Danielle and Nick Sullivan, Brighton

…The first phase was very slow but I remained focused, had a bath, went for a walk, tried to eat, and used the birthing ball which was a blessing. We arrived at Brighton hospital at around 7pm and I was 4cm dilated…the hospital advised that I should expect to dilute 0.5 centre meters every hour, but I went from 4cm to fully dilated in 4 hours and 30 minutes! Nick said he couldn’t believe how focused I was! I remained calm the whole way through using my breath (which also reserved all my energy) and used the lotus flower visualisation. I drank 7 jugs of water too! I couldn’t stop drinking it! It’s really funny as when I tell people this they always say “are you allowed to drink during labour?” I reply and say “yes of course! Better than being hooked up to a drip!” – another thing we learnt from your classes… Emilie’s heart rate kept dropping. The medical team were very concerned and asked me not to push for 1 hour but to use my breath… How I would have done this without Hypnobirthing is beyond me! 40 minutes later I had a whole team around me advising I had 20 minutes to push her out… Nick was fantastic and questioned everything. The consultant looked quite surprised when he did as I think they just expect you to do as they say without question! Emilie was born naturally and I truly believe Hypnobirthing got me through it. I am so proud of what I achieved and I can’t thank you enough. Emilie was so alert when she was born, she breast fed instantly and she’s such a contented little baby. I can’t thank you enough for what we learned during your classes.