Thanks to Sublime Birthing mum Jemma for sharing Sylvia's birth story.
Labour started in the wee hours of the morning and progressed fairly quickly. I managed to labour at home for quite a while but when I got into the birth pool her heart rate was dipping during surges. That meant we had to transfer to hospital, so I was popped in an ambulance and taken to Forth Valley, then Sylvia arrived about two hours later.
I used the hypnobirthing breathing from the get-go, controlling my breath through each surge and staying calm. The midwives (who were utterly lovely) kept commenting on how well I was doing and telling me to just keep doing my breathing. I had all the tracks on my phone but I just wanted to listen to the affirmation over and over on the day!
The atmosphere stayed calm even when it was decided we were going to hospital, and everyone made an effort not to let it be a scary transfer. I listened to a couple of the tracks on my phone in the ambulance (I do not recommend an ambulance transfer on back roads when surges are just two minutes apart!). I wasn’t really aware of how serious the situation was until well after the fact. It turns out that nobody knows why her heart rate was dipping because she came out totally fine, no cord around her neck or anything, and it was just one of those things.
I would totally recommend Wise Hippo to anybody who is a bit apprehensive about giving birth. On the day I felt in control, relaxed and capable. The worst bit was the second to last hour when I didn’t seem to be able to catch my breath between surges, but Duncan says I still looked as though I was coping right up until almost time to push. I remember I could have gas and air and signalled to him I wanted it – nobody offered because it was in my birth plan not to. That was super because I feel like I saved it for when I really, really needed it! The last hour was a bit of a blur, between the gas and air and the pushes, but I managed to take little naps between surges. I guess my body was just totally done and that was how I coped!
Sylvia is perfect and I feel I couldn’t have asked for a better experience on the day of her birth. I know I didn’t get to have my home water birth, but who cares when I ended up with a strong, healthy baby. I certainly haven’t come away traumatised, just a little bit bruised.
Thank you for your help, I really think the Wise Hippo techniques accounted for how positive I felt about the experience leading up to it, on the day, and afterwards.