Birth Story: Matthew’s Peaceful Hospital Hypnobirth

MATTHEW’S PEACEFUL HOSPITAL HYPNOBIRTH

By Susan Doohan first published August 2018

When I found out I was pregnant for the first time, and started looking for a midwife, I was ready to embrace modern medicine and all its pain relief options, particularly epidurals. I figured that surely there couldn’t be negatives associated with avoiding the pain that I had heard others talk about. However, over the next two to three months, I had some great discussions with friends who had their babies utilising hypnobirthing techniques, with really positive experiences. I was intrigued enough to read the book “HypnoBirthing – the Mongan Method” by Marie Mongan. Her writing and reasoning behind hypnobirthing resonated with me, particularly in relation to birthing in non-Westernised countries and the environment that animals prefer and successfully birth in. This led to a two-day Hypnobirthing class run by Lynda Johnson in Kapiti, where we were able to watch videos, experience the techniques, and meet other like-minded first-time parents. For the next few months I listened to the hypnobirthing soundtracks and practiced the visualisations. After an antenatal group visit to the hospital, I was happy with the availability of the baths and that music and lighting could be used to make a nice environment for birthing, despite the hospital setting. My birth plan included staying at home as long as possible, avoiding vaginal exams and other interventions/monitoring unless absolutely necessary, and not using drugs for pain relief unless I asked for it repeatedly. We also discussed the use of the wording ‘comfort level’ rather than ‘pain score’. I have always loved water so use of a bath/ shower was also on the wishlist. Three days after my due date I returned home from a morning at work and felt the first few occasional twinges around 11am. My mother-in-law was visiting for the day, and we proceeded to take the dogs for a long walk, go out to lunch, and do some shopping while in the background occasionally I could feel light squeezes in my abdomen. Around 4pm I let my husband know that he should probably come home from work, and to let his co-workers know that he might not be there the next day! By 6pm the squeezes were strong enough that I found a Swiss ball to be the most effective way to keep moving and comfortable through contractions. Over the next two hours I had a long shower which was helpful and experimented with using the TENS machine I had hired from the Parents Centre. Around 7pm a small amount of fluid was released, and I had many trips to the toilet during this period! I alerted my midwife, but was still able to comfortably breathe through contractions with the help of the massage techniques we had learnt through Parents Centre antenatal classes and hypnobirthing and listening to my hypnobirthing recordings. I alternated between relaxing on our bed while listening to music, and using the Swiss ball. By 9pm I was unable to talk through contractions and they were more frequent, so we decided it was time to go into hospital. We arrived around 9.40 to