Natural Pregnancy Project

photo credit: galateadia

Sometime around 10 pm on the 30^th of January, I noticed the Braxton Hicks contractions that I had been experiencing for days were getting stronger and more consistent.  They were coming anywhere from two to eight minutes apart and lasting a minute or longer.  My husband and I stayed up timing them until near midnight when I decided he should probably try to get some sleep.  I stayed up for another hour and, when they did not change much, decided to head to bed myself.  Getting to sleep was not particularly easy, as there was too much excitement, and I was more than a little worried about how my first son would handle us being gone for two days while we would be at the hospital.  My first son seemed to know it was time for the previous week or so.  He was getting increasingly concerned about getting enough Mommy time and was asking me to read his books at night, something that is normally time for him and Daddy.  He was also waking up and wanting to come cuddle with me a few times in the night.  He slept restlessly the night of the 30^th and woke at 4 in the morning.  I knew I would never get back to sleep, so I got up and headed downstairs.  About the time I hit the last step, I knew I had lost my plug, and the contractions were then coming every 4-6 minutes.  They rapidly increased to a regular pattern of four minutes, with each lasting about a minute.  I decided it was time to call my mom and have her drive over.  I did not want her to get stuck in rush hour traffic, and I really had no way of knowing how long it would be before I would need to get to the hospital.

The nesting instinct to clean the house suddenly kicked in, or perhaps it was the desire not to have my mother arrive to a sink full of dishes, and I got to unloading the dishwasher and tidying up.  The noise woke my first son again, and he refused to go back to sleep.  In a way that was good, he got some time with us before my mother arrived.  I tried to hop in the tub for a bit, but after 20 minutes of that, decided I would rather spend the rest of the time at home with my son.  Mom arrived at 7, and we headed off to the hospital.  I do not know what it is about me and needing to go into labor during rush hour, but this clearly was not going to be any different the last time.  Unlike the last time though, we only had about 25 miles to go instead of a 75-mile trek to the hospital, and the freeway was pretty clear until the last ten of those.

The hospital, which the nurse had assured us during the walk-through was hardly ever over-crowded with birthing moms, was full.  They had already delivered a baby in the triage room, and since I was still contracting only four minutes apart, I opted to wait in the hallway for a birthing room instead of getting set up in triage.   I have no idea how long we waited, perhaps 20 minutes or so, before we got a nice birthing room – one of the ones with a tub, hooray for that.  I had been looking forward to that tub since the moment I found out they had them and I had gotten a bit worried while we were sitting out in the hallway that I would end up spending the morning flat on my back in some random hospital room where I would progress slowly.  Apparently, they were not sure I should stay at the hospital.  They wanted me on the machine for an hour to be sure the contractions were progressing.  I do not know if I was too mellow to be in active labor or if it was standard procedure to wait an hour.  Who knows.  *I* knew I was not going back home.  Once I was hooked up on the monitors, we found out I was 2-3cm dilated and 60% effaced.  They decided I should stay.  My husband hooked up the stereo with my hypno CDs, and I decided to enjoy the Jacuzzi tub.  A new labor nurse came in about 20 minutes later.  She was beyond awesome and actually asked if we had a birth preferences list *and* she took it seriously.  She was training a new nurse and specifically noted to her that I requested not to be asked about my pain, and so instructed her not to ask me about my pain.  Never once during my first birth experience did a nurse *ask* to see the list, and few of them paid any attention to it.  I was quite happy to find that this experience would be different – it is hard to stay focused on providing natural anesthetic to your body when people keep interrupting your trance to ask you to put a number on the pain you are theoretically supposed to have.  The new nurse let me know that I could get in the tub as often as I wanted, as long as I got out every hour for monitoring, and to make sure I knew that a water birth was not allowed.  I could hear her whisper to the other nurse that I was a “hypnobirth” and thus they needed to watch me, because “when they go, they go fast.”  Soon, we’d find out how true that statement was.  Getting out of the tub was less than easy – I knew if I stayed there, they would have to pry my hands off the rails if they wanted me out for the delivery.  It was just too darned comfortable there.

My husband got out my essential oil blend, and we put it on the pillow case to aid with focus and to keep my nasal passages open.  When I got out of the tub at 11am, I was having lots of pressure waves, flowing from the top of my uterus down to my hips and thighs.  I was 6 cm dilated and 80% effaced.  In the next 15 minutes or so, the pressure was getting strong and the tightening was so intense that I could feel my body pushing even though I did not want to.  Thinking I was only 6 cm, I was getting worried that I would damage myself by pushing.  That fear made me waver quite a bit – I did not think I could hold my concentration and stave off the feeling to push for another four hours, which was the high end of their estimate for how much longer it could be before I was 10 cm.  I really started to have a hard time focusing and the fear of what it *could* feel like made me tense up, and tensing made it hurt.  I just wanted something to take the edge off when it got worse, and I had convinced myself it was going to get worse.  The nurse asked if I wanted to get back in the tub because I had seemed so peaceful and relaxed there.  Frankly, I was afraid to move at that point and was clenching every muscle trying to keep the baby from tearing through my cervix too soon.  I knew getting in the tub would be a better place to be, but I also knew I would not be able to face getting out again.  Thankfully, I had the aforementioned most awesome labor nurse.  She was really supportive of med-free birthing, and told me that the decision to get meds was mine of course, but that she sees lots of people coming in wanting to go med-free and not making it and she knew after watching me breath and focus that I could do it if I wanted to.  My husband was fine with whatever decision I made and went out to talk to the anesthesiologist about options.  While he was there, the nurse told him how impressed she was by my focus and breathing because she does not see that kind of calm very often.  She also told him that it would probably only be another half hour, but she did not want to tell me that in case it was longer.  She really wanted him to know that she thought I could do it.  He came back in and told me what my options were, and also that he would prefer I get an epidural if I wanted meds, but that there might not even be time to do it.  I was still completely undecided and, while the encouragement was nice, I was not sure I believed it myself.  The nurse reminded me about my goal, but truthfully, I was more concerned about my fear than my goal.  She asked if I wanted her to check me again, just to see if progress had been made.  Maybe I was not 6 cm anymore, and maybe that would affect my decision.  So as the anesthesiologist stood waiting outside for my decision, she checked my dilation again.  8 – 9 cm and fully effaced!  In 15 minutes.  The nurse was not wrong when she said when it went, it would go fast.  I was in transition.  It turns out I was already midway through the “worst” of it, and the worst of it was not so bad.  With that info, I relaxed and gave in to what my body wanted to do, complete with the primal urge to moan a long “ahhhhhhhhhhhhh” and grunt through the waves (the latter being something that came as a surprise to me, since it did not happen with my first son).

By noon, my water had broken, I was at 10 and ready, and I desperately wanted to push.  But alas, my OB was in an emergency c-section and they wanted me to wait.  I tried to breathe through the urges and not push, while my husband and the nurses rubbed my legs to calm me.  But after 20 minutes of that, I was getting really annoyed that I was not being allowed to do what my body was going to do whether I actively participated or not.  I asked why I could not push, and they said they wanted to wait for the doctor.  The collective crowd of nurses (…either med-free births are a spectator sport, or they have an ungodly number of staffers at births at this hospital – it is the later…) had a good laugh when my response was “well, screw him!”  The nurses started to prep to deliver the baby themselves since the baby’s head was becoming visible, all the while mouthing “where is he?  He needs to get here now!”, so my husband informed me later.  Luckily, the OB showed up as the next wave started, and I finally was allowed to start pushing.  After waiting so long, the “ring of fire” was a welcome, and almost pleasant, change of sensation.  Alas, Social Distortion’s cover of “Ring of Fire” did not serenade the experience as it had in my first delivery…One has to wonder if Johnny Cash would be amused.  Once the baby’s head was out, the OB saw that the cord was around his neck, and I was instructed to keep pushing as much as I could.  They wanted to get the baby out in a hurry since his heart rate was dropping to 60.  It’s not so easy to push when there is no contraction to help you.  I pushed so hard from every part of me that I somehow sprained my middle toe.  As it turned out, I had no rips or tears, and the only part of me that was sore the next day was that toe.

The baby was born at 1:02 pm on January 31, 2008.  He weighed 8 pounds and 2 ounces, and 20.5 inches.  He is a quite peaceful little boy who did not make the slightest fuss when they drew blood for his bilirubin test.  He nurses like a champ, and my milk was in by the end of the second day.

Teri Nava, PhD

[tags]natural childbirth story, natural chid birth stories, hypnobirthing, hypnosis for childbirth, natural childbirth in the hospital[/tags]

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This story was sent to one of the Yahoo groups I belong to. With the permission of the mama I am sharing it with you today. There are a few reasons I chose this story.

1. She uses hypnosis for childbirth
2. This is her second childbirth and it is completely natural
3. After this birth story she shares her first birth story which is not so natural.

I appreciate the difference in the two stories, but it also inspired me to let mamas know even if your first birth was completely filled with interventions ~ including a c-section ~ you can still have a natural childbirth for your second birth. So here’s Melissa’s story of the births of her children. Enjoy~

***********

I was five days overdue and antsy to see my little guy being born. I
went to my midwife’s appointment and then attended a group she
facilitates for expecting mothers. A mother had brought in her
newborn to talk about. Her husband suggested that I hold the baby
for positive vibes. The baby sure brought on regular pressure waves
until about 10:30 that night, but like the nights before it, they
stopped again. I joked with my husband, that it would be nice if
labor actually started early in the morning and ended by noon. I
was kind of glad they stopped that evening.

On January 4, 2008, at 6:15 a.m. the next morning, I was slowly
waking when I felt a leak. I knew I had not peed, but was not sure
if my water broke enough however, since it was very little. I got
up and went to the bathroom and called my midwife, Ingrid, to tell
her. Because the baby had been high up the day before she wanted me
to lay down and make sure I could feel him move around. She did not
want problems with a prolapsed cord. I laid down on the couch and
about 6:30 the waves came every 2-3 minutes but were not strong. I
decided to call Ingrid back since the waves were starting and were
coming fast. I then called our volunteer Doula and my sister to
come and get my 18 month old daughter. Anna seemed too little to be
present, so my sister, who is very close to Anna, took her. This is
when the excitement started. I felt a large pop and the largest
gush of water, way more than my first birth, came. I barely got to
the bathroom with just my pants getting soaked. Luckily nothing
else was affected, hehe.

It seemed like a circus for a couple of hours after that as everyone
arrived. Anna was gone before Ingrid, her wonderful assistant,
Brit, and Hannah our Doula arrived at 8 a.m. Ingrid and Brit set up
the pool and other supplies they needed while Hannah helped me
through waves, getting myself something to eat and dressing
appropriately. Ingrid and Brit checked my vital signs and saw that
I had slight meconium staining. Nothing to worry about they said.

After this, times are fuzzy. I can remember telling my husband that
he had to call the cable guy to not come that day. He had no way of
doing so, so when the guy arrived, my husband met him at the door.
Will explained I was in labor and the guy asked if we needed help.
He was a EMT as well as a cable guy. lol.

I spent my time sitting on a birthing ball, walking in my very small
apartment, and standing before the waves increased to the point I
begged for the pool. The waves seemed strong, but because I had
gone through birth once before, I did not fear them this time. I
knew how strong they could get and I knew I could handle them. The
pool was very relaxing as I hung my head over the side of the pool
and sat on my knees.

Hypbirth:
Childbirth Preparation Kit

I listened to my hypnobirthing CD of positive
affirmations and rainbow relaxation. Honestly, I did not pay
attention to the words, but listened more to the relaxing music.
The hypnobirthing techniques for breathing were most useful to me.
Hannah also would let me know when she felt me tensing up. She
would say to relax my brow and my shoulders. When I focused on
relaxing them, the intensity of the waves lessened. What also
helped was smiling every time I visualized how I wanted my baby to
be born. I pictured him peacefully exiting a cave on a small raft.
I was waiting for him outside in the calm waters at the mouth of the
cave. Hannah said every time I smiled, she could see me soften my
entire body, even during waves. When the waves became stronger I
also continued to focus on relaxation between waves. I found that
if I had not fully calmed myself from the last wave, the next was
harder to get through.

Ingrid did have me exit the pool, because labor had stalled. She
had me lay on my bed on my stomach, with one leg stretched out and
the other bent. This was not comfortable, but it was meant to open
me and progess labor. Thankfully I did not have to do this for
long. I was able to get up on my hands and knees, which was right
for me. Ingrid then gave me my first internal exam, but I asked her
not to tell me how advanced I was. She informed my husband, then
myself that she thought the baby was breech as she could not feel
certain parts of the head. She calmly talked about going to the
hospital if after her next check, she could not be certain if it was
a head or not. I had not packed a bag and I felt the urge to push
already, so I was certain the baby was going to be born at home, no
matter breech or not. Well she did check again and his head
appeared. I was allowed to enter the pool again. Immediately, I
felt my body do things I had never felt before. Because I had an
epidural the last time, I did not get this amazing intense feeling
of my body trying to shoot out a cannon. He wanted to come so
quickly, but I still had cervix left. I was told to get out of the
pool so that I could get into a position that would allow the cervix
to leave. I never got back in again, lol. Jack Aaron Boyd pushed
himself out at 1:25 p.m. in three waves on our living room floor.
Ingrid said later that transition from 6-7 cm to 10 and birth was
about 20 minutes. That is why I felt like he was a cannon shooting
out. His apgar scores were 7 and 10 and been the calmest baby
since.

I was truly blessed and ecstatic to have been completely involved
and aware of every wave, push and entry of my son’s birth. I felt
free during the entire birth to bring him in the most calm manner
possible. He truly is a hypnobirth baby as he is the calmest child
I know.

The next part is about my decision to home birth my second child.
It talks about my experience at a hospital with my daughter and how
I did not want that for my son. It is not essential to the story of
a natural child birth, but if you do include it, it shows my journey
through childbirth and making decisions for myself and my children.

When I was pregnant with Annaliese, I had researched about child
birth extensively and decided that I wanted a natural child birth
because it was best for her. Unfortunately, I decided late in
pregnancy with not a lot of options. We lived in an area that did
not have midwives available, but I did not even think of using one
anyway. I had chosen to use my OB-GYN who I had for years. I never
thought to ask about her perspective or the hospital’s perspective
of childbirth. So a month before I was due, I suddenly got the
feeling that my plans for natural childbirth would not be so easy.

My water broke at 9 p.m. Father’s day in 2006. I was not due for
another six days. We were visiting relatives and closer to the
hospital than to our home. We did not know what would happen if we
went or did not go right away so we decided to go straight to the
hospital as a safety precaution. The nurse checked us in and we
went over our plans. She stated that I had to have an IV since my
temp was over 100 (1st forced intervention)

She also explained
that I had to have pitocin (2nd forced intervention) the next
morning if labor had not progressed. I was then placed in bed and
strapped to the monitors (3rd forced intervention). I tried to rest
that night but nothing helped. I was too excited to see my new
baby.

My doctor came back from vacation that next morning and she checked
me. I begged her not to give me pitocin until at least the
afternoon. She asked me if I wanted pain medications at all and I
declined. She periodically checked me throughout the day, but labor
was slow. I do remember about 3-4 p.m. that afternoon, the waves
became intense. I had practiced the hypnobirthing breathing
techniques and was listening to the CD’s, but I was exhausted. I
became shaky and so tired that I was not relaxing anymore. I asked
for some pain medications, but my doctor suggested an epidural. I
agreed, but did not know the risks. My blood pressure and the
baby’s went down. They started pitocin when I got the epidural, but
I remember them stating the baby was not handling it and they
stopped the pitocin. I was already having significant pressure
waves, so I am not sure why I needed pitocin at this point anyway.

I believe around 6 p.m. I started to feel transition and the urge to
push. I am thankful progression did finally occur because they were
talking about doing a C-section. The nurse checked me and I was
complete. She told me to push through the contractions. I did
succumb to pushing but I did so while still breathing. However, the
best feeling was when I was waiting for the doctor. The nurse said
to stop pushing, yet my body was doing it on its own. When the
doctor came, the nurse told her that I would not count to ten and
hold my breath while pushing. It sounded like they thought I was
being defiant, but I felt like I kept my energy better that way,
especially since they gave me an oxygen mask. Later, my doctor told
me that she has never seen anyone push that way before. I wanted to
tell her I felt better when I did not push at all and allowed my
body to do it. At 7:02 my daughter, Annaliese Leora was born. The
doctor had to untangle her legs to tell us the gender. I let out a
joyous scream when I was told she was a girl. But then she was not
breathing. They rushed her over to the incubator and gave her
oxygen. It took a couple of minutes for her to start breathing.
That was scary, but I was relieved when I finally heard her cry.
They then handed me my beautiful baby. She did not breastfeed right
away and the nurse said that she would get me a breast shield. We
were transferred to the recovery room and I did not hear from the
nurse again. I had to call for the breast shield as Annaliese was
crying. We settled in for the night and we fell asleep. That is
when things turned for the worse.

Annaliese woke me up two times in the night and would not feed. I
changed her diaper with a nurse’s help. I mentioned to the nurse
that her eyes were funny and twitching. She dismissed it as just
immaturity of the central nervous system. I accepted this as I did
not know anything.

The next morning they took her to the nursery for a bath and check
by the Pediatrician. I slept soundly and did not wake when they
tried to come and give me a report. At 9 a.m. they woke me however
because the nurse notified the doctor that she saw Anna’s hands
moving in a repetitive motion. The doctor told me Anna was seizing
and would need to be transferred to the NICU in another town. He
thought that she might be reacting to the birthing process, but was
not sure. Her apgar scores were 3, 6, and 8. I was devastated when
I was not allowed to go with her. I called my husband to come and
get me. I checked out of the hospital to be by my daughter. This
was the scariest time of my life. When we got to the new hospital
(highly recommended NICU and birthing center), they explained that
they did not know why she was having seizures and we consented to
tests. They placed her on medications that make her so sleepy.
They said that I could not touch her. I broke down at the thought
of not getting to hold her. They never did find out what caused the
seizures for sure. I stayed with my daughter every day during the
day for five more days. She stopped seizing and was weaned from the
medications without complications. I was finally able to bring her
home on day six.

Because I was not able to nurse her (her medications made her so
sleepy for a week and a half), she took formula and breast milk from
a bottle. My milk supply dwindled however as the breast shield
turned into a barrier for stimulation when we did try to
breastfeed. When I attempted to stop giving her formula, she
stopped gaining weight. She had to go back on formula. It was with
determination and a lot of tears, we did successfully breastfeed by
2 months. It was still not the easiest after that for I always
worried that I could produce enough for her. So when Jack became
jaundice on day three and I was told to feed him formula, I
refused. We were already having difficulties with latching and I
did not want to repeat the same experience. I also wanted to avoid
hospitalization again because of the traumatic experience with
Anna. However, my midwife was my objective mind and assured me I
could nurse and not have to give formula at the hospital. We were
in a pediatric room instead of the NICU which enabled me to sleep
there with Jack.

I have to say I gave Jack a better start to his life with the
choices I made during his birth. As a new mother, you trust the
professionals around you to guide you in making the best decision
for you and your child. If I had better guidance into more natural
methods of pain relief and not been forced into medical
interventions, Anna’s birth story would be more positive, like her
brother’s.

Melissa Boyd, Wisconsin USA

[tags]natural childbirth, natural child birth, hypnosis for childbirth, childbirth with hypnosis, hypnosis childbirth story[/tags]

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By Nathalie Fiset

Natural childbirth is a way of giving birth using no medications. Some women would even refer to this as giving birth by letting nature take its course. Moms-to-be who choose to give birth using this method rely on relaxation techniques and are usually more in charge when going through the stages of labor and the actual delivery process. Although some people may think that natural childbirth is about being self-sacrificial or brave, it actually gives the mom-to-be that feeling to be more in touch with the birth experience and bond with her baby in a more significant way. Because of this, natural childbirth has re-emerged as the preferred method of delivery. And to make the experience more empowering and rewarding, most would-be-moms opt to go for the nearly pain-free tool for natural childbirth: self-hypnosis.

What is self-hypnosis?

Self-hypnosis is an offshoot of hypnosis, a practice which has been used in the nineteenth century even before Ether was introduced in surgery and obstetrics. This uses relaxed, gentle, and controlled breathing unlike in other methods which require forced breathing or hyperventilating. This, therefore, promotes a relaxed and calm experience, which proves to be very beneficial both for the mother and the baby.

In addition, self-hypnosis is also an effective method to alleviate or eliminate the pain associated with natural childbirth. Some people even consider this as a natural analgesic or anesthesia. This enables a mom-to-be to give birth without the use of any medication. If you go through this method, trance state will be induced while you still participate in and experience the joy of childbirth. As labor progresses, you are able to relax each part of your body, imagining yourself in a place where you are completely comfortable. This relaxed state is achieved through the positive suggestions given to you, eliminating those feelings of aches, discomforts, and tensions and ensuring that breathing is performed in a right manner.

Why not use drugs for childbirth?

As mentioned above, natural childbirth does not use drugs. But you might ask, why would any mom-to-be consider childbirth without using potent drugs and rely on self-hypnosis instead? You have to keep in mind that there is a vulnerable being involved during pregnancy and birthing, and that is your baby. The placenta receives the nutrients, antibodies, hormones, and oxygen from the mother’s blood but even if it acts as a filter, most drugs can still cross its barrier and are passed on to your baby. These medications can bring potential risks to the unborn. That is why if you will notice, even during pregnancy you are advised by your obstetrician not to take any drugs which are not prescribed to you.

How to use self-hypnosis for natural childbirth?

The best and safest way to use self-hypnosis as a tool for natural childbirth is to seek the help of a trained professional. This way, you are assured of a complete series of training sessions that will help you learn the techniques in using self-hypnosis. For now, you may wonder if you will be able to remember anything that happened during the entire labor and delivery process. Keep in mind that self-hypnosis is only a state of deep physical and mental relaxation. As you go through this method, you will be deeply focused on the positive aspect of childbirth rather than the fear and tension. So, this does not necessarily mean that you will miss out anything on such a momentous event.

Moreover, once you practice and master self-hypnosis through those training sessions, you will be able to achieve eyes-opened hypnosis. In this manner, you can talk and move around freely during labor and use the other important tools to have a pleasant natural child birth using self-hypnosis such as massages, using the tub or Jacuzzi, using gravity to support the baby’s descent, and frequently changing positions.

Self-hypnosis, as a tool for natural childbirth, really answers a profound need of future mothers like you to experience the joy of giving birth more comfortably. If you decide to use this tool, you should begin practicing the techniques early in your pregnancy. You must also have a complete trust on the technique and on yourself to really enjoy a natural and comfortable childbirth.

For more information on pregnancy and natural childbirth, please visit:

http://www.hypno-beginning.com/products.htm

http://www.hypno-beginning.com

http://www.drnathaliefiset.com

[tags]self hypnosis childbirth, hypnobirthing, hypnosis for childbirth, natural childbirth, tool for natural childbirth[/tags]

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