Tertia and Mike share their home birth story of Siena, their second daughter. Their first daughter India was born in hospital. "Shortly after Susan’s arrival my waters broke on the kitchen floor - I said ‘oh shit’ & started crying again (I was not in a Zen mental space). The pool was taking forever to get ready. I waddled from the kitchen to the birth pool which was only about 5 steps. Another big push came just outside the pool. I really thought I wasn’t going to make it into the water! By the time I got in, I was very off my center, breathing like a crazy person, petrified that she was just going to shoot out and tear me from top to bottom, and while I was heaving and ho-ing I felt Susan putting her hand on my arm and saying with this beautiful smiling face in this serenely calm voice, “Tertia, this is your birth.... you are in control... slow down your breathing... put your hand between your legs and feel your baby’s head... can you feel her? ...you are in control of when she comes out”. It was like a switch went off in me. The Relax into Birth affirmations and tracks I did in the lead up to my birth, day after day, just kicked in. I became so calm and totally used my breath to control the speed at which my baby came through the birth canal. Within the next minute, my baby just popped out; no tearing. The most wonderful moment was to catch her myself and bring her to my chest. India was born into a frenetic, hospital environment where, even though it was a text book natural birth, it seemed to have the emotional current of a medical emergency. My gynae/obstetrician was shouting at me to push, the nurse was shouting in my ear to push whilst pushing down on my stomach, my poor husband was completely traumatised because he was under the impression something must be going wrong or will go wrong because everyone seemed to be in a panic. I remember shouting and screaming during delivery and needing to push and push and push – the birthing environment was not mine. Siena’s birth on the other hand was such a happy event, my husband, mom, doula and midwife were there to support and be with me. I was in the comfort of my own home, feeling loved, safe, hearing people chat to each other in a happy way, excited about meeting Siena, and me in charge of my birth in a way that I never thought would be possible. The birth was mine. I am so grateful to Charlene, Gayle, Susan and the Birth Options team. The Relax into Birth course and these amazing women held me throughout my birthing experience. We all have the snake charming ability in us, it just needs to be awakened. The mental preparation through the course, combined with these ladies’ belief in my ability & their absolute faith in the woman’s ability to birth in an empowering way is what made this experience such a healing one for me. It is such a gift. I am eternally grateful." Watch them tell their story in this episode...
Relax into Birth is the first proudly South African Online Birth Preparation School, of international standard, teaching women and their partners Hypnobirthing techniques and deep relaxation methods for a more comfortable and manageable birth experience at home or at hospital, for natural or caeasarean births.
DO THE COURSE IN YOUR OWN TIME, WHEN YOU WANT TO! Relax Into Birth is the most comprehensive online Hypnobirthing course available and features over 250 minutes of video course content, including a ‘doula in my pocket’ guide for dads / partners and mandy downloadable audio hypnobirthing tracks and downloadable e-Books. Visit www.relaxintobirth.com for more info.
