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Percy’s birth

Birth Stories

“Being our first pregnancy we were both anxious about the birth process and I was particularly hesitant about having a natural birth. By the time we reached the lunch break on the first day, my fears had already begun to disappear and by the end of the weekend we felt empowered, informed and ridiculously excited about the next part of our journey!”

I just wanted to offer my feedback and birth story after doing the Calmbirth course earlier this year. After having the course come highly recommended, my husband and I decided to attend the weekend course in Bowral in August. Being our first pregnancy we were both anxious about the birth process and I was particularly hesitant about having a natural birth. By the time we reached the lunch break on the first day, my fears had already begun to disappear and by the end of the weekend we felt empowered, informed and ridiculously excited about the next part of our journey! Karen was amazing, and we were so impressed with how the course immediately brought not only my husband and I closer together, but really helped us bond with our little bump. Calmbirth really put me in a fantastic head space for the rest of my pregnancy and set us up for a great birth experience! 

The morning of the 30th November 2015 my waters broke at 4am. Things quickly built from there. I thought I would have a slow progression into things and have the morning to potter and prepare as contractions may build. But this did not happen. By 7am I was on all fours or leaning over the couch concentrating solely on the contractions. I had a moment of tears as Hudson’s labour and birth came flooding back. The intensity of the contractions reminded me of what I had gone through not even 2 years previously. I had forgotten the strength of them. They were all-consuming. Nick spoke to me encouragingly and reminded me of the breathing patterns and deep breaths to do that I learnt from Calmbirth. It helped. It calmed me down and helped me focus.

We were soon in the car and heading to the birth centre. For the first couple of hours at the birth centre I was in the bath with the shower head on my back. It was amazing. As I was nearing the end of my time in the pool the contractions were hardcore. I had some freak out/fear moments and my midwife and Nick both encouraged me to breathe. Again the techniques I had learnt calmed me down, focused me and gave me what I needed in that moment to centre again.

I was originally booked into the birth centre at RPA in Sydney, but ended up going 11 days over my due date and needed to be induced. Our son’s birth could not have been further from our ‘plan’, I ended up having my waters broken, labouring for 27 hours, but never progressing past 3cm dilation, and due to the length of the labour and foetal distress, decided to have an epidural and caesarean. Throughout my labour my goal was to focus on my calm breaths and rely heavily on the mantra that my body knew exactly what to do, that everything was going to be fine, and that the three of us (myself, husband and baby) were all working together as a team. Each of us just as important as the others. 

Our son Percy was born healthy and happy on the 31st of October and we could not be more in love. A huge thanks to Karen for the skills she taught us at Calmbirth, and we look forward to continuing to use those skills in our day to day parenting.

 

“Being our first pregnancy we were both anxious about the birth process and I was particularly hesitant about having a natural birth. By the time we reached the lunch break on the first day, my fears had already begun to disappear and by the end of the weekend we felt empowered, informed and ridiculously excited about the next part of our journey!”

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