Suzanne, John and Henry, Brighton

I had 5 days of strong labour, intense surges against a cervix that wouldn’t dilate further than 2.5 cm…by day 4 baby’s heart rate was disappearing off the monitor. They were very worried and we went straight to C-section on day 5, rather than a pathway of interventions. The C-section and aftercare were great, and Gabriel was born happy, healthy and un-traumatized. We both feel that the hypnobirthing – particularly the breathing and visualization – was the thing that helped us get through the ordeal. John says he wouldn’t have known what to do to talk me through the relentless, intense surges without all he’d learned on the course, and it also helped him stay calm, grounded and focused. For me, it was having him talk me through each surge calmly, and having the ability to breathe through them and not fight their intensity, that enabled me to endure it for so long… We saw (and heard!) other women on the ward labouring, and not coping at all. The midwives were all very impressed with my breathing techniques! And I think it was my being able to endure it for 4/5 days that allowed us to go straight to C-section, rather than be forced onto the long intervention pathway (induction, epidural, ventouse etc) which I feel certain would have ended up in C-section anyway. I am also certain that Henry – and/or me- would have come to harm had we not had him quickly lifted out. Also that we felt so informed and empowered about our choices, should special circumstances arise, the pros and cons of each intervention, etc…  So in short, hypnobirthing helped us, and our special circumstances, HUGELY! We really value the work you do and the way it can help people.