Hypnobirthing didn’t give me the “perfect” birth - Morgan’s Birth Story
Morgan and Eli attended my May Group Class in Castle Hill.
When I signed up for hypnobirthing, I thought it would help me achieve the birth I’d imagined. Looking back, the biggest thing it gave me wasn’t a particular type of birth, it was the confidence to approach birth without fear and trust that, whatever happened, I could make informed decisions along the way!
Our little girl arrived after a labour that was definitely more eventful than we’d expected!
Contractions started around 9:15pm. They were really gentle, about 12 minutes apart, and I honestly wasn’t even convinced they were contractions. I also had what I thought was a bloody show with fresh, period-like blood, so we called the hospital and headed in. It turned out I’d actually had a placental abruption, with the blood pooling behind the placenta.
The team gave us the choice of inducing me straight away or seeing how labour progressed naturally, as both bub and I were stable. One of the biggest things hypnobirthing gave me was the confidence to understand my options and make informed decisions, so we chose to give spontaneous labour a chance. Even after hearing “placental abruption”, I never felt panicked because I understood what was happening, trusted the team around us and felt involved in every decision.
Within less than an hour the contractions ramped up to five in ten minutes and I very quickly realised, “Okay… this is definitely labour!” (I may have used some stronger words than that! ) But then everything slowed right down and I stayed at 5 cm for almost six hours.
Around 3am our daughter passed meconium, so the recommendation was to start syntocinon to get things moving. She became a little unsettled, so they increased it really gradually while keeping a close eye on both of us. As labour became longer and more intense, I also decided to have an epidural primarily for the placental pain. Before hypnobirthing, I probably would’ve felt like that meant my birth plan had gone out the window. Instead, it just felt like making the right decision for the birth I was having.
I was fully dilated around 1pm, started pushing at 3:12pm and at 3:52pm our beautiful girl was born. I ended up needing an episiotomy and a few tears, but I’m honestly still in shock that I actually pushed a baby out!
Because of the meconium she spent her first few hours in NICU while they kept a close eye on her. It wasn’t the start we’d imagined, but we felt so safe and supported by the incredible team. Thankfully all the colostrum I’d expressed during pregnancy came in handy straight away.
Looking back, my birth was nothing like the straightforward labour I’d pictured. There was a placental abruption, meconium, syntocinon, an epidural, an episiotomy, NICU and plenty of unexpected twists. But I honestly still look back on it as such a positive birth.
Hypnobirthing didn’t give me the “perfect” birth - it gave me confidence, flexibility and the ability to stay calm when things changed. It taught me that a positive birth isn’t about everything going to plan; it’s about feeling informed, supported and empowered throughout the experience.
As strange as it sounds after everything that happened, both my husband and I often say we’d relive the whole experience again in a heartbeat. Welcoming our daughter into the world was the most incredible day of our lives, and we’re so grateful for the confidence hypnobirthing gave us to embrace whatever that day looked like.
Morgan & Eli
