How was the Actual Birth after The Birth Project?

You are important. Your birth is important. I love to learn about what happened, what worked for you and what didn´t. If you want to you are welcome to send me your birth story to [email protected] Please advice if it is OK to share it it here. Here are some of the birth stories that I am so grateful that I have received over the years. 

First, I want to share a letter I received from a nurse/midwife in Sweden, Mersa Granov, that made me so happy:

"When I was working last week in the delivery room, I had a couple expecting their first child who had taken Anna's The Birth Project Course Online during pregnancy.

The couple used conscious adaptive breathing and hypnobirthing throughout the entire labor and had such a great synergy. The partner supported the mom with breathing and relaxation, encouraged her when it got tough, and helped with various massage techniques. When the woman lost control of her breathing, the partner was there to remind her to breathe, and they breathed together.

They brought a Baby Body for the newborn to wear after birth and a little teddy bear that reminded the couple of their journey. Every time contractions were about to take over, the woman was encouraged to look at the onesie and teddy bear to get back on track, and it worked excellently. The man was close by all the time, repeating three words almost the entire labor: breathe, relax, and rest. The labor took 10 hours and ended with a fantastic birth.

As a midwife, I was very impressed with their labor and the beautiful interaction. If I had known that this birth would be so beautiful, I would have filmed it and shown it in the parenting class." 

___________

"My partner Kennet and I took ´The Birth Project´-course in mid-September when we were due on November 25, 2019. And I just want to write to you and express a big THANK YOU for an amazing course and what we gained from it! I got my dream birth! 

6 days 'early,' my water broke at 02:00 with a loud pop. My whole belly jerked, and it sounded like a rib had cracked, but no water came immediately. I was awake because I had a feeling something was going to happen, so I slid out of bed and into the bathroom to see if water would come, and it did - splash over the bathroom floor! Overjoyed, I woke up my partner and told him that soon I hope we'll be in labor - he'll be here soon!!!

I breathed through the contractions just as we had practiced, and I really noticed the difference if I missed the start of a contraction and when I managed to catch it from the beginning. At first, I had to keep myself a little cool because I was so expectant and excited, ha haha... Calm and nice, save your strength, Frida!

At 10:00, the contractions started to hurt more, I really needed to focus, go into myself, and breathe through them one by one. My partner filmed me, and when I see it now afterwards, it looks like I'm just lying there resting. Not a sound, just breathing and relaxation.

After three hours on the couch, I felt it starting to push downward/backward and my vision darkening, so we decided to call the delivery ward. They immediately said, 'Welcome in!'

Getting to the delivery ward was very tough. It was difficult to focus on the contractions in the car on the way there, but the journey only took 15-20 minutes. (...)

At 13:30, we were inside, they examined me, and I was dilated 7 cm, YES! At 16:36, he finally came out and onto my chest! Oh my God, what a rush/kick! Emotions surged, and I felt so strongly: 'Is it already over?! Has it gone this well?? Little Sixten was doing well, weighed 310g, and was 48cm long.

I recommend The Birth Project to everyone I meet! I had my dream birth completely without medical pain relief." - Frida

___________

"My daughter was born using the Birth Project-method! We want to thank you for all the benefits and help we got from taking the course! I found the breathing techniques extremely useful! During the latent phase, I breathed through all contractions, which worked really well. This led to the staff at Danderyd Hospital not believing that labor had started, neither over the phone nor when we arrived at the hospital. After two hours, I was examined and was already 5 cm dilated. I received a lot of praise for my breathing. David, my partner, was a huge support, and he says it was largely thanks to the course. The labor then became prolonged, and I eventually had pitocin, nitrous oxide, and an epidural, but most of it was without pain relief. Life was born vaginally without vacuum extraction, almost a day after we arrived at the hospital. I didn't tear at all." - Karin

___________

"When it was time to take a hypnobirthing or Lamaze course, there were none available in Kalmar, so we opted for the online course. The positive aspect is that you can take the course when you have time and at your own pace. Both of us feel that we have gained valuable tools for childbirth!" - Lise-Lotte Wallin, Kalmar.

___________

"My friends had spoken highly of going to a pre natal class, but neither my partner nor I felt like taking a course with others. The idea of sitting and breathing in a group didn't feel comfortable for us. That's why the online course was an option for us. We could relax more when we were at home on the couch practicing. I believe that an online course like this helps more couples take the step and try The Birth Project." - Anna and Micael

___________

"Now he is - August - here! Or he has been for 3 weeks, and it feels like an eternity since we came home from Danderyd Hospital!

I wanted to write to you and tell you how it went :) We took the course for the second time because we were so satisfied with it before we got Hubert, our first son. So for baby number 2, it was time for a refresher, and we are so glad we did it!

As you said, it went twice as fast this time. I'm glad we listened to you and went to the clinique, even though I was unsure how far along we were in labor. It took 2 hours from the moment we arrived at the delivery ward. I was already dilated to 5cm without having many contractions before that, but the ones I had were "juicy." The midwife called me a sneaker (I could see in her eyes when we arrived that she thought she would send us home). Then we were lucky to be admitted to the delivery ward. It was a calm evening, and we got to keep both the midwife and the assistant with us throughout the delivery.

This time too, I skipped medical pain relief just as I had wished. It's so cool to experience everything and feel the body working. The contractions before the pushing were tough, long, and intense. Then when the pushing contractions came, I asked for clear instructions, and I really felt that I managed to do better this time than last time, better at knowing when to breathe, when to push, and when to hold my breath. It was so awesome! I won't say it was comfortable, but it was just WOW!

You are the best, and we are so happy that our friends who recommended you the first time did so. From being terrified of giving birth vaginally to really feeling motivated now. And the midwife and assistant were so impressed with our teamwork! After the first contraction, they just stood there in awe. It's thanks to you that we've become good at this together.

August was 55cm tall, weighed 4285g, and had a big, beautiful head. Tear - yes, 1st degree. Other glamorous details - hemorrhoids and then a little thrush that spread to my nipples. Still wonderful ;)

Again, THANK YOU for everything!

Big hug from Matilda and Christoffer

____________