A selection of our hypnobirthing stories from Cornwall...

All client stories, names and pictures are published with expressed written consent.
Do get in touch to share your experiences!

Stacy, Penzance... "I'm just writing to thank you for all your help during our hypnotherapy sessions and to tell you how fantastic it was! Baby Ohran is now 6 weeks old and the birth went so well. After being strongly advised to have that cesaerean, I delivered him naturally in three hours. He weighed 9lb 6oz which is a lot smaller than we expected although he was very long!

Natalie, St Agnes... "I had the most amazing labour and birth. Trixie was born at home in the pool on 22nd March. Your hypnobirthing class created a mindset that allowed me to believe that birth was natural and my body would know what to do... and it did!  The MP3s really reaffirmed this. I was not afraid during any part and used the breathing techniques and active birth/yoga positioning to support a calm delivery.

My waters started to trickle at 2am and I went back to sleep eventually, for a couple of hours in between contractions that were every 5 minutes. We then got up and called the midwife at 8am. She came to check me at 11.30am and I was 3cm and fully effaced. She came back at 2.30pm and I was 7cm so got in the pool. What a relief it was to get in as it felt wonderful. With a bit of gas and air, she was born at 4.49pm in the water. A truly amazing experience.

I just wanted to say a huge thank you for your inspiring hypnobirthing class and your wise pearls of wisdom within.  Your teachings really resonated with me and I know you have made such a difference to the labour and birth of our gorgeous little girl (a surprise as everyone tried to convince me I was carrying a boy!)"  

Helen, Portreath... "So our birth plan didn't go to plan! Got pre-eclampsia and various other issues, as a result Hazel was delivered by c-section on 4th July [35 weeks] and is now in SCBU, but doing well and has always breathed and everything on her own - she just needs to fatten up and is in a hot cot. The attached photo is Hazel at two minutes old! Real shame we didn't get our home water birth but we did use our hypnobirthing techniques to stay calm in times of stress, and hopefully we can use them next time. The main thing is that Hazel is healthy and at the end of the day that is all we could really ask for. The Treliske teams were all amazing."

Charlotte, West Midlands... "I often think of that weekend when we did your course - I can honestly say that I think it was one of the best things I have ever done, you really did give me back my self-belief and helped me to trust my instincts and body, something which not only helped in Isla's birth and breastfeeding but with Gabriel's too and also just in general day-to-day life, from using the techniques for general pain control (headaches, etc!) to generally just being at ease with my body again."  
 

Judith, Truro... "The labour was 24 hours long, beginning at 4am on my due date. I was so excited that I couldn't sleep so woke up then to start managing the contractions with breathing techniques. The contractions were very irregular, with some as close as 3 mins apart and others 10 or 15. This lasted all day and I was able to use hypnobirthing to cope easily with this. As evening drew on I was more anxious about the length of the labour and about going into hospital. I noticed that whenever I was anxious the contractions slowed right down and then when i relaxed again they would speed up. I felt that my mind and mood were very much affecting this. At 9pm we decided to go to hospital, because I was just a bit bored and anxious at home and was hoping things would move on.
 
When we got there, the delivery suite was completely full so we were on the downstairs ward. This was not ideal at all because it was a shared room with lots of noise and too much light. I continued to use my breathing techniques successfully but the contractions still weren't regular. Eventually we moved into the bathroom and with the door shut and nice and peaceful, I really relaxed into it and things started moving along very quickly then.

The hypnobirthing breathing was absolutely essential as I moved towards transition and the contractions got really fast. Just when I doubted my ability to cope, the midwife brought gas and air at just the right time. The delivery suite was still full and I couldn't go upstairs! I think the midwives doubted how well I was progressing, until I got on the toilet and felt the urge to push! Then I was rushed upstairs very quickly and into the delivery suite. It was quite exhilarating then,as the pushing sensation wasn't nearly as painful as the contractions, I quite enjoyed it with the gas and air!

Lucy was born quite quickly with maybe 10-20 mins of pushing, and I really let go and had no fear thanks to my knowledge of the expulsive reflex. She came out 'in the caul' and it was all very straightforward. She is now feeding well and very settled after only 11 days.

I am so grateful for the techniques you helped us with. Ian was able to support me through the difficult contractions, and help me to breathe into them. Next time I will definitely have a home birth because being relaxed is so important! But I have to say the staff at Treliske were very supportive of our need to be left alone, and they didn't once try to offer me anything I didn't want."

Abbie, Helston... "Having had a negative experience with my first labour, I especially wanted to have a straightforward natural birth and I am very grateful to Alice for helping me to achieve this. She made both my husband and I feel totally at ease and with her positive support I was able to prepare for the birth with confidence. The hypnobirthing and relaxation techniques that she introduced me to were invaluable and helped me to stay relaxed and calm throughout my short labour. Her calm and positive support both before the birth of my baby and the encouragement afterwards made the whole experience totally fulfilling."

The midwives helped us into bed at around 7am. We lay there with our little boy snuggled in between us as a new family... I am not sure I slept at all really. I just couldn't stop looking at the perfect little person we had created."  

Klaire and Matt with Jacob in La Bassine. Birth photography by Rebecca Caroline Graham - www.Bambino-art.co.uk


Vicky, Penzance... "On 19th Sept at about 4pm I was getting out of the car to go into the supermarket with my 3 year old daughter when I felt a gush of liquid – I was 37+2 so was a bit shocked that my waters had gone as my daughter was born at 41 weeks but I felt really excited that I would definitely be meeting my baby in the next few days.  The night before I had finished everything that needed doing and said “ok baby, you can come now” and I had been joking with my friend that day that I was going to have the baby the next day.

I called my hubby but said not to get too excited as it could be days before anything happened.  I decided not to call the midwife yet as I didn’t want to be pressurised to go in if things hadn’t started happening to their timescales (waters were clear and baby was moving).  DH came home from work and he got dinner ready for our daughter and him and I started having tightening at 6pm that were coming every 10-15mins but were very manageable. 

I showered and washed my hair then listened to my CD in bed – the tightening continued through this.  I then had to write out instructions for my hubby as everything was on the laptop, which had died earlier that day!  Poor thing wasn’t at all ready and said ‘I better get a good night sleep tonight” I said that I didn’t think either of us would be getting much sleep and I thought baby would be here tonight or early tomorrow.

After getting everything ready (oil burner etc) I spent the evening sitting on my birth ball, watching x-factor with DH – laughing and breathing through surges.  By 10:30 they were coming every 5 mins and lasting about a minute.  We called the on-duty midwife who, it turned out, lived almost an hour away so I said I’d like her to come out just in case things speeded up. Midwife arrived at 11:30pm and read birth plan.  She was not really on-board with my request for no internals and said the other MW was an hour away so it might be good to know how far along I was to let her know.  (I didn’t really care whether the 2nd MW came or not to be honest – as long as we had 1 there!)

Surges were much stronger at this point but I just practiced my surge breathing and DH used shoulder anchoring through each one, which really helped. At this point I was just chilling on the ball, listening to a CD of my favourite music and singing along between surges. I found that walking around and leaning on a wall / fireplace helped too.  I felt really nauseous with each surge but couldn’t be sick.

At 1am I felt like getting in the pool and curiosity got the better of me so I said MW could do a VE.  I was 5cm and cervix was very thin and baby very low down.  I had been in established labour for 2.5 hours.  The internal was way more uncomfortable than the surges – esp as I had SPD.  The pool was amazing – and I just zoned out from then on.  The endorphins were making me feel great and I can honestly say I have never felt so relaxed as I did between surges. 

By about 2am the surges were getting really strong but still not painful just really intense. I start vocalising instinctively on the out breath and find it really helps to release the tension.  I am then sick during a strong surge and think I’m probably in transition – woo hoo!  I start feeling pressure but the contractions aren’t expulsive yet. It doesn’t take long before I start grunting and feel my body pushing. I ask DH to get in the pool and he comforts me.

At 2:35 the MW goes into the other room to call the 2nd MW but I know she’s not going to make it and I’m really glad that there isn’t going to be a complete stranger flapping in at the last minute!  The noise wakes my daughter but amazingly she agrees to go back to sleep until baby arrives!  The pushing completely overpowers me and is really intense just like it was with my daughter.  Not at all pleasant!  I didn’t actively push myself but my body was doing it all for me.  I was slightly dreading crowning as I remember this being really painful with my daughter but the head was born really easily (am sure the water helped) and I told the MW and DH that the head was out.  I put my hand down and felt a mass of hair.  And a hand and arm!  No wonder I was struggling to get him out – the same thing happened with my daughter.  He was a bit stuck because of the compound presentation and I didn’t think the his body was ever going to come out but at 2:55am with a bit of help from me, baby Jude swam into the world,  caught by DH. 

He weighed 7lb 14oz and the cord was wrapped round him twice.  Because of that and being stuck his face was very bruised but scored got 9 and 9 apgar scores. Established labour was 4.5 hours. I delivered the placenta in the pool – it just happened when I stood up to get out.  DH woke our daughter to meet her new baby brother and we all snuggled up on the sofa.

Having had 2 home births – the 1st without hypnobirthing, I would recommend it to anyone.  I can honestly say I felt no pain until the 2nd stage and It only occurred to me afterwards that I hadn’t even thought about using gas and air, which I had done with my daughter.  I felt completely different afterwards and people kept telling me how well I looked. The Dr that did the newborn check said I looked more like I’d been on holiday than had a baby! Needless to say, Jude is super chilled out too. I feel like I could do it all over again even though we are not planning any more!"

 

Alice, Gweek... "Thought you might like to know that our baby boy, Henry Rowan, was born at Treliske on 28th April at 4.13am weighing 8Ib 7oz. He was 12 days overdue and missed his induction by 4 hours! I was lucky enough to have a completely natural delivery, no small thanks to the hypobirthing techniques which helped to keep me calm (ish)! Stayed at home til my waters broke then we raced to the hospital and I had Henry 40 mins later. I was home by 9am! Anyway I just wanted to say thank you for the introduction to the hypnobirthing techniques. I think they did help, especially when I was tense about being overdue. "

Claire, Truro... "I found the workshop very positive and inspiring and felt it made the subject feel very accessible....  Isla May Dark was born at 7.46am on Friday 25th March, one day before her due date. My waters broke at 1.50am on the morning of 25th when I had got out of bed to go to the toilet. I dried myself off and went back to bed, however within 40 minutes I had to get up as from the time my waters broke I had started getting contractions, coming about every 6 minutes, so was unable to go back to sleep.

I phoned the on call midwife at about 2.30, to say that my waters had broken, that things seemed to be progressing, and that I was planning a home birth. She reassured me that there was no problems with midwife availability, and to continue as I was, but to ring back when I felt that I needed the midwife to attend, or if I wanted any other advice.

I spent most of my labour sitting on my birthing ball. Mainly because I found this by far the most comfortable position, but also, as my membranes had ruptured I periodically, if  I was up and walking around let out VERY large floods of water! After soaking 3 pairs of pyjama bottoms, 2 dressing gowns, multiple towels and a large number of maternity pads, I felt it was better to just stay put and hold a towel between my legs!!

After 5am the contractions seemed to be getting more intense and were coming about every 3-4 minutes when I sat on the ball or every 1.5-2 minutes when I was walking about., Neil phoned back to request a midwife come out. She arrived at about 6am and examined me, by then I was 7cm dilated, so she suggested if I wanted to give birth in the birthing pool Neil better get on with filling it, and she contacted the second midwife.

At this point Neil swung into action! He was amazing – filling the pool, making tea and toast for everyone, getting our daughter Evie up and collected by Grandma and Grandad, yet throughout remaining a constant support for me.  It took Neil about one and a quarter hours to fill the pool and I got in it as soon as it was filled, at about 7.25. After a couple of contractions in the pool I felt the urge to push and with 3 pushes (at 7.46am) Isla was born into the water and I pulled her up into my arms.

I chose not to use any gas and air, mainly as I'm not keen on the “out of control” feeling it can give you, and also because I felt comfortable breathing through the contractions, and using hypnobirthing techniques. I couldn't have asked for a more calm, relaxed birth, and I couldn't have done it without the amazing support of my husband."  

Vicky, Truro... "Was a great session that has helped my confidence when it comes to giving birth. Just downloading the MP3s now so I can start practicing. Really appreciate your advice Alice. I think everyone who wants to do it the natural way should give this a try." 

Daniel and Rebecca, Truro... "Thank you very much for our hypnobirthing session.  We both found it very informative and relaxing.  Well worth the money and will be recommending it to anyone who will listen." 

Lisa, Redruth... "Really enjoyed the session and the relaxed, positive atmosphere was a great help. The downloads are excellent, thank you!"


Andrea, Barripper... “With regards to hypnobirthing I can not express how fantastic it was and how absolutely helpful it was... I have recommended you to anyone who is pregnant and will continue to do so. Thank you so much.”


Heidi, Brea... “Between contractions I was well and truly relaxed... snores and all! The midwife was so impressed and wanted more info on you and hypnobirthing, so thank you from the bottom of my heart.”


Charlotte, Midlands... “Thank you so much for all your help – this really did make a difference, not just in the short term sense of helping with the birth but long term in that you have helped me to change how I felt about Noah’s birth and my ability to have a baby naturally. I don’t think that I’d have had the confidence to even try for a VBAC, let alone the labour and birth I’d hoped for if I hadn’t met Alice. In addition to achieving it this time, I not only now see my first labour and birth as a positive experience but the confidence I gained in my body through our time with Alice and by achieving a VBAC has helped me to overcome fears of a recurrence of mastitis and to try again – and this time succeed – at breastfeeding.  So thank-you Alice, your support and advice made huge difference to me, to us and I will forever be grateful.”


Rob, Mawnan Smith... “Thanks for all your help in the preparations. It all helped to make an absolutely brilliant experience”


Sarah, Falmouth... “I definitely support hypnobirthing and believe that if madam hadn't been posterior that I could have dealt with the contraction pain no bother as they weren’t hurting much at all with the relaxation etc....But our hypno-waterbaby is definately a relaxed laid back happy one!”