Unique Birth Stories

(each story has brief description)

(updated 3/21/2008)

Calise's Birth Story.....Planned homebirth, turned hospital birth because of unexplained bleeding. Was comfortable, until pushing.  Because it was unplanned, mom didn't have her Hypnobabies CDs but was still able to use her tools. 

Jack's Birth - a Long birth with some discomfort, the first OB on call was mean, which didn't help at all.   Despite the long birth, mom says, "I can see great benefits from using the Hypnobabies program. Our situation was not ideal, obviously. I must be honest, though. I do regret having such a negative feeling about interventions. Certainly, they are used more often than they need to be and can create bigger problems. In my case, however, they were necessary and without them I would have undoubtedly had a C-section. I am grateful for a wonderful, "hands- off" OB who supported my choice of a Hypnobabies birth and stayed out of the way as long as possible. I am also grateful for the epidural and pitocin that allowed me to deliver vaginally. We will use  Hypnobabies if we are fortunate enough to have other children and, hopefully, we can have a smoother, quicker time of it."

Moriah's Birth - Surprise Breech Baby.  Vaginal Birth, mom followed her intuition throughout this birth and it led to a wonderful outcome!

Hannah's Birth - Induced at 39 weeks due to "small baby" Mom chooses to get epidural.  "Later the same day I told my husband that I would do it again if we were blessed with another opportunity. I really feel that my doing the hypnosis in the beginning helped to set the tone and allowed my body to prepare for the birth as best as it could so that when I got the epidural my body was able to progress. I also think it helped me focus throughout the entire experience and proved quite effective. I would do it all over again without changing anything. "

Carrie's Birth - Mom has some discomfort during transformation.  "No, it wasn't a cake walk. There were two hours when it downright hurt. But I was never out of control. And I was always able to use my tools, even when I couldn't coherently think of anything else. And I am loving telling all my friends who thought I was crazy that yes, I did it! My hope is that all the moms currently studying the course get that kind of satisfaction out of it.

Emery's Birth - Mom out and about until 2 pm, baby born at 3:55. 

Aliyah's Birth - Mom does great until transformation.  "All in all it was a truly amazing experience. I was not able to have my natural birth like I wanted but my baby was nice and healthy so I made peace with it. I was able to use my Hypnobabies until having my water broken. I will definitely make sure that the next time around that I have a doula. It was hard not having that extra measure of support and experience available. I love Hypnobabies and am amazed at how much it helped me both during my pregnancy, during my birthing time, and post partum as well. I can honestly say I can't wait to experience this again...thank you Hypnobabies!!"

Auslyn's Birth - Mom had discomfort during transformation, because she had to be in a position she wasn't comfortable in so they could get a better "read" on the baby's heart.  "Hypnosis was the key to my successful and fast labor. All the nurses were so amazed and took my book to look at it and asked me question. THANKS AGAIN. I will use this method again."

Hazel's Birth -  Mom had discomfort during transformation, but is still glad she used Hypnobabies.  "I am so proud of myself for delivering a 9 lb baby naturally and glad I had the tools and support around me to walk that path. Any birth is an intense experience and using drugs (from my perspective with the first birth) doesn’t take that away. It was absolutely lovely to go through stage 3 of birthing and recovery without the drugs pulsing through my body or baby.  I would recommend Hypnobabies as a tool to any mom who wanted to try natural childbirth."

Christine's Birth - Mom used Hypnobabies with her last birth and didn't practice a lot for this one. 

Induction with Hypnobabies - "I don't think I could've made it unmedicated without Hypnobabies. I listened to my cd's throughout much of the labor and used my fingerdrop technique for all but the last 45 minutes or so. "

Tana's Birth - Hospital birth, long birthing time.  Forceps used to help assist birth.  "It didn't go according to my birth plan, but I am just so proud of myself! I had a really long talk with one of the modwives, who was really concerned that I shouldn't feel I've failed in any way because it wasn't the completely natural birthing experience I had hoped - and I don't at all! in fact, I still feel like I could leap mountains in a single bound :) The truth is, we had to adapt to the circumstances, and I think I did that really well - always staying practical and not losing sight of the goal - a happy healthy baby."

Alethea's Birth - Mom is comfortable until transistion... Mom says, "I thought the Hypnobabies was fantastic – it got me all the way to transition feeling calm and pretty comfortable. I think if I had been able to progress at my own speed that I may not have needed pain meds at all. It was also so helpful during the third trimester of the pregnancy, too, especially helping me to feel calm and confident about the pregnancy and birth and to sleep at night. I definitely plan to use it again for my next baby, and am recommending it to anyone who will listen:)"
 

Noah's Birth - This story has a small scary part where the baby temporarily gets stuck.  Because mom was un-medicated and able to tell what her body needed to do, Noah came out QUICKLY once she moved to the position her body told her to. 

Eric's Birth - Because of an issue during her first birth, this mom was very concerned about being overtired.  She chose to get an epidural and pitocin to speed this birth up.  This birth was much more peaceful and it made her husband a believer in Hypnobabies!

Reid's Birth - Kori used the HypBirth program.  Discomfort during transformation, but Kori says "The labor was much more intense than I was expecting, but I was so proud of myself at the end!  I'm not even 2 weeks postpartum, and I'm already so excited for next time!"

Mason's Birth - Fatigue from a long birthing time leads to Jennifer choosing an epidural.  She says "I think it actually all happened just the way it was supposed to, and I'm so very grateful to have had Hypnobabies to make the pregnancy and birth so positive in every way." 

Lara's Birth - Back Labor causes discomfort during transformation, mom has an unmedicated birth... also dad shares his viewpoint. 

Joely's Birth - Back labor causes some discomfort, but mom succeeds in her desire for a natural birth!

Teddy's Birth - Fast birth, mom didn't take the time to use her Hypnosis tools and was worried it would be as long as her first birth (31 hours)... she knows for next time to stay relaxed and know things will go quickly!

Calvin's Birth mom laboring in water, lost focus during transition when mom had to get out of water to have baby.

Isabel's Birth Mom's progress was undermined by a very negative midwife and poor position of the baby.  This story makes me wish Erin had a doula to help give added support to her desires. 

Evalee's Birth Mom get's tired after a long, labor.  A bit of Novacain on the cervix allows her to take an hour nap and then has her baby a little while later. 

VBAC

Carson's Hypnobirthing Birth - comfortable for the first 15 hours even with Pitocin, then I lost focus and ended up with an epidural.

Sophia's Birth -  painfree until arrived at the hospital, then there were a lot of distractions and mom couldn't hear the CD's, but she was still glad she used Hypnobabies, it was a very healing birth for her. 

Induced

Sawyer William's Birth - AROM and pitocin, mom was comfortable until she needed to lay on her side because of Sawyer's heartrate... choose an epidural and his posterior positioning required forceps delivery.  "The most important thing I learned was that hypnosis really works!  The last time I had pitocin I was reduced to tears within 45 minutes. This time, I was on pitocin in complete comfort for 7 hours, and could have gone on indefinitely if I could have continued to labor in an upright position. Sawyer is our fifth and likely last baby, but if I get brave enough to have a number six, I will definitely use Hypnobabies again."

Cora Fay's Birth Pitocin induced birth, epidural due to old pelvis/hip issue.  Includes great advice at the end.

Cesarean

Sara Rose's Birth - After many hours of birthing with no changes moms chooses a cesarean.  Hypnobabies tools help her stay calm. 

Leah's Birth - SROM, decision to have cesarean.  Mom says... I would love to share with people that even if things don't go as planned with a birth Hypnobabies/Hypnobirthing can still be SO helpful to your mental state.

Gabe's Birth Story- SROM, homebirth, pushes for a few hours and then transfers to hospital, interventions, pitocin and then decision for cesarean.  Still greatful she used Hypnobabies.

Eloise's Birth - Scar tissue on cervix prevents dilation.  A choice is made to do a cesarean.  Mom was well supported by everyone around her. 

Devon's Birth  noticed the baby wasn't moving, went in and needed an emergency c-section

Calista's Birth - Mom had cesarean at 30 weeks because of HELLP.  She found her Hypnobabies tools helped her stay calm and positive during the experience.   " even though I did not have the opportunity to finish the program (I only made it up until lesson 3!) I feel that what I learned up until that point was invaluable! I don't want to frighten anyone with my story because I was told that this is a rare condition. But I did want to get my point across that the hypnosis does work. I fell asleep most times while listening to my CDs and didn't really think it was working, but when it came down to the time where I needed to be calm and relaxed it did what it was supposed to. "