Lisa, Stevan and the births of Rory and Harper
In the early stages of our pregnancy all we could think about was making sure everything was ok and our baby was safe and healthy. As soon as we had our 12 weeks scan suddenly all we could talk about was labour and birth. For me it was excitement and hunger for information and for my husband it was anxiety about what to expect and fear of seeing me screaming in pain.
I will always remember feeling a bit nervous that my husband wouldn’t engage in sessions and that he was maybe just ‘going along with it’ for me but half an hour into our first session Lynsey had him talking so openly about his feelings around our birth. I was shocked and impressed with her ability to put people at ease.
I could talk for days about what we gained from our sessions but after now using everything we learned for two births 17 months apart I would summarise the following three points as the game changers!
My first baby was so calm when he was born that he was delivered still snoozing. My second baby made her way down so gently that when she was ready to be delivered, she was born in just one GENTLE push.
We recommend Lynsey to all our friends and family and will always be a huge advocate of Hypnobirthing because of our experience with Born This Way.
In the early stages of our pregnancy all we could think about was making sure everything was ok and our baby was safe and healthy. As soon as we had our 12 weeks scan suddenly all we could talk about was labour and birth. For me it was excitement and hunger for information and for my husband it was anxiety about what to expect and fear of seeing me screaming in pain.
I will always remember feeling a bit nervous that my husband wouldn’t engage in sessions and that he was maybe just ‘going along with it’ for me but half an hour into our first session Lynsey had him talking so openly about his feelings around our birth. I was shocked and impressed with her ability to put people at ease.
I could talk for days about what we gained from our sessions but after now using everything we learned for two births 17 months apart I would summarise the following three points as the game changers!
- Knowledge
Lynsey more than satisfied my hunger for knowledge and answered every question I could think of about birth and all its ins and outs. I learned things about my body I never would have known. The more knowledge I had, the more excited I felt. - Ability to make informed choices. It really is invaluable having someone explain to you every option that should be available to you. Midwives are incredible people and I’ve yet to meet one I haven’t loved but they are busy, busy people and sadly they will often phrase things in a way that makes you feel you don’t have other choices or that they know better than you because they are the professional.
- Empowered
Having knowledge allowed us to ask ‘why’ and even sometimes say no when professionals tried to make decisions on our behalf. (Induction, random checks on baby’s progression through birth and even what position to birth in).
My first baby was so calm when he was born that he was delivered still snoozing. My second baby made her way down so gently that when she was ready to be delivered, she was born in just one GENTLE push.
We recommend Lynsey to all our friends and family and will always be a huge advocate of Hypnobirthing because of our experience with Born This Way.
Lynsey, Simon and the birth of Hamish
I was booked for induction 13 days over my estimated due date. I had already had 2 sweeps and had tried every trick in the book to try to get my labour started but my baby was too comfortable. I went back and forth when deciding whether to go for induction, initially it was something I wanted to avoid at all costs but I had got to the stage where I was really fed up and just wanted my baby to be born.
I called the midwives the day before the induction to ask for one last sweep and while I was getting it done the midwife said she had accidentally ‘nicked’ my waters. It wasn’t a gush as I’d expected, just a trickle which stopped after an hour or so. She called the hospital to tell them what had happened and they said that as my waters had been broken, I was to come into maternity assessment the following morning if I hadn’t gone into labour. I didn’t, so we went into hospital in the morning and after being checked we were sent to induction as originally planned. The midwife said my waters hadn’t fully broken at this point.
While waiting to be taken to the induction ward, I started having twinges in my back. I didn’t think they were surges because of where they were and as they were so light but my husband started timing them and was convinced they were as they were coming every 7 minutes or so. I still didn’t believe it so I phoned Lynsey who thought they were too. I was delighted as this meant that I hopefully wouldn’t need to be induced.
Once on the ward, I was put on a monitor and the midwife confirmed that I was having ‘contractions’ and that I was 2cm dilated. This was about 3pm. They agreed to wait until the following morning to give me the pessary to see if things would continue on their own.
I was told I would be checked again at 7.30 that evening. I asked if we had to stay on the ward and they said we could go for a walk if we wanted. I think they probably thought that we would stay on the hospital grounds but I asked my husband to take us to Bellahouston Park. It was a lovely afternoon and we walked for about an hour.
My surges started to get closer together and became a bit stronger but I felt fine. At about 5pm my husband asked if I wanted to go for something to eat so we went to a Bella Fresca in Cardonald and had pasta. The surges were coming regularly (in hindsight I think more frequently than before) but we still weren’t timing them. I just focused on my breath when they came and it was fine.
When we got back to the ward, they were really busy so said it would be a while before they could check me. I didn’t want to sit or lie down so my husband and I did laps of the ward. My surges were getting closer together (every 4 minutes or so at this point) and were becoming more intense but we would just stop and do the breathing until they passed and then continue walking.
After a while my husband suggested I try bouncing on the ball and as we were walking back to the bed I felt as though my baby karate chopped me and there was a big gush of water. This was about 9.30. From this point, the surges started to become more intense and were around 3 minutes apart. I got on the bed and my husband got me the hypnobirthing podcasts to listen to and did the breathing with me. I felt really calm.
A midwife came and put me on a monitor and was slightly concerned about the baby’s heartbeat. She commented on how calm I was and said she that thought it would be a while until something happened as I was ‘only’ 3cm. I asked if I could put my TENS on under the monitor and she said that was fine. A while later, the surges started coming much closer together and were pretty intense so my husband went to get a midwife to check me again. When she came over, she said she didn’t think I’d be ready to go to the labour suite but when she checked me, she looked really shocked and said that she couldn’t feel any cervix and that I was fully dilated. This was about 11.30.
They asked if I could walk down but I couldn’t so I got wheeled down on the bed so quickly that we had to leave our bag with everything we had packed to make me feel more comfortable!
Luckily one of the pools were available and I was allowed in it (there was a bit of back and forth at first because of the baby’s trace). The pool was really lovely and eased a lot of the discomfort in my back. As did the gas and air! The midwife said she thought I’d have the baby in half an hour. Unfortunately, this wasn’t to be. I felt like he was stuck and he became distressed and passed meconium. I had to get out of the pool at this point and ended up having an assisted delivery (ventouse).
Although this wasn’t the birth I had planned, it was still a hugely positive experience. As soon as he was born, I said to the doctor and midwife ‘I would do that again tomorrow’. This is 100% down to hypnobirthing and Lynsey’s teaching.
I felt calm and in control the whole time and my husband felt he really knew how to help me stay relaxed. I still cannot believe I feel so positive about my wee boy’s birth as prior to doing hypnobirthing, labour was the fear of my life. It ended up being one of the best experiences of my life and my wee boy is just the best prize ever.
I was booked for induction 13 days over my estimated due date. I had already had 2 sweeps and had tried every trick in the book to try to get my labour started but my baby was too comfortable. I went back and forth when deciding whether to go for induction, initially it was something I wanted to avoid at all costs but I had got to the stage where I was really fed up and just wanted my baby to be born.
I called the midwives the day before the induction to ask for one last sweep and while I was getting it done the midwife said she had accidentally ‘nicked’ my waters. It wasn’t a gush as I’d expected, just a trickle which stopped after an hour or so. She called the hospital to tell them what had happened and they said that as my waters had been broken, I was to come into maternity assessment the following morning if I hadn’t gone into labour. I didn’t, so we went into hospital in the morning and after being checked we were sent to induction as originally planned. The midwife said my waters hadn’t fully broken at this point.
While waiting to be taken to the induction ward, I started having twinges in my back. I didn’t think they were surges because of where they were and as they were so light but my husband started timing them and was convinced they were as they were coming every 7 minutes or so. I still didn’t believe it so I phoned Lynsey who thought they were too. I was delighted as this meant that I hopefully wouldn’t need to be induced.
Once on the ward, I was put on a monitor and the midwife confirmed that I was having ‘contractions’ and that I was 2cm dilated. This was about 3pm. They agreed to wait until the following morning to give me the pessary to see if things would continue on their own.
I was told I would be checked again at 7.30 that evening. I asked if we had to stay on the ward and they said we could go for a walk if we wanted. I think they probably thought that we would stay on the hospital grounds but I asked my husband to take us to Bellahouston Park. It was a lovely afternoon and we walked for about an hour.
My surges started to get closer together and became a bit stronger but I felt fine. At about 5pm my husband asked if I wanted to go for something to eat so we went to a Bella Fresca in Cardonald and had pasta. The surges were coming regularly (in hindsight I think more frequently than before) but we still weren’t timing them. I just focused on my breath when they came and it was fine.
When we got back to the ward, they were really busy so said it would be a while before they could check me. I didn’t want to sit or lie down so my husband and I did laps of the ward. My surges were getting closer together (every 4 minutes or so at this point) and were becoming more intense but we would just stop and do the breathing until they passed and then continue walking.
After a while my husband suggested I try bouncing on the ball and as we were walking back to the bed I felt as though my baby karate chopped me and there was a big gush of water. This was about 9.30. From this point, the surges started to become more intense and were around 3 minutes apart. I got on the bed and my husband got me the hypnobirthing podcasts to listen to and did the breathing with me. I felt really calm.
A midwife came and put me on a monitor and was slightly concerned about the baby’s heartbeat. She commented on how calm I was and said she that thought it would be a while until something happened as I was ‘only’ 3cm. I asked if I could put my TENS on under the monitor and she said that was fine. A while later, the surges started coming much closer together and were pretty intense so my husband went to get a midwife to check me again. When she came over, she said she didn’t think I’d be ready to go to the labour suite but when she checked me, she looked really shocked and said that she couldn’t feel any cervix and that I was fully dilated. This was about 11.30.
They asked if I could walk down but I couldn’t so I got wheeled down on the bed so quickly that we had to leave our bag with everything we had packed to make me feel more comfortable!
Luckily one of the pools were available and I was allowed in it (there was a bit of back and forth at first because of the baby’s trace). The pool was really lovely and eased a lot of the discomfort in my back. As did the gas and air! The midwife said she thought I’d have the baby in half an hour. Unfortunately, this wasn’t to be. I felt like he was stuck and he became distressed and passed meconium. I had to get out of the pool at this point and ended up having an assisted delivery (ventouse).
Although this wasn’t the birth I had planned, it was still a hugely positive experience. As soon as he was born, I said to the doctor and midwife ‘I would do that again tomorrow’. This is 100% down to hypnobirthing and Lynsey’s teaching.
I felt calm and in control the whole time and my husband felt he really knew how to help me stay relaxed. I still cannot believe I feel so positive about my wee boy’s birth as prior to doing hypnobirthing, labour was the fear of my life. It ended up being one of the best experiences of my life and my wee boy is just the best prize ever.
Fiona, David and the birth of Rosie
We started the new year with a bang, having made the informed decision to induce labour at 40+4 due to worries that our baby wasn’t growing as it should we were induced on the 1st of January.
Having been through hypnobirthing with Lynsey, we felt like we were able to make the decision, rather than have it made for us. Lynsey taught us to use our Hypnobirthing tools to block out negativity, which was particularly helpful when people offered us their knowledge of induction.
We decided to go with the flow, and stay positive. We spent the day wandering around the maternity hospital, laughing, joking and focussing on the excitement ahead.
When the waves began a few hours into the induction process I used the relaxation tracks to help focus my breathing and to ride out the waves.
Labour was a very quick process, and with the help of gas and air, in just under 5 hours our beautiful girl Rosie came into our lives.
The rush of oxytocin still pulses through our hearts each and every day since.
She is now 7 months, and a happy and contented little girl. One of the first things people always say to us is how content she is. This is down to hypnobirthing. The process of the classes relaxed us both, and I was able to work until almost 39 weeks pregnant feeling relaxed. My colleagues laughed at me when I told them I would “breathe my baby out”...oh how I love to be right.
Hypnobirthing, in my opinion, should be at the top of every woman’s baby list, even when you don’t have the labour you imagine, it is still invaluable to help you along the path to meet your little bundle of joy.
We started the new year with a bang, having made the informed decision to induce labour at 40+4 due to worries that our baby wasn’t growing as it should we were induced on the 1st of January.
Having been through hypnobirthing with Lynsey, we felt like we were able to make the decision, rather than have it made for us. Lynsey taught us to use our Hypnobirthing tools to block out negativity, which was particularly helpful when people offered us their knowledge of induction.
We decided to go with the flow, and stay positive. We spent the day wandering around the maternity hospital, laughing, joking and focussing on the excitement ahead.
When the waves began a few hours into the induction process I used the relaxation tracks to help focus my breathing and to ride out the waves.
Labour was a very quick process, and with the help of gas and air, in just under 5 hours our beautiful girl Rosie came into our lives.
The rush of oxytocin still pulses through our hearts each and every day since.
She is now 7 months, and a happy and contented little girl. One of the first things people always say to us is how content she is. This is down to hypnobirthing. The process of the classes relaxed us both, and I was able to work until almost 39 weeks pregnant feeling relaxed. My colleagues laughed at me when I told them I would “breathe my baby out”...oh how I love to be right.
Hypnobirthing, in my opinion, should be at the top of every woman’s baby list, even when you don’t have the labour you imagine, it is still invaluable to help you along the path to meet your little bundle of joy.
Joanna, Nicky and birth of Harry
Nicky and I absolutely loved our classes with Lynsey. Between those and some chilled-out bonding time with the bump all through lock down, allowing us time to talk about our birth story and our hopes and dreams for our baby. As a result, we both felt calm, in control and excited throughout the pregnancy and very positive about our baby’s impending birth.
I was really lucky with my pregnancy and, once I got over the initial 14-15 weeks of sickness, nausea and tiredness, I had honestly never felt healthier and more positive in my life! The last week before our gorgeous boy Harry was born though ended up being very challenging.
Through Lynsey’s support, we developed a birth plan that accurately reflected our own specific feelings and preferences: low lighting, soft voices, minimal medical interference, keeping everything as natural and relaxed as possible.
At 38+3, though, I had my checkup with the community midwife who measured the baby as very high on the size chart so sent me for a growth scan the following day.
The scan detected that indeed Baby Dodds was above the 90th centile for size but also and more surprisingly breech!! I was sent straight to the consultant to discuss my options and was advised from a safety point of view to consider the possibility of a C section. Unfortunately, due to Covid restrictions at the time, my husband Nicky had to wait in the car so we had to have all our conversations over the phone as the staff were keen, given the advanced stage of the pregnancy, that a decision was made before I left that day.
Using our hypnobirthing techniques, we weighed up our options with the consultant and decided to try an ECV the following morning, as a last resort for achieving the birth we had hoped and prepared for. By applying Lynsey’s tools that promoted a focus on the right birth on the day, we entered the ECV with the mindset that what was meant to be would happen and that our baby would only move if he/she was comfortable to do so and that the baby his/herself would ultimately choose the birth for us.
The ECV was extremely uncomfortable and it broke my heart to have to go through the challenging experience without Nicky, my wonderful birth partner by my side to support me. And of course, it was very upsetting for him to be on the outside, worrying and waiting in the car - and on the hottest day of the year!!! The staff were so supportive though and their presence in the room, together with my hypnobirthing breathing techniques and my bond with Nicky, strengthened through our classes with Lynsey, not to mention our chilled our superstar baby, we got through it!
Our relaxed, slightly stubborn little one, decided he was quite comfy where he was and we were booked in for our Caesarian birth 3 days later. Three sleeps till we got to meet our baby! How exciting!!
Much as it wasn’t the birth we had imagined, nor would we be able to put to full use all the techniques and exercises we had carefully practised, and really enjoyed practising, for so long, we truly felt that, through these tools, we were very well equipped to deal with this change of plans and to approach it with immense positivity.
We had a lovely quiet weekend looking forward to the birth of our baby and living out as much of our birth story as possible - long lies, big breakfasts, good walks and all our favourite tv shows.
Naturally we were both really nervous - it’s not often you get three days’ notice to psych up for arguably the biggest more important event in your life and we really felt the weight not only of this but of the fact that I and the baby would be undergoing a really serious procedure- it’s major surgery, which is so often forgotten about! Once again though our hypnobirthing techniques helped us keep as calm and positive as possible!
On the Monday morning, our baby’s birthday (!), we had to wake up early for me to take me pre op medication and were full of nervous excitement! I had a shower, washed my hair, and did my makeup - totally not what I would have expected to be doing hours before the birth but it was a pleasant surprise! And despite our anxieties relating to the surgery - Nicky’s more than mine I think!! He just wanted the baby and me to both be ok - our journey to hospital was considerably calmer than anticipated!! We had our “Upbeat” birth playlist of all our favourite tunes on all the way!
Nicky was allowed in with me right from the start and we sat together and waited in pre op- I was really quite calm now knowing that I and the baby were essentially in the medics’ hands, but Nicky was getting quite anxious about me and the baby so we did a combination of our hypnobirthing breathing and visualising and watching one of our favourite comedy films!
In what seemed like no time at all we were called through to theatre and immediately I was asked to sit on the bed for the anaesthetic injection in my back - once again a moment for the breathing and relaxation - for me for the pain, for Nicky for the worry!! As they lay me on the bed Nicky came straight to my side and from there until our baby was born just 10 minutes later, we relaxed and chatted, listening to our calming playlist, of which the surgeon was a big fan(!), waiting for that incomparably special moment where we saw our baby for the very first time!!
We opted for a gentle C section, where the curtain was dropped for us to fully see our baby’s first moment in the world, Nicky announced the sex, and he was brought straight to us for cuddles.
It truly was the happiest most magical moment of our life and we were so grateful for Lynsey’s classes and techniques which gave us the strength to stay calm, be present and really enjoy it.
Nicky and I absolutely loved our classes with Lynsey. Between those and some chilled-out bonding time with the bump all through lock down, allowing us time to talk about our birth story and our hopes and dreams for our baby. As a result, we both felt calm, in control and excited throughout the pregnancy and very positive about our baby’s impending birth.
I was really lucky with my pregnancy and, once I got over the initial 14-15 weeks of sickness, nausea and tiredness, I had honestly never felt healthier and more positive in my life! The last week before our gorgeous boy Harry was born though ended up being very challenging.
Through Lynsey’s support, we developed a birth plan that accurately reflected our own specific feelings and preferences: low lighting, soft voices, minimal medical interference, keeping everything as natural and relaxed as possible.
At 38+3, though, I had my checkup with the community midwife who measured the baby as very high on the size chart so sent me for a growth scan the following day.
The scan detected that indeed Baby Dodds was above the 90th centile for size but also and more surprisingly breech!! I was sent straight to the consultant to discuss my options and was advised from a safety point of view to consider the possibility of a C section. Unfortunately, due to Covid restrictions at the time, my husband Nicky had to wait in the car so we had to have all our conversations over the phone as the staff were keen, given the advanced stage of the pregnancy, that a decision was made before I left that day.
Using our hypnobirthing techniques, we weighed up our options with the consultant and decided to try an ECV the following morning, as a last resort for achieving the birth we had hoped and prepared for. By applying Lynsey’s tools that promoted a focus on the right birth on the day, we entered the ECV with the mindset that what was meant to be would happen and that our baby would only move if he/she was comfortable to do so and that the baby his/herself would ultimately choose the birth for us.
The ECV was extremely uncomfortable and it broke my heart to have to go through the challenging experience without Nicky, my wonderful birth partner by my side to support me. And of course, it was very upsetting for him to be on the outside, worrying and waiting in the car - and on the hottest day of the year!!! The staff were so supportive though and their presence in the room, together with my hypnobirthing breathing techniques and my bond with Nicky, strengthened through our classes with Lynsey, not to mention our chilled our superstar baby, we got through it!
Our relaxed, slightly stubborn little one, decided he was quite comfy where he was and we were booked in for our Caesarian birth 3 days later. Three sleeps till we got to meet our baby! How exciting!!
Much as it wasn’t the birth we had imagined, nor would we be able to put to full use all the techniques and exercises we had carefully practised, and really enjoyed practising, for so long, we truly felt that, through these tools, we were very well equipped to deal with this change of plans and to approach it with immense positivity.
We had a lovely quiet weekend looking forward to the birth of our baby and living out as much of our birth story as possible - long lies, big breakfasts, good walks and all our favourite tv shows.
Naturally we were both really nervous - it’s not often you get three days’ notice to psych up for arguably the biggest more important event in your life and we really felt the weight not only of this but of the fact that I and the baby would be undergoing a really serious procedure- it’s major surgery, which is so often forgotten about! Once again though our hypnobirthing techniques helped us keep as calm and positive as possible!
On the Monday morning, our baby’s birthday (!), we had to wake up early for me to take me pre op medication and were full of nervous excitement! I had a shower, washed my hair, and did my makeup - totally not what I would have expected to be doing hours before the birth but it was a pleasant surprise! And despite our anxieties relating to the surgery - Nicky’s more than mine I think!! He just wanted the baby and me to both be ok - our journey to hospital was considerably calmer than anticipated!! We had our “Upbeat” birth playlist of all our favourite tunes on all the way!
Nicky was allowed in with me right from the start and we sat together and waited in pre op- I was really quite calm now knowing that I and the baby were essentially in the medics’ hands, but Nicky was getting quite anxious about me and the baby so we did a combination of our hypnobirthing breathing and visualising and watching one of our favourite comedy films!
In what seemed like no time at all we were called through to theatre and immediately I was asked to sit on the bed for the anaesthetic injection in my back - once again a moment for the breathing and relaxation - for me for the pain, for Nicky for the worry!! As they lay me on the bed Nicky came straight to my side and from there until our baby was born just 10 minutes later, we relaxed and chatted, listening to our calming playlist, of which the surgeon was a big fan(!), waiting for that incomparably special moment where we saw our baby for the very first time!!
We opted for a gentle C section, where the curtain was dropped for us to fully see our baby’s first moment in the world, Nicky announced the sex, and he was brought straight to us for cuddles.
It truly was the happiest most magical moment of our life and we were so grateful for Lynsey’s classes and techniques which gave us the strength to stay calm, be present and really enjoy it.
