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

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

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

Esme's positive birth

A gorgeous letter from first time parents Lucy & Nathan reflecting on the birth of their first daughter.

Although it's now over a year since Esme was born, I wanted to write and say a huge thank you and tell you how grateful I am to you. Its always been a big regret that I didn't say it at the time, after she was born, and I think about it often, so I thought it was better late than never :)

The hypnobirthing training you provided was so invaluable to me and my husband. Without it, I whole heartedly believe I would not have had such a calm and positive experience during the labour and birth of our daughter Esme. I should also add that it would not of been possible without the amazing midwifery staff at RBH too. They were phenomenal and I couldn't of asked for better care, from start to finish.

It was a fairly lengthy labour, but I was able to stay bright throughout and using your brilliant breathing and humming techniques I could manage the pain, and did not end up requiring any pain relief. It also meant that whilst Esme did take her time to come out, she  also remained relaxed, according to the heart rate monitor, and so nothing escalated and she was born naturally. Nathan was brilliant and, despite unfortunately suffering from anxiety generally, during labour and the birth he stayed calm and was a great support in many ways.
So all in all when Esme entered the world, it was into a calm and positive environment and for that I will always be eternally grateful to you. Hannah, you really do deliver on the 'Calm Births'!!

It really was such a great start, and I felt such an overwhelming sense of gratitude for everyone that had helped me to have that positive experience. Which is why I still feel terrible that I didn't write to thank you at the time, when you had played such an important and pivotal part in that. I didn't experience any lows when my milk came in and generally my hormones just stayed stable over the course of the following weeks. I really do believe that this is down to having a calm birthing experience. That's not to say that we didn't have our ups and downs, but being able to cope with those was so much easier, without spiking hormones.

And thankfully, we are all still doing well and Esme is a happy little bunny, which is wonderful.
So, just to say again, a huge thank you to you and heartfelt gratitude for all your help.
All our best wishes,

Lucy xx