Taking the drama out of child birth

I finally decided that my desire to have children outweighed my fear and I was lucky enough to become pregnant. While I (and my husband) were thrilled, I really wasn’t prepared for just how scared I was at the prospect of giving birth – it was only after three weeks of sleepless nights following the positive pregnancy test that I felt I would really have to do something about it. It was around this time that I stumbled onto an article on hypnobirthing. I had never heard of it before and was intrigued by the idea that birth is difficult because we believe it is going to be and so work ourselves up into a panic. Being frightened in any situation causes the body to divert blood to arms, legs, lungs and brain and away from organs like the bowel and, more importantly, the womb.

The body does this because it thinks that you feel fear because you are going to be physically attacked and it prepares your body to fight or run – the so called ‘fight or flight’ syndrome. In normal circumstances, this is a great response, but in the middle of labour and birth it means that the blood, with all its oxygen and nutrients is being pulled away from the womb, making it harder for the womb to get on with the job in hand – namely birthing your baby.

Relaxed birth

The idea behind hypnobirthing is that you stay completely relaxed right through labour and birth, allowing blood to get to the womb in the right amount and (so the article claimed) you would feel less pain and fear.

I wasn’t convinced. The article also claimed that many women who used hypnobirthing felt much less pain and used very little, if any, pain relief during birth. After all the stories I had heard and everything I had seen on TV, I didn’t think that could be true. However two things changed my mind. The first was that, as a dietitian, I work a lot with people who have irritable bowel syndrome. Stress is a big factor in this condition. Why? Because stress pulls blood away from the bowel, making it harder to work properly. I had been telling my patients this for years – so it made perfect sense that the same thing would happen to the womb in similar circumstances.

The second thing that changed my mind was a search I did for studies looking at the effects of hypnobirthing. Coming from a hospital background I was going to see if the reputable medical journals had anything that would back up the claims of hypnobirthing and I was, I have to admit, surprised to find that they did. Studies found that women who use hypnobirthing during labour and birth used fewer pain medications, had shorter labours and may even have had fewer complications. One study looking at pain relief methods found that women were as satisfied with the pain relief provided by hypnobirthing as they were by that provided by an epidural. After reading all of this I decided to give hypnobirthing a go. I found a course near me and went along for the weekend.

I really wasn’t sure what to expect but everyone seemed like normal people, all just wanting more information. Some people were determined not to use any pain relief during birth, others wanted to have a home birth and thought that hypnobirthing would help. Like me, many of the women were simply scared of giving birth and wanted to try anything that might relax them. The course leader talked us through hypnobirthing and assured us that hypnosis was just deep relaxation – and that we wouldn’t forget who we were or start walking around thinking we were chickens… She gave us relaxation exercises to do daily and breathing exercises to use during labour and birth. She also talked about resetting our thinking about birth – we needed to get rid of the idea that birth was difficult and convince ourselves that it was fine, and that we could easily cope with it. We were banned from watching any programmes about birth on TV and to avoid talking to anyone who wanted to tell us what a gruesome time they had had. All in all, it was a very positive, uplifting weekend and we all left feeling very confident that birth would be fine.

Positive thoughts

I really got into doing my relaxation CD at least twice a day. I also constantly talked to myself in a positive way about birth – this felt a bit strange at first but the idea is to fill your head with good ideas about birth to help drive out the scary ones – and I practiced my breathing. I quickly began to feel much more relaxed about the whole thing. I was more confident at stopping people who wanted to tell me scary birth stories (it’s amazing how many people feel the need to scare the hell out of you while you’re pregnant) and I avoided looking at the panic filled, overly dramatic depictions of birth on soaps and other TV shows.
Very soon, the idea of giving birth didn’t bother me at all and I found myself looking forward to meeting my baby. This was definitely the best part – I really got to enjoy my pregnancy, every kick, every movement, every scan, was a pleasure and there was no longer the sense that I was approaching something awful.

Birth partner

I also hired a doula – a professional birth partner. My husband made it clear from the start that unless I really, really needed him there, he would much rather pace the corridors outside. Happily, I agreed with him – he was going to be just as clueless as I was and I’d much rather have a woman who had been through it herself. I also thought it would be useful to have someone there who could help me with the hypnobirthing. Again, studies show that women who have a doula have easier labours, use fewer pain relief drugs and have fewer complications – I was sold! I found a website advertising doulas and I got in touch with a wonderful doula, Caroline Rocliffe. We met a few times before the birth to make sure we liked and got on with each other – but there were no problems there. All of our meetings were filled with laughter and jokes and were great fun.
Doulas are not nurses or midwives (although they can be). They are women who have had children themselves as well as training in ways to support a woman through labour and make her as comfortable as possible. They don’t interfere with the midwives or doctors and they have no role in making medical decisions, they support and encourage and they are a comforting, familiar face in a room full of strangers.

The end result

So did it all work? My baby was very happy in my tummy and went a full two weeks over my due date so I was very keen to give birth when the time came! I did end up having an unusually long labour but from the beginning I remembered my breathing and listened to my relaxation CD and just worked on through. There was definitely pain but it was completely manageable and not at all distressing – I’ve had period pains that were worse. When I was very deeply relaxed it was as though the pain was tickling the edge of my mind rather than being anything worth noticing. As long as I stayed very relaxed and did my breathing it was no problem. Because I had such a long labour, there were times that I lost focus and I did find the contractions (or surges) more difficult but that just brought home to me the importance of keeping my focus and getting back into my relaxation. I waited at home until my waters broke, which they finally did at 6.15 am on Monday morning, just as I was heading in to be induced. I called Caroline and my husband brought us all to the hospital. We were there by 7am and I have nothing but praise for all the staff at Holles Street who couldn’t have been more helpful, pleasant and professional.

Things really got moving after I arrived at the hospital and before long I had passed from labour (where your body is opening your cervix) to pushing. The last few contractions were quite strong and at this point Caroline suggested using gas and air. This worked really well with my hypnobirthing breathing and got me right to the end. It is worth noting here that I had no intention of avoiding an epidural or any other pain relief – it simply never occurred to me to ask for it because I was so relaxed and focused – in saying that I was quite happy to use the gas and air when it turned up! Once I got to the pushing stage, I was surprised to find there was no pain at all. The midwife at my antenatal class had told me this but I hadn’t believed her (nor had anyone else that day!). But it turned out she was right. Once labour stopped and pushing started I didn’t need any pain relief because there was no pain. I wish I had known that years ago. Caroline was amazing, I can’t emphasize enough how good it was to have the support and encouragement of someone I knew and trusted and who had been there themselves. In the end I delivered a healthy baby boy, James Stephen, at 10.05pm with no complications or problems.