Poppy's birth taught me that your mind and your instincts are far more powerful than any pain.

25/06/2025 Karen McClay

Everyone meet Poppy, she arrived on Tuesday morning at 12:10am.

We had a little bit of a rough trot over the weekend with strong contractions Friday, Saturday and Saturday night with no progress at all, but after doing the “miles circuit” and speaking with our lovely Karen by Sunday night the contractions started to feel different!

Monday morning is when it all kicked off and we headed to hospital 10am (maybe a little too soon, but that’s okay ).

Through the whole labour, Danny and I were able to come back to everything we learnt in Calmbirth, we used so many breathing techniques, pressure points and massage to get through the hours! Danny was able to be the best support and kept the situation from becoming stressful or allowing fear to enter the chat ( there were a few moments I was ready to quit ). Natural birth is no joke!!! But it’s so true that once the baby arrives, nothing else matters!!!

We definitely wouldn’t have been prepared without the course and have told everyone how beneficial it was!!!

My birth taught me that your mind and your instincts are far more powerful than any pain. And anything is possible with the right support and nurturing.