How Hypnobirthing Supported Becky’s Unplanned Home Birth
This birth story is shared with love by a family who took my Hypnobirthing: From Jitters to Joy class. While their names have been changed to honor their privacy, their experience reflects the power of Hypnobirthing to bring calm and confidence—even when the journey takes an unexpected turn.
Hey Marlene!
Our baby boy was born a week early.
We wanted to share our birth story with you. It did not go as planned at all, but that is not a bad thing.
As you know, we planned on giving birth at the hospital. My contractions started late on Thursday night last week, but we did not realize they were real contractions. We were able to make it through the night and the next day they continued, but were manageable and spread apart and I went about my day as usual. Took our dog on a walk, worked a full day and cooked dinner but as the evening progressed, the contractions got stronger. We called the doctor and let him know that we are feeling something that may feel like contractions but we’re not sure. He recommended we go in if it gets more intense, if I lose my mucus plug or my water breaks. Therefore, we waited it out since I didn’t want to be either turned away or laboring in the hospital longer than I needed to.
At around 10:30 PM the contractions started getting more intense and we were starting to comprehend that we were actually going into labor. We started getting our stuff ready to go and at 11:20 PM my water broke. At this point the contractions started getting really intense, so using all the techniques that we learned at your class, we breathed through them and I enjoyed a light touch massage to help me through. I had also read about Freya app from the positive birth company (same author as the book I borrowed from you) and that was very helpful to help me breath through the contractions while Jax loaded the car. I believe there are additional features on the app but didn’t get a chance to use them but I would recommend the app.
Jax loaded the car while I steadied myself on our kitchen chairs in a swatting position and continued to breathe through the contractions. When he came in to get me, I told him we weren’t going to make it to the hospital as I could feel his head coming out and told him to call 911.
Jax called 911 and while the paramedics were on the way, he was able to set up cushions and towels on the floor of our living room where in a matter of minutes baby Logan was born. Luckily everything went well and there weren’t any complications. The paramedics arrived three minutes after we delivered the baby on our own, at home.
Of course, this was not at all how we envisioned our birth unfolding but looking back to our vision, it was everything I had hoped it would be; quick, calm, and unmedicated. I wanted my body to do what it was meant to do! It was an incredible experience for both of us. I feel like we had the tools and education needed to handle with the whole process, and be able to understand what is happening (even though it took us a while to figure out this was the real deal).
Staying calm and connected to my body throughout this whole process allowed me to deliver our baby in a natural way without any outside sources intervening. The most amazing part is the operator on the phone told me to get on my back to deliver the baby and I did not feel like that was the right position for me to be in. I listened to my intuition and delivered him in a kneeling position. Looking back, I do think all the positions I was in whether I was walking, pacing around the house, squatting, bouncing on a medicine ball, or doing hip opener stretches all helped with gravity.
We both wanted to thank you for teaching us how birth can be a positive experience and allowing us to be part of the Hypnobirthing community. This has definitely been a positive experience and both Jax and I are no longer fearful of birth and now view it as a positive and truly life changing. I also think it has brought us closer together and we will always look back and remember his birth with nothing but positivity and we are grateful we had all the tools we needed to give birth at home even though that wasn’t the original plan but we were able to adapt and that is what life is all about.
Thank you again,
Jax, Becky, and Logan
