 hours!
It didn’t take baby long to latch and start feeding. Well deserved as he has worked so hard to get here!
We were left alone for skin to skin with our boy and opted for optimal cord cutting. There were no bright lights, no cold hands, no one was rubbing on my baby or separating him from me. I was not checked for dilation even once. I was not given instructions to push. There were no interventions whatsoever. It really felt as if the whole room was giving birth with me – uninterrupted and so so beautiful! I trusted my body and baby to know what to do and they trusted me back.
I am so grateful for this magical experience that I am still trying to process- for the confidence you gave me, and for being cared for by the best team and surrounded with so much love.
Our baby boy had such a peaceful transition into the world and gave us a memory to cherish forever
Welcome to Sarah Dwyer Birth Center
It was a very healing experience
For me, before I completed your course, I assumed hypnobirthing=hippy and un-scientific. I am very happy that, thanks to the recommendation of my sister, I persevered and instead I found your course highly relevant, informative and valuable. I went into my third delivery the most empowered and informed, I felt confident to stay home longer and felt the most present and engaged with the pregnancy. Instead of fighting to survive the contractions, I understood the function of the surges and used the breathing techniques to keep myself focused and calm and relaxed (or as relaxed as possible!).
I know babies are born faster every time, and this was number 3 for me (#2 vaginally), but as a contrast, for labour #1 I was in the hospital from 3cm dilated, and it lasted 12 hours. I felt like I was surviving the surges, and running a marathon. This time I stayed home, had lunch with my family and my sister’s family in between surges, then pottered about upstairs while all the children and adults played and chatted downstairs. My waters went at about 11pm, at which point we got ready to go to hospital. I knelt on the car seat, facing backwards with my eyes shut, focusing on my breathing (thankfully we only live behind the hospital, so it was a 3 minute drive round 4 sides of a square!!). I walked in, caught the lift up and waited round to be seen by a midwife. I can’t have been showing signs of being in distress as nobody came quickly and they asked me to first walk to the pre-admissions examination room. I had the capacity to indicate my preferences (which went against the hospital’s ‘recommended policies’ for a woman in my situation – VBAC), and returned to focusing on my breathing. My body clearly then felt ready, as things began to escalate and the midwives realised that there was no need to examine me there and took me to a labour room (by wheelchair, as I could no longer walk). l had wanted to labour in the pool until it was time for the baby to be born, and a midwife started to fill the pool, while another did the initial examination. Suddenly they stopped filling the pool and all but one midwife left the room. They came back in and a midwife asked ‘do you feel you want to push?’ 20 minutes after being wheeled into the room, baby was born. I didn’t have the opportunity to use the down breathing, as when I started I received clear instruction that I needed to push and not breath at this point (I think there was a lot of anxiety from the staff as to this being a ‘rocket delivery’ – their term). It was only once baby was in my arms that I opened my eyes. I had shut them in the pre-admissions room and kept them shut so that I could focus on my breathing and block out the harsh hospital lighting. The woman supporting me during the labour told me after that the first thing I said to her, upon opening my eyes, was ‘I’m so sorry, I didn’t catch your name’. All was calm and I don’t even remember the delivery of the placenta. At 4am they asked me if I wanted to go home!
Thank you for providing a course that, as a mum to 2 children already, I could do in my own time at my own place; a course that empowered me and gave me the confidence and control I needed to have the birth experience that I had hoped for. It was a very healing experience after two deliveries that each had their traumas for various reasons. I look back on this (final!) delivery with only positive memories. I now take the opportunity to tell every one of my pregnant friends of the benefits that I experienced from hypnobirthing.