FAMILY / BIRTH

'We discuss different images we would like to think about while we breathe to help us achieve an even deeper relaxed state'

> refresher session nearer our due dates) we practice breathing – counting steadily in and out, slower for between surges, a little faster during them. We discuss different images we would like to think about while we breathe to help us achieve an even deeper relaxed state. Mine is a big red balloon, which fills with air as I fill my lungs and floats majestically away into a clear blue sky as I exhale – the metaphor being the tension and fear leaving my body and floating away too. We are given two CDs to take away to practice our relaxation exercises with. The "affirmations" disc has empowering statements reassuring the listener that she can have the birth she wants repeated in a calming voice, and the other, which I prefer, with just relaxation music. As someone not prone to just sitting for sitting’s sake, I find doing my homework rather wonderful as it forces me to take the time to stop racing around and simply relax – something that isn’t easy when you have a toddler to look after as well as a growing bump. I try to do the exercises every day once my son is asleep, either lying on my bed or soaking in the tub. In the class, Rose talks about different tried and tested positions to ease the birth (the standard lying on your back does not help gravity). She even gives us a list of phrases to say if the medical staff try to intervene and you are unsure if this is the direction you want to take. She is keen for us to try and make the space we birth in, if we are not at home, to be as homely as we can make it. The hospital room, a notoriously starchy and clinical place, can be quickly softened she advises by scented candles, photos of loved ones and our own pillows. She suggests covering the clocks (no pressure, just listening to your body and nothing else) and hanging a sign outside the door to let the midwives know you are having a hypnobirth and prevent them from crashing noisily in just when you have achieved that perfect symmetry of peace and tranquillity.

REAL-LIFE EXPERIENCE So did it work for me? I like to think it did. While I admit that my birth was certainly not painfree, I used the breathing techniques through every surge and was amazed that when I arrived at the hospital I was practically fully dilated. Our daughter Emily arrived just 20 minutes after we walked through the doors of the delivery suite. My midwife didn’t even manage to fill out her paperwork (and I was not able to make the room more “homely” although this was the last thing on my mind) and I just had time for a few puffs of gas and air before the room filled with the sound of our crying newborn. I breathed through the whole thing with no pain relief. Clare Smith, who also did Rose’s course, was equally delighted at how much the techniques helped her achieve >

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AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2015 www.thegreenparent.co.uk

CREATING THE BEST BIRTHING ENVIRONMENT

1Use aromatherapy oils (many hospitals offer this)

2Make sure that your birthing partner and you have discussed your options for birth beforehand so you are confident that he/she can advocate on your behalf and that he/she understands and feels secure in their role as birthing partner.

3Stimulate oxytocin! Take something from a room at home that you love and feel very relaxed in, or a photo that makes you smile and feel happy whenever you look at it.

4Move any clocks or anything related to time from the mother’s view and avoid ‘clockwatching’. A birthing mother when she is properly in her birthing zone will experience what is known as time distortion. Meaning that she will be unaware of time passing, many women who have used hypnobirthing will think that their labour was much quicker than it really was.

5Keep the room calm, anxiety is contagious and if your birthing partner is anxious you will pick up on that anxiety.

With thanks to Sophie at mindfulmamma.co.uk.