Calm, Confident, Welcoming

Phone Shari on 

 0407 775 783

Email shari@birthskills.com.au

Canberra

Adelaide

Perth

Hobart

Recommended Links:

www.bellyflower.com.au

www.bubhub.com.au

www.birthpartnerships.com.au

www.yogababes.com.au

www.motherme.com.au

Logan was born prior to Shari developing BirthSkills and Ebony was born after 4 years of developing and running the program.

Logan's Birth:  

When we discovered that we were going to have a baby calmness and relaxation became a focus of our lives. It was a surprise pregnancy and we didn’t feel like it was the best time to be having a baby (and have since discovered that there is no best time!). We were already using hypnosis in our psychology practice but had never used it on each other or for pregnancy. At around the 14 week mark Ashley suggested trying hypnosis, purely for relaxation. The hypnosis was used in conjunction with weekly massage, exercise with a qualified trainer twice a week, ante-natal aquarobics, 1 hour walks five time per week and good nutrition (chocolate and alcohol were first to be crossed off the shopping list – albeit reluctantly!). (It all sounds very contrived I know but this healthy lifestyle during pregnancy came very naturally and was very enjoyable).

 I went about reading as much about pregnancy as I could, as most women in this information era do, and through this came across an article outlining the benefits of using hypnosis for birthing. Although Ashley had already been helping me achieve a deep state of relaxation through hypnosis, it now became a bit of a mission to find out as much as possible about how to use the techniques for a natural birthing. I managed to track down a copy of Marie Mongan’s Celebration of Life and the accompanying cassette tapes. We used these to inform our existing relaxation practice and to help us think about how we might manage the birthing process.

 The more I learnt about birth the more determined I became to have as natural a birth as possible. We chose to birth at Woodside maternity hospital in East Fremantle , WA, because it was very close to home and because of its excellent reputation for viewing birthing as a normal and natural process. I also had a GP/Obstetrician who was very respectful of natural birth but also encouraged me not to rule out other pain relief options (he told me the epidural was “the best thing since sliced bread”….hmmm).

 Three weeks before the estimated due date (EDD) I started to experience quite strong surges (contractions). I went for walks, relaxed in the bath and did all the things you can do to help labour become established, 10 days later I was 4cm open (dilated) and still not in established labour. The previous week and a half had not been at all painful, just a roller coaster ride of “this is it…….no, it isn’t”. At my  38 week checkup I was told that due to the size of the baby relative to my body and a few other pre-existing factors, the chances of needing a caesarean were increasing the closer we got to the EDD, but because of all the great warm-up contractions and the fact that I was already 4cm dilated I could choose to be induced to try and avoid a caesarean.

  On the morning of the 20^th of May 2003, we went into the hospital ready to meet our baby (after a false start and being sent home four days earlier due to a busy labour ward at the hospital – arrgh!). The Syntocinon (artificial oxytocin) was put in at around 10am and the surges began again, just as they had been for the past 10 days. My labour progressed according to the textbooks, 1cm per hour from noon onwards. By 2pm I was focussed totally within, Ash had taken me quickly and easily into a deep trance and I stayed there for most of the day, the depth of trance varying depending on environmental factors and personal needs. At one point I looked up and asked if someone had given me some pain relief (I had requested in my birthing preferences that none be offered) but Ash assured me that non-one had even been in the room; my endorphins had kicked  in and I had a wonderful warm tingling sensation flow down through my body (an endorphin rush – whoo hoo!).

 Ash helped me to the shower a couple of times during the labour which was a wonderful change of scenery. Despite there being no real pain, the sensation of the surges was intense, the pressure was great and the tightening was, well…tight! The shower offered me a different sensation to focus on, a new position to try and was refreshing during the hard day’s work.  

 By the time the doctor checked the progress of my labour I was resisting the overwhelming urge to bear down and was fully open and ready for second stage (in hindsight I could have just gone with my body and pushed but I was worried about damaging my cervix which had scar tissue from a cervical biposy – not an issue as it turned out). The pushing sensation was a welcome relief from the internal pressure from the first stage and with Ash’s guidance and encouragement I used my breath to make the most of each downward surge.

 Our baby’s head reached the perineum after about an hour, quite a wonderful moment and time to take a short rest from the work being done. However, the next 45 minutes proved quite difficult with our baby’s head refusing to budge up and over the perenial hurdle (I was later told that my well toned pelvic floor muscles could have been to blame for this. With hindsight a different position, as suggested by my midwife, would also have been helpful). Our doctor helped with perineal massage and Ash and the midwife took a leg each for me to lever against. Finally I asked why my baby wasn’t coming out, the doctor said that he couldn’t do much more other than an episiotomy to avoid what he thought might be a big tear; “Cut!” I ordered!!! Within minutes Logan Alexander was born – 7.45pm, 4.2kg (about 9 and a half pounds). (I had previously been very very scared of an episiotomy but learnt that it wasn’t half as bad as I expected. I also couldn’t have anticipated actually demanding an episiotomy, but that seemed like the best decision at the time and I welcomed it).

   Despite two interventions, the Syntocinon and the episiotomy, I am very proud and happy with the experience of birthing my first child. I was calm throughout and felt in control of what was happening; nothing happened without it being my choice. There are a few things I would choose differently next time, but I trust that we will make the best decision for ourselves at the time.  

Ebony's Birth:

The desire to have a second baby was overwhelmingly strong for me! Ebony's pregnancy was as wonderful as Logan's without all of the fear and anxiety of the 'unknown' aspect of your first baby. I met with Marie, my midwife (info@midwyfservices.com.au) at 14 weeks and it was smooth sailing from there.  I used the BirthSkills relaxation techniques throughout the pregnancy, went to yoga and had regular massage. I also kept up some exercise and to some extent watched what I ate (although I did scoff quite a lot of chocolate in the past couple of months!).

Except for routine ultrasounds I declined any other testing during the pregnancy in consultation with  my midwife and on the basis that having the ante-natal tests (e.g. glucose loading) doesn't change the outcome (i.e. health of the baby) but they often serve as a source of anxiety for the mother during pregnancy. I had no symptoms of any of the pregnancy-derived illnesses that they test for so we worked on the assumption that all was well unless my body or baby told us otherwise (which didn't happen thankfully!).

At 38 weeks during a regular check-up my birth-centre midwife thought that my baby felt as though she were in the breech position. I had known that bub was still head-up at 30 weeks and spent a couple of weeks laying upside-down in the lounge, doing a bunch of headstands in the local pool and playing music to my lower pelvis. I read up on breech birth and asked my midwives about the possible complications of birthing naturally with bub in this position and finally decided to just let things be and stop focussing on it. So it came as little surprise at 38 weeks to have an ultrasound confirm she was still (or back) in the breech position. I was reluctantly booked in for an ECV (external cephalic version - where the Obs manually massages your belly to encourage the baby to turn head-down) the very next day after being convinced that this would offer me the best chance of a natural, intervention-free birth.

The idea of the ECV didn't sit well with me as it sounded a bit rough for an unborn baby to be pushed around, perhaps into a position that she didn't want to be in for a very good reason. So I went home and spent about an hour with my backside in the air, gently massaging my belly and talking to my baby.  I then took myself through a breech turn meditation (or self-hypnosis) and went deep into relaxation for a while. That night my husband Ashley took me through the breech turn hypnosis script again and talked to our baby as I drifted off to sleep. The next morning my first thought on waking was "we did it" but to avoid possible disappointment I kept this thought to myself and Ash and I went off to our ECV appointment. By the time the Obs arrived the midwives had prep'd me for the ECV (and possible emergency c-section) and all he needed to do was a double check with the ultrasound to be sure of the baby's position - head down!!! Yay! Ash and I felt so triumphant when the Obs looked at the midwives to ask who had checked the baby's position that morning....! We did it! Our little princess had turned in response to our efforts and connection with her.

So back to plan A - completely natural birth...

At 40 weeks I was starting to wonder whether there really was a baby inside me or had I just really overdone it on the chocolate after all? Thankfully I had Marie on board who kept me sane! I developed a fine case of sciatica during weeks 41 and 42 to the point that I said to Ash "if this labour feels anything like this I will take all the drugs they have please!". Finally, after 41 weeks and 5 days of pregnancy I went into spontaneous labour (after taking myself through the Body Regulation script the night before to turn on the oxytocin!)....I woke up at around 8am thinking that I felt a little different, my abdominal area was tight and there were little cramps coming regularly. I got up and wandered around the house with our 4yo son for about an hour and a half and then called my midwife to let her know that I thought I would be having a baby that day, I told her I would call back in about an hour to let her know how I was going (I had been in prodromal labour - strong, regular braxton-hicks - for about 6 weeks by this stage and didn't want another false start!). By the time I called Marie back I was very sure that I was in labour, strong regular tightenings about every 2 minutes. I had woken Ash at about 9.30am to tell him I would be 'needing him' and by 12noon we arrived at he birthing centre.

Labouring at home I had relied purely on breathing and relaxing my abdominal area to manage the surges. Once we got to the birth centre I got straight into the bath, Ash put on my meditation music and began talking me through a relaxation script. My breathing and the warm bath water helped over the next 4 hours as labour progressed. I focussed on the music and a visualisation of the big warm hug my son had given me that morning just before we left for the birth centre. Second stage had not long started and my midwife suggested I get out of the bath and into a different position. I made it as far as leaning over the end of the bed when a giant surge hit, I focussed on breathing down as my waters exploded and my baby's head moved down. After just 3 or 4 more BIG pushes, Ebony was born. Marie got me to reach down straight away to take my little girl up on to my chest and she was feeding within 10-15 minutes of being born.

4.5kg (half an ounce off 10 pounds!) no need for stiches and home within 3 hours of the birth. A very big thank you to Marie Heath and Denise Carter for their support and guidance during Ebony's birth  what an amazing experience!

In labour   

Shari and Ebony just minutes after the birth August 2007

Big baby!

Ebony @ 10 weeks.

Email  shari@birthskills.com.au .
Copyright © 2007 BirthSkills
Last modified: November 22, 2007