this is amazing! it has summed up how i felt about my last birth; the way that birthing Marta was just simply filled with excitement, antcipation and most beautiful of all: sheer JOY. both of my midwives commented how relaxed and jovial i was when Marta was coming down, and all i can say to that is, is because i just allowed my body (and hers of course!) to do all the work so that my concious mind could be left to just revel in the awesomeness of bringing into this world my beautiful baby daughter. i'll treasure forever the memory of her crowning, my hand reaching down to hold her for the first time (how awesome is it to feel that soft head coming through??!!) and just laughing: laughing with joy.
something that i didnt realise would happen was the way that i was able to talk to Marta at that time. as i felt her coming down and crowning i found myself just gently talking to her, telling her i love her and that it's ok and also gently cheering her on! i remember saying 'come on baby girl, you can do it, it's ok'. it's one of my most precious memories.
**** Read also wrote of a similar approach to birth, where as a OB student he witnessed a young womans first birth and he was shocked at how calm and happy she was and later he asked her if it had hurt, and she replied: 'no. was it meant to?' AH-MAZ-ING!
As a tried and tested x2 hypnobirthing chick, the above also resonates 100pc with me. Before DS1's birth, I felt so calm and capable of birthing him drug free and naturally - there was no anxiety or nerves about labour - just happy anticipation and curiosity. With DS2 I knew what to expect during labour and, again, I had confidence in my body's ability to birth naturally. Both my boys births' were incredible experience, and without sounding smug ... after knowing that I could achieve the natural births I wanted I was (and am) incredibly proud of myself. I try to convey to other mums preparing to birth their babies naturally that they can birth the way they want easily, but I've always felt there's a very fine line between encouragement and zealousness. I was also prepared for any turn my babies births might have taken - I wasn't anti-help if it was truly required - but fortunately I had straightforward births which were only 7-8 hours from start to finish.
There are so many traumatic and/or "gory" birth stories out there IRL - I gently try where appropriate (and where welcome) to tell the other side of the birthing story. Some mums-to-be get very tired of hearing "stay relaxed, stay focused and trust your body" ... but not truer words can be spoken of birth.
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