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.

​
​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.

​
​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.
​
Every birthing mother needs a Rosie (and Johnrey!) on their team!

I had the pleasure of getting know Carly and Ben when they attended my Birth Prep private classes back in July. They chose to do this over four sessions at Bump & Bub Health Hub. In addition to this they also attended our Movement, Mindset and Making Space workshop in Torquay. They had a wonderful birth and have kindly shared their story. 
Congratulations Carly and Ben and welcome little Harry!! - Rosie x


​
I can’t tell you how many times I have started drafting an email to you to let you know how wonderfully labour went and how amazing motherhood has been so far! 

Harry Darcy Faulkhead came 3 weeks early on Tuesday the 7th of August. I was unsure if I was in labour and walked the dogs along the beach in the morning with a cramp every now and then, after that I went to the library and the supermarket! Haha! I called the hospital about 12pm and they said it was most likely braxton hicks, I thought the same. But by about 5pm I was bouncing on the medicine ball happy as Larry knowing that I was having contractions for sure and a baby was on the way!! Ben cooked a yummy dinner and I wasn’t in pain at all, it was all just excitement.

At 8pm contractions were about 20 mins apart, aromatherapy oils were going and we were still calm and happy. We used a lot of the positions we learnt in the workshop, especially on the medicine ball to get somewhat comfortable. I didn’t think it was going to be such a happy time. At 9.30pm Ben called the hospital contractions were about 7 mins apart. We went to the hospital and everything sped up quickly contractions were about 2/3 mins apart by the time we got to the hospital. We thought we were going to have a car park baby for a while there!! 

Our midwives were nothing short of amazing. They read my birth plan and within about 2 mins the room was set up with a mat on the ground and a ball for me to use, my oils were on and it’s was a completely calm space. I had some back pain so we tried the water injections which worked immediately, Ben also used the pressure points we learnt which also worked a treat. There was no shouting, screaming or swearing the whole experience was very calm, beautiful and empowering. Just like you said it could be!

​​Wed 31st May: Our last day at home before we become parents…. Forever. The feeling that our lives are about to change in a way that we can only imagine. James finishing our birth plan, printing my affirmations, last minute cleaning and packing. Me making my birthing goddess necklace, feeling my women friends and family, generations of them holding me. Farmor’s ring on my finger, my maternal grandmother's watch ready for my birthing alter; the heavy, fossil crystal from Kate, affirmations and crystals from Manjit, photos and letters…my holding circle was solid. Feeling strong, a bubbling mix of anxiety and excitement. The unknown…. Knowing that anything could go down, and feeling ready for whatever cards Mama deals me. There’s nothing more we could do now; no need to paint the cot, what we were about to do was way bigger than that. It’s time, I’m ready… let's do this thing, our baby is coming!!

 
Left the house, had one last acupuncture in Newtown- open cervix, down baby… we’re ready; we can do it. Lunch on pako; James and I feeling relaxed; aligned, ready. Stopped at Kates for a little yoga pep talk circle with her and Ari; last minute reminders for both James and I…a beautiful Shakti mantra sung by Kate; energetic high fives; headed to the hospital with so much juice in our tanks, armed with all of the physical and energetic tools we could muster. Got to our room;  checks, monitor on Marley’s heart rate; always makes me anxious- Marley not moving much… noticing my heart beat faster and breath become shallow, but knowing, trusting we are in the right place. Rosie arrives; beautiful breath of fresh air and smiling positivity… All is well. So many midwives and doctors breezing in and out. Almost time for the balloon; I need to poo! This could be my  last chance! Rosie bought me 15 mins, left the room so I could relax enough to relinquish my bowels; success. Lay down, doctors arrive; lay back, legs in stirrups, don’t know how many people peering down my most intimate entry point with bright lights shining down on her; about to become a birthing canal for the first time. Me surrendering to the process; this is our choice, we are doing this for the safety of our baby. But severing any feeling association I may have developed to my cervix; I cant feel this… I’ll just be strong and make jokes about it… I’ll look the doctors in the eye; I’m not scared. Any pain is part of my marination for the birth. I got this. James by my side, sure and strong, steady and present, as always at these times. 
……continued… from memory

They are ready to poke and prod; I ask them to wait, till I give them permission to enter with their cold, sterile tools. Deep breath, ok; now you may enter. Doing my best to hold onto my empowerment, my dignity. They check my cervix, 1cm dilated already, impressive, all that acupuncture must have worked! Now for the balloon…It’s cold, it’s mildly painful, they inflate the balloon with water, I’m not really present. Just squeezing James’ hand. They remove the tools, tell me I did such a good job, like a good girl I suppose… toughened up, didn’t make a sound, didn’t make a fuss. They offer pain medication, I don’t need it.. Rosie gives a final embrace, her big smile and advice to get a good nights sleep, take the pain medication if you need it.. you need sleep! James stays with me, we talk, I sway, still monitoring the heart rate; They want to know the balloon isn’t effecting the baby. We eat some dinner (?).. James says goodbye. It’s just me, on a plastic coated bed, with the painful moans of birthing women next door to put me to sleep. I put my headphones in, music usually helps. The bed is cold and uncomfortable, the pain is getting worse; I can't sleep, it’s nearing midnight and I still haven’t slept… Rosie’s words help me to surrender to the pain medication, sleep is a priority; they bring me something and I drift into a deep sleep, only to be woken at 6am to be told I need to get the IV cannula in my arm… hmm, ok, I’m too sleepy and submissive to protest. It goes in at 6.15am. The room is freezing cold and I’m shivering. James hasn’t arrived yet and a young female doctor walks in and tells me we need to start the induction drip before 8am, and it’s time to break my waters. I don’t want to birth in this room, it doesn’t feel right, and it’s so cold, there’s no way I can relax. It’s already moving too fast for me, this doctor is pushing the fear card…. ‘we need to get this moving, your baby is at risk if we wait too long’… I let her speak but I did not let her fear permeate my being, James arrives. We ask to move rooms, they don’t listen, it registers of no importance compared to hospital timeframes and agendas.  It’s time to break my waters.. the young female doctor gloves up and gets to business, sometime after 7am.. she takes out the balloon and checks the dilation, 4cm..apparently very impressive. And soft, my cervix is soft, so soft the doctor with spindly arms and tiny hands is doing her best to get a handle on her with the little hook and becoming increasingly frustrated; she’s using all her might, her arm starts shaking; after what felt like at least 10 mins of trying, I ask ‘does it usually take this long? ‘Your cervix is very floppy’ she replies… floppy hey? Nobody calls my cervix floppy… ‘slippery perhaps?’ I offer ‘well, I haven’t yet emptied by bladder this morning, so I could do that, and then we could try the stirrups as well’ feeling the need to interrupt the unconscious assault on my poor cervix , and buying time to avoid the doctors impatience to start the drip. I get up, wee and get in the stirrups.. ok, now, on my watch lady… you may break my waters; done. Just in time for this weak wristed doctors end of shift, what a shame.. pressure off, dodged a bullet.

We get a midwife called (Andrea/ Ange, who starts her shift in tic toc robot mode, glances at our birth plan and has no interest in finding us another room… we start chatting, she warms up…. Maybe she can find us another room, with the wireless monitors too- miraculous! We are transferred to a room on the other side, it’s bigger, warmer and lights easily dimmed- this is where our baby will be born. Yes! We make it ours; salt lamp, oil diffuser, music, yoga props, affirmations on the walls… now we’re talking. Rosie arrives… always a breath of fresh air. Andrea loves our music, we get to know about her son, a musician.. we’re warming to each other. Rosie helps to stall the drip… we wanted a few hours post membrane rupture to find our flow and get things moving; Rosie makes sure we get at least this.. I start to find my flow, drop in, on the fitball.

​We’re all chatting, relaxed. Around 10am Andrea asks are you ready? Contractions haven’t started, can we begin the drip? I’m ready. It takes at least an hour before contractions start, some very mild tightenings, Andrea has a motherly hand on my belly asking if I can feel what’s showing up on the monitor- yes, just some a pleasant tightening sensations, I’m enjoying it. James opens the snacks which I was adamant were unnecessary, and I have some crackers and dip. This is fun, like our own little birthing party. The contractions begin to intensify, just a bit; Andrea finishes her shift.. feel like I’m saying goodbye to a friend. Then we get Sarah (with the help of Rosie’s behind the scenes wizardry)… and oh my, did we hit the jackpot. Sarah turns out to be like the midwife from the Red Tent… wise, experienced, strong, empowering and a passionate lover of normal birth. Thank yoouu! This is the woman who will be present to receive our baby, and ward off the fear mongering doctors.

Contractions keep intensifying, strong tightenings, my uterus working hard in response to the syntocinon… each contraction getting more painful, but I’m still on top of it, just managing to adjust to each rise in sensation, keeping my head above water, definitely intense, but manageable… needing James on my lower back doing the pressure points for every contraction now, and the heat pack, my noises are accompanying every contraction and getting louder. Fitball is good (?), then Sarah needs to do an internal- takes 3 contractions to get me on the bed. Her face says it all, I knew it wasn’t good news according to the hospital protocol checklist, but according to my body, I knew it was great news… the baby and I were doing this, and doing it well, I knew. “You’ve done some really good work, and the baby has moved down a lot” Sarah said in her encouraging, delightful British accent, “and I know the doctor said you were 4 cm dilated this morning, but now, you are only 3cm dilated”. I think she expected me to be deflated, but I felt in no way deflated.. I had a lot of juice in my tank, and I knew enough from Rhea Dempsey to know that dilation is not always a true indicator of birthing progress. I get off the bed and get back to work, staying with my body with each contraction; James there for every one. And managing to heat the heat pack and get icypoles in the interim. I have no awareness of what’s happening in the room; I’m going in.

​I find myself on the toilet; drip following. Sarah comes in ‘the doctors are happy with how you’re going, but they’d like to see some really good progress in the next hour. Are you happy for me to turn the drip up?’ ‘Yep’ I’m good, I got this. Drip goes up, the next contraction king hits me. It comes from nowhere and hijacks my entire body.. the pain takes my breath, blurs my vision and bowls me into a crisis of confidence. Fuck this, no way.. I’m out, where’s the caesarean. I try the sympathy card with James and in a voice laden with defeat, I manage ‘I can't do this babe’… he gives me a huge playful grin, and with full conviction replies, ‘yes you can’. Ok, the only way is through, fuck it, the next one is coming.. get back to work. IT takes full presence to stay with each contraction, and lots of vocalising... open the vocal cords, open the cervix. The rest in between is blissful… silent, peaceful respite from the intensity.. if Farmor can do it as a tiny 19yo birthing my dad in Copenhagen, then I can do it. I felt all the mothers before me; I harnessed that power. It wasn’t long before I felt the bum, YES! Bum, bum, bum, bum, bum! In the words of Rhea Dempsey. This baby is coming; that was so encouraging it gave me a second wind, and I knew I could keep going for much longer. I spy Rosie sitting casually on the perimeter of the room “I’m pushing’ I manage to say at the end of one contraction, not that I was really pushing, but the bowel pressure was intensifying. Rosie was completely unphased… apparently thinking I had much longer to go. I’m leaning on the bed; vaguely aware of some confusion about the heart rate monitor but not caring at all (turns out my heart rate was going down to 50 something in contractions and they were amazed)… Sarah suggests I get on the bed for some rest, she lies me on my left side, it helps to open the cervix apparently. The contractions slow down a bit, I get longer in that blissful place, and the contractions are different, the uterine pain is barely there, it’s just the bowel pressure, and that is primal and totally manageable. Now they believe me, the baby is coming. I hear them getting the trays and tools ready. Rosie keeps assuring me, your body knows what to do. At no point did they tell me to push; they said they would only do that if they were concerned about the heartbeat; I feel some impatience and push anyway.. it stings. I’m rushing, I kind of know I am, but I don’t stop it. I feel this beautiful weight coming into my vagina, I talk to the baby, ‘beautiful baby’ The head is coming, James is ready to receive our baby. My noises are primal. I think it took two contractions with pushing and our baby was here.

Hi Rosie

We welcomed our little girl Heidi into the world on Wednesday morning. She is the most beautiful little thing, and we can’t take our eyes off her. 

I thought I’d also let you know how my labour went. :)

I went into labour on Tuesday night waking up with just mild bleeding and cramping around 2.30am. I called the midwife and she told me to come in just for monitoring and to check out the bleeding, she was confident I wasn’t in labour yet as I must have sounded too relaxed. So I had a shower, washed my hair and took my time getting ready just in case we needed to stay.

It was all very relaxing, the surges had started to come in more frequently and by the time we drove to the hospital around 4am they were already quite frequent and I had to concentrate and breathe through them. We arrived and I was monitored for a good hour, all looked well and surges slowly increased their intensity.

I laboured for a couple more hours changing positions and listening to relaxing music, and at 7am I started to feel the urge to push. I hadn’t had an internal exam at this stage, but I wanted to know where I was at, and if the baby was coming.

​Luckily, my obstetrician gave me the clear to go ahead as I was fully dilated. The pushing phase was quite tiring and definitely hard work. :) 

​
​A big part of what my labour was like is thanks to you and what we had learnt during our hypnobirthing course, so thank you!!! Incredible and powerful stuff can happen when the mind is calm and body is relaxed. ​

Back to cuddles now soaking up the Heidi love. <3

Thanks Rosie.

Love
​
Natalie & Jeremy​

​Hello Rosie!

Me and Richard are just checking in to introduce you to Woody, who was born last Sunday, a week early! He’s a funny little thing and we are completely smitten with him!! We wanted to say a massive thank you to you and let you know that attending your classes was the best decision we could have made. We know for sure that our hypnobirthing tool kit made a HUGE impact on my pregnancy and labour. Here is our labour story!

​

My waters broke at 3am on Sunday morning and very shortly after it was game on! There was no panic, Richard was calm, I felt calm and Richard Immediately knew to put on the MP3 tracks and set up the lounge room with the exercise ball, Yoga mat, keep the lights low and get the tens machine up and going. 

We called the hospital who agreed to let us stay at home and I listened to the hypnobirthing tracks and followed the breathing exercises we learnt from you. I used visualisations to imagine my cervix opening and my uterus as a big balloon being squeezed down. The surges were getting more and more intense and I was completely dependent on Richard being there and holding me through each one. He was so prepared and knew exactly what to do, his ability to keep me calm and remind me to focus on my breath was amazing. After 4 hours of breathing through surges it was time to go to the hospital. 

At 7:30am we arrived at the hospital with surges being around 3 min apart. We were taken straight to a labour room. 

We had asked for no CTG monitoring if possible and would prefer to have checks with a doppler. We had also asked for minimal vaginal examinations and did not particularly want to know the dilation in cm’s until full dilation.  I really feel that being assertive and informed on presentation to the labour ward helped. At one point the obstetricians had been whispering to one another whilst I was in the room and I asked them to please involve me in any discussions or at least not whisper. Following this they asked me If i wanted them to leave me alone until I waited for my CMP midwife to arrive, which was helpful. 

I continued to focus on my breathing and listened to the tracks, having water sprayed on my face was a life saver! The lavender aroma diffuser was quickly turned off as it made me want to vomit and the headphones didn’t last long in my ears and soon got flung off, we played the tracks on the phone instead. 

Our CMP midwife arrived shortly after and she was familiar with our birth preferences. We also had a 1st year midwifery/nursing student who came along too. At this point, surges were coming on thick and fast, there was no time to think about filling a bath, getting in the shower or asking for water injections or gas. I just breathed through them getting Richard to hold me tightly from behind or leaning over the ball. There were times were I lost control and panic set in but with my team around me, being held by Richard, water being sprayed on my face, cranking the tens machine and being constantly encouraged was getting me through it. At one point I did accidentally electrocute myself with the tens by turning it up full instead of off! Richard says that your course helped him be part of the birthing team. 

At 11am, 3 and a half hours after arriving at hospital, I had my first vaginal examination and I was fully dilated. I couldn’t believe it!

The next 2 and half hours of transition were a bit more... ‘intense’ ha! I initially had tried to use bearing down techniques but after little progress and the clock ticking (turns out the hospital don’t like you to push for more than 2 hours before intervening) I had to do some serious pushing. I think at this stage panic had taken over and I had lost control. The surges were intense, and I was worried about obstetricians hovering and clock watching. Had I been able to relax the bearing down breathing may have worked but it wasn’t an option for me. It took me about 30 mins or so to get the pushing technique right, getting the breathing right and knowing exactly where in my bottom to push to. My midwife really helped me with this and after 45 mins or so I was getting the hang of squatting and pushing and progress was being made although still quite slow. My babies head was only mm’s away from crowing and I had gone over the 2 hour mark. The obstetrician was in the room and forceps/ventouse was looming. My midwife was able to advocate for me, I was on the CMP program and had been meeting with the same midwives throughout my whole pregnancy. They knew we had taken Hypnobirthing classes, they knew our birth preferences and gotten to know us as a couple. My midwife believed in us and was able to advocate on my behalf and negotiate more time. I was given extra time to push, on the condition that I lay on the bed with the CTG monitor in place and a heart monitor be place on the baby’s head. Our students help and having an extra set of hands at this point was unbelievably helpful. I continued to push from the bed and progress continued. 

The obstetrician asked me to put by legs in the stirrups which would help me push which I, hesitantly, agreed to. I felt that this was one step closer to intervention and I didn’t trust this request at all. However, this worked and by pushing my feet against the stirrups my babies head crowned. The obstetrician was right, this did help me with the final push. 

I pushed my baby out and they placed him in my arms. Nothing prepared me for what happened next. Richard described it as someone had given me a huge bag of drugs. I had this overwhelming surge of pure euphoria, kissing and cuddling him, cracking jokes with the hospital staff, feeling no pain or even slight discomfort and being so wide awake and alert!