Not a post about elective caesarean.

Today there has been hot press about new guidelines from NICE that all women should get the right to an elective caesarean. As much as the poor Boyf has heard me rant on about this all day, I am not going to blog about it. Not today anyway.

Instead I have decided to blog about birth. I have only attended two births. The one in which I was born, and the one in which my daughter was. Both were natural vaginal births. Thus I only have personal knowledge about natural vaginal birth.

This blog is not meant by me to say, look how bloody brilliant I am, but, look how bloody brilliant birth can be.

This evening I have just started reading "Hypnobirthing' by Marie Mongan.  I am only two chapters in and I read the passage... "Reflect on how very special you are, as well as your feelings about the changes that are taking place as your baby develops." It made me think, about how very very special birth is.

I don't think you appreciate it when you are pregnant, or even immediately after the birth. But mothers who take the time to stop and think back to that moment, that point in your life, when your body did what it was supposed to do, what it was made to do. When you birthed your baby, and felt her on your chest, I really hope these mothers remember that moment with a smile.

We first notice how amazing we are when we feel the protective urge that we have for the little person growing INSIDE us! Then if you are fortunate enough to experience a natural vaginal birth, oxytocin (the love hormone) floods our body as it labours. Pain, yes. Uncomfortable, hell yeah! But torture it is not. Birth is not something to be feared or avoided. It is the most normal transition, which allows the existence of every mammal in the kingdom.

The same Oxytocin continues to flow as we birth our child's lifeline for the last nine months, the placenta. This large nourishing mass is not disgusting or gross, it is a marvellous extension of ourselves that has kept your daughter alive for almost a year. You produced this. You made this perfect environment for your beautiful baby to grow. This is wonderful. Newborns are not born, clean, cute and cuddely. They are real flesh and blood, they are your flesh and blood.

So following birth, your baby is no longer fed through his placenta, he need you to provide his milk, his food, he needs you to keep him alive. And guess what? As your milk flows, so does the magical Oxytocin. With all this love drug pumping around it is not surprising that women who have a vaginal delivery are a third less likely to suffer PND after birth.

So reading Mrs Mongan's famous book has forced me to sit back and reflect. Reflect on how amazing my body is, how amazing my hormones are, and how amazing bloody birth is.

Please don't fear birth, embrace it. It is what we (women) are designed to do.... And from my experience, it is .... well it is... just incredible.

Hypnobirting. The key and the secret...

So this week things have moved on regarding #chapter21. Slowly but surely I am making firm decisions and making an action plan regarding OUR future. I am very lucky that the boyf is almost as passionate as I am about the way that our pregnancy and birth has changed our life, and the realisation that this wonderful experience could be open to most families. *not all

It is like we have stumbled across a secret that we are ready to share with the world. So the mission begins. It will take time, and Im sure I will struggle to keep the focus at times, but for now we are so excited. Hypnobirthing made my home birth possible and I didn't really know what I was doing. I believe passionately, that given the right support, a fear free, positive birth is available to most families, my dream is to make it accessible to all. 

While my enthusiasm is in full swing I have been researching at every free moment, Hypnobirthing - the facts. A study is already being completed at The Central Lancashire University as the whether Hypnobirthing on the NHS is a viable option.  There is still very little research completed on the effects of Hypnobirthing and those that have been done are generally in the States. All of the facts that I can find demonstrate fewer incidences of medical intervention and a much higher percentage of having an active birth with a Hypnobirthing mother. 

As a typical Libran I wanted to get a balanced view, so I searched the internet for the negative side of Hypnobirthing.  Could it be perceived by some as dangerous? unorthodox? Silly? 

Well search I did.... and what did I find?... Nothing! Nada! Not one negative article!

 The most damaging piece of material I could find was an article in the New York Times from 2006 when Hypnobirth was relatively new. Despite the article being in overall favour of Hypnobirth techniques, the report covered the fact that many Doctors are still wary due to the fear of litigation. Litigation from what? 

Dr Jeffrey M. Segil an obstetrician who offers the HypnoBirthing option to every patient in his practice, states, "Women should not be set up to feel that they've failed if they can't follow through to a totally natural delivery,"

Well of course! As I have stressed to anyone who will listen.. Hypnobirthing / Home birth / pain free labour is not for everyone... but surely it should be an option open to all. This is my dream, my secret I want to share. There is another way. Labour doesn't have to be all 'One born every minute' full of screams and terror. It can be, it has been, and it is! the most beautiful, life changing experience. It has changed my life... and now I want it to change yours ....  xx