I am so glad that I met Meg at the Bumps, Birth and Beyond event. I had never heard of hypnobirthing but as my close friend (who was 16 weeks ahead of me in her pregnancy) talked about being in control during her labour and birth, about making informed choices, I knew this was what I wanted. As a person, I like routine, I like to know what is going to happen, when it’s going to happen and how it’s going to happen; I don’t like surprises and I like to be in control. I am a control ‘freak’ and hate it when things are out of my control. I like to know my options and have to plan things meticulously and be prepared. From our early pregnancy days I knew exactly what kind of birth I wanted – calm and peaceful and beautiful, just the same as when my sister birthed my beautiful nephew and niece. However, I am also the worlds worst worrier and negativity always tries to wheedle its way into my thought processes – the what ifs… 

Labour isn’t something that you can control, it isn’t predictable, it is a force of nature and not something that can’t be relied upon – these were the messages you get from other people’s birth stories and it’s enough to worry even the calmest of people. 

We attended the hypnobirthing course with Meg for 5 weeks and learnt the techniques for relaxation, pain relief, we learnt about being in control, what to expect, choices and decisions that were ours to make before, during and after the birth. The information we learnt gave us a voice. We learnt about how the female body is designed to birth babies naturally and that intervention was not necessary. It was possible to be in control and have the birth we wanted. 

As first time parents we found Meg to be an invaluable source of positive information, she also became a friend. We learnt more from her about pregnancy, labour and birth than we did at the antenatal classes and felt prepared for the birth of our son. 

When labour started, we used the relaxation techniques, the surge breathing, the positive affirmations – we had a long early labour, we spent time together, breathing calmly, we walked along the canal, enjoyed relaxation techniques together and managed the surges together. We were in control.  Hypnobirthing had also prepared my husband and he knew what to expect and how to help me. After 25 hours of calm early labour, active labour began and we were able to enjoy the water birth we had planned. I was able to make choices that led to the natural water birth that I had dreamed of and our son was born 7 hours later. Labour was not the easiest experience I have ever had, but I was in control, made the decisions that worked for me and had the most beautiful natural birth. 

I know that without the tools that Meg equipped us with, I would have panicked, worried and I’m pretty sure the midwives would have intervened to ‘help’ me birth our baby. I received our baby boy, Seth, in the water on 14th January at 06:35 and we’d gotten everything we wanted from our birth experience. Thank you Meg