I absolutely loved the birthing stage of labour, I could do it 100 times over, it was so nice. I was able to fully rest between contractions as well as relax. I was even talking, smiling and laughing whilst asking everyone if they could see the baby’s head yet. I thought that was probably more about the HypnoBirthing kicking in, where I was just able to feel safe and get really excited for my baby to come.

Jo’s HypnoBirthing teachings are an integral reason we were able to birth for 22 hours at home with a pool, completely unmedicated in a calm way.

In hindsight I was in transition. I remember thinking at the time of my surges were intense but not painful, I was just completely in my body.

The birth was extremely quick- 2.5 hours and I was able to use all the tools I had, to ensure that I remained calm and in control. I am happy that even with the pregnancy complications I had a natural birth and was able to avoid any intervention and did not use pain relief. Which was exactly what I wanted to heal from my last birth.

On January 7th we shared in a very gentle and short labour at home without intervention. Our beautiful boy was very calm and seemingly unphased by the journey. We believe the HypnoBirthing approach helped us make this possible.

Halfway through my birth something happened which caused self doubt to set in. Once my baby had fully descended however, I realised my body did know exactly what it was doing, our weeks of work kicked back in and I breathed him out to meet us.

Although my labour was a medical event and far from my desired experience, by using the HypnoBirthing breathing and relaxation techniques, I was able to remain clam and grounded. I was still sitting up happily embroidering a beanie for our baby 45 minutes before he was naturally born.

For my labour, I believe the HypnoBirthing sessions and pregnancy yoga with Jo allowed me to stay cool, calm and collected and almost birthed at home (which I was very comfortable with doing) as I had no idea how far along I was and managed to breathe through.

I was determined to have my baby with no drugs and I did it! My baby was born with nothing but my courage and natural birthing hormones.

A couple of hours went by, I kept my focus inwards and didn’t open my eyes for the rest of the labour- I didn’t want any outer distractions. My partner was guiding me gently and we both didn’t feel any fear, this was team effort.

I also attended Jo’s Active Birthing Workshop which I strongly believed helped me have a good drug free labour and delivery of my beautiful baby girl. During labour I would often remember what Jo had taught me.

My partner got more out of the HypnoBirthing course than he ever expected. He developed a clearer idea of what to expect and what he could do to assist. At crunch time he was amazing.

Then on the night of the 4th I had a bath and listened to some CDs and by the time I got out and we made it to the hospital I was 7cm dilated. Five hours later we had a healthy bub and I hadn’t taken any medical intervention, not even gas.

The birth of my son was everything I had hoped it would be- calm, natural and uncomplicated. I had no tearing, no pain relief and from the first contraction to meeting my son was less than 12 hours.