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BIRTH STORIES Often women send Olivia their birth stories or return to the pregnancy yoga class they attended to talk about their experience of birth. If people are happy to share their stories we could put them on this page so that women who knew you in the class can find out how you are doing and so that women who are preparing for birth can get an idea of different experiences of birth. You can also see homebirth stories at http://www.homebirth.org.uk Email
your story to Lesa at info@yogabirthsheffield.co.uk
From Saffron I've been meaning
to email to tell you that I gave birth to a son on 1 December.
He's called Cameron and he's gorgeous. The labour lasted 24
hours, it started at 4.30 am on Tuesday with contractions which were
10 min apart and quite strong. By 6.30 they were 5 min apart and
within a couple of hours they were 3 min apart and they stayed that
frequent all day. The midwife came round at 8am and stayed with
me at home all day. My partner Jonny and the midwife rubbed my back
every time I had a contraction and I found that the most comfortable
position was to kneel on all fours. I used a TENS machine and
that and the back massage really helped me with the pain. Later
in the day I used some portable gas and air as the contractions
got stronger.
However I
dilated quite slowly, and at 5.30pm I was 8cm dilated and by 7.30pm I
hadn't dilated any further. By that point the contractions were
coming three at a time and I decided to transfer into hospital for
some further pain relief. The fact that the contractions no
longer seemed to be productive and I didn't know how much longer
the labour would last made me decide that I didn't want to stay at
home using only the TENS and gas and air.
The anaethetist in
the hospital was busy until 11.30 so I didn't get my epidural until
then, and Cameron was born by forceps delivery at 4.02 am on
Wednesday. I was disappointed to have interventions that I was
hoping not to have but also pleased that I stayed at home using the
TENS and massage and then gas and air for so long. I feel that if I
had had a shorter, more straightforward labour I would have managed to
give birth at home, and so I feel hopeful about next time.
Cameron
was 7lb 12 at birth and three weeks later he is 9lb 9, he's a very
healthy eater and took to breast feeding straight away. Anyway,
better go as I've got to try and do all my Christmas shopping today,
with only 2 days left until Christmas.Hope you have a Happy Christmas
and New Year. Saffron From Megan Adain Finlay was born at 5:41pm in a water
birth at Jessops on 3 November.I had been having lower back contractions
since the previous morning, but I was in the birthing pool from about 8:30am until he was born at 5:41pm,with a few periods out for exams or to replace the water. The water was very helpful with the lower back contractions, as I couldn't sit or lie down out of the pool. In the pool I was able to rest between contractions, but it did slow them down considerably. Once the midwife broke my waters around 4pm though, things really picked up. I did all my pushing in the water either on my knees or in various squatting positions. The squatting was the most effective, but did make for numb legs after a while! But he eventually came out, with his hands under his chin, so there was a bit or tearing. But the whole expereince was very rewarding! Doing the yoga definitely helped in that I could go with what my body wanted to do and not have to think twice about it. I had done all these positions in class before so it felt natural.I very much look forward to postnatal yoga. From Rachael. Lucy Annabel was born on Thursday 21st October at 2:36pm weighing 7lb 8oz by elective caesarian section as she was in an extended breech position and my first baby. This was after an attempted version at 38 weeks which failed. Initially I was both apprehensive and disappointed at the idea of having a section. I had had a difficult pregnancy going into premature labour at 25 weeks and was looking forward to at least having a normal delivery and had completed a hypnobirthing course to help with this and I was concerned about the potential problems of bonding and breast feeding associated with a section. Having said that, the section was fine, although it was difficult to see Lucy when she was born due to lying flat on my back it was still a very special experience- the theatre staff giving us some time as a family whilst they closed the wound. We were also both grateful of a good nights rest the night before she was born and there were advantages in making arrangements with my husbands work and family visiting as we knew when the event would be. The first night and next day were very difficult as it was not possible to move around in bed and I was attached to drips and catheters. The first walk to the bathroom the next morning was achieved bent in two!!! and breast feeding was difficult to position leading to sore breasts which are still settling-although she took to breast feeding immediately in recovery. By day 3 however, everything was getting easier and although I was ready for home by 4 days, we had to stay as Lucy had jaundice and ABO incompatibility. We've now been home a week and are managing well. I was pleased to find that the hypno-birthing course was not a waste as I used the relaxation tapes the morning before the section which calmed my nerves and have used the relaxation methods since when tired and frustrated. the yoga has also been helpful in learning to mobilise again and keeping my legs moving whilst stuck in a hospital bed. I would certainly say to anyone facing a section, that it can still be a special experience and is certainly something not to be scared of. I would also recommend the hypno-birthing course that I did as I found it helpful both during my pregnancy as well as on the day and I am sure it would have been a huge benefit had I had a normal delivery. the course I did was an American one formed by Marie Mongdon of the hypno-birthing institute. It has been shown on Richard and Judy and also on This Morning in the past. There is a lady who lives just south of Chesterfield who runs a course consisting of 4-5 2 hour sessions. Her name is Danielle Cook and her e-mail is Danielle53@btopenworld.com I hope this information is of help to anyone who finds themselves in a similar position to myself and I thank you for your advice and excellent sessions that I attended during my pregnancy. Thank you, Rachael From Karen. Just a quick note - Abbie Charlotte was finally born last Friday, 8th October at 12.44pm. (8 days late!) 8lb 10.5oz. I had started contracting at 2am on the Thursday morning, but by 8pm that night I went to Jessops to be checked & had still not dilated at all. However, after a bath & a few hours sleep, the contractions started coming again regularly at 2am on Friday morning, and by 5am they were every 2 -3 minutes & we went back to Jessops to be told that I was 7cm! The 2 midwifes I had were both brilliant - the first immediately got me a birthing ball, &encouraged me to move around on it.Up till now I had managed just on my TENS machine, & continued with this, using a bit of gas & air to take the edge off. I had diamorphone later on in the morning, as I was starting to get very tired. This enabled me to sleep for 45 minutes, & i felt able to cope again when I woke. The midwife had to break my waters, which did show signs of meconium. This meant that they had to monitor the baby continuously from then on, but the midwife was so good, I never really noticed this ( a sharp contrast to first time round, when it really stressed me out!) Most of the later stages of labour & the actual delivery were spent kneeling up against the bed head - this felt like a really natural position, & also gave me something to grip on to! I continued using TENs throughout delivery, & found that breathing through the contractions really helped. The midwife told me when to stop pushing so that I didn't tear, & all I suffered was a slight tear along my episiotomy scar from my last birth. I felt so pleased to have 'done it all myself' without the epidural, ventouse etc that I had previously - particularly after the day before, I had started to think that I would be needed syntocin to actually make my contractions productive.! Life with Abbie so far has been pretty chilled, & her big brother is keen to give her lots of cuddles! I had forgotten just how much time breastfeeding takes up though - at 5 days old, she is wanting a feed every 2 -3 hours, so I'm not getting much else done - but enjoying every minute of it!
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