Back to it! Saying Goodbye to the Summer Holidays and Welcoming the Autumn!

I'm writing this on the day before my daughter goes back to school, in a quest to get my head back in work mode and ready for the coming months after the summer holidays! No doubt tomorrow will be a day of mixed emotions for me, and probably so many parents of school aged children. I loved having my daughter home over the summer holidays and it seems to have flown by with all the fun we've had. But on the other hand my business seemed to go on the back burner a little bit over the holidays and I've found myself craving my normal work/life balance and getting back to reality and stuck in to work again. One of the many crazy and wonderful things that we navigate as working mothers! If you've got kids who are now back at school - I hope you had a wonderful summer and your 'back to reality' is a positive one! As from tomorrow it's back to business for me, so I thought I'd just let you know of all the cool things that Cornwall Hypnobirthing has to offer over the coming few months - Free taster sessions, local pregnancy connect events, group hypnobirthing course, and of course my one to one Doula support. Check out my offerings below and don't forget to come say 'hi' over on my Instagram; it's my favourite social media platform to share birthy & pregnancy content, and all my upcoming events. www.instagram.com/cornwallhypnobirthing.co.uk

Cake & Connect - Pregnancy Brunch 

Do you want to connect with other pregnant people in your area?

Do you want a safe space to chat about all things pregnancy and birth?

Would you like to 'pick the brains' of an experienced Doula and Hypnobirthing teacher with 10 years of knowledge of the Cornish Maternity System?

And most importantly do you love cake?

Then Cake & Connect Pregnancy Brunch is for you! It's FREE to attend (you'll need to reserve your place and 'purchase' your free ticket by signing up to this event on my website). All you need to do is purchase something delicious from the wonderful Ladyvale selection of sweet and savoury treats (it can just be a drink if cake isn't your bag - their milkshakes and hot chocolates are amazing too!)

Come along, make friends, bring your pregnancy and birth questions, take some time out to relax and connect with other pregnant people. I can't wait to meet you (and eat cake!)

Time: 10.30am - 12pm Saturday 14th September

Venue: Ladyvale Bakery, Nansledan, Newquay

https://www.cornwallhypnobirthing.co.uk/service-page/sept-cake-connect-pregnancy-brunch?referral=service_list_widget&utm_campaign=0c84871d-02a9-4271-b975-378b8c3ecd31&utm_source=so&utm_medium=lp

Have you heard about Hypnobirthing but aren't quite ready to jump in and sign up to a full course?

Then my Free Hypnobirthing Taster Session is the perfect for you! During this one hour Zoom session you will get to meet me, learn what you can expect from my full Hypnobirthing course, the importance of high quality inclusive antenatal education, learn a relaxation technique that can help you through pregnancy, labour, birth and beyond, and also be taught a breathing technique that you can use during labour. I will also be sharing feedback and birth stories from previous clients. So come along and find out more about how to prepare your mind and body for a calm, confident and positive pregnancy and birth.

Tuesday 10th September @ 7pm on Zoom

When you have booked your place via my website, the Zoom link and password will be sent automatically via email. (remember to check your junk/spam folder!)

https://www.cornwallhypnobirthing.co.uk/service-page/free-hypnobirthing-taster-september?referral=service_list_widget

Cornwall Hypnobirthing Full Antenatal Education Course October 2024

For those of you with estimated due dates around December/January/February - this is for you! Are you wanting to enjoy the experience of being pregnant without worrying about how you're going to pop a baby out when the time comes? Are you consumed with anxiety and fear about your upcoming birth? Do you want to boss your birth and feel like a total birthing badass? If this is you, how would you feel if I told you that I can help you take control of your birth experience, to look forward to it rather than dread it; to feel excited, prepared, knowledgeable, powerful and have a shed load of techniques and tools to help you on your way? This is what my Hypnobirthing course is all about, and I currently have 4 places left on my October group course. If you want to get involved, then you can sign up by clicking the button below! 10 years of 5 star feedback says it's worth it and you won't regret it!

https://www.cornwallhypnobirthing.co.uk/service-page/october-hypnobirthing-group-course?referral=service_list_widget

My Doula services are running throughout the rest of 2024 and in to 2025. If you are interested in having me as your Doula, to support you through your pregnancy, labour and birth, then get in touch and we can book a time to get together and talk to see if I am the right Doula for you. Check out www.cornwallhypnobirthing.co.uk/doula for more information on my packages and also so read what my previous Doula clients have to say on working with me.

"I remember feeling at ease knowing that my body & my baby were working together and I had complete trust in what was happening"

Catherine and her partner did a Hypnobirthing course with me back in 2021, and went on to birth her first baby Emily at home,. She then used all her skills again for the birth of her second baby, and even though there was a slight curve ball thrown in this time, Cat still managed to birth her baby feeling strong, positive and in tune with her body! Cat outlines her birth experience below:

"I didn’t enjoy my 2nd pregnancy. The sickness seemed a lot worse and I found chasing around after a toddler particularly hard work. We had planned a home birth as we had had such a positive experience before with my daughter Emily back in 2021. I also requested to have the same midwife who delivered Emily so that we would have a similar experience again.

When I reached 39 weeks I was eager for the baby to come. We ordered a takeaway curry the night before (I opted for a vindaloo) and by 6am the next morning my waters had broken. The surges hadn’t started yet, but I was full of excitement at the prospect of meeting my baby soon. I texted my midwife to let her know that my waters had broken and I would let her know when my surges started. But by 7am I started to notice a fair bit of blood in my waters, I called the triage number just for peace of mind and they asked me to come into the hospital to be checked. I was pretty disappointed to be going to the hospital, however this didn’t mean that a natural birth was still out of the question.

My daughter was dropped off at the childminders (luckily it was a day that she usually went anyway so that worked out perfectly) and my partner and I headed off to the hospital. I started to have mild surges in the car that were approx. 5 minutes apart. When we arrived at the hospital it was 8:30am and I was seen to straight away. I was connected up to a monitoring machine and the doctor checked me over. She said she wasn’t concerned but would keep monitoring me for half an hour. When she came back after half an hour I was in active labour with surges coming every 3 minutes, she assessed me and I was 4cm dilated. This was my time to decide, I could head home and still have my home birth or I could stay in, she explained that labour second time around can be a lot quicker and I realised that I didn’t want to do the half hour drive back home and then have to get the birthing pool ready etc. I asked if the birthing suite was available and if so then I would stay.

Luckily the hospital was quiet and I was taken upstairs to the beautiful birthing suite. The lighting was dimmed with candle effects and twinkly lights on the ceiling which made me relax instantly. I was assigned a midwife called Kim and also a lovely student midwife called Georgia. I felt very well looked after and as soon as I arrived in the room they ran the bath. I felt myself relax instantly in that environment and once I properly relaxed, labour really advanced. By 11am I was in the birthing pool, by this point my surges were every minute and had really intensified. I was offered gas & air but I didn’t actually start taking this until the transitioning phase as I found I was able to practice my breathing better without it. I found I could relax and concentrate on channeling my breath downwards when I was nasal breathing, whereas on gas & air I found nasal breathing difficult and could only breathe through my mouth.

My labour carried on advancing quickly and I remember feeling the moment when I felt pressure down below. At this point I changed position in the birthing pool (I was led down like I was having a bath before and allowing my whole body to relax), I got onto my knees and held onto the side and told my partner to be ready with the gas & air between each surge. This position allowed me to feel more in control and in a strong position to assist each surge. This time round I felt my baby every step of the way as they progressed through the birth canal. I can’t remember this happening during my previous labour. I don’t know whether second time round your body is more in tune or whether you just know what to expect? But I remember feeling at ease knowing that my body & my baby were working together and I had complete trust in what was happening.

The surges became particularly strong and my beautiful baby was born at 1:07pm. We hadn’t found out the sex and we were happy to find out that we had another perfect girl which we called Daisy. We had skin to skin cuddles in the birthing pool until I climbed out, as I was climbing out of the pool the placenta was delivered. I was assisted onto the bed where we continued to have skin to skin cuddles until the umbilical cord stopped pulsating and my partner cut the cord. Daisy took to the breast pretty much immediately and as I was feeding I was brought in tea & toast which went down extremely well.

After some time to ourselves, the midwives came back to check myself & Daisy over. I had a shower and then we were able to go home. We arrived at Emily’s childminders house just in time for the 5pm pick up!

I didn’t get to have the home birth I was hoping for, but this birth experience was equally as positive and a memorable experience I will never forget."

On my Hypnobirthing course I will teach you a range of tools and skills to take with you and use during your labour and birth. These skills will help you to feel more in control, more relaxed and more in tune with your body and baby. As well as knowledge and information that give you the power to make informed decisions that are right for you and your baby. If you want to learn more about my Hypnobirthing course, why not come along to one of my free Hypnobirthing taster sessions, or book a free 30 minute consultation with me. Over 10 years of teaching the wonders of Hypnobirthing, and hundreds of positive birth experiences that speak for themselves. What have you got to lose! visit www.cornwallhypnobirthing.co.uk to find out more or email info@cornwallhypnobirthing.co.uk

"...I couldn’t believe I had done it! I felt incredible and so empowered!"

Welcome to the world Baby Zariah! And what an entry it was too! Huge congraultations to proud parents Mwenya and Raph. I am blessed to be able to share Mwenya's birth story with you - Mwenya is a GP and had a very real, first hand expereience of birthing within the system after giving birth to her first born Zeke (her experience is outlines below - TW - induction, ventouse, PPH) . With her second baby she decided to move towards a more instinctive birth, at home, using Hypnobirthing and Doula support. Mwenya outlines her birth below and how she got the healing birth of her dreams! As always, I'm so grateful to be given permission to share this with you.

"2nd baby, known baby girl – Zariah ( pronounced Za ra ya)

Born at 40+6  on 10/10/2023

Birth weight 3.2kg

Planned: home birth, either in the birth pool or on land

Actual: home birth in bath tub, BBA

Pain relief: TENS, hypnobirthing, water in a bath

***Back ground – 1st pregnancy***

Induction of labour after 24hrs of waters breaking (at 40+1) and no signs of labour.

Baby boy born at 40+3: ventouse, epidural, 1100ml PPH, sepsis which I strongly suspect was because of the VEs I had at the start of the induction process.

We had a 3 day stay in hospital so I could finish the course of IV antibiotics. Baby didn't need antibiotics.

Baby wouldn't latch on to breastfeed. Local breastfeeding groups were amazing and baby eventually started breastfeeding at age 4 weeks.

***This pregnancy***

I was keen to do things differently and to avoid the negativity that surrounded my last birth. Last time, when questioning midwives for more info, I wasn’t given enough to make an informed decision – I only realised all of this when looking back and trying to make sense of what happened.

I researched and read about homebirths before we started trying to conceive and I decided it was what I wanted. The Homebirth Support UK Facebook Group run by Samantha Gadsden was amazing and very encouraging throughout this journey. We also found a lovely Doula, Terri from Cornwall Hypnobirthing. We live in Plymouth, Devon.

I had mild nausea throughout the whole pregnancy.

This was a low risk pregnancy. I declined OGTT.

It was an exhausting few months juggling pregnancy exhaustion, looking after a very energetic 2 year old, moving house and working in a very emotionally demanding job. Family live further away so it was just my husband and I juggling childcare. So overall it felt like I had no rest at all this pregnancy, so I was very much looking forward to meeting my baby.

I made it clear to the community midwives from the get go that I wanted a home birth. There’s no home birth team or MLU  in our area so the midwives rotate through 2 weeks of working on labour ward followed by 2 weeks in the community, so you don’t really get a named midwife. I didn’t get much resistance from the team except a letter from hospital saying I would be birthing against medical advice, which I was very comfortable with because there were clear factors during my first birth which increased my risk of PPH: induction, epidural, ventouse, episiotomy.

Throughout pregnancy, I surrounded myself with lots and lots of positive birth stories from the Homebirth Facebook Group. I also listened to lots of positive birth podcasts and watched lots of positive birth videos. My husband and I did a hypnobirthing course with Terri which was amazing as it helped eradicate the fear associated with childbirth, encouraged me to trust my birthing body and the process of childbirth, and to surrender to it.

***Labour***

I woke up on the morning of 10/10/23 around 7am. I had some mild lower abdominal cramps and the pad I had put on the night before was soaked. I went to the toilet and the slight trickle of clear fluid continued. I also had a tiny bit of bloody show. The cramps were very mild, I was able to get my now 3 year old ready and dropped him off at nursery for 8.30am (I drove). I had lost part of the mucus plug 1 week prior.

I messaged Terri at 8.47am to let her know. I chose not to inform maternity triage of the waters going because I didn’t want to be put on a clock, and I also wanted to see how things would progress.

By around 9.30am-10am, the cramps were getting more uncomfortable. I tried to watch something funny but it didn’t take my mind off the cramps. I then asked my husband to watch a funny movie with me, the laughing wasn’t helping either.

At 11am, I messaged Terri again because the surges were ramping up. She suggested we set up the birth space and I use the TENS machine. We had already blown up the birth pool a few days before, so my husband set up the rest of the room: curtains drawn, projector etc. I was having to breathe through the surges and was making what I think sounded like a humming or loud sigh to get through it. I tried to time the surges but gave up because it was making me lose focus.

At 11.08: Someone from maternity unit rang to say ‘ you’re on our list to  have homebirth  please be aware the ambulances are at full capacity so if you needed emergency transfer to hospital, you would be waiting for ages, so we recommend you come to hospital when you're in labour’. I stuck to my guns and said I would still like to birth at home. This call annoyed me a bit but it didn’t scare me.

At 11.23: I messaged Terri asking her to come over because things felt like they were progressing quickly.

At 11.37: husband went to pick up our toddler from nursery. When they got back, my son saw me on the living room floor on all fours and ran to me. I managed to say hello, give him a hug and asked him to go upstairs with grandma, which he did. My mum then took our son upstairs to keep him occupied. This was what he had originally planned for childcare.

My husband and I spoke with Terri over the phone sometime after 12 noon to check in. Looking back, I think I reached transition around this time because I was overwhelmed by the lack of a break between the surges, and I was thinking to myself ‘ I should have gone to hospital where there’s pain relief’.

Husband rang the midwives around 12.50pm and was told they would head over.

Terri arrived around 1.05pm. I was so relieved to see her! She suggested I move to the bathroom and try sitting on the toilet, but I couldn’t because I was so uncomfortable. Instead I got on all fours which was a lot more comfortable and felt natural. I had a sense that I wouldn’t be leaving the bathroom for a while! I managed to breathe through the surges and continued using the TENS machine on low. Interestingly, looking back, I didn’t need the boost function on the TENS compared to the early stages of my previous labour. I was in a totally different headspace this time round. I remember repeating to myself ‘ I am strong, I am powerful’. Terri kept encouraging me to surrender to the sensations, which I did. At some point, the pain stopped and all I kept feeling was an overwhelming urge of my body bearing down. I didn’t make my body do anything, it did it all on its own. I was mooing which I recognised straight away. Bathroom windows were open and I've been told neighbours heard my vocals!

My husband was trying to fill it up the birth pool but there was an issue with the tap connector. Terri suggested I get in the bath for some water relief. The bath felt lovely when I got in. The overwhelming urges continued and I roared through them. I felt the baby's head come out, this was followed by an amazing calm moment. I reached down and felt a head full of hair and said to my husband ‘baby’s head is out’. I felt her turn in the birth canal and the rest of her was born after another surge or possibly two. I let out a yelp at the ring of fire - totally unexpected sensation!

Our baby was born at 1.51pm. I didn’t push her out, and I’m not sure if I breathed her our either. I lifted our baby from the bath water onto my lap to remove the cord around her neck, then put her on my chest. Baby was alert and looking at me, she didn’t cry straight away.  I couldn’t believe I had done it! I felt incredible and so empowered! It was just myself, my husband and Terri in the bathroom when baby was born. Our toddler got to meet his sister before I got out of the bath tub, the look on his face was amazing to watch.

A midwife and a student midwife arrived a little bit later despite my stating ‘no students’ on my homebirth assessment though. 2nd midwife turned up a bit later. I was still in the bathroom at this point. We got our ‘wait for white’ with the cord. My mum cut the cord when I was laying on the sofa with our toddler.

Unfortunately I lost my oxytocin bubble after midwives arrived. The placenta hadn’t delivered after the first 1hr. Midwives got twitchy because of my previous PPH and the ‘guidelines’. I felt fine, BP, heart rate etc were all fine and there wasn’t much blood loss. I said I wanted more time, but they hovered outside the bathroom door waiting. I consented to the 1st oxytocin injection, I had written I was open to this in my birth plan. The placenta hadn’t delivered 15minutes after the injection. They asked to try controlled cord traction – I agreed but I couldn't push at the point, I guess my pelvic floor was exhausted. They offered me a 2nd oxytocin injection and kept going on about bleeding - I’d had enough of this by this point and just wanted to enjoy baby with some peace and quiet, so I accepted it. I didn’t feel coerced into accepting this. I asked midwives to leave the bathroom. I stayed in there with Terri the door closed. I squatted and the placenta delivered. My estimated blood loss was 250ml.

I had a nice shower afterwards. Terri kindly helped tidy up. After midwives left, myself, my husband and our 3 year old enjoyed pizza in bed while I cuddled our newborn.

Overall, I had a very empowering birth and am very grateful for the way things went. I’m glad baby was BBA because I was able to labour undisturbed, something which I think was amazing because I had no one bursting my oxytocin bubble and was able to focus on bringing my baby earthside.

Terri was amazing from the time we met, and we are very grateful she was with us through this journey. I would encourage whoever is doubting/unsure about getting a Doula, to get one if possible. I’m still on a birthing high weeks down the line. Baby is super chilled our and our toddler can’t get enough of her!"

Hypnobirthing and Doula support had a wonderful impact on Mwenya's experience. If this is something you would like to explore then please email info@cornwallhypnobirthing.co.uk or visit my website www.cornwallhypnobirthing.co.uk . My next group Hypnobirthing course is in January 2024, and I have availability for private sessions throughout 2024, with only 1 space remaining in December for a private course.