Finding Her Way: Chloe's Birth Story
I recently had the joy of visiting Chloe, her partner, and their beautiful baby Fearn. After our visit, Chloe shared this wonderfully detailed account of her birth journey. It's a true honor to have been part of their path to parenthood, from those early preparation sessions through to meeting their precious daughter. Here, in Chloe's own words, is her story:
The Journey Begins
The first person who mentioned hypnobirthing to me was the nurse who removed my contraceptive device when we decided to start trying. I think I was already convinced at that point!
Our classes were such a joyful part of our pregnancy; Claire's personality, grounding in science, reasonable nature, and real passion balanced with fantastic ability for calmness easily converted my sceptical husband. In fact, in the hours we spent together discussing the way our minds and bodies work, he found that the hypnobirthing message resonated with his beliefs so much that he was excited to have the opportunity to share it with me.
Finding the Right Path
Our planned birth was always a compromise between my desire to "do it our way" without intervention and being confident that everything our baby could possibly need would be there in the worst scenario. Claire helped me interpret this into a plan that I was confident in, birthing at Winchester hospital but very much still owning the whole experience ourselves. We built a habit of listening to the relaxation tracks each night, practicing affirmations and visualising the birth we were planning with 3 months ahead of our due date.
When the Time Came
Eventually, the due date passed and it was my conversations with Claire that kept me hanging on for a natural start to labour as conversations about induction started. It was genuinely with relief and excitement that contractions started on a Monday morning 10 days after the due date. That day, I spent the morning reading in bed, and the afternoon enjoying a long and relaxing dog walk in nature which had been a (slightly unusual) important feature of my birth plan. When I collected my husband from the train station that evening and calmly and excitedly informed him that my surges were 4 an hour he thought I was mad!
A Peaceful Progress
We had a quiet dinner and normal evening in front of the TV before heading to bed. I quickly realised I wasn't going to be able to sleep and spent the night in our living room, where we had had our sessions with Claire, relaxing on my birthing ball, and listening to the relaxation tracks and getting into a kind of meditative rhythm with my tens machine. That night passed so easily and quietly that things really didn't feel that different to me when surges started to come every 5 minutes at 5am.
The Final Stage
Though our journey to the hospital included some unexpected turns - including Fearn arriving so quickly we barely made it to the labour ward - I achieved the natural birth that I so wanted. After delivery, I did experience a haemorrhage, which made me grateful for choosing a hospital setting. Having all the help I needed right there meant it remained a calm welcome to the world for Fearn.
Looking back, I'm so glad that we acted on the advice of that nurse, and many other people, who recommended we took hypnobirthing seriously and got the help of an expert to birth calmly. Claire became a true friend and something of a "fairy godmother" to us and our baby - it was wonderful to be able to introduce Fearn to her a few weeks later.
Are you pregnant and hoping to create your own positive birth experience? Learn more about the hypnobirthing courses I offer and discover how you can prepare for your own empowering birth journey.
First Birth | Hospital Birth | Natural Birth | Overdue | Winchester Hospital
