Hi Rosie,

We just wanted to send an email to let you know that Bowie Duane has arrived and we are so in love. Thank you for all of your help in the hypnobirthing course. We learnt so much and it especially helped Jordan to prepare for our home birth. He was amazing. He was so calm, never showed any fear and knew exactly how to support me. 

​

My birth story:

On the 19th July at 39+2 I noticed some stronger braxton hicks in the morning. I felt really emotional and had a little cry with Jordan as well, not particularly about anything! My body was clearing out and I was thinking could this be my body preparing? But I also knew that this could happen over days or weeks so didn’t get my hopes up too much. The braxton hicks fizzled out that afternoon and I did all of my usual things to support my body by walking the dog, drinking raspberry leaf tea, bouncing on my birth ball, using visualisations and most importantly relaxing and accepting that my body knows what to do and when to birth my baby. As I was getting ready for bed that night I lost my mucous plug! Again, I didn’t get my hopes up because I knew this could still mean I had days or weeks ahead of me. 

On the 20th of July at 39+3 I was woken with contractions at 4.30am. I took some paracetamol, heated up my heat pack and tried to go back to bed but I could not get comfortable. I needed to move through these contractions and laying down was making them worse. I got up and thought it’d be best to let Jordan sleep for a bit longer in case we were in for a long night and I woke my mum who was staying with us as she travelled from Adelaide before lockdown to be here for the birth! She was a good distraction for a couple of hours, we watched tv shows and got excited about the fact the baby might be joining us soon!

I didn’t get a gradual build up to my contractions. They were coming every 5 minutes and it seemed that each one was more intense than the last. This made it difficult to find a rhythm with my body and find what works. I moved around and used my heat pack for a while and then I moved to the TENS machine. It was around 7.30am and I had woken Jordan up at this point as I was finding I was getting really emotional and needed the extra support. I used the TENS for an hour but my heart was longing for water so I moved into the shower. Jordan and my mum were amazing at supporting me. Jordan kept the bathroom dark and moved the diffuser there for a little light and I moaned through each contraction. I started to get overwhelmed around 9.30am as they were becoming intense so we called the midwife for an early labour assessment. She arrived at 10am, I agreed to a vaginal exam and I was found to be 3cm dilated with baby in a great position and low in the pelvis.

​Thank you so much Rosie. I 100% owe you and the hypnobirthing course for Jordan’s preparedness and calmness. I wouldn’t of been able to do it without him and he tells me the course gave him so much knowledge on physiological birth and how to support this that he knew my body was doing just what it needed to do and this wasn’t something to be afraid of! 

We are absolutely in love with our little Bowie Duane, all 2.9kg of him! 

Thank you,

Chloe & Jordan :)

I first met Bridie back in 2017 for a coffee in Melbourne. Although not yet pregnant, she had already started her planning for her healing VBAC (vaginal birth after caesarean). She was carefully considering her options for care providers, place of birth, support crew and how she would prepare both physically and mentally. Her first labour experience was incredibly challenging, and Bridie worked hard to ensure this birth would be different. I just loved her drive and determination!
 
Bridie and her partner Edd attended my Geelong Born hypnobirthing course via Zoom in May of this year. They went on to have an amazing birth in July…just when lockdown 2.0 was hitting the state.

Thank you for sharing Bridie and Edd and a huge congratulations to you all!!

Rosie xx

Hiya Rosie

Thought I'd send you an email rather than just a text with all the juicy details of what was the best experience of my entire life!

I was convinced that I wasn't going to go into spontaneous labour - but had negotiated with the hospital certain milestones in my pregnancy. I'd declined a stretch and sweep since my 38 week appointment, and then at my 41 week appointment I was assigned a different OB and I had a bit of a cry to her when she asked me what I wanted to do. Induction was pretty much off the table because of my previous caesarean section and secondary tear, so I insisted on waiting as long as possible and to book repeat caesarean section instead for when I would be 42+3.

I was booked into twice weekly fetal monitoring and I had an appointment on the Tuesday where I had higher than average but still ok levels of amniotic fluid. Baby fine but not moving heaps and heaps - nothing concerning but definitely noticed a change.

Anyway when I was in the appointment Dan Andrews announced lockdown pt 2. Edd and I had been on a big walk that morning, but I had an urge to go to Chaddy to make the most of the open shops - and that's when I felt the first surges! I played it cool though and didn't tell Edd.

He cooked up a fabulous roast, oblivious to the fact I was having contractions lol, and i got myself ready for bed with a long shower, cleaned everything up, took hospital bag downstairs and read Scarlett about fifty stories in her bed.

We watched Breaking Bad whilst I bounced on the fit ball - and then I noticed my mucous plug started to come away but there was no blood - so I wasn't convinced it was labour. Contractions coming in about 1 in 10 mins/1:10

After doing some gutter walks like I'd done every night for weeks, i went to sleep around 12am.and awoke at 3 unable to sleep through the pain.

I rang the hosp but as I was getting 2:10 they said have some paracetamol and come in when it's 3:10 or I can't bear the pain. Having done the hypnobirthing course I knew I wanted to stay home as long as possible. 

By now it's around 5am and the paracetamol did nothing and the contractions really amped up so I rang my mum. As soon as she got to my house she felt my belly and she's like 'this is it'!...so I finally woke Edd and he showered and shaved???(men) and we left for the hospital at 6:15.

The car ride there and walk up to pregnancy assessment was horrific! The contractions were stronggg. But all these people who saw us kept saying congrats and good luck .. someone even gave Edd free parking lol. It was a sign haha

I was assessed and told I was breathing through contractions really well and got sent to birth suite straight away - no idea how dilated I was. 

Anyway then it hit us - we were in birth suite!!! Baby was coming!! 

I laboured for about an hour as they hooked me up to CTG then doc came in and gave me a cannula and the antibiotics  then some more time went by and I was vomiting and I started on the gas and air lol. 

I had a dilation check and I was 5cm yay! 

I kept labouring and baby was so so so low they thought she was going to come in the morning! They had me push but it wasn't time. I started to get an uncontrollable urge to push at this point and I felt like every bone and organ in my body was trying to come out and I had to breathe through the pain and stop it. That was unbearable. An hour or two later the doc broke my waters and after two hours of writhing around in pain abusing Kate middleton lol (whilst turning into a roaring cow, my labour animal) I had another check and I was 7cm but the midwife was worried as my cervix was swelling. 

She suggested epidural so my body could relax. The pain from involuntary pushing and trying to stop that was terrible. I was worried the epi would stall my labour but she said it was likely going to be my best shot of vbac.

I agreed and even though it took an hour to come it was absolutely amazing.

I was still having surges and could feel pressure but no pain. For the hour I had the epidural in Edd went down stairs and I relaxed using hypnotherapy techniques and physically relaxing myself.

I was still having 3-4:10 contractions so I had another check and the doc goes "you're going to have a baby within the next hour! You're 10cm!" My body did it! It relaxed and opened up!

I rang Edd and after about half an hour of room set up including wheeling in the little baby cot, I was pushing. We put on some EDM music it was a rave party we were all so excited..

Then I started pushing! She told me she might need to give me episiotomy and I was so not interested in that so I used everything in me to push bubs out myself. My midwife kept me updated on progress by showing me with a mirror! I couldn't believe that was my body when i saw the little head crowning.

The pushing was so pleasant I didn't even feel myself tear and it was all over in 20 minutes! Within the hour as the doc said.

It was just awesome!! The feeling when I pulled her up to me omg I wish I could bottle it!! The most incredible experience.

I am so proud of this birth. My first birth was the worst experience of my life. This one was the absolute best. 

I used hypnobirthing throughout, even though I didn't labour in water and had the epidural. The strength of self it taught me, the breathing techniques and the power of affirmations and visualisation contributed greatly to the success.

I also had incredible continuity of care - no more than 2 staff were in the room at one point and that wasn't because of covid.

I also had an incredible midwife. Supportive yes and quick thinking. Didn't Molly coddle me or be too hard. She was perfect.

I can't fault the experience..my vbac journey started years ago and lots and lots of mental and physical work went into it to give myself the best possible chance of success.

Thank you for being part of my story Rosie! Starting in 2017 with you and culminating this year in the weirdest of all years!

Thanks for believing in me and always being in my corner. ​

Quick version:

👶 Rufus Noel Facey
🧷 boy
⏰ 10:30pm
📅03/03/2020
⚖ 3.02 kgs
📏 50 cms
♓ Pisces
🍉39.5 wks
🍼Spontaneous 18hr labour (No drugs wahhhh)

Long version for those interested:

In the 2 weeks leading up to the due date, I had some high blood pressure readings. This meant going from low-risk midwife clinic appoints to hospital observations every 2 days (one day we were in for 8 hours), booked date of induction, and therefore a lot of extra pressure to get this baby out.

This was a hard mental game, do we try get a few more days to try naturally but put bub and myself under potential risk?

I also found out I was Group B strep positive and was shattered this meant I couldn't labour at home if my waters broke.

The date was tentatively booked for 4th March at 3pm (today), and although we could back out, we did 2 weeks of every natural labour tips:
• Walking every day
• Drinking raspberry leaf tea
• Bouncing on the fitness ball
• Expressing colostrum (fantastic practice)
• Chiropractor adjustment (highly recommend if you are stiff and sore)
• Massage with Clary sage
• Blake spiking my food with chillies
• Acupuncture (amazingly relaxing and helpful)

On the weekend, I purchased the Baby Come Out hypno track and Monday had acupuncture. I had a lot of last minutes fear building up and these help me to get my head calm and positive again. Monday my blood pressure was normal, so I was going to come the day of my induction, and negotiate if that if they were still normal, I didn't want to be induced. I called everyone to get them to get off my back, and stop sending me messages asking if baby has arrived (while lovely, became another overwhelming factor). Ah, peace at last...

.....that next morning, Tuesday 3rd at 4am I woke with period-like cramps and asked my husband to get me a heat pack. I had a bath soon after, had on Surge of the Sea, and stronger cramps that ran up my back and down my thighs. My waters hadn't broken and my mucous plug hadn't shown up, so I kept thinking ' this can't be labour..can it?'

I put my husband to work early with some massages, but didn't like to be touches at all during surges. I also struggled to be standing or sitting on the ball as my surges actually ran down my legs so intensely that I had to lie on my side. But I distinctly remember looking into Blake's eyes and feeling absolutely no fear.

I had a bit of a snooze around 10am and when I woke there was no mistaking I was in labour. I couldn't flop with the back and leg pain surges, the TENS didn't help me, and I started becoming vocal. So we started the surge timer and called the parents to be on standby.

The parents dramatically turned up at the hospital at midday movie-style and were surprise that we were still home. I stayed at home until 6pm, having baths, using the heat pack, listening to Tranquil Chambers on repeat... my husband's mum is a midwife and was trying to make me walk around the house slowly ( later found out she didn't think I was that far along). I was so incredibly happy that I was able to experience early labour with just my husband and my bed and the cat... and then it felt right to move to the hospital.

I walked into hospital at 7pm, felt ill and spewed shortly after, and the force of spewing actually released my mucous plug(!) so I had a quick shower. The midwives commented "we usually send 'first-timers' home, but lets check you" and I was 7cm dilated!!

My waters were still a bit intact so they released them. Baby had done a poop so they were prepped in case he was distressed but I only focussed on myself. I had plenty of rest time between surges but as they were hurting my thighs the only place I felt comfortable was on my side lying down. I kept saying to my husband, I just want gas and then an epidural. Well... no time for that.. I had strong pressure on my bum to push and at 10:30pm baby was here!

I was very loud near the end and worried I nearly crushed Blake's fingers but the midwives couldn't believe it and kept complimenting me. I told them I was sorry for being loud, and they said that when they told me to 'push' I had really understood how to do that in the effective way so they were impressed.

I needed an episiotomy, and have a tear on my rectum.. maybe because he was quick to enter the world, I was feeling tense at that stage, his hand was up near his head or my positioning on my back, but really I didn't care. I was in utter disbelief when he came out. I had done it! We had done it!

The midwives and students were incredible. They spoke to me at length about why I teared, the decisions they made about why they cut me (I had started to bleed even before he was crowning as i was still tight) and even said 'I hope this doesn't stop you from coming back to have more babies!'. Even though they didn't get a chance to read my birth preferences (most of my labour items didn't make it out of the bag) they asked before everything and we did immediate skin to skin, delayed cord clamping, Blake cut the cord, dim lights the entire time, and they all spoke really quietly. And I continue to use my calm breathing while I recover in hospital now.

I hope this helps (please feel free to ask me any questions) and a huge spectacular thank you to Rosie and this class. I know I was only able to have my calm, confident, and positive birth with becoming educated and practicing all the exercises in this course. I had you all in the back of my mind hoping to do you proud.
​
And all I can say now is...

You've got this. 

Ingrid and Blake and Rufus xxx 

Henry’s perspective
​
The day Thomas was born was a very busy day. After weeks of turning up at work to the disappointing looks of my female colleagues who were eagerly anticipating Thomas’ birth I decided that I would take leave from Wednesday regardless of whether Amy had gone into labour. So Wednesday morning I took the boys to the toy library where I volunteer once a month. We did our shift from 10-12 and came home for lunch. Amy had said she was having irregular contractions but didn’t think things were moving too quickly. After lunch the boys and I went to the supermarket to do the weekly shop. It was a hot day and I’d promised the boys I’d take them to the pool after we’d done the shopping. By the time I’d put all the shopping away it was after 4 o’clock and Amy had been timing her contractions that were now at about 10min intervals. I was starting to get anxious and worried I hadn’t been supporting Amy much at all. Nonetheless after getting assurances from Amy, the boys and I headed to the pool for a quick swim at about 5 o’clock. We were home by 6 and I gave the boys dinner and a bath. 


I’d hardly seen Amy all day, let alone given her any support. Thankfully at about this time Amy’s sister Jacqui arrived to look after the boys. This gave me a chance to focus on Amy. She’d written a bit of a wish list and I was able to get a few things that were on it such as light a candle and put a few gardenias in a vase on her bedside table. There was a Swiss ball and a blanket on the floor in the bedroom but Amy seemed most comfortable lying on her side in bed. The boys came into the bedroom after their baths and were their usual boisterous selves. Quite oblivious to the calm atmosphere we were trying to create in the bedroom. It was also so different to Amy’s labour with Jack which happened later at night, lying on the floor in front of the warm glow of the open fire on a cold October evening.
 
The contractions were closer to 7 minutes apart and seemed to be quite painful and tiring for Amy. I thought we weren’t far off needing to leave for hospital but I hadn’t put the last items in the hospital bag that Amy had packed. Thankfully another of Amy’s lists meant I pulled those things together without needing to think too much. It was almost 8pm and the contractions were closer to five minutes apart so we decided it was time to head to the hospital. I called ahead to let them know we were coming. Amy had called earlier in the day so they were expecting us. The boys had only just finished bedtime stories with Jacqui so they all came outside to wave us off which was a strange experience. Thinking we were leaving as a family of four and would return as a family of five. 


The short drive to the hospital in Jacqui’s Mazda bubble was uneventful apart from a couple more contractions for Amy. We arrived at the hospital but despite calling ahead had to wait what seemed like an eternity before being led to our birthing suite. Poor Amy was kneeling on the floor with her head on a waiting room chair because the contractions were so strong she was unable to stand and too uncomfortable to sit. It felt like my first test to be Amy’s advocate and be assertive but I was unable to get access to our room more quickly. By the time I found the first midwife we’d seen on our arrival again to ask what the hold up was, our midwife from the birthing rooms was ushering Amy through to our room.


Once in, Amy took up her earlier position on the bed on her side. The midwife wanted to put the monitor on her belly for 20 minutes to get a reading on how the baby was doing. This restricted the positions that Amy could get into and after less than 10 minutes we asked if it could be taken off. Thankfully the baby was doing ok and the midwife was comfortable taking Amy off the machine.
 
Poor Amy was really struggling to get through the contractions and I felt fairly useless in providing any comfort. At some stage the midwife asked Amy if she wanted her to do an internal examination which Amy agreed to. The midwife said Amy was about 5cm dilated. I think Amy and I were both hoping it was going to be more than that and probably reacted negatively. I tried to stay positive by saying that the first 5cm is much harder than the second but I didn’t feel very convincing. I was thinking about a rule of thumb I’d heard that it takes about an hour a centimetre and I couldn’t imagine Amy having to go through another 5 hours of this pain. But I was annoyed at myself for not reacting more positively and not doing a better job at keeping Amy’s spirit up. I was also thinking how quickly Amy had had Jack after we’d arrived at the hospital and that this time wasn’t going to be the same. It felt much more like Archie’s labour and memories of watching Amy suffer came back and the thoughts I had that Archie’s birth would be the last time I would put Amy through that pain. But here we were again for our third!


Those two previous experiences did mean I was able to find the sick bags in time. Amy stayed in much the same position on her side on the bed. Apart from the sick bags, the only things I could do was offer Amy water, a wet washer and hold her hand. It was very quiet in the room and the midwife had more or less left us to it. I think at about 9.30pm, the obstetrician arrived. She was very calm and quite different to her chatty manner she has at appointments. She put the monitor on the baby and asked how Amy was doing. She didn’t seem to stay in the room long. I can’t remember if she did an internal examination. Then not too much later Amy said she was feeling pressure in her bottom. So I found the obstetrician outside the room and told her this. To which she responded to the midwife that she thinks we are about to have a baby. 


Unlike the previous two labours, this stage seemed more an extension of the labour rather than the relief and surge of energy that Amy seemed to get when pushing Archie and Jack out. Amy was still on her side and I was given the job of holding her leg. That made me feel somewhat useful. At first I wasn’t sure if Amy was ready to start pushing but then she started and then the obstetrician took over instructing her when to breathe through a contraction rather than push and when to push. And it wasn’t too long before Thomas came sliding out. I had a brief moment of disappointment that he wasn’t a girl but that was quickly replaced by the realisation that here was a new life lying helpless but fully formed on Amy’s tummy and that we’d created him. ​

Prior to having a baby I was PETRIFIED of birth and while pregnant with Lorelai it made me sick to my stomach to think about how I was going to give birth. I went along to the hospital run birth preparation classes and went home crying after almost every session. However during the pain relief session the midwife mentioned Hypnobirthing and I was immediately intrigued. Having a pit in my stomach about the hospital options for pain relief I knew I had to find another way so I went home and researched this hypnobirthing thing and found Rosie.

When meeting Rosie I immediately felt at ease and felt as if she genuinely wanted to help me. By the lunch break of the first day I was excited and looking forward to my birth and by the end of the two day (spread over a week) I felt empowered, excited and calm about my birth. I felt as though I had a greater understanding of my body, tools to help me through my labour and a real  partnership with my husband about delivering our baby girl.

I had hoped for a water birth with no intervention but unfortunately I was required to be induced due to hypertension and low fluid around bubs. So as Hypnobirthing teaches I surrendered to whatever turn my birthing took and I prepared myself for the induction.

I had the catheter balloon put in the night before and the morning of Lorelai's birth had my waters broken and the syntocinon drop started just before 10am and less than 7 hours later my beautiful baby girl was born. I had a calm, positive and unaided natural birth with less than 4 hours of active labour. I cannot thank Rosie and Hypnobirthing Australia enough for the amazing program that absolutely transformed my fear to faith, giving me the most incredible respect and understanding of my body and allowing me to have such an incredible and positive first birth experience.

Caitie, Nick and Lorelai

​Hi Rosie,

How are you? We have been super busy as you can imagine with welcoming our beautiful baby boy, Fionn (pronounced Finn) Anthony, who arrived on September the 20th at 9.35pm. Fionn is a rare boy already, being among the small percentage of babes who arrive on their estimated due date! This was unfortunately due to having to be induced, as the fluid around him was really low and although we advocated to stay at home for an extra few days, sniffing clary sage, walking constantly, getting our lovely midwife to do a stretch and sweep at home to move things along, drinking raspberry tea and lots of spinning babies moves to try and turn him as he was posterior- we had to be induced on the Friday as the risk was too high.

Both Jimmy and I are stoked to say that although things didn't play out as we expected, Hypnobirthing still saved the day! Most importantly, it gave us tools to use during birth and ensured that we, as a birthing team were really in sync throughout the whole process. Jimmy was the BEST birth partner, even the midwife said afterwards that she felt she had nothing to do until the big show at the end because Jimbo "had it covered". Such a show off! Although, the staff were incredible and had gotten to know us as a couple and knew we had done hypnobirthing, so really supported us to make informed choices, especially when navigating some of the more bureaucratic parts of the system. They were kind, caring and gave me the hard word when I needed to 'hold it together'!

Let's not stray from the true heroes of the story though, Fionn and my body working together to get the job done. Due to all the practice I had done with the affirmations and meditations, I was able to stay calm despite having to have continuous monitoring and being in hospital from start to finish, which was not part of my preferences or how I had imagined my birth going. Despite this, I overcame my fear, and we were able to set up the room how we wanted, with music, low lights, my clothes from home and we got really active, moving around, utilizing the props available (ball, yoga mat, shower, bed, windowsill etc) in the space and feeling confident to do so. We advocated to turn the beeping on the machine off, as it was anxiety provoking and Jim helped me navigate moving the IV drip around, so much so that I didn't even notice it was attached to me by the end!

The TENS machine was a life saver for the earlier part of birth, I had a lot of back ache so it was a great distraction and tool to use. However, I had to ditch it as baby had to have more monitoring (I guess that's how it goes.) I was able to overcome this by getting in the shower and using other positions and mainly my kick arse frame of mind, being able to breathe through surges, knowing they had a peak and then they would end, if only momentarily. I also hugely relied on Jimmy during this part for comfort and encouragement, I wouldn't even let him have a dinner break!

The birth was intense from the start, I feel like I didn't get a warm up but I think it was because my body and Fionn were ready, so the surges came hard and fast. It was physically and mentally exhausting but having Jimmy there and the midwives, and for the last part, my super mum, helped so much. I felt in unison with my body and Fionn and knew when my body was in transition as I felt Fionn turn to an anterior position and move down. The midwife thought I would be hours away, but I knew it was closer!

Then came the baring down, but I will call it pushing, because I got super active and pushed and pushed, with control and from deep within myself! It was awesome and like nothing I have ever experienced before and I made a sound I had never heard before! I had used gas a little bit up to this point, but the midwife told me to ditch it. The Doctor was there standing by to intervene in the last stage, but after about 40 minutes, she knew she didn't need to be there, I was going to do it. With Jimmy on one side and my Mum on the other, egging me on, I pushed my beautiful boy down the birthing canal and into the world! I knew the sensation of crowning, as a burning one or the 'ring of fire', so I knew the head was coming out. With the guidance of my midwife, I was able to exert control and push him out slowly to prevent a tear and with a 3.3kilo baby I don't know how it was intact, but it was!

I have an amazing photo our lovely student midwife took of the moment Fionn, Jim and I meet for the first time! It captures the emotion in so many ways that words cannot. I had a preference to try for a physiological third stage, but due to being induced already, I thought, what's another bit of syntocinon in my thigh to move things along. That came out nice and easy, not that I cared because I was already breastfeeding my son for the first time and having lots of skin to skin.

Thank you so so much for everything, everyone at the hospital in Warrnambool rave about the 'hypnobirthing' parents they get coming through, about how empowered they are and how they achieve a 'positive birth' experience due to the shifted state of mind and epic teamwork that comes from going through this journey together.

We are exhausted now, we were so focused on the birth that we almost forgot the (worthwhile) challenges that lay ahead on the other side! Breastfeeding is incredible but has been difficult so far and the lack of sleep is something else, but all is worth it for the little love of our lives!

Thanks again,
​
Love Jim, Hayley and Fionn

​Getting pregnant after what felt like an eternity of struggle with infertility, was so very surreal.

I look back now and can hardly remember it. It went way too fast. Such a blur. It never felt real, and to be honest it still can’t believe I am actually a mum?!?

But that can be for another story...

My Belly Birth

Being an older pregnant woman wasn’t easy. There was way too much interference. nothing would get past the doctors and carers looking after me.

If I was 10 years younger, I would have absolutely had a homebirth with a private midwife.

I had a lot of idealistic dreams when it came to giving birth. Especially as it was such a long journey of infertility and IVF is such an unnatural way of conceiving. I just wanted to at least be able to give birth to my baby vaginally/naturally.

By 36 weeks the docs were not letting anything go unnoticed. She was still breech and not budging.

I tried everything to get her to turn!!! 37 weeks and little miss wasn’t going to bloody flip.

​I knew then what was coming.

A caesar birth was booked in for two weeks time.

I surrendered to the universe and to my baby, that she was calling the shots, and had to give up my fight.

I broke down that night and grieved the birth, that I would never get to have.

Especially that this will be our one and only bubba.

I had done all the right things in the lead up to this moment too.

Ate extremely well, walked daily, acupuncture & hypnobirth classes.

​So I revised my birth plan to a caesar birth & listed all my preferences, so I could give my little bubba the best start to life I could. And I still had a faint bit of hope, that in that two weeks, my baby would turn...

More acupuncture, Moxa, inversion stretches, even a wonderful private hypnosis, one on one for spinning babies...

But D day came, ever so quickly, and I was a numb ball of anxious, excited and shitting myself mess!

One thing reassuring in this whole process, was my beautiful midwife and birth support Rosie!

Somehow she wrangled her way into the surgery room with us. And for this, I will be forever grateful!!!

I didn't cope well at all through the whole process. I'm just such a sook and hate Hospitals, (due to too many traumatic operations as a child). And I suffer from a major needle phobia, (yep even after 6 years of IVF!) so you can imagine my joy with a crowbar drip shoved in my hand, then them trying to put the spinal in!!!!!

Well we got there and we finally got our little angel out safe.

I did nearly check out mid-way through, it was so full on and went from feeling pain, to numb, feeling like my entire guts was being pulled out, nausea, then headaches from all the drugs.

Sorry I hope this isn't turning anyone off the idea?!

I never got that euphoric moment when I got to push my babe into this world, but hey I got my babe, and that's all that matters in the end.
​
I have heard some women that loved there caesars and that's the only way they would go. Hats off to them, and all you beautiful mummas out there! You all did something amazing!!

I was truly so blessed to have Rosie right behind me the whole time, talking me through it and encouraging me to keep going. Thanks to her too, we got to do things like seeding and delayed cord clamping. Not to mention the most amazing photos of the whole process. Huge thank you Rosie, you're one in a million.

We got our little breechy bum out in one piece after a bit of interference, they were going to have to take her away, for respiratory assistance.

All I wanted was skin to skin, and Rosie helped them let me do this.

Amazingly as soon as she was on me, all her vital signs returned to normal. And there was no way I was going to part with her from that moment on. She stayed on my chest for hours, we were stuck together with her first poo and I didn't care one bit.

​I had my baby, safe, well and absolutely perfect.
​
My little miracle

​​Cleo Honey Elderfield
03/10/18
Weighing just over 3kgs.

​Where to begin my birth story? Well technically the journey began in a little café in Waurn Ponds when I was 7 weeks pregnant. My husband had arranged to meet a woman he found on the internet to discuss our birth options. The “woman” was of course Rosie Fitzclarence, and the “random internet search” turned out to be the most fortunate stroke of serendipity. Rosie, in her beautiful way and without any bias, explained all the options available to us, and we walked away from that fortuitous meeting deciding on the Geelong Maternity Group (GMG) at Epworth. Unfortunately we decided we probably wouldn’t be needing Rosie’s services as GMG already had such a great team of midwives, so we said our thanks and left it at that.


Weeks passed and I was living in the land of “preggie brain” and I honestly couldn’t think beyond anything greater than my protruding bump, when a beautiful customer came into the store I worked with her gorgeous baby boy. We got into a deep discussion about her birth journey and she mentioned Rosie was her birth support and how she couldn’t have gotten through the most difficult parts without her.  Then another pregnant customer randomly mentioned to me that Rosie was her hypnobirthing instructor and birth support woman, and how comforted she felt under her care. I didn’t need any more signs. We booked Rosie that night.


We chose to have the Hypnobirthing Australia™ classes in the privacy of our home in Aireys Inlet, and I 100% attribute my calm and easy attitude towards the approaching birth to these classes. All my questions were clearly answered and Rosie’s honest advice helped us to make some difficult choices, particularly when coming up against the conventional medical system whose methods may not be in line with our desire for a natural birth.  So there we were, armed with our meditations, salt lamps, candles, essential oils, acupressure points, playlist and birth plan. I was equal parts curious, excited and apprehensive.


Fast forward to the 2nd of December, aka “D Day”. I was having what felt like period pains and I knew something was happening. I went for a long bush walk with my dog, treated myself to a massage, ate dinner, had a bath and hopped into bed feeling a little disappointed that things hadn’t kicked off. That night I dreamt that my baby was posterior and that my waters broke. I awoke to my waters actually breaking in bed. I quickly hustled my husband out of bed and we frantically made up my hospital bag and jumped in the car headed for the hospital. On examination, the midwives concluded that I had a premature rupture of membranes, and that I should go home and get some rest because whatever happens (induction or not) this baby was on its way. So that’s what I did. I slept. Ate some grilled cheese on toast. Went to the supermarket. Twiddled my thumbs. Watched Netflix. To say I was having a surreal day is an understatement.  I was having a complete “failure to launch” experience.


My obstetrician called and informed us that I would be induced at 24 hours and it was strongly encouraged that I get the intravenous AB as I was GBS unknown. This scared us into action. Out came the Swiss ball, the sage essential oil and the acupressure point “cheat sheet” and BOOM! At 21 hours post membrane rupture we had lift off! It was 10pm.


The contractions began strong and fast. There was no gentle build up with long extended beaks that we had been expecting. It was almost as if the ‘failure to launch’ was really a flood gate keeping at bay the power of those surges, and once those gates began to open, all that built up energy radiated from my back through to my front and literally took my breath away. In fact, the pain was so intense and isolated to my back and pelvis I knew my baby was posterior, and this frightened me. After 2.5 hours of labouring at home, we decided the contractions were too strong and close together, so we made the decision to leave for the 30 minute drive to the hospital.


That drive will be etched into my memory forever, as it is the closest I will ever get to being shot through time and space. Memories come back to me in flashes. I remember opening my eyes to see my husband driving and timing my contractions. I remember pulling up on the seat handle with each surge (which were coming every 2 minutes and lasting for 45 seconds by this stage). I remember seeing the ocean, a field, street lights and the turn off sign to the hospital. I remember stumbling into the hospital with the help of my husband and the security guard. Falling onto the bed (I could only lye on my side, any other position was agony). I remember Rosie running in, putting her bag down and coming straight to my side to hold my hand. The room was completely dark except for the phone torch the midwife Jo (AKA “Head Torch Jo”) used to examine me. My amazing obstetrician walking in and coming straight to my side to whisper encouraging words into my ear.


My birth plan requested that I have “minimal examinations”, the theory been that it might discourage me if I wasn’t as progressed in labour as hoped. However, I was sure that I had transitioned either during the drive, or when I walked into the hospital and swore to high heaven that the baby was posterior. In retrospect, this was probably my “fear moment” (the moment when I wanted out), so I really wanted to be checked for progress. My obstetrician was sure that I wasn’t far along and was therefore hesitant to check. At 2am (4 hours since the beginning of active labour) I was 9cm dilated! All five of us laughed! Me, Rosie and Phil cried tears of joy! This was the greatest news I had ever received (besides finding out I was pregnant). And I was right, my baby was previously posterior, however my obstetrician said she watched him swing around to the favourable occipito-anterior position during her examinations.  


For the next three hours and 15 minutes I put my head down, breathed and let my body intuitively ride the contraction waves. The only pain management I had was the gas, and it helped me to breathe deeply through the surges. My husband was by my side the entire time administering ‘light touch’. There was no sound other than my deep primal groans and the gentle words of encouragement coming from my team.  At 5.15am, just as the sun was rising, I gave birth to our magical baby boy Jamieson. And that’s when the adventure really began.

Em, Phil, Jam and Moggy (the dog!)                                                          

​I fell pregnant quickly and to be honest a little unexpectedly second time around which is quite common I am told. Bass was 13 months old and I was still breastfeeding him when I found out that I was to be blessed with another beautiful bubba. It was a Winter's morning and I just had a feeling that I was pregnant, so Bass and I took a walk to the supermarket for a test which I excitedly sent to my husband Ryan at work (probably not a message he was expecting at the office!) to which he replied 'I can't see the second line'. Was I going crazy?! It was confirmed over the course of a couple of days - our family was growing!

I come from a family who labours very quickly, my Nanna, Mum, auntie and sister all had extremely quick births, some of them not even making it into delivery suite! So naturally after my son was born in around 4 hours, I was preparing for my second birth to be quick!

A few months into my pregnancy I started to think to myself, what if it's not quick? Statistics say second births are much faster, particularly the second stage of labour, but what if it wasn't? I didn't have the tools to get me through anything longer than 4 hours so that's when I registered for Geelong Born's Hypnobirthing Australia™ classes. I used breathing techniques with Bass' labour and found them to be extremely powerful and so I wanted to find out more about having a calm natural birth.

Ryan and I attended the first day of the Hypnobirthing course in Torquay and found it to be extremely educational, we got to build upon our knowledge of birth from first time around and learn about pain relief techniques that we could do ourselves while in labour, soft touch - the touch of your partner be it a massage, back rub, arm rub, hair rub during a surge I found to be the most beneficial - something to counteract the power of a surge. 

We learnt about acupressure points to induce labour and for pain relief, we did guided meditation which I practiced at home in the lead up to the birth and maintaining a positive mind set to whatever path the birth would take - something I think is super important as we all know birth is something you simply cannot control.

Rosie was my birth support person for Bass so we already had a friendship! I find Rosie to be extremely open minded, she doesn't 'push' for any type or style of birth, she is a registered midwife so she has the clinical knowledge and helped me to discover things like delayed cord clamping, positional changes to aid labour, colostrum harvesting, natural pain relief ... the list goes on!

As I approached 37 weeks I started acupuncture at Natural Fertility Geelong, Jaya is amazing and I truly believe that this assisted with me going into spontaneous labour at 39.6. I was using my fitball all day everyday, walking, squatting and I had started to hand express and freeze colostrum to stimulate contractions.

On Saturday 4th of May I went to bed early thinking tonight was the night and was woken to very mild contractions around 12:30am, pre labour had started and I was extremely excited! I had this feeling right from the moment it started that my waters needed to break, the pressure from the waters was massive and I felt like it was inhibiting a 'real' contraction. This pattern continued into Sunday until any real contractions petered out completely and I was left with just surges of pressure from my waters.

Ryan and I made the (in hindsight stupid) decision to try and break my waters at home, I was on the fitball, trampoline, walking around the yard and eventually we went for a drive over speed humps... none of which worked! At around 1:30 I called the hospital to explain what had been happening and asked if I could come in on the CTG to have baby checked and then head home, so at 3pm we headed in with full intentions of heading back home... this was not to be the case.

Sadly my amazing obstetrician Dr Sam Sabary wasn't working that weekend but I was greeted by his cover Dr Karl Najjar who I cannot speak highly enough of. Upon arrival I was told I was 3cm dilated but not in active labour and I could go home if I wish. Fearing a quick birth and being over half an hour from the hospital we made the decision to stay until 6pm and see what happened.

​​6pm came and I received 2 text messages, one from my sister saying that she thought I shouldn't go home and the other from my best friend saying the same. So we made the decision to stay... in hindsight that was the best decision! The pressure surges continued with no active labour and at around 9:30 Karl suggested that the waters were inhibiting my cervix from dilating and could he break my waters.... my birth plan said no, but I said a big HELL YES!

​That's all it took, she was born 38 minutes later. I went from 3cm-10cm in a very intense 33 minutes. My calm and serene pre labour turned instinctively into me standing, breathing and roaring her out. It was extremely intense and empowering. According to my husband I started pushing from a standing position, the midwife hit the emergency button and Karl came flying in - no gown, no gloves and no glasses. Ryan recalls him just getting his gloves on as her head came out. 5 minutes of pushing and she was born into mine and Karl's arms. It was an absolute dream birth.

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​Well here goes… It’s taken awhile to share this story for a few reasons, but one of them being that I kept writing how lucky I was to have such an empowering experience. There were no obvious complications or interventions required, so I guess that was lucky, but in terms of the actual birth- building my dream birthing team was nothing to do with luck, but careful consideration and planning.

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​I had a pretty massive phobia around hospitals and wasn’t sure that the sterility of the place would assist me in bringing my “A” game to labour. I missed out on the shared care midwifery program that Barwon Health offers and knew that I would need someone there that I felt comfortable with. Enter the magic of social media. I stumbled across Rosie’s Instagram page (@geelongborn) and immediately contacted her to see if she would be available to support Johnrey and I during our birth adventure.

At our first casual meeting, I instantly felt at ease and confident that Rosie was the perfect addition to our birthing team. Our three sessions prior to the birth were so informative. We were able to ask questions and discuss concerns. We came up with a loose birth plan, keen to embrace an active and natural birth, with minimal intervention, but also open to the prospect of things not going to plan. We attended a Movement, Mindset and Making Space workshop, also run by Rosie and her colleague Jo, and learnt about acupressure, relaxation techniques and different active labour positions. I read many positive birth stories and practised my breathing techniques and visualisations. I had a very dear friend, Mel, who also encouraged and inspired me with birthing tips.

THE BIG DAY

The night before had been muggy as hell and I’d eaten a big salad packed with sauerkraut. By midnight I was experiencing some unusual cramping and bowel movements, which continued throughout the night. I was certain it was food poisoning and felt like a right fool for allowing myself to get ill so close to my due date. It was quite comical, as well as annoying at the time. However, by 7AM the next morning, the cramps had intensified and my Mum said “I think you might be having your baby, darl”. The pain was like nothing I had imagined; not worse, not better, just different. I’d imagined making really primal sounds, but that didn’t work for me.

I focused on my breathing, moving into comfortable positions and Johnrey began applying some of the awesome acupressure techniques we’d learnt at our workshop. One in particular, two hands pressing firmly on the sacrum, worked tremendously. He was AMAZING! We started timing contractions and when it got to three in ten minutes, we called Rosie. She told us we should probably make our way to the hospital, so we also called the hospital and requested the room with the birthing pool. We had planned for Johnrey to drive us in, but by this stage his hands were so essential to my pain management that we asked my parents to drive us instead. Quite funny now looking back at it!

The trip to the hospital seemed to last an eternity, but we arrived around 2PM.
At the hospital we were greeted by Rosie with such a warm welcoming smile, that I instantly felt at ease. We were taken into our birth suite (which Rosie had managed to make look less like a hospital room) with the midwife on duty, Kath. From there, things are a bit of a blur. I moved into different positions, including the shower (that was lovely!) and over the fitness ball. I really got into the zone, finding my own rhythm, and time just seemed to fly by. As per hospital protocol, there was certain monitoring required. This was able to occur with minimal disruption and no internal examinations were needed, allowing me to maintain my rhythm and flow, and handle the pain.

All of this time, Johnrey was vigorously applying acupressure during contractions and soft massage between. We had a hypnobirthing soundtrack playing in the background, but all I can remember from it was the “oxytocin bucket” references. I did have some moments of extreme clarity, where I imagined other women around the world giving birth at the same time. Rosie offered gentle encouragement and suggestions of changes of position/location. Just looking at her for reassurance when some of the monitoring took place helped me to understand what was going on. I really did feel so safe and so loved.

​​Eventually, my waters broke (all over Johnrey’s legs!). It was rather spectacular and that’s when birth pool was set up. It took a while to fill, and in some strange way, I experienced something akin to intermission. I recall climbing into the pool with Johnrey and excitedly realising we were close to meeting our baby. The water relaxed me immensely and I was overcome with tiredness. I felt almost drunk. Rosie told me this was the “rest and be thankful” stage. So I rest my head on the edge of the pool for a little while, until I felt the urge to push. I asked Rosie to hand me my phone, so that I could put on some pre-selected tunes to get the job done. I remained on all fours, slowly rocking my hips.

​Little Audrey’s head seemed to come out and then retreat, around a dozen times. This freaked me out a bit and I asked Rosie to remind me how to breathe. She reassured me that I was doing beautifully and that my body knew exactly what to do. After a few more pushes, over several minutes, Johnrey finally caught Audrey. And with our midwife’s help, guided her to the water’s surface just after 7PM. We fell in love instantly. I felt like superwoman! There are honestly no words to describe the “love bomb” feeling that followed. This feeling continues, even through the sleep deprivation and some initial difficulties with breastfeeding.
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Every birthing mother needs a Rosie (and Johnrey!) on their team!