Welcome baby Enys!

Hello Hannah, 

We just wanted to let you know that our baby boy Enys Sidney was born on Tuesday morning weighing 9lbs exactly.

He was delivered via c-section, and even though I had planned for a vaginal water birth, I wanted you know that all of your techniques helped to keep it magical and I’m really happy with the birth experience I had. I felt calm throughout, and able to advocate for myself when I felt that an induction was not the best approach for us or our baby. The hypobirthing has also come in useful in the days after with breastfeeding and lack of sleep by just helping me to relax generally. 

We honestly cannot thank you enough! 

Best wishes,

Katie, Ross and Enys xx

Baby Lucas's calm birth

Hi Hannah, we’re doing well thanks.

I ended up having a long labour of 45 hours and a natural birth with only gas and air. I was on Rushey Ward (the birth centre) but got a bit stressful towards the end as they thought he might be distressed so rushed us down to labour ward.

Everything we learned with you was so helpful and gave us a realistic idea of what to expect!

Lucas was born on 17th January, so he’s almost 5 weeks now. He’s gaining weight well, but doing lots of cluster feeding which leads to painful gas and a refusal to sleep unless someone’s holding him. It’s been exhausting, but also very joyful ☺️ x

The arrival of sweet baby Louis

Hi Hannah. 

Just to say our little man has arrived- Louis Seymour on 12 July at 4.02pm, weighing 7lb 13oz. 

Thank goodness we came to you for help and hypnobirthing. It was invaluable for various reasons. Contractions started at 6pm on Tuesday, but but by 8pm they were every 3 - 5mins until 3pm the next day and was ‘getting by’ on gas and air.  While his head has been down and engaged for the last few weeks, his head was at an angle and he was struggling/couldn’t be delivered naturally so they whipped me in for an assisted delivery by forceps and episiotomy. 

I 100% advocate your course. To add, while Rob was sceptical, he’s converted. He was able to support me throughout in a really meaningful way. 

Yes, I’m on day 3 postpartum and no doubt feeling the blues, but could weep at how grateful I am to have had the techniques to get through it and feel calmer. 

Thank you again! 

Anna x

Poppy & James' third Calm Births baby!

Poppy & James had their first Calm Births baby back in 2017 , which you can read about here. They had their second Calm Birth in 2020 and now have had their THIRD Calm Births baby! I am so honoured that they chose to use us each time & had such positive experiences x

“Oh Hannah! So so delighted to be able to share with you the arrival of 💛 Wilbur Stanley 💛 A whole 9lb of perfection, born safely, calmly and beautifully in the pool on Tuesday afternoon without pain relief. Laboured peacefully at home during the night, James went on the school run and we were able to arrive at the hospital 6cm dilated and ready for the pool. Finally, at our third and final attempt, I feel so fortunate to have been gifted this water birth experience and following two wonderful hours in there Wilbur was welcomed into the world. I have always envisaged my "yellow water birth" alongside the Affirmations so it seemed fitting to have this perfect hat at the ready 💛 We are home and settling in to life as a family of five. Thank you for everything, three beautiful Calm Births we will always be truly and wholly grateful for xx”

A healing VBAC story

Hi Hannah,

Hope you are well.

I thought I'd let you know Lewis David Cass arrived yesterday at 145pm weighing 9lb 1oz!

I have to admit I was sceptical but open minded to how much difference hypnobirthing could make but all I can say is wow. I had early labour contractions on and off since Thursday morning, ramping up to 2/3 in 10 during Saturday night, but I was able to relax/dose in between them.

We arrived at the hospital at 9am 5cm dilated, 2 hours later my waters went and very quickly after that I was 10cm and pushing. So not only did I achieve my VBAC but I felt so calm I did it all with just a tens machine and a paracetamol!

It was a complete different experience to Chloes birth and I can't thank you enough for giving me the confidence to believe in my body, I'm so proud!

Kind regards

Danielle

A positive C-Section Story

 When I became pregnant with our first baby, both my husband and I were nervous about the birth. I was worried about losing control of my body and being in a lot of pain and my husband was worried about not knowing what to do during labour and feeling like a "spare part". Calm births with Hannah was recommended by a friend to help us understand the process of labour and birth and to give us ideas to do both during pregnancy and labour. 

We both loved the course and over the weeks we felt more in control and positive of giving birth to our baby. I enjoyed listening to positive affirmations every morning when I got up and listening to the ocean relaxation before going to bed. We also regularly started using the breathing phrase "I breathe in calm and my body and mind relax down" whenever we started to become anxious. 

At 37 weeks, our obstetrician discussed with us that a natural labour may no longer be the best option for both me and the baby and that we needed to consider an elective c section. This was due to a blood pressure issue that I had developed later on in pregnancy and there was a concern that my heart would be unable to cope with labour.

Following this, I met again with Hannah to discuss how I could adapt what we have learnt in her sessions to support me during the c section. We also discussed options I could ask for during the c section to help me to feel more relaxed. After speaking with Hannah, I started listening more to the shooting stars relaxation as the part around worries about giving birth was really powerful and it allowed me to let go of the worries I had. My husband and I made a visualisation board which had pictures of happy memories, pictures of the beach to help with ocean relaxation (this was still a favourite), pictures of our baby scan and of the nursery. We made a playlist together of music to listen to whilst we were waiting and music to listen to during the section. We thought classical music would be helpful but wanted a fun twist so we included the jurassic Park and Harry Potter theme tune. We also started to think about the activities we could do together whilst we were waiting as we had found out a few days before that we would be the third in the order assuming there were no emergency sections. 

 On the day of the c section, we went in to hospital feeling excited as we knew we were meeting our baby that day. We were taken to our room to wait in until it was our turn. Maria, our midwife for the section, came to meet us and go through pre op information. We explained to her that we had been doing hypnobirthing and wanted to have as much of a calm birth as possible. She was very supportive of this and discussed with us our different options. She also explained that our obstetrician and anaesthetist were also advocates for hypnobirthing and so would be supportive. She offered to put some lavender essential oils on some cotton wool on my wrists and place them in a way that wouldn't hinder the anaethetist which I agreed to. We also agreed that she would give us a 20 minute warning before I was due to go in to theatre so I could listen to the ocean relaxation prior to going in. The midwife went on to tell everyone that would be present in the theatre that we were doing hypnobirthing and how we would like them to support us during the c section. 

 The midwife also offered to put the catheter in before going in to theatre. This would mean that it would be in the calming atmosphere of the room rather than in the busy theatre and it would allow me to feel more at ease as I would not be in a vulnerable position in front of other people. I agreed. I found it really helpful to use breathing phrases whilst it went in with my husband stroking my hand. It was uncomfortable but not painful and I was grateful that it was done in our own room. 

Following this the anaesthetist came in to put the cannula into my hand. She was a lovely and nurturing woman, who was reassuring and asked if there was anything she could do to support the birth of our baby. She answered our last minute questions. I was due to have a spinal block rather than an epidural due to my blood pressure. The anaesthetist explained that this would mean I would not feel any pain but I would still have some of the sensations of touch on my skin and not to worry that it was not working. The theatre nurse also came in to check my details and explained that I would be asked to answer the same questions a number of times (name, dob, why I was there).

 The obstetrician next came in to check if we had any last minute questions and to explain some last minute details. She offered to give me some drugs that would help with blood clotting and would mean that I would have less bleeding following the section.

 With 20 minutes to go, the midwife ensured no one would disturb us. We listened to the shooting stars track together and then looked at our visualisation board. By the end of the 20 minutes, we were excited to meet our baby. 

 We walked round to the theatre with the midwife and my husband and I laughed about needing to carry my "pee bag". My husband put on a theatre gown, cap and shoes. 

 Although I had seen pictures of a theatre, the actual theatre I walked in to still surprised me and the sudden clinical feel to the situation raised my anxiety levels. The theatre nurse provided reassurance and helped me to get on to the bed. This required me to climb up a few steps in order to get on to the bed. The anaesthetist came over to explain that she would now do the spinal block and I would need to lean over a pillow in order to curve my spine. She warned me that I would feel a sudden pain. My husband came over and took my hand and started talking to me about our agreed visualisation about being on a beach in Barcelona. I did not feel the needle go in or the spinal block drugs and was surprised when I was told I could lie down. My husband then moved to sit down next to my head and a screen was placed up so I could no longer see from my neck down. The anaesthetist explained there would now be a slight delay as I already had the catheter in which is what usually happens during this time whilst they are waiting for the spinal block to take affect. Pumps were then attached to my legs so that my legs would have the stimulation of walking and this would ensure no blood clots were formed. As the spinal block was starting to take affect, I started to feel over heated and incredibly dizzy. My husband noticed that I wasn't looking well and asked the anaesthetist if everything was OK. She noticed that my blood pressure had significantly dropped and started to give me various medications to help counter act it. This did start to raise my anxiety levels so the anaesthetist offered to start playing our music and my husband prompted me to use our breathing techniques. To check the spinal block had worked, the anaesthetist sprayed a cold spray on my arm so I would know how cold it should be. It was then sprayed on my leg and although I could feel the spray, I couldn't feel the temperature of it.

 The c section started and we had our music playing and my husband sat talking through our visualisation to help me to focus. The obstetrician popped her head round the curtain at one point to praise our music choice and asked for it to be turned up as she was enjoying it. I was warned when there would be some pressure to help maneuver baby out. It felt like incredibly hard pressure on my chest, apparently baby was comfy and had wedged their feet up into my ribs. We were told when the waters were about to break and we heard the rushing sound of water and then our baby crying. We had asked staff not to tell us the gender of the baby as we wanted to see for ourselves. The curtain was dropped and our baby lifted for us to see. We had a beautiful baby girl and she was born to Jupiter by Holst. Although my husband quickly changed it to the circle of life from the Lion King. We waited briefly whilst they did delayed cord  clamping and pushing remaining blood to baby.  The midwife then brought our baby girl over and put her skin to skin. Prior to lying down my gown had been loosened so the baby could be easily placed on my chest with the gown over the top of her.

The next 30 minutes flew so quickly. My husband and I were left alone to be with our baby girl whilst they completed the stitches they needed. My baby girl was briefly taken away whilst I was moved from the theatre bed to a ward bed via a slide (great fun). Whilst this happened my husband looked after our baby, took her to be weighed and cut her cord. She was then brought back to me for more skin to skin we moved up to the ward.

 The c section was a lovely experience for both me and my husband and I look back on it with fond memories. What we learnt from Calm Births really helped us to prepare for the birth of our baby and helped us to feel empowered for the birth that we wanted. What we learnt has also continued with us into parenthood. We use the phrase "I breathe in calm and my body and mind relaxes down" all the time, especially on days when parenting feels hard. I've also continued to use the relaxation tasks to help me to get to sleep at night.

A gorgeous home birth story

Stephanie & Jon birthed their first baby after their Calm Births course, and came to me for a refresher session when pregnant with baby number 2. This was the birth they experienced with baby number 2, their gorgeous girl.

Hi Hannah

Hope you’re well!

Little Milla arrived this weekend, and it was the most wonderful calm birth. Just wanted to say thank you so much for helping make that possible! 💕

I didn’t feel like I needed any pain relief other then my breathing and the pool and it was amazing to just listen and trust my body. It just did it’s thing while I focused on staying calm!

Had a wobble right as her head was trying to come down as the contractions felt like they were about 2 seconds apart and I didn’t feel i could get a breath in to breath down but Jon and the midwives were amazing at helping me find my centre again and I could help my body with me breath and she arrived in no time! 8lb 11oz 💕

Included is a picture of how we used your affirmations, they were great to have in the room as a reminder during the birth.

So thank you!

Stef x

A positive C-Section story

Hi Hannah, how are you? I hope you had a good summer? Piers and I had a baby boy last month – the 4th August! I was in hospital for 5 nights to be induced, but ended up having a c section. It was the complete opposite to what I wanted but I don’t feel it was a negative experience.

We had a growth scan at the end of July which showed there was little growth in 2 weeks and the dopplers had dropped out of normal range. Charlie was still fine at this point but our consultant and midwife both advised bringing the pregnancy to an end as there was now greater risk of Charlie becoming in danger and we wouldn’t necessary have enough time to act on it before anything fatal would happen.

So at 38 weeks I decided to try to be induced as I could still have a vaginal birth. I had the balloon, 1 application of the hormone gel (then Charlie decided to move position…thankfully Charlie moved back into position!) and then had my waters broken.

I got into early labour and it was all very positive – I was enjoying the experience. Within a few hours Charlie was showing signs of distress – movement reduced and heart rate dropped. The doctor advised to stop and have a c section before it becomes an emergency. At this point I was only 3 cms dilated and the doctor said that Charlie wasn’t going to cope if we continued as he was already showing signs that he wasn’t.

I’m glad I decided to have a c section at this point as it was still a calm environment and we were given the time and space to make the decision. We listened to our affirmations during surgery and it was a lovely moment when the surgeon lifted Charlie up to us and no one said anything – we could just have a quiet and emotional moment.

This was nearly 5 weeks ago now and I’m recovering well. Charlie is very calm and contented so far. I do feel very lucky!

Holly x

A positive induction birth

On Saturday 12th June, Carl and I arrived at Frimley Park Hospital at 10.00 where I was booked for induction. We arrived at the Antenatal Ward, where I was seen to a bed. We made ourselves at home and also prepared ourselves for a wait until the pessary was inserted as we knew they were really busy! They scanned me to double check baby was in the right position and they also hooked me onto the monitor to check on baby’s heartrate for a while.

Just before the pessary was inserted, she examined my cervix, she informed me the cervix was already slightly open and she could touch the baby’s head with her finger! They inserted the pessary at 1.30pm. By 2.30, I had severe lower back ache and could already feel my body was on its way. I decided to listen to some of the relaxing MP3s to keep myself calm ready for the surges. As soon as the surges started, Carl hooked me up to the TENS machine which along with the MP3s, helped a great deal. We took a walk round the Hospital, to ease my back ache and to stretch my legs. Once the surges started to become more frequent, I started my easy breathing whilst listening to the relaxing music through earphones. However, the surges suddenly became more and more frequent, up to the point where I was having around 2 surges a minute without a break in between and when they examined me, I was only 1cm dilated at around 6pm.

They decided to give me an injection to slow down my surges, and they also removed the pessary because of the way my body had reacted to it. The injection did help, but the surges were still very frequent. I continued to use my breathing techniques, using the mountain breathing during each surge and Carl laid next to me, reminding me of the positive affirmations and did the light touch massage, he also played with my hair which apparently I requested this the most but I don’t remember as I was too much in the zone!

At around 9.30pm, the surges were still very frequent and I was starting to feel tired, we spoke to the midwife and she examined me, she informed me I was now 3cm dilated and they would transfer me to the labour ward shortly. Due to the number of surges I’d had, I requested some pain relief as I hadn’t yet had any, they weren’t able to give me gas and air on the antenatal, but offered me Pethidine which although doesn’t help a great deal with the pain, it allowed my body to relax more and feel more at ease. I fell asleep not long after the pethidine injection was given, and although we are not 100% sure on the time frames now (it all happened so fast!) I woke up around midnight with really strong surges, still using my TENS machine. I think I had around 4 or 5 until suddenly I felt my body take over and felt the need to push. Carl called the midwife and they examined me to say I was now 8cm dilated! They couldn’t believe how quickly I had progressed from 3cm to 8 in such a short time.

Just before they transferred me to the Labour Ward, my waters broke on the bed. They pushed me on a wheelchair onto the labour ward where during each surge I was now pushing using my Goddess breathing. The staff commented on how relaxed I was and how well I was doing, especially as I had used only the TENS machine and pethidine. Once on the labour ward, they examined me again and I was now fully dilated at 10cm, and I now had access to some gas and air (hooray!) although, Carl had to keep reminding me to use it.

The midwives then informed me the baby was “facing the wall” and they were concerned about the baby’s heartrate. They spoke about taking me to theatre which I thought they would want to perform a C-section, however, they informed me it would still be a vaginal delivery, but an assisted one, using ventouse. They quickly got me to theatre where they helped deliver our baby girl. After being given the spinal, they told me when to push, in which I continued to use my goddess breathing.

At 1.07am, she was born! As we didn’t know the gender of our baby until this moment, it made it even more special. Carl blurted: “We have a daughter!” and then burst into tears! She was placed onto my chest for some skin to skin and it was a magical moment. She weighed 5lbs 5oz of perfection. Carl cut the umbilical cord and saw the placenta be delivered too which apparently happened very quickly after her arrival. I had a small tear and they performed an episiotomy to help her out. But it’s all worth it!

Given that, when we first started the hypnobirthing course, this is not how I pictured our baby’s birth, it was still for us, an overall positive birth. The labour from start to finish was 11.5 hours long, and we took each stage of the labour at a time, concentrating on the breathing techniques we had practised and listening to the mp3s to keep myself in the zone. The ward staff commented on how calm I remained throughout the birth and I know it is credit to everything we learned during the hypnobirthing course. I am so proud of myself that I managed to get to 10cm with very little pain relief and I’m also so proud of Carl who was amazing at reminding me I can do this when I had my moment of “Carl, I can’t do this, I need an epidural” moment!

A huge thank you to you Hannah, whose voice was in my head throughout my labour! We learned so much as was able to stay in control for as long as possible until the medical staff intervened.

We now have a happy, content little girl and we couldn’t be happier!

Love, Lucy, Carl & Scarlett xxx

My favourite kind of birth story!

Why is this my favourite kind of birth story? Because Poppy and James had their first Calm Birth with baby Matilda back in 2017, and used their techniques again for their second amazing positive birth with baby Arthur this week! I love it when clients tell me their news, it just makes my day. You can read Poppy & James’ first birth story here - I often read it out in class as it’s so lovely.

So this is the message I received from Poppy after Arthur’s birth:

Hi Hannah, this little beauty has arrived!

Thank you so so much for everything, again, honestly we feel absolutely blessed to have had two wonderfully positive birth experiences at RBH.

We managed to channel confidence we had from Matilda into this week, despite going a week overdue with talks of sweeps and inductions, and I kept the mantra that baby will know when it's ready. Just needs a bit of extra cooking!

And sure enough, we stayed at home on Wednesday having had contractions less than 10 mins apart since 7am and got to the hospital 9cm dilated and he was with us within 50 minutes of arriving!

The triage Midwife even poked her head around the door because she couldn't believe how calm I'd sounded on the phone deciding whether it was time to go in or not. Another incredible birth to add to your repertoire, we are truly thankful x

A quick and healing second birth

Hi Hannah, 

Just wanted to let you know we had a baby girl very early Saturday morning (12 days late!). I was due to be induced Saturday 2pm so luckily came just before that! 

I started having contractions around 5am Friday morning, did the majority of labour at home. Lots of the breathing techniques and listening to the tracks! Got to hospital 11.45pm - got straight in the water and had her in the pool at 1.40am. Just under two hours at the hospital! They also didn’t believe me that she was coming so didn’t call the doctor in time, which was a result! 

Just wanted to say thank-you, I had the birth that I wanted, it was an amazing experience and couldn’t have been more different to last time! 

Jodie xx 

A Christmas baby!

Annabelle Elizabeth Latimer was born on Christmas Eve weighing 7lb 1 oz. Charlie and I found hypnobirthing to be an enormous help throughout the process.

I went into labour at about 9pm on 23 December and was managing the contractions using the techniques you taught us, a tens machine and clary sage. We went to Basingstoke when I was having surges lasting about 50 seconds every 3 minutes (it was 2.30am I think). The midwife examined me and said I was only 2cm dilated. She said while we could stay on the antenatal ward she thought it would be worth going home and coming back when labour was more advanced (she suggested contractions every 90 seconds). I think because of the hypnobirthing tools I was using, labour was further progressed than we realised.  

Charlie and I went home and carried on although the contractions were getting harder to manage. I had a bath and after that (around 630 / 7am) my waters broke, something changed and I started pushing and couldn’t stop!!!! We went back to Basingstoke as quickly as we could and found out when we got there that I was fully dilated. 

Annabelle was born about 40 minutes later. She was in a bit of distress in the birth canal (not sure if it’s maybe because I’d been pushing then abruptly stopped when we realised what was happening?), so the midwife pushed the red button and we ended up with about 15 people in the room. Thanks to your teaching we were able to remain calm and i kept in my zone. 

I naturally wanted to birth on my side, but as Annabelle needed a clip on her head to monitor her heart rate unfortunately this wasn’t possible. I ended up with a small episiotomy where the consultant didn’t want to risk giving me any more time to ease her out - which was fine and the wound is healing very well. 

We used the ocean relaxation and birth affirmations on repeat throughout the birth - we had been listening to them every night in readiness. 

Charlie and I really believe hypnobirthing had an enormous impact on our experience. Even when things didn’t go according to plan and there was a lot of pressure we were able to handle it calmly and make informed decisions. 

I wanted to thank you for making the experience such a positive one - we both really enjoyed your sessions and hope our paths cross again soon!

Thanks again 

Becky & Charlie xx 

Emily & Kristian's story

Emily & Kristian decided to use hypnobirthing for the birth of their third child, and had a wonderfully positive experience.

I just wanted to send you a few pictures of our new bundle. Robin Rakauskas.

We had him 3 days early on the 16th November (a Friday, so Kristian got his wish!) Labour went really well, he was born at 21:10 in the evening with no intervention and gas and air. He weighed 7Ib 14oz and we are all besotted with him.

We played the hypnobirthing MP3’s throughout the entire labour (it started Thursday evening) and I used the breathing techniques to help me through the contractions. Kristian was incredible and encouraged all the techniques throughout the entire labour and kept reminding me to relax my shoulders and count down.

Recovery has been fantastic as the labour went so well and little Robin is the most chilled of all my babies and everyone comments on how alert and quiet he is. We are very blessed.

Thank you for helping us achieve the labour we so desperately wanted third time round. I can safely say that it was my final labour experience and we are most definitely complete with our 3 boys Frank, Zachary and Robin.

Lucy & Marcus' first baby

A really lovely first birth story from Lucy & Marcus who took the two day intensive course before having their gorgeous baby girl (and also a fantastic photo of Millie at the bottom!!!) x

"Lucy and I were lucky enough to meet our new arrival on 31st May @ 23:12. She was 6 days overdue but weighed a lovely 6lb 5oz. We had a really great birth, Lucy woke that morning at 5am with bad back ache / tightening of the bump, this came and went every 30 minutes up until 4pm. She had then had her sweep with the midwife (she was 2cm dilated before the sweep) that pretty much kickstarted her labour. By 19.30pm the pain wasn't bearable with TENS / back rubs, so we went into the hospital to thankfully find she was 4cm dilated (I don't think they would have persuaded her to go home again). With an active labour on lots of Pilates balls by 21.30pm Lucy was already 8cm dilated... We then moved to the birthing pool, again to have an active labour we were able to welcome our new arrival in the pool at 23:12. Lucy managed to give birth using just gas and air (plus TENS earlier) - our hypnobirthing course came to good use to keep Lucy relaxed throughout. Other than Millie coming out like superman at the last minute causing a small tear, the water and perennial massage beforehand made birth relatively straight forward, albeit still very painful for Lucy.

We both wanted to thank you for all the knowledge and wisdom you were able to share on our hypnobirthing course - the knowledge certainly helped us understand and prepare for labour and birth. We used the affirmations, and relaxations through the whole labour which Lucy says helped and I was able to refer back to my notes on using the positive re-enforcement to help her stay relaxed. We will certainly be recommending you and the course to all our friends!!!

Many Thanks,

Lucy & Marcus

Helen & Luke's positive C-Section story

Helen with proud big brother Dennis & baby Edie.

Our little girl arrived safely on Thursday 8th February, her name is Edie Jude Thompson, weighing 6lbs 10. Dennis has been taking his big brother promotion very seriously, with lots of cuddles and kisses (and she almost had a taste of cornflakes on day 2!!). 

I had my cervical stitch removed at 36 weeks, using the breathing techniques. This was pretty painless and the midwife assisting the consultant said how relaxed was during the short procedure. Fast forward a week and a half, I felt that ‘trickle’, we made our way to Frimley, to be told it wasnt my waters and we were sent home. But I knew it was, as it continued to leak all afternoon, so back we went that evening, to have confirmed it looked like my back waters were leaking.  We went home to see if anything happened and were booked to go in for an induction the following morning. They started me off with the gel, we went for a long walk, had a sleep, but nothing happened :(

Next was the hormone drip. I really didn’t want to go down this route as this was where I felt I lost control during the birth of our son. I listened to the playlist you gave us throughout and managed 13 hours without pain relief (even managing to doze on and off). I only used gas and air for some examinations. I was having 4 contractions within 10minutes and was examined one final time, just coming up to 48hrs since my waters broke. I still hadn’t dilated passed 1cm. The consultant said my cervical stitch, which had done a great job getting us to bang on 38 weeks, had somehow caused the scar tissue from my previous Lletz procedures to fuse together and it wasn’t budging.  Fast forward an hour and our beautiful daughter was born via C-section.  

I had 3 midwives during this time and all 3 were extremely supportive of the Hypnobirthing and made many comments about how calm and controlled I was throughout. These were the two words I used during your course when we were asked about our wishes for our births.  As our 3 year old would say “job done”. 

I have to add also how well it equipped Luke this time round, he was amazing and supported my decisions, spoke for me when he needed too and was just an absolute rock throughout. The course could not have prepared him better, which added to the whole positive experience.  

Thank you so much for your amazing course! I was sceptical having given birth once without using Hypnobirthing but so glad we stuck with it. It didn’t go to plan, but the techniques and tools given to us by you, made the experience and one that I can remember. 

Thank you again!

Kirsty & Dan's story - a phobia of hospitals and an Induction.

Kirsty & Dan's story is amazing. Kirsty began the course with a severe phobia of hospitals,  feeling very anxious about going to hospital to give birth. I recommended a combination of my Hypnobirthing course and some one to one Hypnotherapy with the amazing Louisa Chipperfield. Below is the message that Kirsty sent me after the birth of their baby:

Just wanted to say a massive thank you for the recent HypnoBirthing course we attended and for all the advice and support you gave us. As you know this was our first pregnancy and we joined the course to understand more about HypnoBirthing particularly as I have a severe phobia of hospitals and we hoped some relaxation techniques might help. We found the course extremely informative and helpful and really enjoyed being part of a small group as there were just three couples on our course.

Due to some concerns our consultant wanted us to be induced and we agreed although this meant more time in hospital than I would have liked, but found the relaxation techniques worked well. The induction worked and things moved quickly for us. Our labour was only 3 and a half hours but the midwives wanted me to push very early when I knew I wasn't ready. The HypnoBirthing techniques we learned meant I could zone out from my surroundings and just focus on Dan and the baby and relax myself until I felt ready to breathe the baby down. This extra time meant that myself, my body and my baby were ready when I wanted to breathe and I am sure that this is why I ended up having just one stitch. Eva was born quickly and although extremely alert, she was happy, calm and quiet. We were told shortly after the birth that as things went so well, we should consider having our next baby at home. We were also later told by our community midwife that she heard from the hospital that we had a 'text book' birth. 

Dan found the course and techniques very helpful in understanding what would happen and also how to support me. We did not attend any NCT classes as we felt your course provided the information we needed in a clear and non confusing way. 

To our delight we have stayed in touch with the other HypnoBirthing couples on our course who have been a great support to us and we feel will be great friends. 

So we would like to say a big thank you again for everything. We can not recommend your course highly enough and we look forward to seeing you at the next HypnoBirthing event!

With love Kirsty, Dan, baby Eva and Dillon xxxx

The lovely birth of Harry

First time parents Emma & Stewart sent this lovely note after the arrival of gorgeous baby Harry, testimony to the fact that even if baby has other ideas for arrival, Hypnobirthing techniques will see you through:

"Thought you may like to know that Baby Boy Simmonds arrived yesterday morning at 8.15am weighing a very beautiful 7lbs 1oz. We are absolutely besotted & he is Daddy's mini me!

Although the labour didn't go fully to plan the hypnobirthing was an absolute godsend! I went into labour at 10pm on Monday evening & the surges came thick & fast almost immediately which wasn't quite what we were expecting! Very intense from start to finish. Thanks to the calm breathing & techniques you taught us I managed to completely zone out with no clue what was going on around me as I was so focused, I managed to go through the whole process with no pain relief whatsoever & was already 7cms by the time we got to the hospital at 3am. Unfortunately by about 4am I was loosing quite a lot of blood & they were concerned about baby therefore I had to have my waters manually broken so they could monitor his heartbeat through his head so that I could still move around. I ended up actively pushing for over an hour & a half & baby just wasn't playing ball so I had to have an episiotomy to avoid them having to do an instrument assisted delivery which did the trick & he finally made his entrance into the world. A true testament to the hypnobirthing techniques, despite the complications he truly was born a calm baby! When he finally made his appearance into the world he barely made a sound & we enjoyed some lovely skin to skin time & he fed beautifully about an hour & a half after being born. He has so far proven to be a lovely relaxed baby boy, long may it continue!!!

Thank you so much for all you taught us, just goes to show that even when things don't quite go to plan the mind & human body really are incredible!

Look forward to seeing you at baby yoga in the new year! Have a lovely Christmas with your family.

Emma & Stewart xx"

The Calm Home Birth of William

I had the pleasure of not only teaching Laura and Chris the Hypnobirthing course, but of being their Doula for the birth of their baby too. Their story is wonderful, and I was very honoured to be a part of it x 

Our first baby, William Jack was born at home on Friday 10th November at 12.22pm.

We were recommended Hannah and her Hypnobirthing course by several friends and as we began speaking to Hannah we also asked if she would be a doula for us on the birthing day.

During the course of the pregnancy, we decided to have a Home Birth. We prepared by getting a birthing pool, attended several Home Birth support group meetings, practiced the daily affirmations and guided relaxations from hypnobirthing. We also met with Hannah a few times to discuss our birthing wish list, what we wanted her to do on the day, what we could expect to happen and so on.

I can honestly say that because of Hannah, I went into the experience with absolutely no fear whatsoever. I believe this feeling of excitement over fear made a terrific difference to the birth.

On the Thursday (2 days after the due date) I went for a walk with my mum and was aware of tightenings. I had felt them before but they were fairly regular so I did wonder if things may be starting.

Later that evening the tightenings continues and I had quite an upset tummy. We tried to go to sleep but by 2am I was too uncomfortable so had to get out of bed to move around. At this point we contacted the hospital for them to alert the on-call midwife. We also let Hannah know what was happening.

At 4am I decided I wanted Hannah to come over as the surges were around 3 in 10 minutes and getting more intense. Chris had been busy filling up the pool and I had all of my candles lit around me, gentle music playing and affirmation cards dotted around the room. It was so tranquil and peaceful. I sat on the birthing ball and made sure I let my entire body go limp with each surge which made such a difference to how they felt.

Shortly after Hannah arrived she suggested me getting into the pool if I felt ready to and read me some guided relaxation scripts which were lovely.

The pool was amazing to get into, so calming. I soon had the involuntary urge to push at which point the midwife was called. When Rachel arrived to see me already in the pool and pushing, she quickly called her second midwife, Debbie.

After a couple of hours of surge breathing, changing positions and the baby’s head moving down nicely, we all agreed getting out of the pool might be a good idea to try to help progress things.

The midwives were amazing the whole way through, I only had one check during the entire labour for them to assess where baby was/ how dilated I was. They discreetly checked the baby’s heart rate after each surge and he was completely happy. They didn’t disrupt my calm mindset or take me out of my zone at any point.

Once out of the pool and on the sofa, the surges slowed a little and we all discussed and agreed upon a small episiotomy. As soon as this was done, William’s head emerged. During the wait for the next surge there was a comically timed knock at the front door with a special delivery from the postman. If only he’d known what was going on behind the door! Then with the next surge William was born at 12.22pm and placed onto my chest. He briefly cried and then immediately calmed and looked around to take in the world.

William quickly latched onto feed and was incredibly content, alert and calm. Every midwife who visited over the coming week commented on his calmness.

We are so thankful to everyone’s involvement in allowing us to have the beautiful Home Birth we wished for. We truly believe the calm entry into the world has allowed William to be such a happy little baby and the hypnobirthing techniques undoubtedly allowed both him and me to stay calm during pregnancy and delivery.

I can’t recommend Hannah’s services both as a doula and hypnobirthing instructor enough. The skills you learn are life changing and having a calm Birth will shape both yours and the baby’s life in a magical way.

Thanks so much Hannah, 

All our love

Laura, Chris and baby William xxx

Natalie & Tom's lovely first Hypnobirth

Ethan Oliver  made his arrival on Friday at 12.25pm, weighing 5lb 7oz.

The birth was perfect and everything I had hoped for. When I have a little more time on my hands I will share our experience with you in a bit more detail but just to give you an idea of how you helped me...When I arrived at the Rushey Centre at 9.30am I was going to be sent home as the lovely midwife felt that her years of experience could tell that i wasn't in 'active labour' and that the pressure I was feeling was because the little man was back to back. I wasn't showing the usual first time mum 'signs' of having contractions.

I requested an examination as I wanted to know how far I had come along from a visit earlier in the week and she couldn't believe that i was 4cm dilated!!!! Waters broke at around 10.30am and then I was moved from a room in to the delivery suite by 11.15am. Ethan artived with a little help from gas and air at 12.25pm! 

The midwives said I was a 'textbook' birth and couldn't believe that for a first time mum how I worked with my body so well. My labour time was recorded at just over an hour!!!! They also suggested for baby 2 a home birth (food for thought!)

All that you taught us about breathing, working with your body, surges and hormones made complete sense. We thanked you at the time but the thank you now seems far more apt and it is a genuine gratefullness that you are so passionate and knowledgeable about calm,positive birthing that this made my birthing experience so enjoyable and wonderful. And as you said in the sessions, Ethan as a hypno baby is so chilled out and content! 

Tom was wonderful on the day and did exactly the right things for me and Ethan (and still is - I'm now on night 2 of a full 6 hour sleep thanks to daddy doing the night shifts!!)

Natalie, Tom and baby Ethan xx

Poppy & James - a lovely first birth

Matilda Florence  decided to surprise us with an early arrival on the 7th October! 

My waters broke naturally on the Friday night at 10.30pm and managed to labour for 16 hours at home with our rainbow relaxation, baths, fairy lights and bouncing on the gym ball until Saturday afternoon and we went into the Rushey Ward at about 2.30pm already 7cm dilated (with carefully packed hospital bags still in the car!!!) 

Within the next 20 minutes I was fully dilated (with only a very short burst of a gas and air!) and our perfect little girl was born naturally at 17.27, weighing 7lbs. Everything moved so fast we didn't have time to run our water birth in the end but all the techniques learnt with you meant we felt in control of the situation and Matilda has been such a calm, content baby so far we wonder how much we can attribute this to our relaxed outlook on her arrival into the world! 

I am still listening to my relaxation when I'm trying to catch a few extra minutes of Zzzz as she snoozes too and it is working a treat.

Thank you for all your help and hard work, we will be recommending these techniques to anyone who asks and definitely will use them again in the future if we are blessed with a brother or sister for Matilda!

Best Wishes,

Poppy, James & Matilda x