2nd baby (elective Caesarian birth)

Anna Lily arrived by planned Caesarian  Section last Tuesday and we really couldn’t have asked for a more positive experience. We were looked after extremely well by the staff at St John’s and were listened to throughout.  I used hypnobirthing in the weeks up to my due date and also before/during the surgery.  We had affirmations all over the house at one point, including a dot on my car steering wheel! The spinal was the bit I was dreading but just before we went in Dave did ‘shaking apples’ on me to calm me down and we both had a good laugh which made us feel relaxed.  When the spinal was put in I was in my baobab tree, looking up at the branches.  We used the calming birth music until she was out safely and I was very much in the zone.  It was remarked by the anaesthetist and others how calm I was and how well we did, we were laughing and joking with the team in the operating room. Dave cut the cord and held her while I was stitched up.  It was obvious that Dave felt more confident in his role as a result of the course and I was very grateful to have him there.

After I was stitched up we were straight into recovery where I fed her straight away and had a good skin to skin cuddle.  We spent the afternoon drinking tea and eating toast, cuddling our new beautiful baby girl. 

By the time I approached due date I was no longer afraid of giving birth naturally and I think you had a very important part in that – the birth trauma counselling and hypnobirthing really set me up to believe in myself and what I could do.  On the day I walked into theatre feeling excited and happy.

Our baby girl Anna is just amazing and we are complete again.