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Positive Birth Stories
Part of Hypnobirthing is literally re-training the brain to think of labour and birth as a positive event or experience.
Please find below a selection of birth stories for you to read from clients that I have taught, starting off with two of my very own stories.
These stories are all REAL and POSITIVE! They include all types of birth; c-section, elective c-sections, vbac, induction, home births, water births, twin births.
Grab a cuppa and get reading, this is one of the easiest ways to prepare you for your birth!
Paul & Rhia
First birth- positive induction, 38 weeks gestation, labour ward, vaginal delivery, episiotomy
At 37+5 with my first baby, I went for a short walk in the evening and felt some period cramping but didn’t think much of it. The next morning at 37+6 I woke up around 7am, sat up and felt my waters begin to trickle out. We rang triage and went in to be checked. The midwife confirmed my waters had gone and explained that if my labour didn’t start naturally within 24 hours, I would need to be induced to reduce the infection risk.
My birth plan had been for an unmedicated water birth on the midwife led unit. I was told that a water birth would be ruled out if I wasn’t in established labour within 24 hours due to the risk of infection. We left the hospital and started trying to get the oxytocin flowing with my favourite food, funny TV programmes, a short walk, and bouncing on my ball, as well as a lovely afternoon nap. I had some short and mild surges that were very stop/start. I went to bed and woke up the next day and the surges had stopped. I knew then that a water birth wasn’t an option, but thanks to my hypnobirthing training, I was able to deal with this unexpected turn of events with a calm and level head.
We went into hospital where the baby and I were checked and there were no signs of infection. Using my BRAIN and having discussed it with the midwives and doctors, we decided not to be induced, and we headed home to give it one last shot at starting my labour naturally. That afternoon, I heard from a friend who had been induced the day before and had her baby that morning. After discussing it with her and given that my labour still wasn’t getting into full swing, again using my BRAIN we decided we had pushed it as far as we were comfortable, and we went into hospital to be induced.
The pessary was put in and very quickly it tipped me into full blown labour. I handled my surges by walking round the ward, rocking on the bed on all fours, squeezing my Yula birth balls, listening to a funny audiobook, reading and repeating my affirmations, and of course breathing through all of them. The breathing worked so well and I would say that until transition, the surges were completely manageable (even enjoyable, it felt like an achievement to get through each one!).
When they became more powerful I woke my husband up (who had been asleep on the floor) and we talked to the midwives. I was starting to lose focus and I was quite worried that I had a lot longer to go (I later realised I was in transition!). It was a very busy night in the hospital and as I was so calm it took some persuading for them to realise how far along I was, but as soon as I was checked they felt her head! I realised then that the panicking I had done was all down to being in transition, which only lasted for around 30 minutes.
I was taken to the labour ward where I was given gas and air. I was very soon pushing. I put my hand down and felt her crowning - it was the most unbelievable feeling, especially finding out how much hair she had! I was quite tired by this point and was running out of energy but the midwives gave me an episiotomy which did the trick, as she immediately flew out as soon as they made the incision. She was born in the early hours at 38+1.
She came out flailing all her limbs and was placed on my chest. I cannot explain the feeling of seeing her and holding her for the first time - it was pure magic.
My birth was much quicker and far more chaotic than I had hoped, and it strayed quite far from my birth plan, but my hypnobirthing training prepared me wonderfully to cope with the twists and turns that labour takes. I was able to remain level headed throughout the vast majority of it and able to make decisions that I felt comfortable with. I can genuinely say I enjoyed it, and it was absolutely the best day of my life. Massive thanks to Hannah for preparing us so well, I definitely wouldn’t have coped so well and had such a positive experience without the training!
Gemma & Matt
First birth- Spontaneous vaginal delivery, labour ward, intervention
I was sure my waters had broken at 10pm on Friday 8th and she was born Saturday 9th about 1.33pm! So a 3 wk early surprise! I did find it pretty tough overall but now it’s all a blur. She’s happy and healthy and we’re so in love.
So I stayed at home for a couple hours but because my water was pink they suggested I came in for monitoring. I remember asking Matt to find my liquid gold spray in the chaos of my multiple bags and how hot the room was from the get go!
The water birth pool was still being refurbished so knew that was out, I tried not to let that affect me mentally. They offered me a bath and actually when I was in it I couldn’t get comfortable so didn’t stay in long!
I was encouraged to have the monitoring which I didn’t feel I could turn down as was for her. It was fine just got in the way a lot so couldn’t get as comfy.
The midwives were fantastic, only thing I do remember being off putting was one was talking about the potential of her being back to back but no one ever confirmed if she was (I don’t think she was) so I felt a bit unsure of exactly how things were progressing.
I did lots of controlled breathing and tried lots of different positions mainly on my knees/ side which became uncomfortable but I was determined not to get on my back.
I didn’t want to know regularly how dilated I was but was surprised that the times they told me I went from 2-8 in about 4 hours so I felt positive then that the end was in sight.
However I started to get disheartened as the pushing just didn’t seem to do much. I had lots of gas and air and then Pethidine and ended up having a ventouse in the room . I was very relieved when that didn’t progress to forceps as already felt defeated.
She was placed on my chest and cord clamped at about 1 minute I think following their advice.
Then the placenta… they tried everything in the room but told me it was extremely stubborn and still quite high up. I think I must have had the synthetic oxytocin by this point but can’t quite remember.
After an hour they said they couldn’t wait longer and was told the options for anaesthetic for surgery. Went for the spinal block so that I came round quicker. Theatre was about 1.5hrs and she slept on Matt’s chest the whole time
Luckily I couldn’t feel my lower half but do remember lots of tugging. They also stitched up the cut they made for the ventouse.
I then had a little more time with her and Matt before he had to leave in evening as they said I’d be taken down to ward pretty soon. Anyway it was about 11pm by time I did go down. The first night felt very surreal but she slept and started to feed okay.
Matt and Lara visited in the morning, I was told I’d be going home maybe by lunch but as was Sunday this took till about 7pm waiting on a meds mix up. My mum and gran visited in the afternoon though.
Sleeping and general has routine been slowly improving since then
Anyway I’m writing you an essay here! Just to say thanks so much for your help, I definitely felt more prepared and calmer than I would have and had a generally positive outlook throughout the whole thing which is what I ultimately wanted to get out of your course. Also I think it shaped how Matt was during (he was great).
She is called ********* and was born 6lbs 11oz so not that small for her early arrival.
Miranda & Kristopher
First birth- Alongside Midwife- Led Unit
We did a hypnobirthing power course with Hannah which really helped to kick start me into practising the techniques she taught us, particularly using the visualisations, relaxations, affirmations and breathing techniques. We’d booked the course with only 2 months before my due date so I really committed to practicing to be as familiar with the techniques, and as prepared, as I could be before baby arrived.
I noticed my labour starting at 1:45am on 11/01/26, 16 days before my due date. I’d had my baby shower the day before and had gone to bed thinking my bump looked a little lower but not noticing any other changes. I’d felt very loved during my baby shower so I think it must have kicked up my oxytocin levels!
Initially I didn’t think I was in labour because my contractions didn’t have much time between them, they got stronger and weaker but the feeling never went away completely. I’d been expecting them to be more spaced out, with gaps between them where there was no sensation, so I just thought I’d given myself a dodgy stomach from eating too much cake at my baby shower! I was in and out of the toilet and resting in bed until about 3am when my husband woke up because I was making more noise. He recognised that I was probably in labour and starting timing my contractions, and when I stopped being able to talk through them and needed to lean forward and sway to manage the pain we called maternity triage. I finally started to accept that I was in labour so we headed in to the Birth centre (midwife led unit) - which luckily was only 5 mins away.
When we got to the birth centre at 4am the midwife suggested I lie down for half an hour before they did an internal examination but I was firm that I couldn’t lie down for that long, I needed to keep moving and leaning forward to manage the sensations! So they examined me straight away and found I was 5cm dilated and my waters had gone.
I’d requested a birth pool and there was a short wait for the room to be ready. I was still wearing my shoes and glasses and remember rushing to take them off as they felt really unnatural! I was finding the contractions harder at this point, I think I was in transition as I said “I don’t know how to make the pain go away” and felt like I couldn’t do it any more! My husband and the midwife were reassuring and my husband helped with some massage and pressure on my lower back.
I remember less from getting into the room and pushing, it all happened so quickly! I used the gas and air to manage the sensations and found it really effective, and once the pool was ready I was in it before the midwife had a chance to help me in! I was so excited to be in the water and to start pushing out my baby!
During labour I found it most helpful to remember everything I’d been taught about my body and baby knowing what they were doing, and to let myself go with the process. I repeated to myself, in my head, affirmations that “I am strong” and “I surrender to the process” and my partner also voiced affirmations as well, although I don’t remember what, I just remember feeling reassured! He was also excellent at keeping me hydrated and made sure my playlist of happy love songs was playing all the way through!
I felt really strongly that I wanted to go with the contractions and looking back I was enjoying the process. I was controlling my breathing and my husband described the noises I was making as very primal. I remember thinking I was playing the gas and air mouthpiece like a harmonica! It didn’t take long for baby’s head to crown, but after that things slowed down a bit. I don’t remember it being painful but it was difficult to maintain the pressure needed to do the final push. My midwife was very encouraging and coached me into maintaining my breathing exercises, and was monitoring baby who was not in distress, but after a while she did suggest an episiotomy because my muscles were very tight. This was not something I’d wanted initially, however at the time I knew it was the best intervention if I wasn’t able to get through the final push. I felt very calm about it all and did not feel rushed, and felt able to weigh up the option. We gave pushing a few more goes and when baby’s head still wasn’t out, I got out of the pool and had the episiotomy. This paid off as Baby boy was born on the next contraction at 7:18!
Baby was put straight on my chest for skin to skin and my husband cut the cord once it had stopped pulsating - he had said he didn’t want to do this but changed his mind once the time came! We had a lovely golden hour of skin to skin (and I delivered my placenta naturally) and I was just amazed that baby boy had arrived so early and so quickly! He was so beautiful and tiny. My happy songs playlist was still playing so I sang to him and felt overwhelmed and tearful with love! I also felt very proud of myself for bringing him here!
I’m really glad we did the hypnobirthing course and that I committed as much time as I did to practicing the techniques: I think it helped me stay super calm once I was in active labour (and I’d accepted that I was!) and connect to my body and my instincts, and meant that even though I had an intervention that had seemed scary to me, it was overall an incredibly positive birth.
Caroline & Stuart
First birth- Water birth on labour ward
6 days past my due date, despite being only April it was ridiculously hot and I was sooooo ready to just have a baby already.
Being my first pregnancy I had known I wanted to educate myself on birth and after doing some online research I settle on being a few books talking me through the stages of pregnancy and booked onto a face to face hypnobirthing course which I did with my partner a few months prior to our due date.
Finally, that evening when settling down for bed the first tightening began and we were excited to start timing them every now and then to see how things were progressing while trying to catch sleep when I could. At the time it was *a little* frustrating having a sleeping partner next to you but the reality is that you need your birthing partner to have enough energy for you both so in hindsight this was the best for us all.
A sleepless night led to a restless day, bouncing on the birthing ball, trying to eat small plates of food to keep up energy, walking, positive energy to get the oxytocin pumping. After a few check ins with the midwife on the phone we headed in to our local midwife led unit to check the progress.
I was dilating nicely but still much more to go. So the birthing pool was run, candles on, music playing and we continued like this for some time. After a number of hours I was starting to feel the drain of lack of sleep and not managing to eat more than the odd nibble so was feeling chilly so got out and had a wee and the midwife offered to break my waters to see if that would help get things moving.
Eeeeek I dont know what I was expecting but after a nervous moment while they did the procedure the news that I had instantly dilated up to about 8cm was all the positive news I needed.
While I was on the toilet the midwife had a quiet conversation with my partner to tell him there was meconium in my waters so we needed to transfer to the hospital as a precaution. He had our things packed up and me wrapped up calmly in no time. It was only a 15 min drive and the roads were empty as it was the middle of the night but boy did I feel every bump of that drive once you've got a baby's head pushing down!
The walk from the car and up to the delivery floor was only a few steps at a time before I was breathing through the next contraction. Once in the room I was, in my husband's words, heard moooing from the carpark, but it just helped so much to use my voice to get through those moments.
Soon enough, when I thought this surely can’t go on much longer (now into 8 days past due date) I really needed a poo. My midwife smiled and said it was time to have a baby!
I had been labouring on the bed on my knees leaning into the pillows on all 4s and then stood beside the bed holding onto its rail which I had felt the best position for me and I didn’t want to move.... so that’s how I stood, holding that bed, partner to one side midwife somewhere nearby and that baby's head was born. My goodness it was a relief to know it was happening, that I could do it, that our baby was so close to being here. It’s a bit of a blur now how it felt, massive that’s for sure!! but no tearing feeling, just the sense that there was something so massive that I couldn't believe my pelvis could be wide enough, I was holding the most humongous squat to keep my legs as open as I could imagine. The whole time I kept telling myself those positive affirmations, as did my partner, that I could do this!!
Then there was a little break, the midwife was prepping me to get ready for the next contraction and my partner even had a chance to say hello to little ones scrunched up face while we waited in those few seconds of respite. She popped pillows and blankets all around and under me on the floor and said "how about you deliver them". I didn't believe I had the energy to let go of the bed, but she said they would hold me up and that I could do it. So partner on one side, midwife the other they held me up and with one strong motion our baby was born straight into my very own hands as I pulled them up towards us to see he was a boy.
It was the most incredible moment of my entire life and just thinking about it now I’m flooded with tears of happiness. This hot, slippy baby, still attached by his cord, there in my arms, that I was the first person to ever touch and hold him. They helped me onto the bed with him on my chest. He was absolutely perfect. Typical boy he was already covered in poop so while I savoured the moment to relax he was wiped down a bit and we did some delayed cord clamping. My partner cut his cord and then told us about the afterbirth.
I was offered an injection but at this point too speed along the afterbirth but the only intervention I had accepted was the waters being broken. I didn't feel the need at any point for pain relief as I felt I could handle what I was experiencing and wanted to be completely aware of everything. Sure enough after a short wait I felt another contraction and the midwife told me to pretend I was blowing up a balloon and with one totally weird sensation I gave birth to a pile of jelly that looked as big as my baby. The fact it doesn’t have bones certainly helps a lot!! She even gave us a science lesson as she examined the placenta to check it was all healthy.
A few stiches and 12 hours later to make sure there had been no breathing complications for the meconium, we were home and introducing our baby boy to his grandparents and friends. My recovery was super speedy and we were out enjoying life as a family of three within days.
Ellie & Ollie
First birth- Planned caesarean section
I did a private 1:1 C-section preparation course with Hannah and I can honestly say it made all the difference to how calm and positive I felt on the day.
The breathing exercises she taught me were incredible. They gave me something to focus on and helped me stay grounded throughout the procedure. I went into theatre feeling confident and in control rather than anxious, and that completely changed my experience.
Her practical tips, like what to pack in my hospital bag and how to prepare mentally, were so helpful too. I felt organised and ready for every stage.
My husband also benefitted hugely; he knew exactly how to support me thanks to Hannah’s guidance. He was calm and reassuring, reminded me to breathe, and made sure our wishes were communicated clearly to the healthcare team.
Our daughter Chloe’s birth ended up being a calm, beautiful experience — something I never imagined I’d say about a C-section. I’m so grateful for the tools and confidence this course gave us.
My labour didn’t go quite to plan having hoped for a natural birth at a free-standing midwife led Birthing Centre, but it was as close as we were going to get! I was so prepared with listening to regular positive affirmations, yoga room spray and my husband reading the relaxation scripts to me every evening during the pregnancy. I felt so positive and couldn’t wait for labour to begin.
My waters released at 4am on 21st Jan at 39weeks 4 days with labour not starting spontaneously following this unfortunately. Therefore, after much deliberation, I made the decision to be booked for an induction on the morning of the 22nd Jan. I wasn’t particularly pleased about this and ideally wanted to avoid it, but we studied the risks for leaving labour to start spontaneously, but we used our BRAIN and decided to go ahead, there was a significant risk of infection to both myself and my baby if we left it more than 24 hours. After a long day of waiting we went to bed at 11pm still not in labour. During this time we did everything we could to increase Oxytocin and get things moving, and it worked! At midnight I felt a tightening sensation and instantly knew it was a surge. It certainly did not take long to ramp up and my surges were only a few minutes apart for around 3 hours, but these felt entirely manageable using the techniques I had learnt.
Our midwife came out to assess me at 3.30am to discover that I wasn’t only in active labour, I was actually 8cm dilated! Unfortunately I didn’t have time for tealights!! But, I listened to hypnosis MP3 tracks and focused on my breathing techniques which helped massively. I do not know how I would have got through this speedy labour without these.
Our little boy was born 3 hours after we arrived at our local Hospital (almost 24 hours after waters releasing). The water in the birthing pool was a welcome relief and I had some gas and air through the down stage of labour, but otherwise coped with breathing and hypnobirthing techniques alone. I had a small tear which required some stiches, I found these manageable. We took a private session with a Hypnobirthing Instructor local to us which covered everything we needed to know, we were both so positive about our birthing experience throughout and felt prepared and in control throughout.
I spent my due date doing my favourite things; going for a walk along the seafront with my family, followed by a lovely lunchtime nap and roast dinner. My first little boy came almost a week early so I was ready to do anything to get the Oxytocin flowing.
My waters released the following morning at 2am on 28th September, followed by a huge gush at 3am! Surges started shortly after which is when my husband set up tealights, room spray, my favourite film, birth ball, comfortable pillows etc in the living room. My surges continued to get closer and stronger until 6.30am when we called my mother in-law to come and watch my 2 year old, and we headed to our local delivery suite (Birth Centre full up).
I was examined and was 7cm upon arrival and the birthing pool was being filled up. After one hour in the pool I felt I needed to push, so I did! 12 minutes of active pushing and birth breathing, and at 8.27am our little boy arrived weighing 8lbs 3. He came out a little fast but I managed to avoid any tears this time around and no need for stitches which I was amazed about!
We arrived home after lunch and to say we were shell shocked is an understatement. My body is exhausted but I feel so proud to have birthed our second baby using Hypnobirthing so successfully. I used the breathing techniques to keep myself ‘in the green’ throughout and used gas an air whilst pushing, but otherwise an unmedicated birth. Labour is no doubt hard work but with determination you can do it. And you will feel incredible afterwards 💪🏻 good luck Mummy’s to be and believe in yourselves!