Yasmine’s birth story – by Christina
By the time Yasmine emerged on the first day of spring, she and I had been working on it for about five days, and we’d had a colourful journey involving walks in the park, cake with friends in a pub, nearly two days of belly dancing, showering and resting in a midwifery led unit, and a final sprint in the labour ward, culminating in a forceps delivery with me on my back, numb from the waist down and surrounded by people in scrubs.
That last step contrasted sharply with what I had hoped for – to do all the physical work myself, to feel everything, and to avoid drugs and other interventions. But shortly after Yasmine was born I was saying that I would do it all again in a flash. Three months on I feel just as positive.
I put my happy experience down to the preparation I did using mindful hypnobirthing and belly dancing techniques; the invaluable conversations with Guin, my main source of wisdom on hypnobirthing and positive birth, and with Sarah, a doula; the attitudes of the staff at the John Radcliffe; and the efforts of my birthing partner, Matteo, who worked very hard to help ensure that my birthing preferences were respected, despite not understanding the reasons for some of my choices. I never felt pressured into doing anything, and when it became clear that interventions might be wise, everyone continued to show respect for me and my choices. I felt I could trust the people surrounding me in scrubs, and that we were working as a team through those final pushes and pulls.
I’m sure there are many reasons why bonding with Yasmine has been effortless for me, but I do know that if I hadn’t prepared as I had, or had the support and respect of the people around me, I may well have felt nervous and disappointed about some aspects of the birth, and, importantly, Yasmine and I might not have been able to breastfeed as quickly and successfully as we did that morning and continue to do.
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