Three positive birth stories, yoga babies born by caesarean section
Baby Florence
I just wanted to let you know that we welcomed a beautiful baby girl Florence into the world on Monday 8th May weighing a very healthy 9lbs! She is an absolute delight and we are thrilled.
After I attended my last yoga session on the Saturday my waters broke the next morning. I went to hospital to be monitored but as contractions weren't coming on quickly enough after quite some time it was decided I should be induced. I decided to opt for epidural at the advice of my obstetrician friend, as the synthetic contractions can be very strong and I am very glad I did. After six hours we were ready to push however, my baby had moved and she was stuck in a slightly transverse position and wasn't coming out in a hurry. The decision was taken to go to theatre to see if instruments would help but despite several attempts she wasn't going to budge. This meant there was no other option but to perform Caesarean section and eventually she arrived and I was so happy to have her there safe in my arms.
Despite this experience being very different from perhaps what I had imagined it was still a positive experience. Breathing techniques I learnt during yoga helped to keep me calm and I also listened to the playlists which I found helped take me to to those peaceful candlelit yoga sessions. Yoga also helped me to feel empowered and strong and even though it was tough at times, I kept thinking I am strong and I can handle this. The team at the royal surrey were also amazing and the registrar who was attending to us was so relaxed and calm in explaining everything to us which really helped too.
We spent five nights in hospital in total and I needed that time to start my recovery and we were both taking antibiotics and were discharged on Friday leaving that night. It's so lovely to be home now and one blessing is that she has taken to feeding well and I was able to utilise all the support of the midwives and student midwives.
I hugely benefited from yoga, connecting with my baby, having quiet time and learning breathing techniques that have really helped me not just through the birth but in my everyday life. Very much looking forward to returning with my little girl over the summer once fully recovered.
Best wishes
Penny xx
Baby Lark (planned c-section)
Yesterday we had a little boy! We've called him Lark, he was 7lb2oz so smaller than his sister and not the giant they were predicting. He seems tiny. But he's so greedy I'm sure he won't be for long.
The c-section went well and I really enjoyed it and managed to take it all in this time - we even filmed it. The team were great, we watched him being pulled out, they delayed cord clamping and we had skin-to-skin immediately and he was breastfeeding within minutes, while theg were still operating. Eveny though it wasn't a natural birth I found the yoga breathing really useful through all the delays (4 emergencies being rushed in before us, them 'losing' the surgeon and then the midwife's daughter being hit by a discus and rushed into a&e!) and especially because I started going into early labour when all this was happening.
I can't wait to introduce him to you. Thank you for all your help through both my pregnancies.
Lots of love, Susannah xxx
Baby Ophelia
Ophelia made an early appearance into the world on the 1st March via emergency c-section weighing 7lb 1oz ☺ All of the breathing techniques we use in yoga and the hypnobirthing I did really helped me through my labour, as did me saying 'I have everything I need to birth my baby'.
Unfortunately my body had slightly other ideas following a bleed and the baby's heart rate dipping slightly when contracting so when the syntocinon drip had made no difference, it was time for an emergency section. Even through the run up to that though I managed to stay super calm!! In the end the c-section was the right thing to do as it showed the bleed was down to placental abruption.
During the early stages of labour I can only describe my feelings as being calm, structured and trusting in my own body and intuition. Once the contraction really started I felt like I ‘went into myself’ and found a place where I could block everything out around me and just focus on the waves moving through my body that were positive as they were bringing our baby closer to us. As the staff started talking about interventions I was confident to say what I did and didn’t want, but also felt when it was the right time to agree to additional support. It’s difficult to explain how I knew what was right and when, but I’m a real believer in trusting your intuition, which I believe I did. My husband was really ell equipped too, having done lots of birthing classes including hypnobirthing.
I then think having such an active pregnancy with yoga, pilates and personal training really kicked in, as despite the normal 2-3 night stay in hospital following a c section, I managed to be up and about really quickly and we went home the next day ☺ Everything is healing really well, I feel great, Ophelia is already back to her birth weight and we made it out into town for some lunch when she was 4 days old.
More than anything these classes prompted us to discuss what we did and did not want, so I felt he knew what I would and wouldn’t say so I he was able to be my ‘voice’ as such. All in all, you can’t choose your birth, you can only choose how you feel about it and I’m proud to be able to say that irrespective of how it unfolded, both my husband and I view it as a positive experience and are sharing that with others, as I think during pregnancy you often only hear the negative horror stories so it’s nice to add in some balance to that!!
Tracy x