First Time Mom Camila’s Amazing Hypnobabies Birth During COVID 19

hypno-mom smiling up at camera while in bed nursing her newborn

First Time Mom Camila’s Amazing Hypnobabies Birth During COVID 19

“We were both safe and happy! My birth was everything I had hoped for and if it hadn’t been for my Hypnobabies practice, I am sure I would have had interventions to rush the birth of my baby before even reaching our active birthing time. I would have also been extremely nervous due to the virus and uncertainty around that.”

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I wanted to share my story, especially after Kerry’s live chat (on our FB Hypnobabies Support group) on dissipating and coping with fear around COVID-19. I decided it would be nice to share as Kerry’s advice really helped with my own fears as my birthing time (Hypnobabies word for labor) got close. Also, as my Hypno-baby is almost 2 months I think I may be the first mother in our group who faced these concerns and went on to have a beautiful, empowered birth and speedy recovery and I want us all to remember that we will all have beautiful births and remain healthy. Apologies if this turns very long!!

I live in China and my baby’s guess date (Hypnobabies term for due date) was the 9th of February. As the virus started getting more serious around early January, I started becoming anxious about my upcoming birthing time and bringing my baby home from the birthing center as we would have to take a taxi. As time drew nearer and I saw how clinical things at my birthing center had become during my weekly visits and learning my doctor had been unable to return to Beijing due to transport closures, my feelings of uneasiness grew.

I sent Kerry a private message on the 28th of January explaining my concern and she sweetly gave me some words of encouragement and advised that I listen to my Fear Clearing hypnosis track (Hypnobabies track for letting go of fears) daily if I needed to, I followed this advice and listened a few times that very day. Only yesterday, as she did her webinar, did I realize that my early birthing time began the very next morning and after only 3 nights of listening to the track my baby was born!

Early on the 29th of January, I had a gush of liquid that was enough to make me wonder if it was my waters but not enough to allow me to get too excited. I soon started having what I now know was my bloody show but yet no pressure waves (Hypnobabies word for contractions) of any kind. The following day I had my 39-week appointment and was told that as long as the discharge wasn’t bright red and the fluid had stopped leaking I should just continue as normal and should come in if anything indicated my birthing time was near. We went home and I began experiencing mild but noticeable waves that evening, we were so excited that we finally, once and for all agreed on our baby’s name as I bounced on my pregnancy ball.

The following morning things picked up a little and we decided to go for a walk and head to the grocery store and buy some snacks to take with us in case we had to leave for the birthing center soon. We had to make a few stops along the way for me to catch my breath a little but we were in such high spirits. All of this while having to wear our surgical masks and have our temperature checked every time we exited and entered any building and had to have on our personal passes that allowed us to leave and re-enter our housing compound. This, along with near-empty streets were a reminder of the seriousness of the issue at hand but I was not as afraid, nothing was going to interfere with the joy of birthing my first baby.

We came home and I showered, we listened to “Your Birthing Time begins” track (Hypnobabies reminder of all the tools and techniques for comfortable birthing) and tried to nap as I listened to my hypnosis tracks, by 3 am on the 31st my waves were close together and my partner urged me to head to the center, I thought we could wait but we decided to be on our way as we live about an hour away and finding taxis was very difficult due to most drivers being unable to or not wanting to work so we were better off early than cutting it so close.

Once we got there I was told I couldn’t be admitted without a cervical check and I agreed to one. I experienced some discomfort during the check and discouragement soon after being told that I was only dilated to a 1. My partner reminded me that numbers meant nothing and requested we did a non-stress test for our baby as I had lost some of my waters. The nurses agreed and as my waves were close together and due to the virus, my ruptured sac and distance to our home they would admit us.

We headed to our room and I experienced waves for the next 24 hours or so, I had my hypnosis tracks playing out loud and had a lamp with an orange light on to remind me to keep my Hypnobabies hypno-anesthesia flowing and glowing. I had trouble sleeping after about 12 hours and was offered something to help me sleep as I had been awake for so long. At first, I was unsure and then after talking it over with my partner, sister and doing a little research, I decided sleep was a good thing as I didn’t want to be too tired for my active birthing time and risk interventions as a result.

I still couldn’t sleep much, just a little between waves for about two hours but this was of great help. Once I was awake and unable to sleep my partner was “reading” me the hypnosis birth prompts (Hypnobabies cues and techniques) from memory which for me was a beautiful moment as we hadn’t actually practiced them together so I was not sure if he had read them. Around 6 am on the 2nd the doctor came to check on me and ensure the baby wasn’t stressed and asked if I could have my cervix checked and I agreed. We were at a 3 and I was experiencing some discomfort on my back so I was told I could get in the birthing pool.

Once the pool was filled at 7 am, I got in after setting up my orange light, sticking a 3D scan of my baby, a drawing I made and putting my hypnosis tracks, like Easy First Stage (Hypnobabies main birthing time track) on a speaker. Time went by so quickly and I was extremely relaxed and focused during my waves. After about 5 hours my baby started descending into my birth canal, I was still very relaxed and not pushy. My baby was so low I could feel her head a couple of centimeters from being low enough to go through transformation (Hypnobabies word for transition). Another 3 hours passed and she was still in the same place and I was very tired but still relaxed, my waves had slowed considerably but my baby was not in distress so the doctor was not concerned.

I received the most wonderful surprise, my own doctor made it after I was informed she wouldn’t be able to! She had to wear a mask as she had been traveling during the outbreak and I was asked if this was okay with me. I agreed as I felt safe and cared for with her in the room. She asked me to get out of the water and we walked a little, went to the bathroom and waited for the water in the pool to be changed. I asked for an IV as I felt extremely tired at this point and felt awake and so much better as my partner also fed me some snacks.

I got back in the water and my waves picked up again with encouragement from my doctor who was stroking my hair and reaffirming how smooth my pregnancy had been and how strong I was after being in my birthing time for so long. She made me feel strong and empowered, after about 30 minutes I felt my baby finally making her final descent, I felt a little pushy but my doctor told me not to push and let my baby come when she was ready, as we had already been so patient we could wait for her a little longer. So, we did. Her head emerged and we were all so excited, especially once I felt her hair, her body followed around 10 minutes later.

We were both safe and happy! My birth was everything I had hoped for and if it hadn’t been for my Hypnobabies practice, I am sure I would have had interventions to rush the birth of my baby before even reaching our active birthing time. I would have also been extremely nervous due to the virus and uncertainty around that.

I want to remind all the mothers who are worried about their birthing time and the safety of their babies, that through using our Hypnobabies tools and trusting the birthing process and the world around us, we will all have beautiful births and will ultimately be safe. My hypno-baby and I can attest to that! We already can’t wait for baby number 2!