This was Kara and Anthony’s 2nd baby. Kara was induced for her 1st birth and there was a cascade of interventions that she wanted to avoid for her 2nd birth. So they came to Positively Hypnobirthing to do the Hypnobirthing Australia™ course. They did such an amazing job at coping with pressures during the lead up to the birth and then again during her labour. They asserted their right to choice and knew that just because they were told their baby was measuring big, it did not mean there was any reason for alarm or any reason not to trust Kara’s body to do the job it was designed to do. Kara and Anthony’s bub, Patrick, ended up weighing a very healthy 4.8kg (over 10 pounds). She was such a hypnobirthing star!
Kara shares her birth story...
“The [Hypnobirthing Australia™] course helped my husband to support me…
…In the lead up to the birth when we were told how big the baby was at every appointment, he would turn and say ‘he’s the perfect size for your body’ and ‘don’t worry your body knows what to do’. Also when we were repeatedly asked if I wanted internal examinations he knew we were making an informed choice to refuse and helped me to respond to our OB and midwives.”
Kara hold me that she politely said ‘no thank you!’…
…every time she was asked to be induced and stuck to her guns while still keeping a good relationship with her caregivers. This can be a hard thing to do when faced with stress and pressure at a time when we’re very vulnerable But with the help of Anthony being an amazing hypnobirthing dad and supporting Kara so well and being the advocate that she needed, Kara had the extra confidence to trust her body and baby and focus on releasing and letting go.
“I was four days overdue and under pressure to be induced…
… As I had experienced this before and was keen to birth naturally, I started using clary sage oil. I laboured from 11.30am-7.30pm at home. The surges were consistently 10 minutes apart. I played the affirmations during the day to help me stay calm and centred.
Once we put Lincoln to bed the surges became much closer together and stronger…
… so we headed to the hospital. I was able to labour in the birthing pool with the Tranquil Chambers track playing in the background. I was calm and focused. Then my temperature rose and so did Patrick’s heart rate so I had to get out.
I then made my way to the bed where the surges increased with strength. Not long after, lying on my side, my waters broke and the need to push was not far behind. At this stage I was offered gas but refused. Even though I was experiencing discomfort, pain relief didn’t really seem necessary.
At the suggestion of the recently arrived OB I moved into a kneeling position…
… facing the elevated head of the bed. Not long after Patrick was on his way out. I had to focus a lot of energy (this was not as calm and ‘easy’ as what I was hoping it would be – possibly a size issue?!) to birth him. He did get one of his shoulders stuck, but in no time he had arrived (three hours after we arrived at the hospital).
We had a healthy and happy baby boy who took to breast feeding beautifully.
This experience was certainly calmer and more positive than my first (induction). Also feeding didn’t initially work with my first, which had me pumping for the first three months.
We loved our hypnobirthing classes…
… Kate was incredible at talking us through the tool box and helping us focus on which may work best for us. She was friendly and very approachable. The videos were fantastic at showing us what a hypnobirthing could be. The second day of the course and the extra readings were very informative and helped us to make educated decisions about our birth preferences.”
Kara and Anthony – Hypnobirthing parents
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