Ellie, Adam & Reyna - the birth of baby 2 after a traumatic first birth

Love Ellie’s smile in this photo - the smiel of a Mama who found her inner goddess in birth

Many clients come to me second or third time around. They know they don’t want a birth like the birth they had before. They know it can be different. They felt disempowered, disconnected from the experience and they don’t want to experience that again.

There is another way Mama. A way where you feel completely in your power, feeling calm, confident, in control, knowing your birthrights & choices. Making informed decisions with a birth partner who supports you in the most incredible way - knowing exactly how they can ease your experience of birth. A way where nature works her magic and you access the incredible cocktail of hormones that facilitate a smooth labour. A way where however your birth unfolds, you have a positive experience. Where you take radical responsibility for your body, your baby, your birth.

Ellie had a traumatic experience with her son's birth - she and her husband Adam felt rushed, bullied and taken advantage of. She has PTSD after the experience and didn’t want to feel like that ever again. Her particular concerns were being frightened into making choices again like last time and not being listened to. She was also worried about panicking and not being able to deal with the pain, especially if she tore badly in birth.

Ellie was a pregnancy yoga client who joined my Group JoyFULL Mamas Hypnobirthing Course because she dearly wanted to go into her second birth with more confidence and control and not let anyone take advantage of her. She knew that she wanted to stay as relaxed as possible, no matter how her birth unfolded, wanted to be able to ‘go with her flow;’ and not panic. Her dear wish was to reduce the anxiety, stress & fear that she was feeling toward the whole situation.

Ellie’s partner Adam wanted to really step up to support Ellie in this birth so she felt she could rely on him and fully immerse herself into her body and not get caught in an anxiety loop in her head because of what happened in the first birth,

After our sessions they felt so much more confident knowing the physiological and scientific reasoning for Hypnobirthing. They found the new-found knowledge invaluable, feeling like they were in control of the birth process, rather than the healthcare team. Knowing their birthrights & choices they felt better able to stand up for themselves which they didn’t last time. They said that the course was quite different to what they expected & found that the knowledge and passion around hypnobirthing really impressed them and they felt they came away more empowered and knowing alot more about their options, which was an amazing feeling.

Ellie & Baby Reyna looking angelic at our Mama & Baby Yoga session @ The Healing Haven, Poole

THE BIRTH

Ellie wrote to me detailing her birth and here are her words below:

“Woke up on 5/8/22 about 2am with period cramps, went back to sleep and woke up at 3am with the waves of cramps waking me. This carried on until 5:30am and I slept & relaxed in between.

Xander woke up about 6am and we chatted to him about what was happening. We called labour line about 7am and left for hospital at 7:30am. When we got there, baby had to be monitored for half an hour because we had been in with reduced movements a few times during pregnancy. We moved into our lovely Cove room with the pool & laboured there until 4pm, mainly moving around & resting on my side on the bed. I moved with each surge. I agreed to a Vaginal Examination and things slowed down and I was 2cm dilated. We stayed a bit later and the surges started coming thick and fast but when I was examined again everything stopped - I am sure it was due to being observed, We had a chat with the head midwife & agreed to leave hospital & come back later.

We booked a premier inn and headed over. I had a really lovely bath that helped me through the surges but they were becoming really intense and I was struggling to concentrate on my breathing & relaxation. When things intensified we called the unit and they agreed for us to come back - getting dressed and walking to the car through a busy lobby was really hard, trying not to shout through the surges!

We got to hospital & our amazing midwife Cat was there to greet us - I was so happy to see her and felt like it was meant to be. As I walked in I completely panicked though and told everyone that I can’t do it & needed to go to bed. We were taken back to the Cove Room - I was given gas & air which was magical -I was sick a few times but didn’t care because of the relief from the now super powerful surges.

I felt incredible pressure down below but wasn’t ready to get into the pool yet. I lay on my side and leaned my body backwards, breathing through each surge. I started making some craxy noises which Adam & Cat picked up on and I could feel baby moving further & further down.

I moved into the pool which felt incredible. I kept leaning back and using gas & air through each surge -it is just what my body wanted to do. I could feel the baby moving down & started roaring. I couldn’t believe the noises coming out of me - it felt so good to vocalise. It wasn’t a painful noise but pure power & strength. I felt unstoppable!

I could feel baby moving closer to being born with each surge and mighty roar. I felt inside and could feel the top of the head. I felt her head coming through, it wasn’t painful or stingy, just really intense. There was a ‘pop’ feeling and the head was out. Adam shouted at me to feel below and I couldn’t believe it. With another roar I felt the shoulders and rest of the body sliver out and our baby girl was caught by her Daddy. He shouted ‘it’s a little girl, we have a baby girl!’. It was so lovely to hear the pride & emotion in his voice. Baby didn’t cry and was actually still asleep because of how gently she slipped into the world.

Cat helped me out of the pool, we plopped on the bed and I agreed to the injection to help the placenta come. I pushed the placenta out and had quite a bit of a bleed which was scary and Cat called for the Head Midwife’s help. I was checked and just had minor grazes, no stitches - I couldn’t believe it.

Our golden time was amazing, we felt completely in awe of the whole experience. Adam was the best birth partner anyone could wish for . I felt so safe with him and he was fully in control at the points where I was having a panic - he stayed so calm & I just loved him so much through the whole experience. He watched our baby girl come into the world and caught her in his arms. I am so thankful and proud of him.

I finally know what it feels like the be completely in control of my own body, empowered and simply unstoppable! It was an experience that will stay with me forever.

Dulcie I still can’t believe that this is my birth story. Thank you so much for helping me find my inner goddess and take complete control of the birth, I will be forever grateful.”

Beautiful Reyna Olivia Randall

Born Earthside 10:10pm 5.8.22

Weighing 7lb 3oz xxx