After a Water birth in the midwife led unit for my first daughter, when I got pregnant again I knew I wanted a home birth. I wanted my daughter to be at home and close by and, I knew I didn’t want to be in hospital during the pandemic. Despite a straightforward birth, I felt that I had a lot of fear in my first labour that had slowed it down at times. Whilst I felt positive about it, it left me utterly depleted and exhausted in the fourth trimester, I felt sure a home birth would give me the intimacy and privacy I wanted and the best opportunity to enter motherhood for the second time. I started Sophie’s hypyoga classes at 14 weeks, and we started her hypnobirthing course at 20 weeks. The combination of the yoga classes and Sophie’s online modules were so helpful in reconditioning my thinking towards birth and in particular for my husband who was not looking forward to it!
The hypyoga classes were the highlights of my week, I loved the yoga itself and the unique style Sophie has of weaving hypnobirthing techniques and meditations in with it. Years ago I did a yoga teacher training and I loved Sophie’s ability to hold space for everyone so calmly and gracefully. Plus the playlists are beautiful! At 34 weeks I found out the baby was breech and started trying mentally to prepare for what losing my much longed for home birth might be like and researching my new options. Sophie was on the end of the phone to offer reasoned advice, and when a scan showed a cystic mass in our baby’s abdomen that home birth dream was suddenly a long way away. Our baby turned by 36 weeks but by then we had been transferred to the Royal London for care and weekly consultant obstetrician appts and scans. The recommendation to induce labour in London at 39 weeks was made, I was heartbroken to have lost my homebirth plans and face going into hospital and leaving my daughter at home. Talking it through with Sophie helped me gain perspective on this being the right decision and ultimately the right birth for our baby. Both my husband and I felt our hypnobirthing skills kept us focussed and sane through a long drawn out induction, where I had the pessary, numerous sweeps and gels before reaching 4cm after four nights in hospital. I used Sophie’s breathing techniques and music to breathe through the days of contractions and kept moving and active as well as resting and eating. After breaking my waters I reached 10cm very quickly and my second daughter was born four hours later. I had been adamant i only wanted have gas and air with my first birth feeling nervous about potential interventions, however having researched induction this time around I knew I was open to pain relief. The surges started coming four in ten minutes immediately after my waters broke, and I could feel her head pressing on my cervix, I had an epidural which felt like a big step but having used my decision making techniques I learnt on the course I felt confident with the decision.
My husband Harvey lay out the LED candles, put on my playlists (Sophie’s playlists!) and was generally amazing. Induction was much more intense and painful than my first natural labour, and coupled with the monitoring and reduced ability to mobilise I have no regrets at needing pain relief! It bought me (and my husband) a little nap half way through, and my daughter was born very quickly after that with no need for intervention, I was also able to still move on the bed and feel the surges pushing her out. It was not the labour or birth I had imagined or wanted for us, but I know it was the right one to ensure my daughter was born in that hospital, safely and with the care she needed, and I felt that I made peace with that, the relief I felt when she was placed on my chest was immense. We spent a further five nights in hospital as she had a few nights in NICU and a procedure to drain the cyst before eventually coming home to my other daughter – who I don’t think had really noticed I’d gone !! I feel very grateful for Sophie’s ongoing weekly support, and know that the 6 months of Hypyoga had helped me physically, mentally and emotionally prepare for the unknown quantity that is birth!