Testimonial from the mother of Charlotte
Although I wanted to have children very much, I had always feared the process of being pregnant and giving birth. I would always push it to the back of my mind and think ‘Once I’m pregnant I’ll have to deal with it somehow!’ So when the time finally came, I was very happy to be pregnant, but filled with totally crazy fears and anxieties. I spent the first few months in an emotional turmoil, but then managed to find a clipping from a newspaper, which I’d kept many years before, about HypnoBirthing. Through the website I tracked down a local contact that sent me the CD and the book which came with the course. The book was wonderful to me, fascinating and reassuring. My first reaction to being pregnant was hope that I would have a caesarian and avoid the whole ‘terrible’ experience of giving birth. But from my involvement in HypnoBirthing, my feelings changed totally. There was nothing I wanted more than a natural, peaceful birth. The book made me realise where my fears had come from and how unreasonable they were. The history of birthing filled me with wonder at how such a natural issue had been so demonized by the medical world and by everyone around me. Mention you’re pregnant and the whole world starts telling you horror stories!
The HypnoBirthing materials helped me from the beginning and I continued to listen to the CD every day. Unfortunately my local contact fell through about two months before the baby was due, just when I was about to start the course. This was a shock but I found Wendy who helped me enormously. The changes that I experienced throughout my pregnancy really amazed me. I overcame great obstacles and arrived at my due date totally relaxed about the whole idea and looking forward to putting into practice what I had learnt.
I was 10 days late and pressure had been mounting to induce. Through a combination of natural speeding techniques, including acupressure, I had started things moving. The labour itself went well. It lasted for 24 hours, but the first 20 hours were very peaceful and calm, with no discomfort at all. I breathed through my contractions and although I was tired through lack of sleep, I was happy that it was taking place slowly and naturally and was not speeded up by any artificial means.
Although the last three hours were not as peaceful as shown in the HypnoBirthing videos, I knew all through that I was being helped not only by the techniques but by the change in my mindset which had come about as a result of the course. The psychological problems that I had had around birth from the beginning did begin to creep in those last few hours, but for me, this had been a major, major issue which I had overcome 95% and I was proud of myself for that. I needed no stitches, (probably due to the perineal massage we had done regularly), and only used gas and air for the last few hours.
I have a wonderful little girl, Charlotte who finally literally dropped into the world at 5pm on 4th July 2005.