Birth Stories

Kellie & Kye

Kellie & Kaye are such beautiful souls and gosh, they are so much fun. They did day 1 in a group class and then day 2 in their home as flooding stopped them from attending day 2 of our group class.

Our private session was extra special. The time flew by as we laughed our way through the day and finished with big hugs and sore cheeks from all the laughing.

I am always striving to do better and be better when it comes to inclusivity . I want every person that enters my class to feel ‘at home’ so when Kellie & Kaye shared their experience my heart exploded.

Remi & Lachlan

I had the privilege of sitting down with Remi and Lachlan and asking them about their experience doing The Positive Birth Program.

Remi was referred to me by Lachlan’s sister Katrina (testimonial below), who has been a massive advocate for this program since she birther her own baby. I had no idea Remi had hesitated booking in, until we started recording or that she had a perception that the program would be ‘to spiritual’ but I love it. There are so many misconceptions about ‘Hypnobirthing’ and what it entails. This program is the perfect blend of education and mindfulness and really does cater for everyone.

Taneil & Liam

Liam was all in from day one, saying anything he can do to make this journey for Taneil he would be honored to do. He shared that originally would have been one of those dad running to the hospital at the first sign of labour and now he understands the importance of being calm and the importance of staying at home as long as possible.

Katrina & Mandy Gorry

I loved every minute of sharing the Positive Birth Program with Katrina and her beautiful support team.

Her mum Linda and sister Mandi are the most dedicated birth team and it was beautiful to see how close they all are.

As a professional athlete, Katrina understands the importance of mindset and visualisation, so hypnobirthing seemed so fitting to help her prepare for a positive birth.

Katrina and Mandi were surprised how educational the Positive Birth Program is and how much they learnt about birth in two days.

Mandi is now feeling confident to support Katrina in labour and advocate for her birth preferences if needed.

Mandi is also excited to take all the skills and knowledge she has learnt into her third pregnancy and birth, when the time comes. She also wants her partner to attend the program so he can support her differently next time.

Their mum Linda has lots of experience with birth, having birthed 5 babies naturally herself. She was pleasantly surprised just how much she learnt in our time together.

They have become natural advocates for the program and sharing all they have learnt with anyone willing to listen!

Micaela & Tom

How gorgeous are these two, they were so in tune to one another in our group class yesterday.

These cuties are preparing for their second birth and there are a few things they would like to do differently this time.

Micaela stayed back after class to talk privately with me and as I walked out of the room I heard Tom tell Micaela how informed he now felt and he felt ready to support her in their second birth.

It literally gave me an oxytocin boost simply hearing it. 💕

I jumped at the opportunity to put Tom on the spot and share how he was feeling.

I am so excited to share the second half of the Positive Birth Program with these two.

Alice & Dave

Talk about alignment, I actually reached out to Danielle from @your.sacred.space before I was even pregnant, months before if truth be told. I knew that if we were to welcome number four, this would be our journey. After our third bubs birth, this was something I wanted for David and I. What Dave and I took home today from the Positive Birth Program with Danielle was truly something else.

Today we sat with 5 other couples and we explored the world of hypnobirthing. It was magical, empowering and honestly like a fear release around the topic of birth. We laughed together, we got in the zone and we became educated about some topics that are often taboo. Feeling humble and educated about this little ones journey earth side. No matter the path this little one chooses to join us, I know David and myself feel informed and supported by each other.

✨ What a great way to welcome the third trimester.

Jezey & Matt

Jezey & Matt booked after one of their friends completed the Positive Birth Program with Sacred Space Hypnobirthing and heard amazing things.

Jezey already had a positive mindset about birth, however after doing the program she realises there was a lot she didn’t know and she now feels she has the tools to ensure she has a positive birth experience.

Matt has witnessed a natural and csection birth in a previous relationship and shares openly about his opinion on Hypnobirthing from a male perspective

Sarah & Julian

Sarah & Julian own a fitness business and understand the importance of preparing your mind and body for a marathon like birth. They share openly about how unprepared they were feeling before doing the Positive BIrth Porgram.

Julian shares his opinion on Hypnobirthing from a males perspective, he believes it is something that all dad’s should do to help them prepare for their role as birth partner.

Melissa & Matt

Melissa was already a mum of two boys when she attended the Positive Birth Program with her partner Matt for their third baby. Melissa was 41 1/2 weeks when her baby was born and she shares openly how her and Matt used their hypnobirthing techniques and had a really positive and empowering birth. Matt was only ever planning to attend day 1 of the program, however he enjoyed it so much that he organised a babysitter for the older kids to be able to attend day 2. MGP is such an amazing opportunity for public care, if your thinking of getting pregnant or in your early weeks of pregnancy look into the MGP option within your hospital.

Josh & Holly

Josh & Holly have spent the last few weekends with me, immersing themselves in the Positive Birth Program. I was not surprised when Josh confessed at the end of our class today that he was initially skeptical when Holly said she wanted to try Hypnobirthing. Most men are resistant at first, not seeing the value in the up front cost. The knowledge, tools and shift in mindsets is invaluable. It doesn’t take long for couples to realise the program is worth it’s weight in gold. This couple have been a pleasure to teach, asking lots of questions and completely committed to do the work to prepare for a positive birth. Josh was happy to share his experience today to help covert others that are on the fence. Holly was a little camera shy !

Laura & Jeremy

Laura & Jeremy did the Positive Birth Program in a private setting in the comfort of their own home over Zoom.

They were not sure if Hypnobirthing was the right fit for them, however with antenatal classes cancelled at their hospital and after chatting to friends that had recently finished the Positive Birth Program with me, they decided to book a private program.

Due to Covid-19 restrictions the program was done over Zoom. Even though they had never used Zoom before they found it easy to navigate and thoroughly enjoyed it.

I am so pleased that they dived in with an open mindset to the potential of the online program.

Jessica & James

This birth story was powerful for me as a practitioner. Reminding me that everyone needs support in pregnancy. Jess attended my class as a mother and a midwife. She wanted to get out of her head and trust in her body. She has watched many women lose faith in themselves in labour. She also wanted James to understand just how important is role was. Just because she is a midwife, it didn’t mean she didn’t need his help and positive reinforcement.

Jess’s story shows just how powerful mindset is and how normal it is for some self doubt to set in towards the end of labour. All we need in these moments is lots of love and support.

Arthur William
39+3 weeks
3800g
53cm

Water birth

I managed to labour at home most of the day (2am- 2pm) with just the Tens machine and birth affirmations playing.

2pm I hopped into our home pool set up (thank you eBay) and decided they were strong enough I would check my own cervix and decide if I should call my midwives.

Self check- thought I was about 4cm with bulging membranes and bubs head felt very high still.

Immediately I freaked out thinking this was going to go on for another 12+hours and convinced myself I couldn’t do it. I also happened to be grunting/ involuntarily pushing at the height of some of these.

My midwives arrived at home to check in on me about 2.30. I decided I no longer wanted to do this, I changed my mind about the birth plan and I now wanted the epidural. I was pleading for the epidural!

My membranes ruptured and the midwives and I decided we were happy to go to the hospital. I should have known and trusted in my body and my midwives. But I was convinced this was never going to happen.

On the way to the hospital, in the car, I told my husband James that I knew they were lying to me and they weren’t going to give me the epidural. I made him promise me that he would get it for me when we got there.

When we arrived at the hospital the pool was ready for ready to go and they convinced me just to hop in and try it with a little bit of gas. I knew they were holding me off, because I do that for other ladies.

Merinda & Mike

Merinda contacted me when she was 7 weeks pregnant with her second child, she considered her first birth to be relatively positive but wanted to do it differently and avoid the pain relief that knocked her around.

When we caught up with during the lunch break Merinda shared how her first OB turned up and done an episiotomy after only 10 minutes of ‘pushing’, making the passing comment ‘We’re just going to do a small cut and help you get this baby out ok?’, just like I described in the class.

Merinda decided this birth would be on her terms, when she was diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes this time she had to have lots of quality conversations with her care provider to decide what she felt was best. I am so proud of this beautiful family and how confident Merinda was during the entire pregnancy.

Addison Margaret
Born at 4:22pm
8/11/21
Weighing 3705g,
52.5cms long.

Was a speedy 4 hour labour with no medicated pain relief.

Had an ARM at 8:15am at 40w yesterday due to insulin dependent gestational diabetes. Advocated to wait 4 hours to see if my body would take over without needing Synotocin. At 12:30pm OB said would could start Synotocin but I asked for one more hour and I headed outside to walk and dance and move. Surges started and headed back inside to the cool, darkened room for light touch with my hypnosis tracks and TENS machine and birthing comb. I was being really active so they struggled to get a good reading of bub’s heartbeat on CTG so I consented to a foetal scalp electrode. They told me I was only 3cms dilatated at that stage but I told myself that’s just a number and I knew my body was working hard.

A few minutes later her heart rate dropped really low and they called a code and 10 people rushed in and started prepping me for theatre. I remember repeating ‘I’m calmly prepared to meet whatever change my birth brings’ and actually felt at peace. Thankfully I moved around and her heartbeat stabilised. OB said I was now 6cms so had dilatated quickly in a few minutes. They all said I would meet my baby soon.

The TENS machine had been removed in the prep so just had my birthing comb and focusing on my breathing. I moved onto the toilet and focused on fully resting and relaxing between surges. I started feeling an urge to bear down during my surges and moved back into the room to lean over the bed. Midwife examined me and I was 9cms so called the OB.

I asked for a warm compress and they were all fantastic letting me push slowly so allow my perineum to stretch. No tearing or stitches required, a little grazing but overall so please. It was so beautiful to receive her and had immediate skin to skin, delayed cord clamping and she latched well within 10mins.

So thankful for hypnobirthing and being educated on all my options. I feel like all the conversations with my obstetrician in the lead up really helped. Being educated makes all the difference!

Chloe & Kurt

So proud of Chloe and Kurt for rocking the birth of baby Joseph.

Joseph Ronald

Sunday 17th October 2021.

Time: 10:15am.

Weight: 7lbs 5oz.

Length: 53cm.

Early morning on Saturday 16th October our labouring journey started. I started to feel menstrual like cramping around my abdominal and thighs. I just had a gut feeling that this was it, baby boy is ready to come earthside.

First point of call was to create the perfect early labour space in my home. Started to difuse Doterra Clary Sage, lit some candles, closed the blinds, massaged my bump with the beautiful “Full Bloom” blend from @aliceinhealthyland and spent the rest of the day on the excersize ball, walking & resting getting Joseph ready for labour.

Before we knew it, it was 9pm and the surges were clockwork 10minutes apart then 10pm 6minutes apart to 11pm 4minutes apart. We decided to head to the hospital to just get a quick check over to relax my mind as his movements had reduced. Baby boy passed all the checks & we got sent home with some codine and orders to try and get some rest. 4:30am the surges were 2min apart and coming in strong for 1minute at a time. Time to go back to the hospital.

Due to his reduced movments, we had to be monitored with the transducer. We spent the first 2hrs on the excersize ball doing hip rotations, gentle touch and anchor points through the surges.

As they came more intense and stronger we decided to use the shower as pain relief which was amazing. Unfortunately the transducer wasn’t able to monitor Joseph whilst in the shower, so we had to make the choice to have no monitoring or have Internal Fetal Monitoring which they would have to break my waters.

We decided to go ahead with the Internal Fetal Monitoring, at which point they examined my cervix and I was fully effaced but only 4cm dilated but could stretch to 7cm. They broke my waters and put the Internal Fetal Monitoring on Joesph. I instantly dilated to 7cm and it was all systems ago. Got back into the shower to get through the 2hrs.

We decided to head out of the shower as I felt the urge to push, I just new it was time. The midwife’s gave me a quick check to ensure that Joseph and I were ready to go. The first few surges I was laid on my back in stirrups. Something clicked and I came back into my body and reminded the midwife’s this is not how I want to birth my son.

I slowly was able to turn around onto all fours and use gravity to help. Unfortunately his heartrate was dropping and was showing signs of distress, so we had to reposition after every few surges to ensure he was happy. Finally Joseph was being to crown and I was kneeling over the bed. I had my partner and mum motivating and soothing me after each surge. I have never felt more supported in my life, it was truly a magical moment. I felt the sudden pressure and burning leave my body and I knew his head was out. One final surge and Joseph was earthside. I leant back and instantly picked him up off the bed and had skin to skin contact interrupted for 1 hour. Absorbing all of the oxytocin in the room.

So many happy tears. We did it !!!!!

Kristy & Jared

A beautiful and empowering birth story shared from dads perspective.

The love between these two was intoxicating and I am so excited to hear such a beautiful birth story from a dad’s perspective.

We had ourselves a little miracle at 12:07am on Monday 14th June.

I just wanted to:
1. Thankyou for all I learned in our class. I found myself completely prepared for the entire experience and the little lessons and techniques I learned I truly believe made for the most special experience I’ve had in my life.

2. I wanted to share with you the experience from my perspective.

It was a relaxing Sunday. Kristy was 40 weeks plus 3 days and whilst we were anxiously anticipating the arrival of our little man we were in no way worried about what was coming. Kristy had experienced some small leaking in the lead up and whilst we weren’t sure what that was on this day at around 1:20pm when she looked at me while we lay on the lounge and said “my waters just broke” I knew without a doubt this was the moment we’d been waiting on.

Kristy had a small freak out/adrenaline response but I remained completely calm and talked her through that moment. From there our hypnobirthing lessons kicked in and it was a process we didn’t relinquish for the entire process. Her surges began 20 minutes after her waters broke. We set up a safe, dark place with candles lit and music and affirmations going. We quickly learned which positions were working best for her, let the midwives know what was happening and stuck to our processes between surges. Constantly reminding her of her beauty as a woman and the importance of mentally and physically relaxing between surges. Utilizing light touch and pressure massages.

Without the lessons learned around transition and the types of reactions she would have I doubt I could have stayed as calm and controlled as I did. I knew that when she was screaming that she couldn’t do it any more it was merely a physical response, as she was completely mentally engaged and receptive to the midwife and I letting her know her power as a woman between them. Constantly affirming she could and would do this. I never doubted for a moment she would. Constantly moving and rotating positions in the bath over that 3 hour period.

As a trio (midwife, Kristy and I) we made the decision just before midnight to move her to the shower whilst sitting on the ball. Within a couple minutes of this move she clearly and loudly let us know that she needed to push. I will never forget that moment and the clarity with which she told us it was time. I knew my son was coming.

Whilst I had planned if possible to receive him it turned out in this situation Kristy was desperate for me to hold her weight while she was in a squatting position to give birth. Whilst I didn’t get to receive him I felt my strength as a man was crucial to her. She needed me and I provided. She gave birth in this position and our midwife passed our boy straight back up to her and he was ours.

We had delayed cord clamping post birth and hours of skin to skin before any measuring or checking, a truly amazing time. I actually can’t put into words how I feel after watching her have this experience. I’m just grateful and blessed to have been a part of it and believe in my heart your course was a huge reason we were able to have this. Our midwives were also amazing and supported our journey all the way through, even pushing her to see it out in her hardest times. They commented themselves when it was over how amazing it was to be part of a natural birth, without intervention, as it is rare for them nowadays.

Katie & Peter

So excited to hear of little Eddie’s safe arrival.

Just thought I’d share a quick run down of little Eddie’s birth. I went to my OB appointment on Friday which was his EDD and we decided on a stretch and sweep and I ended up being 3cm dilated. I left feeling good but also didn’t get my hopes up that much would happen. Got home and had some cramps so sat on my ball and rocked and bounced as I have done most afternoons and by the time Peter finished work I was having them a few mins apart so we set up our space with candles and I got out the oils and tens machine and we were ready for what we thought might just be a night at home of working through the beginnings of labour. After timing these cramps they were getting close and a few were super intense but I was still thinking it was a silly idea to bother the hospital. I had a couple more though where I was very vocal 😂 so we called and went in around 6pm – didn’t even get time to put a track on. Got in the car and it was clear we had made the right choice.

Got to hospital and I had a vaginal exam and was 5/6cm and hopped immediately into shower where Pete was amazing and kept me breathing through the contractions as best he could. I laboured there with him till around 11:30pm because after a pop and bloody show the midwife wanted to check my dilation. I was 9cm so had morphine injection and then it was time to give pushing a go. I used the gas and pushed and pushed til 3:30am. At this point my OB was super happy with my efforts but he just wasn’t coming past the tight turn so she asked if I wanted to try the vacuum. I was still full of energy and asked about all the possible scenarios of this option and reiterated I didn’t want an episiotomy and she assured me it wasn’t needed and he was just about ready so we went ahead with it and out he came at 3:48am. I felt so strong and empowered knowing I followed my plan of no epidural and Peter was a rock! He absolutely nailed being my support from what we learned from you.

I cannot believe there was an 8pound3 baby in there!

Thank you for your part in this journey 💙

Miranda & Damo

Congratulations to Miranda & Damo, little Max is the sweetest.

Miranda had a very quick first birth that was positive but somewhat overwhelming.

This time round they wanted to be more prepared, calm and knowledgeable about the process.

What a beautiful birth story it is.

Max

On the Friday I just had a feeling I might be going into labour later that night or early the next day, so I had a chill day with Madeline, kept my mind in the zone, listened to the tracks and went about my day. I was feeling great- calm, relaxed, ready. I had irregular period cramps on and off during the day, but nothing significant. Had an afternoon nap and my dog lay outside my door, which she never does and has never done since. So I also thought that she knew what was up! 6:30 put Madeline to bed, cramping was becoming a little more frequent and a bit stronger. Had a shower and it was SO GOOD. And then the cramps we’re getting regular so I started timing them and figured I’d go to bed nice and early. 7pm Damo offered to do light touch before bed and some massage/anchor points because I said that my contractions seemed to be starting. They were about 15minutes apart. Not long after sitting on the birth ball and doing the light touch, all of a sudden my contractions started getting much closer, like 8 minutes apart, then 7, then 5, back to 8, then 6, then 4…and so on. I walked around for about half an hour to see how I’d go but then I called my midwife, she said I could either make the call and come in, or hang out for a little longer and see how I am doing in 20 minutes or so and call back. I hung up, but then called right back to say nope, I just had a feeling things were moving on.

We called Damo’s mum, she was at ours in 15 minutes. We left home at 8:45pm and my contractions were getting much stronger and staying consistently close. I was so calm, Damo’s mum couldn’t believe how calm I was. I kept walking and breathing and we kept the house dark and calm. I kept in touch with my midwife over the phone in the car and then my waters broke 10 minutes away from the hospital and I was pretty uncomfortable and had so much pressure, but I knew I’d be fine. I was breathing so calmly through everything. Damo was so calm as well. We arrived at the hospital and as soon as I went in the room I knew I was transitioning. I just walked into the bathroom, my midwife asked if she could check the amniotic fluid and then examine me, but I said there’s no way, I’m so uncomfortable and there’s so much pressure. I basically stripped off, walked past everyone, and hopped on the bed on all fours and I knew it was go time. Poor Damo couldn’t do much to help in terms of touch or pressure because I was beyond that stage. I couldn’t get in the bath, although the room looked so lovely with the water, fairy lights, diffuser etc. it was so dark and calm. Georgia (midwife) checked bubs heartbeat with the Doppler and he was 120bpm and she could see I was very close (bubs head/the bump on my spine) then bubs heart rate dropped to 60 so Georgia asked if I could hop on my back. She knew I didn’t want to but wanted to make sure bub was okay. He was staying at 60bpm and they didn’t want to have to intervene but said I would need to try and push him out sooner rather than later. I knew I could do it, I remembered the back pressure from last time and I knew I was close, so I just breathed through the contractions and Damo was so amazing and guiding me through it, especially when he saw the head. No one coaching me to push, it was very much my body and I felt very in control (apart from the fact I needed to get him out to avoid anything…but I think that made me more determined) 4 minutes of pushing and Max was born and it was the best feeling and biggest surprise to have a boy!

We did delayed cord clamping but I did have the oxytocin injection to get my placenta out once the cord was cut. Damo was so great and off his own accord he asked questions/risks etc about it prior and we discussed it and I opted for it, purely because I was bleeding a bit and the birth was so fast they wanted to make sure I was okay. All was good and Max was totally healthy. He was skin to skin and on my breast for hours after. I had a very minimal tear, 3-4 stitches and I was done. I felt so empowered and in control. I honestly couldn’t have had a better birth. I am so grateful to have two positive birth experiences to share with my children and family/friends. I honestly just want to preach to all the pregnant women in my life about how birth can be calm and positive and not scary and painful! It was the best experience and I felt totally prepared. I knew all about the stages of labour, the various hormones, the transition and adrenaline stages, I just felt like I knew exactly what my body was doing.

Thank you so much for all you did to help us understand everything! It was the best experience and I felt totally prepared. I knew all about the stages of labour, the various hormones, the transition and adrenaline stages, I just felt like I knew exactly what my body was doing. I felt like I was safe, calm, supported and Damo and I were both informed and ready- all because we had prepared, worked together and done the course. Damo was particularly amazing, he knew so much this time around and was the best birth partner! I honestly think it’s completely helped our relationship, just knowing each other a little more and having that awareness and level of support for one another has really done wonders.

Maddi & Tom

Congratulations Maddi & Tom, they did such an amazing job at navigating the twists and turns in birth.

When I first chatted to Maddi she shared that her partner was skeptical of Hypnobirthing. This isn’t uncommon with birth partners, so I simply waited to see the moment it all clicked and he saw the value of the program. It didn’t take long!

We did the full Positive Birth Program over Zoom. By the end of session 1 Tom’s admitted he had been skeptical, but had really enjoyed the session and was excited to learn more.

Taylor James

Born at 6:00am 12/03/21

4.7kg !!

My waters broke at around 10pm on 10/03/21 – I was 39 + 6. I didn’t realise at the time as it was only a slight trickle so I went to sleep. When I woke again at 1am, there was a little more fluid and I realised what was happening so I woke Tom to tell him. During my pregnancy I had tested positive for Group B Strep (GPS) and given my waters had broken, there was an increased risk of infection to bub so I considered going to the hospital. It was a hard decision as I wanted to labour at home and avoid induction and intervention as much as possible. I knew there was a high chance that this is what the hospital would suggest if I went. At 3am, I decided to err on the side of caution and presented to the hospital. After being assessed, the doctor advised that their policy is to keep me there and suggested I start antibiotics for the GBS and, as the surges hadn’t yet started, they recommended inducing me. After discussing with Tom, we requested to start the antibiotics but allow some extra time to see if labour would progress on its own. They agreed and we were taken to a hospital room to start the antibiotics.

By about 10am another doctor strongly advised we start the induction process as it had been 12 hrs since my water initially broke and reiterated the increased risk to bub. After bouncing around on my exercise ball and moving around the room for hours, I wasn’t noticing any progress so I agreed to be induced. As it turns out, the birthing suite was extremely busy and because I wasn’t in active labour, I was less of a priority.

As the surges became more intense, at times I would begin to panic but my midwife very quickly and calmly reminded me of my breathing techniques that I had learnt throughout the course. I was adamant from the beginning, I didn’t want an epidural or any narcotics. I had a tens machine and requested the gas as the surges became more and more intense. As the time neared 5am, I began feeling the urge to push. My midwives got me up on the bed on my knees with my arms over the head of the bed. We felt I wasn’t gaining much progress in this position so tried a side lying position where I continued to push. Finally in my last two surges, the midwife told me on the first of the two, I was going to push his head out and on the second, his body. Sure enough this was the case – once his shoulders were out,

Tom was able to pull the rest of his body out and place our beautiful son on my chest! While we allowed the cord to turn white, we enjoyed some skin to skin time and instantly fell in love. The following day my student midwife came to visit us in hospital – she was a wonderful support throughout the entire journey. She also reminded me of a strong and empowering part of my birthing journey . During the pushing phase I remembered some of my affirmations and out loud I said “I CAN do this … I am strong and this is what my body is designed to do!” We had a laugh, a little teary and I thought how grateful I was for having done the hypnobirthing course – thanks so much Danielle!

Lisa & Emmett

Lisa wanted a different birth for her second child, she had an induction and episiotomy for her first and the language used by her care providers had a big impact on her birth.

She decided this time she would be staying at home as long as possible. They live minutes from the hospital, so there would be plenty of time to get to the hospital …. maybe not 🤣😂

If your having a ‘big baby’ or you had perineal trauma in your first birth, than please read this birth story!

No interventions needed and no stitches required. Just some education and work on her mindset for birth and the possibilities are endless.

Michael
4.03kg

Meet our new addition, baby Michael! We didn’t quite make it to the hospital and he was delivered by my midwife/husband Emmett on our front lawn…covered in grass! But he is healthy and a whooping 4.03kg!!

I’d say I went into labour about 5 o’clock, but they were still pretty mild surges and was able to cook dinner and give my wee boy a bath. At 6.30, my husband dropped off my son at a friends place (we still weren’t sure if it was active labour or not but we thought it was for the better). I got myself ready, setting up tea candles and putting on my meditation music and got into my own wee zone. The surges got quite strong and I told Emmett to ring the hospital and they told us to give them a call back when the surges were 4 in 10mins. We timed them and Emmett let them know we were on our way. We went out the door and I immediately felt him coming. Emmett tried to get me into the car, but I got down on all fours and after two pushes his head came out and then he was out at 9.20pm!

We just wanted to thank you for teaching us the amazing skills of Hypnobirthing! I was completely relaxed and my birth was amazing…a little different but a good story all the same! Women really are amazing!

There is definitely more to Hypnobirthing than breathing and affirmations! 😂

Delighted to have him home safe and sound and finally wash the grass off him! Lisa x

Nicola & Linh

I am so excited to hear that Nikki and Linh had such a positive experience.

I admire Nikki, she had gestational diabetes and she made educated decisions throughout out her pregnancy and advocated for herself and baby Theodore.

Theodore George
Born 31/07/2021
3:46am
7.7 pounds

My surges started around 6am when I went for a walk along Wynnum pier. Was convinced all day they were just braxton hicks, or maybe the baby moving down and fully engaging.

Had a relaxing day where I went and got acupuncture and went for a swim with my husband. Also had chiro the day before with Liz @ HPC so I think everything was perfectly aligned for him!

We packed our bags before bed just in case, as I had been feeling him get lower and pressure in my pelvis/back all day. I think because I was so worried about induction I didn’t want to get my hopes up this was the real deal.

I called the MGP line at around 10:30pm to say think I might be in labour what should I look out for. My midwife wasn’t on so was dealing with another midwife who was super lovely but said oh yeah first time Mum it will likely be a couple days take two Panadol and try get some rest.

Linh and I went to bed and I couldn’t sleep at all as surges started ramping up.
Over the next couple hours things got more intense and had to go back in and get him to put on my TENS machine and then ended up calling the midwife at like 1am and 2am and think she just thought this chick has no pain threshold and I’m trying to sleep 😂 little did she know I was in full blown labour. Was alternating TENS and the shower at this point I don’t think I had the TENS machine up as effectively as I could because I thought this is only the beginning, thinking how much worse is this going to get!

At this point I said to Linh I feel like a failure I can’t do this I need an epidural if this is going to continue like this for 2 days. Little did I know I was in transition haha. I basically stood up then and my waters broke at 2:30am and I had the urge to push while still at home. At this point to be honest Linh and I freaked out a bit and I thought I might be having this baby on the bathroom floor.

We then rushed to the hospital with me feeling the need to push the whole drive. The midwife met us at the hospital and checked me and I was fully dilated and she could feel his head. She said ‘Ok this baby is coming now,’ and rushed around to get the birth suite ready. I gave her my birth plan and she was like I don’t have time to read this all, give me the highlights, which was fair enough as Teddy then arrived within 30 mins of us getting to hospital.

Overall it was a very positive experience. Feeling so blessed that he arrived how he did, when he did and to have such a quick labour (or not realise I was truely in labour!). I ended up doing it with no drugs which is what I wanted, Linh catching the baby and cutting cord and about 2 hours uninterrupted skin to skin while they were stitching me up. I had a bit of natural tearing but think that was to be expected with a 36 cm circumference head and such a quick labour!

Thanks again for your support during my pregnancy.

Louise & Chris

Congratulations to Louise & Chris on their gorgeous girl. It is evident you went into birth knowledgeable and prepared to make informed choices.

Doing the Positive Birth Program at 36 weeks made it all super fresh in your mind.

Willow Emely
Born 19/03/2021
2.98 kg

Willow Emely Mills was born on 19/3/21 weighing a perfect 2.98kg.

Willow was induced at 41 weeks after multiple conversations with the team at Hatch and between Chris and myself. Hatch don’t induce on the weekends so it was the Thursday night or the following Tuesday. Chris and I felt comfortable having conversations and advocating for ourselves and making a decision that felt right for us.

I had the balloon catheter on the Thursday night, lots of pain overnight and what I now know to have been very regular surges despite being told I wasn’t in labour. As I was only offered endone for pain relief overnight I declined (as I had never had it before) so instead used my breath work to work through the surges.

We were transferred down to birth suites at 7am where things escalated rapidly! We had a very brief chat with our midwife about our birthing preferences and how that would work with the oxytocin drip. Chris made sure the midwife knew I wanted to be mobile and made sure they changed the CTG monitor over as soon as they had an initial reading.

My waters were broken at 715am and I was 5-6cm dilated already. As bub had done the meconium poo inside me the pediatrician and obstetrician were both called to advise, bubs heart rate was also not coming up after the surges as fast as they wanted. Given I was a first time mum and only 5-6cm both specialists said they would pop in within a couple of hours to check on me.

As soon as my waters were broken my surges became a lot more intense, I used the exercise ball and tens machine and chris used massage to try and calm me. The surges were so intense and I really started to doubt my ability to make it through possibly hours more of it… then all of a sudden I told Chris and the midwife I was leaving, not having the baby and needed to do a poo! It was time! Chris said it was so interesting how my body and emotions changed instinctively when it was time to push and he is SO grateful he learnt this in your course and learnt about the stages of labour.

The midwife knew I wanted to birth in an optimal position and supported me to birth on my knees hanging onto the bed. It was the most intense pain I have ever experienced and I was provably the loudest I have ever been in my life! Again it’s so interesting when your instincts take over! The midwives allowed me to push when I needed to push and did not coach me, the only time she helped was when I had lost my breath and needed help to remember to breathe and bear down.

Little Willow was born at 822am, 1hr and 7min after my waters had broken and being 5-6cm!! The obstetrician and pediatrician weren’t at the birth but luckily we were both all good. I was definitely in shock for a few hours with how fast things had progressed, we had planned all these things for the birth and all we had time for was to put on some music and put the tens machine on my back!

We had 2 glorious hours of skin on skin in the birth suites and allowed time to discover breastfeeding ourselves. I was so thankful I had a midwife who was familiar with hypnobirthing and really allowed and encouraged us to utilise the skills… even if it was only for a very very short time!

The biggest thing Chris and I have talked about since having Willow is how we are SO happy we did your course and educated ourselves on birth. It was important that Chris understood what happens in birth and it was important to me that I felt educated and empowered, and also knew that my husband could advocate for me when needed. Although our birth preferences changed quite a few times (particularly after agreeing to an induction) we still felt like we had the birth that we wanted

Emily & Luke

Congratulations to Emily & Luke, what a journey you had. This journey showed you just how courageous you are Emily. I love supporting you in this massive journey. Baby Harriet is the sweetest.

14th March 38+1 I woke up at 11:30pm in a huge puddle of fluid, I pulled back the blanket and thought omg this is it, my waters have broken. We called the hospital to let them know and they asked for me to come in for a CTG to make sure bub was still happy. We arrived at the hospital around 12:30am CTG and blood pressure check, no internal examination was done. I was offered a syntocin drip by one of the midwifes but I declined. We went home and waited for things to play out of their own. 12pm I started getting irregular surges I used the shower and tens machine and was managing pretty well. At 5pm I decided I was doing to dance her out, well that I did. After about 40mins of dancing things went from 0 to 100 very quickly, surges came on extremely fast and hard 45/60 seconds long and 1-2 mins apart. I was using my exercise ball with tens machine and relaxation music at 7:30 pm we called the hospital and was told it was time to come in. I remember getting everything ready walk out the door and saying I think we’re going too soon, I was correct I think excitement got the best of us. We arrived at the hospital I remember telling my midwife that it felt like she was trying to dig her way out of my bum. The pressure was next level, they thought I could of possibly been in transition so they asked if I was ok to do an examination, I agreed (biggest regret), I put my eye mask on to keep the light out of my eyes I wanted to stay in the zone. I was given antibiotics as I had prolonged broken waters. I found out I was at 1cm and my body was labouring extremely hard. I felt so defeated instantly felt overwhelmed. I went into the shower which helped until I started feeling like I was going to pass out. So onto the toilet I went and I’m pretty sure I vomited on my midwife.

One of my midwifes kept saying are you sure you don’t want a table of something, this is only the beginning. I started to fill my head with self doubt (I look back and this part of my labour makes me sad) I laboured for a while learning over the back of the bed, felt like there was little to no break between surges. After an examination and a sweep I was told Harriet’s head was right there but my cervix was 3cm we just needed to wait for my cervix to catch up. At about 11pm I asked for pain relief my team agreed pethidine would be the best opinion to start at, I how ever was exhausted and said I wanted an epidural everyone kept reminding me of my birth plan and to start lower and go from there.

At about 12:30 I made the decision an epidural was the best choice for me, I was mentally and physically exhausted, everyone reminded me of my birth plan, but I knew for me this was what I wanted. After my epidural I was 4cm, I got excited to have a sleep and recover. Having the epidural meant I had to be monitored with the CTG and they then saw her heart rate was dropping in between surges my ob told me this is very normal and as long as she was recovering after a surge it was ok. The midwife kept coming back in and getting me to roll from side to side. Then I could hear her heart rate didn’t recover fast enough, my ob and the other midwife where suddenly in the room, I knew things where serious now.

My ob did an examination and said to me Emily your at 10cm now, she’s needs to come out now ok, you need to push. The room was calm and I remember not feeling scared, I knew I had to start pushing and soon I’d meet my baby. So I started pushing, I could still feel a little bit of pain and lots and lots of pressure, my partner was fast asleep on the floor a midwife had to put a cold cloth on his face to wake him up Soon the head was out, I leaned forward and touched her head, I couldn’t believe it. My ob told me on the next push she was going to give me some assistance (vacuum) as she needed to come out a little faster. I was then told I could reach down and receive my baby, receiving her was the most empowering and magical feeling. I was in complete shock. I got a tiny stage 1 tare and pushed for about 30min.

We waited until the cord was white and my partner cut the cord.

I honestly could not put a price on this experience. I am so grateful for everything you taught us. Emily x

Alice & Dave

Walking along side Alice & Dave in this journey has been such an honour.

They set an intention for a positive and calm birth and held themselves accountable.

They embodied every element of hypobirthing and achieved the positive and healing birth they desired.

Arlo
06.02.21 03:41pm 4.195kgs

I wanted to share the story of how our Arlo came earth side. Firstly though I wanted to tell you how much I took from Danielle’s Positive Birth Course.

David and I did Danielle’s course when I was 28 weeks pregnant. We choose to do the second half in our home at 35 weeks. We felt it would be a great course to take, given our experience with our 3rd darling. We had an emergency c section under a GA when our baby girl was 35 weeks. By doing this course it helped us to feel more educated this time round, to ask more questions, to feel informed and most of all to bring a sense of calmness to our birthing experience with our 4th darling.

Baby Arlo tried multiple times to come earth side from 29 weeks. I spent quite a bit of time in the birth suite prior to him actually coming at 38 weeks. Cheeky darling.

On the 6th of February, after many times of thinking it was go time. I woke up at 5am to a lot of pressure down near my bottom. David was getting ready for work, I stayed calm and told him. I’ll be okay. Who knows if this is the real deal. Just told him to make sure he had his phone on loud at work. Within 15 minutes I went from these light surges to the most intense regular ones. I called a friend of mine to come up and help with the children, I called my midwife to tell her and I told David to come home.

We headed to the birth suite. I had my labour kit and tens machine ready to go. With pressure I was getting, we thought our bub was coming right now. Little did we know I had gone from 3-4cm dilated the day before to 1 cm again. Bubs head was really engaged though. I was still getting the surges 4 in 10 minutes for 35-40 seconds. We decided to stay and try progress through the labour process. I had this feeling in my heart that I was going to meet our baby.

We spent the morning in and out the shower. Listening to the hypnobirthing tracks Danielle provided us. David kept saying some birth affirmations out loud for me. Then we would listen to our birth playlist as the hours past. We worked together through each surge. On the ball, back in the shower, on the toilet, dancing or on the side of the bed. We had tea lights the curtains shut and essential oils diffusing.

Come lunch time I got this pelvic pain and so much pressure. I couldn’t even handle an internal. We were reviewed and bubs heart rate was up high. We knew bub was a quite bigger than our other bubs too. Unfortunately I was just not progressing. There was thought bub was distressed and the shoulders were just not manoeuvring into my pelvis like my first two babies did so easily.

We worked through the labour a little longer and then sat down to speak about out options. Given the numerous times I have been in labour the past two months, plus never progressing all these times. We were given the option of a c section. Technically was classed as an emergency. But it all felt so calm. David and I made an informed decision with our treating team that this was the best option.

David kept reminding me of my favourite affirmation. I am willing to take on whatever path my birth takes with grace and calmness.
When we went in for our c section, David and I were still working through each surge. As they were still happening. I was spoken to about my spinal and I felt really calm about it even though I had a GA last time due to a failed spinal. I feel that my fear release I did with Danielle in my home about this really helped.

The spinal worked beautifully this time round, music was put on upon request and the surgery started. Within 5 minutes at 15:41 our darling had arrived. It was magical. We so surprised we had another baby boy to love. We couldn’t believe it. We now had 2 boys and 2 girls. Our Arlo was 9Ibs 4oz so 4.195kgs. Arlo had delayed cord clamping and skin on skin almost straight away. We did a quick weight and once we left the recovery I was able to do skin on skin for the full night. It was bliss !

A huge thank you to Danielle for helping us bring our darling into the world in the best way possibly, with calmness and feeling informed with our choices.

Mimmi & Andrew

I shared the Positive Birth Program with Mimmi & Andrew over Zoom just before Xmas. It was was lovely watching this couple connect and prepare for baby Lou over the four weeks we worked together.

Mimmi worked hard to bring her little ma into the world but he was worth the wait.

Lewis
24.01.21 03:41pm

My estimated due date came and went and at 41 weeks I started talking to my midwife about when I wanted to be induced and what we could do before to avoid the synthetic syntocin drip as she knew I wanted a natural birth. I did a heap of walking and ate and drank dates, raspberry leaf tea, used clary sage essential oil etc etc to get things going – and we also started with stretch and sweeps to see if that could kick things along. A day or so after the first stretch and sweep I had my show, and my midwife could feel that my cervix was soft, short and slightly open. At that point I was pretty over being pregnant and felt like my baby boy was never going to come out, so that piece of news gave me a huge amount of motivation. The second stretch and sweep took place four days later on the Friday morning. A few hours later at 3.30pm on the same day, my contractions started – 4-5 minutes apart but they were very short and not very intense. That’s when it all started.

A few hours later at about 7pm we had some dinner, around the same time I put the TENS machine on which worked incredibly well for me. For the next few hours I laboured away pretty well with similar time between surges, but they became more and more intense. I listened to my hypnobirthing tracks and affirmations which helped see me through the next couple days. My husband was there every step of the way, doing anchor points, light touching and just generally being supportive through it all. At about 1am (Saturday) I felt the need to be sick, but nothing actually came up. I didn’t manage to get any sleep all night because of my surges being so close together and getting more and more intense. At 7am in the morning on the Saturday we met our midwife at the hospital so that she could check in on things, I felt like I couldn’t feel Lou moving around very much and wanted to make sure that he was doing ok, and also discuss the plan from here on. She put the CTG and contraction monitor on my belly and had a feel of my cervix. Everything was absolutely fine with Lou and he was moving around in there, but because I was so focused on being in my own little bubble and breathing through surges I couldn’t feel his movements as much as I normally could. I couldn’t resist asking my midwife how far along I was in terms of my cervix being dilated, but she knew my birth plan well and asked me if that’s something I really wanted to know at this point – after which I agreed and said no. She did however say that I was far enough to stay in the hospital if I wanted, or I could go home and continue labouring at home. We decided on the latter. My midwife had also suggested that I do squats during surges and that I put the breast pump on and do 20 minutes on each breast as often as possible to keep things going in the right direction. Both of these things made surges incredibly intense and I continuously upped the intensity of the TENS machine to help me through. On the Saturday afternoon I started throwing up whatever little food and drink was in my belly, and although this, combined with no proper sleep for the last day and a half, made me incredibly tired, the intensity of the surges kept me motivated as I felt like every surge was bringing me closer to meeting our baby boy.

At about 12.15am Sunday morning, we decided that surges were too strong to keep staying at home, and we met our midwife at the hospital. We set up the birth suite with lots of battery operated candles, a portable speaker to play my hypnobirthing tracks, pictures of Lou from different ultrasounds and other personal items to make it feel like our space. After that, as my midwife examined my cervix, I had another surge which made my waters break, both I and my poor midwife were covered in amniotic fluid. I kept having more and more intense surges that were closer and closer together, and kept breathing through them and quietly repeated my affirmations – “every surge brings my baby closer to me”. My husband kept trying to get me to eat and drink little bits here and there to keep my energy levels up, but I felt quite nauseous and kept throwing up what little I could swallow.

At this point I felt like my surges were extreme and that Lou would pop out at any point now, I had about four surges every ten minutes and made loud noises as I was breathing through them. At 4am Sunday morning I jumped in the birthing pool. But after about 1.5h in the pool my midwife ordered me to get out of the pool, as my surges had slowed to only one in every 10 minutes. I think my body felt nice and relaxed in the pool and instead of things continuing in the same pace, it must have seen that as a way to rest and get back a little bit of energy. Up ‘on land’ again, my surges picked up to about the same level as before getting into the bath. I kept feeling like they’re incredibly intense and kept breathing through them, thinking I might be bearing down. My midwife does another examination at 10am and I am finally fully dilated, after hearing that I feel so motivated even though I thought that Lou would come out hours ago. My midwife and I discuss doing some active pushing. Although this isn’t the bearing down technique I was hoping to do, I am so tired and exhausted at this point that I feel like I’m willing to change things up as necessary to hurry things along. I try to push through my surges in a few different positions, but things are still not really happening. We discuss adding a very small amount of syntocin as my body and my baby have been going for so long and need some help through this final stage. I agree and at 11am the syntocin drip is put in at the lowest level. I continue actively pushing through my surges in various positions to find one that works for me. It looks like we’re getting pretty close and my midwife can start seeing my baby’s head. My husband is absolutely crucial for me at this stage. I am so exhausted and active pushing is incredibly hard work, but my husband is my biggest cheerleader and keeps screaming encouraging words and helping me through, the best coach I could ever imagine. He knows what I respond to well to during endurance challenges and races, and uses the same technique (times 1,000!) to encourage and support me. I feel so supported and loved. At one point he starts crying, I’m guessing it’s from seeing me work so hard and knowing that we’re so close to meeting our baby. I tell him to pull himself together and all three of us (me, my husband, and our midwife) have a bit of a laugh which feels like a nice little relief in all this seriousness.

At 12.30pm – still no baby – and the obstetrician is starting to get nervous about seeing both me and baby getting increasingly tired. He tells us that he wants to prepare the theatre to give me an epidural, do an episiotomy and use a vacuum to help move things along. This sounds pretty extreme to both me and my husband, and my husband asks if there is any middle ground between the two extremes, is there a step in between what we’re doing now and having to go to the theatre. The OB leaves to have a chat to his boss, and comes back a bit later saying that they are happy to let me stay in my birth suite and do the episiotomy and put in the vacuum there, without the epidural, and that this is what they will be doing if Lou isn’t out in the next 15 minutes. But he keeps telling me that I’ve got 15 minutes to get him out, and that that would be the best case scenario (another good motivator!). I keep pushing like a maniac lying on my right side and pulling my legs towards me with everything I’ve got. But eventually, my 15 minutes are up, there are about 12 people in the birth suite at this point, including obstetricians, pediatricians, midwifes etc – which is a big change from just being me, my husband and our midwife. The OB tells me he needs to get started and they change my positions to lie on my back with my feet and legs up on the leg holders, he’s got a plastic apron on and it looks to me like he’s standing ready with the scalpel. I tell him I can feel another surge coming on, and he tells me to go for it. I can feel the whole room cheering me on and telling me to go hard, to keep going, to push a little bit more, that I can do it, etc etc. I could feel the energy from the entire room and I think that helped me get my baby’s head just that little bit further. They told me that his head was part way out, and encouraged me to put my hand down and feel his head. It was incredible, and they even showed me through a mirror. That gave me the energy to push even harder – and out came his head (and his right hand!)! One final push and his body was out and I finally had my beautiful baby boy on my chest! What an immensely incredible feeling. He was the most perfect little thing we had ever seen and we couldn’t believe what we were experiencing.

After a 46h long intense labor, he was finally here. And sure, it was tough, hard work and extremely long – but thinking back on it now, I would do it all again in a heart beat. All the preparation we had done through the hypnobirthing course; the tracks, my affirmations, light touching, acupressure and eating and drinking different things, made us feel so prepared and ready for it, and even though it wasn’t at all what we were expecting, I believe that our preparation is what got us through it – without pain relief, and with very little intervention. A massive thank you to Danielle for preparing us for our big day, we couldn’t have done it without you.

Thanks,
Mimmi

Jessica & Ryan

Jess had experienced a lot of intervention in her first birth after being induced without medical reason and baby Addi was rushed away after a difficult birth.

Her due date was the 27th December, but Jess was adamant that she was not having unnecessary intervention this time. She waited for her daughter to decide when she would be born.

With only 7 minutes left of the year, Isla arrived on NYE at 12.53pm 2020.

Isla Elizabeth Thomas
31.12.20 11:53pm

Isla was born at 11:53pm so she just missed being a 2021 baby, it went well. It was long, I started having contractions around 1am on the Thursday morning and even though I was walking and doing all the things I was only 6cm at 10pm so they ended up breaking my waters and then it got pretty intense.

I hopped into the shower with the gas & air and delivered her shorty after.

I got the most amazing undisturbed couple of hours after birth, just laying with her on my chest. That was all I really wanted, just to be able to hold her after birth and not have her whisked away like Addi, so that was really special.

Thank you for all your help and guidance it really made such a big difference with how my birth turned out xx

Taylor & Dylan

Taylor and Dylan were the dream team when it came to practicing their Hypnobirthing skills. At 36 weeks they found out at a 3D scan that baby was breech. Dylan was messaging me in the middle of the scan, he remembered we had spoken about breech presentation in the Positive Birth Program.

Straight away they jumped into action, seeing the Chiropractor I recommend and practicing lots of techniques to create space for baby to rotate.

They used their B.R.A.I.N technique to make educated decisions each step of the way. With a quick ECV baby turned and they decided not to be induced and trust baby would stay head down.

I am so proud of this couple, it’s often when challenges arise that we need our Hypnobirthing skills most.

Hugo Keith Murphy
Born 14th of Dec 2020
3.912kg’s
52cm

Dylan and I were so excited. We spent the day relaxing, listening to birthing tracks and connecting with one another. By about 6pm my surges were very intense and I was unable to talk through them. They were still not very regular (ranging between 1 minute apart and 4 minutes apart). Although I was in a lot of pain, I was managing and I knew I wanted to stay home as long as possible before heading to the hospital. Dylan was supporting me through this so so well and we were comfortable and I didn’t have the urge to go to the hospital so stayed home. Dylan set up my diffuser, began playing music to calm me and giving me light touch massage.

By 1am my surges were extreme and coming regularly every two minutes. I had felt the urge to go to the hospital at 12am but I wanted to make sure I was truely ready and the support I had from Dylan was truly encouraging and beautiful.

At 1am we decided to go and get checked out for some peace of mind from the hospital as he was previously in breech and I wanted to ensure he hadn’t flipped back. I also just felt more comfortable being checked. When we got to the hospital I asked to be checked but I didn’t want to know how far along I was, just if it would be okay for us to go home for a while longer or to stay at the hospital. When I was at the hospital my surges became irregular and went back to being 1 every 10 minutes.
The doctor said it was up to us where we felt more comfortable labouring.

My waters had partially broken and bub was happy and still head down. So we decided to go home.
I tried to get some sleep but was unable to as my surges became even strong then ever. At 5am I woke Dylan up and said “we need to go back now, I can’t do this”. I had officially began to lose faith in myself. Dylan knew this meant I was more than likely at transition time so to honor my wishes of trying to stay home as long as possible he ran me a bath and began pouring water over me to ease my pain.

After some time going from shower to bath I said it was definitely time to go to the hospital. We went to the hospital and at this point I couldn’t speak to anybody or answer any questions, I was just working through my surges internally. During this examination I asked to be told how far my dilation was and I was 8cm.
I began to doubt myself and my ability to deal with the pressure and my partner and midwives could see this. The encouragement shown by my two midwives and partner at this point is something I will never be able to explain. After a short while I began to feel an extreme urge to push so I began pushing, pushing and pushing.
I worked with my body, changing positions to which felt comfortable. Pushing during surges. After two hours of pushing I could feel that my surges had become further and further apart. I was physically exhausted from using everything in me to bring bub into the world. Bub’s heart rate never changed and he was so happy the entire time but I knew in my heart that I needed some help to get him here. I was offered some assistance via vacuum assist and I agreed. Bub was delivered vaginally.

This is not the birth I had imagined but I knew that I and my partner did everything we could and were able to make informed choices during this time.
Although a vacuum delivered was not in my ideal plan, everything I really wishes for during my birth was honored. I was able to make it through with only gas as pain relief because of the support from my beautiful partner. We were able to watch the cord run completely clear and then Dylan was able to cut it. Bubs initial checks were done on my chest and then we had 2 hours of uninterrupted skin to skin.

Looking back on the experience makes me realise all of the techniques he implemented during labour and how much it helped me.

Shi & Joel

Shi is 19 and a Type 1 diabetic and there were many complications along the way, but she a warrior and she rocked her birth.

Shi started off anxious about birth and I am not surprised, the hospital definitely failed to support this Mumma in a positive way.

To see her transformation as we moved through the program is something I will always remember.

She always knew her baby girl would be healthy, even when the hospital fear mongered her. She simply needed the tools to take back her power and self advocate.

My own mother was 16 (just) when she had me and my birth involved every form of intervention for my young mum. So this story is extra close to my heart.

WELCOME TO THE WORLD BABY GIRL

Peyton at 8:29pm!!!
Weight: 8.2lbs
Length: 51 and a half cm

Came in at 1pm they checked everything at 2:30pm I didn’t even need the tape was already 4cm dilated. They moved me to birth suit and broke my waters, labour started really quickly so I didn’t need any syntocin which was amazing.

I DID IT WITH NO PAIN RELIEF!!!

Pushed for 60 minutes then out came baby.

Lots and lots of hair and her bloods are amazing and she’s feeding awesomely.

Thank you Danielle. I’m using all of my hypnobirthing techniques to get me through this. I wouldn’t of felt this empowered if it wasn’t for this course.

Shi.

Kirsty & David

So proud of this mumma, there were a lot of late night messaged exchanged whilst she was in hospital. So happy her birth was so powerful.

Bodhi Edwin Kaipuke (Bo)

15.09.20 | 05.09.20 | 11.06am

Waters broke Saturday night on the 12th in Hollywood fashion. Admitted to hospital with PRROM Preterm Premature Rupture of Membranes. Due to COVID husband wasnt aloud to be with me and was sent home regardless that the possibility of going into labour was HIGH! The emotional impact was more than I could handle to be honest saying goodbye almost broke me.

The doctors wanted to induce me if nothing happened by Tuesday and steroids’ and antibiotics were given.

Went into spontaneous labour Monday laboured quietly on the ward by myself only having panadol and heat packs.

I drew on every bit of knowledge I learnt during Hypnobirthing classes with Danielle and all the reading/podcasts. Doctors wanted to check my cervix (and do it regularly) but due to waters breaking I was not comfortable with that as it can cause infection and advocated strongly that I would let them know when I felt closer. On Tuesday 5am was when I finally asked for my cervix to be checked. Midwifes didn’t believe I was in labour due to being so calm #hypnobirthing and basically took forever to come down….I called my midwife and David knowing this bubba was ready and well nobody else was calling them! #toocalm

Husband got there at 7.30am, he walked in as literally as they were checking my cervix ALREADY 8CM dilated.

Rushed to birth suite!!!! Well I walked actually.

45 mins later… 24 mins of involuntary pushing… 4 deep breaths and Bodhi was born. His daddy was first to touch him earthside! It was perfect! He even was able to touch him as he crowned.

Birthed on the ground on my knees. No tearing, stitches or a great loss of blood.

My story is the reason people need to do hypnobirthing…. to have a sense of control and autonomy in ANY situation.

I find that with some people hypnobirthing carries a stigma around only being able to use it for “natural births”, this is absolutely not the case.

Kirsty x

Steph & Ben

It has been such an amazing opportunity to play a small part in Steph’s journey to motherhood.

Steph worked hard to change her mindset from one full of anxiety and fear of pain to courage and excitement.

We checked in regularly over Zoom after the program. Pregnancy and birth is a roller coaster full of highs and lows and you just have to ride the waves with an open heart and Steph did that every step of the way.

💜💙💚💛🧡

Ruby Evelyn
Weight 8.5 lbs

08.11.20 | 12.35pm

No one can ever prepare you for birth! I was scared, I was anxious, and I had no idea what to expect. But thanks to Danielle and her hypnobirthing class it really helped contribute to the safe arrival of our daughter Ruby.

I laboured for 12 hours naturally exactly on my due date.

When we got to the hospital I was 3cm dilated but the progression had escalated so quickly.

Within a 2.5 hour window I went from 3-8cm dilated and only used gas and morphine. While this can work for some women unfortunately for me it didn’t work at all and that’s okay because my husband reminded me to relax and breathe and put my mind elsewhere with every contraction. We learnt this with Danielle.

Focusing on my breathing and labouring in the warm shower helped me progress with the labour.

My midwife checked me again and decided to break my waters to help me progress in the final stages.

Those final stages were so quick and intense that it was too late for an epidural. After 30 minutes of pushing and no assistance required, our little smooch arrived.

Steph x

Ro

Matilda Anne

05.09.20 | 11.06am

I worked privately with Ro and her sister to prepare for her second birth. Ro experienced significant intervention towards the end of her first birth with her son. She had an episiotomy and assisted delivery, resulting with a further tear. After a drug free birth she was given an epidural and taken into surgery after birth to repair the damage.

Because of mums previous birth the OB sat down with her in her first appointment with the hospital and said ‘So because of what happened last time you are going to have a cesarean right?’. To which she replied no and contacted me to prepare for a positive birth.

I tailored the course to address Ro’s fears and we worked on strategies to ensure this birth was different.

This Mumma is one strong and independent woman and I was so honored to play a small part in her birth.

Things started to happen mid afternoon and by bed time contractions were 10 minutes apart. I went to bed however was up at 11pm with intense contractions. Laying down seemed to be worse so I paced the house and watched mean girls on the birth ball. Contractions were getting closer, about 3 minutes apart and by 4am I had a bright red bleed which freaked me out so we headed in to hospital shortly after. I was on the cusp of being able to use the bath so I used the tens machine and bounced on the ball for awhile before getting in the water. While sniffing my clary sage oils to strengthen my surges.

I laboured for the most part in the bath but my waters didn’t break until I got out of the bath and I ended up birthing her on the bed. It all started to get intense and when I got out of the water and changed position she was out in 10 minutes.

We got to the hospital at 5am and she was born at 11am! I am really happy with how it all played out.

I do have some stiches but only a 2nd degree so I am over the moon.

Baby Matilda stayed with me skin to skin while I was stitched up and then I was able to shower. A very different experience from my sons birth where we were not together after birth.

Thank you for your big part in her birth.

Ro.

Jess & Boyd

Olive Rain Patricia Buffier

05.07.20 | 8.43am

Nothing like we had planned, but in every way just perfect. 1.40hr labour and no pain relief. I listened to my body and breathed bubba out in 3 waves. I am amazed and so empowered with what our bodies can do! We arrived home yesterday and everything is just perfect. Thank you for teaching and giving us the confidence to have a beautiful birth Danielle, we are so grateful for what we learnt in your class. Jess, Boyd & Olive

Bailey-Kristiane-and-Jaiden - compressed

Kristiane & Jaiden

Bailey Jo Massey

20.6.20 | 2:26am | 3.22kg | 53.5cm

For 20hrs I breathed and moved my way through my surges, listening to what my body needed to help me through each one and continuing my day as normal as possible. I spent the final 3hrs bearing our little girl down who was born with her hand over her ear, making those 3hrs much more difficult than expected but worth every minute of it.

Danielle I cannot thank you enough for giving Jaiden and I the tools, knowledge and confidence to get through this experience in such a positive way with the best outcome I could have hoped for, for both Bailey and myself. Kristiane, Jaiden & Bailey

Brooke & Todd

I was booked in to be induced at 41 weeks+1 and although disappointed I was determined to still make it a positive hypnobirth.

40 weeks +5: I Started to have stronger, more frequent braxton hicks and persistent back pain morning of Monday 18th May. I could sense something was going to ramp up so we went to bed early. I didn’t sleep, I felt all of my contractions in my back and at 11pm I was out of bed on the gym ball, listening to my birthing affirmations. I moved into the shower and swayed through my surges which were now 2mins a part, lasting 1min.

We arrived at the hospital at 1am and was 4-5cm dilated. I laboured in the dark using my relaxation tracks, aromatherapy and with the support of my partner who used the techniques he had learnt in your Hypnobirthing classes.

At 6am / 7cm dilated I decided to use the gas as I was moving into the ‘transition’ stage. My waters had not broken so between surges so I bounced and rocked on the gym ball. Not long after I had the urge to bear down standing and on all fours for a further 3hrs. I was still 7cm dilated with my waters bulging and with an inflamed cervix.

Between myself, husband, midwife and obstetrician we made the decision to have an epidural and break my waters. Although this was not in my birth preferences, I felt that the clinical team worked with us. They kept the room dark and calm and I got to enjoy a break from the surges for 2hrs.

The obstetrician and midwife asked for my permission to coach me through pushing as it wasn’t in my plan. They set up the room, obstetrician in place and we were ready to meet our baby when the fire alarm went off, luckily it was a false alarm and we were back on track.

They used syntocin to kick start the contractions again and used a vacuum to assist. Baby’s heart rate raced and dropped rapidly as I pushed. I kept my eyes closed and put all of my trust into the team supporting me. Our baby arrived safely into the world and they honoured my wishes for delayed cord clamping, I had uninterrupted skin to skin for 2hrs and he latched during that time.

The hospital staff were great and were all extremely supportive of the Hypnobirth we wanted. Both of our midwives said they were excited to be a part of a hypnobirth. It was reassuring to hear my midwife using language like “breathe your baby down”.

It didn’t matter if it was the obstetrician, anaesthetist, midwives or paediatrician, everyone tried their best to honour the birth I had imagined. It was empowering and surrounded by love.

It was so great having my partner with me who knew exactly how I wanted my birth to be. He used light touch massage, had an understanding of the clinical processes, negotiated and was my advocate during each stage of the birth.

Thank you for everything you have done for our family Danielle. I remember not wanting to do antenatal classes at all before a midwife suggested hypnobirthing. Being first time parents, it was the greatest gift to have so much knowledge and confidence. With love, Brooke & Todd

Louise & Nathan

I just want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all your help with the hypnobirthing classes. I honestly don’t think I would have been able to get through childbirth as confident as I did without all the knowledge you gave us and all of the techniques and meditation to enhance all my natural endorphins, what a fantastic experience I had!

Miss Molly Rae Mckeown was born Saturday 18th April @ 00.54am

My membranes ruptured Tuesday at 9.30pm, we went to the hospital to get it checked and they did a sterile swab to check for amniotic fluid and then they discussed induction as now I would be susceptible to infection. I’m so glad I talked to you and got the reassurance I needed to trust my instinct and I asked them if I could push an induction out as far as I could without risk to the baby.

They allowed 72hrs which made me so happy as I was sure labour would come on naturally in that time. They just wanted me to come into the hospital every day to monitor the baby on the CTG scan and to see if anything had grown from my swab test, so we were still all good to wait, It was a long couple of days having surges at night mostly then they would drop off in the morning. We did everything from pressure points to massage and light touch to clary sage oil, hot showers, spicy food and bouncing on my ball. Finally on Thursday night I got surges again but this time they stayed and were getting stronger and closer together. I listened to my affirmations and relaxing music, I was even able to take a couple of naps listening to Surge of the Sea and Rainbow Mist. But in the afternoon when the surges were about 5 mins apart, I decided we best go to the hospital. They put me on a CTG scan again and said they would really like the surges to be a lot closer and I’m still better off to keep doing what I’m doing at home as we only live 2 mins from the hospital. So back home we went and I got into bed to listen to some meditation only to be woke up by a pop and a gush, it was quite surreal feeling but after my forewaters had ruptured it was game on, the surges came on hard and fast and another few hours at home I couldn’t stick it any longer. Poor Nathan was about to sit down and have his dinner and I was just like we need to go now ?

So back to the hospital again and she did a cervix check and I was 7cm, so they got me straight into the Birth suite at 8.30pm. Nathan was an amazing support, we were able to take a hot shower which was amazing relief. I had over prepared for the hospital but because we had done so much work at home and I was so far along, it all went out the window. ? All my lovely nightlights and aromatherapy didn’t get used, but at that stage I just wanted my baby out. We tried different positions and I got to the stage where I was exhausted and actually felt like I needed to lay down on the bed. I lay down for a couple of minutes and my body just got this mad urge to start pushing and I started to grunt really deep. It was a crazy feeling but the midwives were amazing and just let me do what I felt was natural.

After an hour, the babies heart rate was a bit elevated so the doctor came in and she changed up my position to be on my back which I kept thinking you’re going against gravity but for some reason it actually worked. I could finally feel the baby coming down and another 20 minutes later she was here.

I delivered her myself and lifted her to my chest and it was instant love. We had delayed cord clamping than Nathan cut the cord, it was a very proud daddy moment. I did have a second-degree tear internally but I couldn’t have planned the birth of our Miss Molly any better. It was such a positive experience coming from me being so fearful over my own birth which was so traumatising on my own mother that she had such bad PTSD and I always feared I would be the same. So, without your help I would have never been able to push that out of my subconscious mind, much love from the Mckeown’s ?

Braide & Gareth

I woke at 1am to a big gush of fluid as my membranes released in bed. After getting over the initial shock and excitment of this (and the clean up) I started to feel things beginning. From your class, I knew this was normal and not to panic, to get rest when I could and let my body do what it’s meant to do. By this stage my 3 yr old had woken up and came in. He wouldn’t go back to bed and insisted on being by my side. So we went to bed, him snuggled up next to me holding my hand and patting my arm gently while I put in my earphones and listened to my hypnobirthing tracks. It was really quite beautiful. I drifted in and out of sleep until my son woke me at sunrise.

Things started to intensify as my family went about their normal morning routine. I called the hospital and they strongly suggested I come in asap or risk not making it. We got to the hospital at 7:30/8am and Ava was born naturally at 9:58am. I’m so glad I stayed at home for so long and felt totally comfortable doing so. We are very grateful for the support and knowledge we gained from you and your course. It really did help so much and on so many levels. Thank you! X

Nikki & Ken

We welcomed our baby girl Katheryn Elizabeth into the world on her guess date on Valentine’s Day ❤️

She was born healthy at 3kgs 50cm and was a very quick birth – 3hrs from when we arrived at hospital for an assessment (I was bleeding quite a lot) to holding her in our arms.

I had spent the whole day listening to my hypnosis tracks and relaxing through what I thought were practice surges then at 7pm I went to the bathroom and had a huge amount of bleeding with clots which the midwife now thinks must have been my mucus plug dislodging but at the time she was quite worried that I was haemorrhaging so got me straight to hospital for a pregnancy assessment. The baby’s heartbeat was calm and my surges we quite intense by then and 15mins apart. They wanted to induce me and break my membranes but I asked if I could have an hour to see if she could come naturally. They put in a canular in case it was needed and I couldn’t have a water birth but my waters broke naturally 55mins later and I birthed her on my hands and knees then squatting in about 30mins. There was 2nd and 3rd degree tearing that needed stitches because she came so quickly but I was just so relieved to have her out and healthy with no intervention or pain relief.

Although I didn’t have time to play my tracks/change the lighting or put up my affirmations I truly believe that the time I spent using hypnosis during that day and every night in the weeks leading up to the birth helped us to all keep calm and focused. During my stitching I also used the glove of endorphins visualisation to help me keep calm while having the local anaesthetic.

Katheryn latched easily and fed for 40mins straight after the birth. We did delayed cord cutting though only a couple of mins but I had the syntocin injection to birth the placenta as I had lost so much blood already and was still bleeding quite a lot.

I have been playing the relaxation for breastfeeding tracks which seems to really calm Katheryn down, perhaps she remembers the music and voice from listening to the pregnancy tracks ❤️

Thank you x

Noah

Natasha & David

Noah James Emery…7 pound, born at home in the pool. Arrived safely, happy and healthy yesterday at 6.22pm. Couldn’t have asked for a better birth experience, your course played a big role in that.

Once I was in the pool, I actually spent a lot of time in that zone where I felt like I was asleep in between surges.

Dave was my absolute rock. He knew exactly what I needed and when. What to say and he didn’t leave my side and I got so much strength and security/safeness from him.

Dave mentioned how valuable the course was as it helped him to support me the way he did.

I will share more once we are out of our newborn bubble. Natasha.

Madeleine

Krystal & Fano

We had another little girl, we are so thrilled! Her name is Madeleine, she is perfect ? I went to the hospital on the Friday 23/08/19 for decreased fetal movements and got induced that night. I was 5 cms when my water broken and little Madeleine was born at 5:51am on Saturday 24/08/19. I had the midwife I loved on call and it was an amazing experience. I couldn’t have a water birth because I was induced but I got to have her using the ball and yoga mat which was what I wanted if I couldn’t have a water birth. The hypnobirthing was great, we had the tracks playing while I was having contractions which definitely helped. It also helped Fano keep me on track and centered. I would really recommend you and Kindred. Thank you for sharing hypnobirthing with us. Krystal.

Reign

Jess & Chops

Our beautiful little man entered this world at 3.44am on the 31st Jan. Reign was born via a beautiful natural waterbirth after a 6 hour labor. I felt so light and weightless in the water, I surrounded myself with tea light candles and calming music in preparation to bring him into the world.

Water birth wasn’t even in my birth plan, however it was where my body felt the safest, and be able to bring him into this world.

The hypnoborthing course I did with Sacred Space Hypnobirthing changed my life as I was able to focus on breathing and bearing down to give him the last few pushes into the world.

Our beautiful boy was born alert and awake and stared straight into my eyes like we had known each other forever.

We had different midwives pop in to have a quick look because they said they hadn’t witnessed such a beautiful birth in so long!

Thank you for the sharing the program with us and your support till the end. Jess

Eliza

Michelle & Adam

So it started on Tuesday afternoon around 3pm with just period pains and they slowly started to increase and noticed there was a bit of a pattern, I was bouncing on the ball while watching ‘queer eye for a straight guy’ haha I felt really positive and calm.

By 9pm I needed to walk and move while I was having a surge. I called the hospital and said that I thought I was in early labour, they said to ride it out as long as possible and hopefully that it wouldn’t fizzle out. I put on my hypnobirthing tracks to relax and save my energy as I was starting to feel exhausted, every surge I almost did a lap around the house and really focus on my breathing.

By 2am I was ready to go to the hospital, I woke Adam up (he was really sick and had fevers, but he was still really supportive). The car trip was hard! I had a clary sage oil roller and would just breathe it in during a surge as I felt like I couldn’t do anything else to feel comfortable.

I went into a room at the hospital and they weren’t sure if it would fizzle out, so I just continued to walk around and breathe. At 5am they asked if I would like to be checked, I was 50/50 about it but I did and found out I was only 1cm dilated and was a bit disappointed mainly because I didn’t want to get back in the car.

We got home around 6am and Adam went to bed and I was in our spare room on all fours on the bed with a pillow between my legs. I just moved my hips, breath and would collapse onto the pillow to rest in between each surge. I was really uncomfortable by this stage and was doubting myself, I think being by myself for most of my labour I just needed reassurance and encouragement…. but I now know this was my transition period.

Around 8:30am I was stomping my feet and moaning/being a bit more vocal (I had only been breathing, other than that I was silent), Adam rang the hospital and said we were coming back, WORSE car ride! Peak hr and school zones.. not enjoyable!

We got to the hospital at 9:00am, and the midwives quickly checked me which was horrible because I had to be on the bed, but I was 10cm dilated and ready to push! Which I thought in the car I wanted to push, but also didn’t think I would’ve progressed that quickly. My waters broke and really started to bear down, I was on a mat and Adam was on a chair in front of me, each surge I would hang onto the chair and pull back into a child’s pose (like yoga) and then would rest my head on a pillow on Adam lap to try and recover. I found pushing really hard, I hadn’t slept in 24hrs – I was lacking energy.

They wanted to put a catheter in as I couldn’t wee so they thought it might help baby move down, but then they realised her head was right there and was too late. The midwife suggested I turn around on the bed and hold onto the back of the bed and I would continue to go into child’s pose each surge which I really liked and Adam was at my face.

It turned a little hectic in the last 5-10mins as her heart rate dropped and they didn’t want to waste time, so I had to get an episiotomy. I was very calm still and wasn’t scared when the room filled with people. I felt like no time and she was out, which was 11am on Wednesday.

She had a tiny cord so I could only get her to near my belly button but she did have to be checked over by the paediatrician, so unfortunately didn’t get delayed cord clamping. I did get the shot to get my placenta out as I was exhausted and knew that she wasn’t connected to it anymore

We had an hour or more of really lovely skin to skin and did some breastfeeding, I think I was in shock and couldn’t believe what just happened! I was really proud of myself that I did it without any pain relief and laboured mostly by myself, and I really do believe because I was educated in all areas of the birth I wasn’t ever worried or didn’t understand what was happening

We only spent one night in hospital before getting the all clear to come home, she’s been a little trooper and loves extra cuddles at night time haha and breastfeeding is going well. Thank you for helping us prepare for a our beautiful birth. Michelle.

Pele

Hannah & Joseph

My ‘guess date’ was 19 June 2019. On 17 June 2am, my waters broke in a big gush. My midwife suggested that I go into hospital to check and they confirmed it was broken. They said I have 48 hours to give birth before higher risk of infection. For the next 40ish hours I was in early labour, I was going for walks, we went shopping, doing spinning baby exercises, using hypnobirthing techniques and just breathing through. The surges were getting slightly stronger but not consistent. It was actually a fairly enjoyable 2 days and Joseph and I spent some quality time bonding.

We went into hospital at around 8pm on 18 June and hospital midwife said they actually detected Strep B in an earlier test. Hospital policy was that they induce me as I was nearing 48hours plus Strep B. At this point my surges were coming on really strong and regular and even walking into the hospital didn’t deter them. They started to put the drips into my wrist etc, I remember turning to Joseph at this point and saying “This is not what I wanted.” My midwife arrived at this point and I was admitted at 11pm. When she checked my dilation prior to induction she found I was 6cm already. She did a stretch and sweep. I asked her to talk with the doctor and allow me to continue naturally. Doctor agreed.

For the remaining 6 hours of active labour I did a lot of spinning baby exercises as her head was slightly angled. These were really hard as I did them during surges, many times I thought I couldn’t go on! I felt the urge to push and asked my midwife to do another examination and I was at 10cm. An hour and some exercises later she arrived. Joseph caught her. 🙂 We did the golden hour and we delayed cord clamping until after the hour. I was absolutely exhausted so I fell asleep. Pele Rose was born at 5.55am 19th June, her guess date!

I lost significant blood after the placenta delivery and I stayed 1 night and checked myself out the next day as I was feeling good and the Paediatrician was taking too long haha.

I actually accidentally left my mp3 at home so I didn’t use any of the hypnobirthing audios! Still, I’m very thankful for having learnt the skills because I breathed and focused through my surges and I knew my body could do it even though at times my mind was telling me otherwise.

Pele is 2 months and 5 days today. She’ll be flying for the first time on Tuesday to Samoa. In October she’ll be travelling the world with us for the next 6+ months. 🙂 Thank you so much for doing what you do and I hope you’ve enjoyed my birthing story and being a special part of it.

Contact me today to book a 20 minute free consultation where I answer all of your Hypnobirthing questions and recommend the best course of action for you and your baby’s birth.

Contact Sacred Space Hypnobirthing