Yoga, Birth and Beyond

 Testimonials

Congratulations Harriet on this amazing birth story.  Its amazing in many ways - firstly that you chose a home birth for your first baby and that you trusted in the simplicity of the birth process and stayed in your power.  At home you were able to follow the science of birth - the physiology which calls for complete privacy, no bright lights and no spoken language(or minimal amount), if any of these are not followed then the primitive brain cannot produce the required amount of oxytocin needed not only to deliver the baby but for the safe delivery of the placenta.  So simple, but yet having a home birth is the best way to protect one's environment and labour from interventions.  Having just seen the film The Business of Being Born, like you, am a sure yours is the way for all women to follow.  All hail the meditive midwife too, who will sit 'on her hands' and allow the birth process to unfold, with encouragement and support, rather than offering drugs and interventions, such as membrane rupture, etc.  Your community midwives are experts in this field of bringing babies into the world in this most joyful of ways.

At around 4pm my waters started to trickle, I rang my husband who was on his way home to say please come straight home and rang Queen Mary’s to say I thought my waters had broken but was not 100% sure as they were more trickling than gushing and I had not experienced a show.  The hospital told me to come in so they could have a look at me and monitor the baby’s heartbeat but it did sound to them as if they had gone.  The waters themselves were a very light pinky colour.

 At about 515pm I felt the beginnings of the first contractions, this was not particularly painful, more like a period pain than anything.  Off we went to the hospital who put me in the birthing unit, checked my pad, I had a show of a string like red jelly which was not very big at all.  The midwife and trainee at the hospital were really lovely and listened to the baby’s heart beat, checked my blood pressure, temperature and urine and all was fine.  During the time in the hospital I was feeling the contractions coming more often and my wonderful husband when asked how often they were coming apart said “ohhh every 4, 7, 8 mins???”  It was at this point I reminded him that he needed to be checking the timings!!  Once this was sorted it seemed that they were coming every 4 or so mins and seemed to be of varying lengths and strengths.  We left the hospital with a cheer of, “ring us when you feel you need stronger pain relief and the contractions are coming on strong and regularly and we’ll send the midwife to your home birth, best of luck”, this was at about 8pm. 

Once we arrived home the plan was to get the pool up ready, try and have something to eat and wait for things to progress.  Well the reality was that the contractions were coming at about every 4 mins and lasting for about 45 seconds by the time we got home – Marky ran me a bath as I thought that was what I wanted to try and that he could leave me in there whilst sorting out the pool and blowing up mattress we were using for the birth.  We put on Lynda’s soothing CD and I got in the bath and toned for what seemed like about two contractions and then I felt the incredibly overwhelming urge to push. I asked Marky to call the midwife as I really wasn’t sure that was right to be feeling that already as the pain wasn’t that bad so thought I probably had ages to go.  This was now about 830pm, I got out of the bath and put on a bathrobe and came downstairs to move around as much as possible.  Mark was fantastic and right by my side toning when I needed him for the contractions and Lynda’s arms in the air, look up and big sigh was wonderful when I thought I was getting tense, I also kept telling myself shoulders down, shoulders down.  I did have to ask Marky to make sure that my toning wasn’t rising in pitch too much as I felt like it could have gone up into a panicky noise if the pain got worse and I may have started to panic, he was fantastic, riding each wave with me and his timing improved so much that he could tell me when the contraction was peaking and over which was really helpful.  What was going through my mind was, I can bear this pain, but they are coming really close together, where is the midwife and Christ I really want to push.  I even at one point asked Mark if he could check me as I was sure something was going on “down there”, he declined!!. 

The midwife arrived at about 1030pm, about an hour after we had rung the hospital, her name was Ordie and she was lovely, she came in I told her I wanted to push she later told me she thought that the baby was back to back and that was why I wanted to push, not that I was further on than expected.  I had found that either leaning on the dining room table wiggling y bum from side to side or holding on to Marky’s neck whilst toning as best for me but the intense urge to push was such that my toning changed into more of a grunting bearing down noise on many occasions and I can honestly say the hardest thing about the whole process was not being able to push. 

Ordie set up some bits and then asked if she could listen to the baby’s heartbeat and would I mind moving to the blow up mattress, I did this and all was fine.  She then asked if she could check my dilation and inserted her fingers to find much to her surprise that the baby’s head was crowning.  With the next contraction I could no longer suppress the urge to push and did indeed what she had been asking me not to do!   I was on my side and she lifted my leg to have a look and promptly shut my legs told me to keep them tight together and to puff out through the need to push as she wasn’t ready!!.  This really helped me to not push and I managed to hold on for a bit.  She then told me to get in whatever position I wanted to deliver and the 2^nd midwife arrived as on all fours I was pushing Tabitha’s head out.  After another couple of pushes at 1117pm she was all out.  We had a very short umbilical cord and Tabitha wouldn’t reach up to my breast so I held her in my lap until the cord stopped pulsating, Marky then cut the cord and took her whilst we waited 30mins for the 3^rd stage to happen with no injection. 

The midwives were amazing and even though there was no time to read my birth plan they did ask us what was wanted and followed totally.  The even took some amazing photos for us which I will treasure for ever.  They were just as relaxed as us and the whole evening was truly wonderful. 

By 0130am everyone had gone home and we were all relaxed and ready to settle down for the night.   Sitting there as our new family Marky and I were somewhat stunned that our little girl had arrived not only 2 weeks and 6 days only but in such a quick, relaxed and more than we can ever have hoped for wonderful way and that we were now a mummy and daddy.  The day had been so surreal I’d only just cooked a cake an hour or so before my waters broke –so it turned out to be a real birthday cake!!  Marky’s description of it was get up, go to work come home, have a baby! 

I have to say that the whole birthing experience was truly amazing – it is true that a virtually pain free birth is possible – I promise.  The only thing that I found hard during the labour was suppressing the urge to push.  It was the most amazing experience of my life and I wish the same for each and everyone of you.Sorry it’s so long but I could talk about it forever.Love to you all  Hxx

 

Hiya, got home this morning, finally after being in the pruh since thursday morning, mammouth session but labour actually very short. 
will tell you all when i get a chance. although i must say i had a much more yogic birth, no pain relief delivered on all fours, did loads of toning, used birth ball. I feel i owe you so much for teaching me now twice how to have the best births possible. 
i feel so blessed to have 2 gorgeous little boys, we have named the new one Samuel. See you soon, Sarah xxx 6/10/08

I just wanted to say a big thank you for givig me the opportunity of attending yhour amazing yogabirth classes, there is no doubt that by doing so it has had a big impact on the two great births I have had with Finley and Austen.  I would recommend you every time.  It's just a shame that not all pregnant women get the opportunity to attend such wonderful classes or know of the great benefits. Love Rachelx  June 2008

 Being a second time Mum, I was not sure that I would learn anything from the Yogabirth classes and really only went along for the exercise.  HOW WRONG I WAS!!  Lynda opened my eyes to all sorts of possibilities and gave me information that the hospitals should be giving all pregnant women, but don't.  I ended up having my daughter at home with very little fuss and I give Lynda full credit and thanks for her lovely entrance into the world.

 I would really recommend yoga birth.  In fact I have I sent my sister in law along recently to Lynda's class.  The yoga was remarkable for teaching me how to relax and helped me get back to sleep after all those trips to the loo. The tea and biscuits was excellent for getting to know other pregnant mums due at a similar time and comparing experiences.  Julie Ward CTA - Mum to 3 boys including Daniel her yogabirth baby April 2008. x

 Alan and I have just shared a few tears too reading your response and I did say to him that I am very sad to think that I may not be in your class
again, but i could never draw a line under that one!!! I am glad to have you as a friend Lynda, you truelly have a very treasured place in my heart  . You have been a guiding light on my journey to motherhood and know you will always continue to journey with me and my family. Our family is blessed in so many ways including crossing paths with amazing and wonderful people like you.Massive hugs and lots of love being sent your way.Sibelxxxx 22/09/08

 I wipe a tear from my eye as I read your glorious birth story Sibel - you
 sure know how to tell it!! Its a privilege to have people like you in my class and you exemplify how all the yogabirth teaching can be used to positive effect, irrespective of the route of the baby's birth. Well done for being so empowered and cogniscent through Jasmin's pregnancy and birth experience!! You are right when you mention about the staff at Queen Mary's - they really know their stuff when it comes to c sections and the like and want women to have as joyus birth as possible, whatever the medical preconditions. Writing a birth story such as this often proves a cathartic experience, especially after a medicalised delivery or having had different expectations than those that arose. Yours is a testimony of triumph, not only to motherhood, but also to the maternal psyche. You are a wonderful person Sibel and I know from how you are bringing up your son Orhan what a marvellous mother you are too - my only regret is that you may have completed your family now and wont be back in the class again!> Love Lynda

Jasmine's Birth
 For all the yogabirth that i had hoped for, Jasmine Lilys arrival could not
have been further from the natural experience . Regardless of this her safe arrival outweighs any other expectations and the joy and love of holding her helps soften the memory of a very medical delivery. At 35 weeks (or so) gestation, Jasmine had been breech so I had been sent for a scan at 37 weeks to see if this was still the case. I was delighted to find that she had turned (possibly helped by the acupunture), but the scan then raised slight concerns about her growth rate and it was suggested by
the consultant that I should have alternate day CTGs.(this is when they
strap you up to a monitor and graph the babies heart rate). The monitoring showed very positive and regular results but then at 38 weeks I got one reading when her heart rate dropped. This of course raised alarm bells. The docs did further scans and an internal to check to see if I had dilated at all and could possibly be induced. My body was not showing any signs of being ready and as they were happy with the results of the further scans they decided to continue with the monitoring and hope that my body would soon start birthing. A further week of alternate day monitoring and my stress  levels were raising each time....I did joke that the next thing the hospital would have me in for was high blood pressure. At 39 weeks I had a further scan and although the results were satisfacory, the consultant was not happy to leave me any longer. My amniotic fluid had reduced, the placenta showed signs of not functioning as efficiently and for the first time I had slight protein in my urine and my blood pressure was slighlty higher than normal (what a surprise)?! Again another internal and unfortunatley no signs of imminent labour and having had a previous c-section I could not be induced. I was booked in for a c-section the following morning and was admitted to the ward at midday and told I was staying in. I was again on the monitor and during a relatively long and stronger Braxton Hick the> babys heart rate dropped again. The doctor came pretty much immediateley and I was told that by 3 I would be in theatre. My mum had been with me all morning as my husband, Alan, had presentations at work that day - he was called and headed straight over with little time to spare before we were walking me to theatre.

 The care and all the staff in the room were faultless and really did their best to help me feel as relaxed as possible, but it was certainly a test of all my meditative strength to stay calm. They had music playing in the operating theatre, so we asked to play our own Buddhist chants - this was
 my sanctuary of escape from theatre into a place of security and comfort (as had played this cd quite a lot at home during my pregnancy). Throughout the procedure my husband had his cheek on mine and we toned together and this is definitely what got me through the experience. As soon as Jasmine Lily was born (at 15 58) I did not care where I was or what was> being done as I could see our beautiful daughter (well the oxytocin really does help you think they are beautiful whatever they look like at this stage)! The buddhist chants continued playing and although the medical staff had commented on how soothing it was, almost 1.5 hours later i think we were all happy  to hear it end as I was wheeled into recovery, my husband holding Jasmine.

In recovery I was desperate to hold her and tears of joy overwhelmed me as I held her to my skin, and she suckled for one hour as I stared at her,
smelled her, felt her silky skin and fluffy hair and fell madly in  love again.The day seemed so perfect in lots of ways, we held our baby, but at the same time I felt like i had not had time to catch up with all
 the events and that I was in some dream. On my return home from hospital I did wake one night thinking I was in some way remote from my body and told my huband to call the hospital - it was all very strange and scarey and I felt like I was in a different world - he made me a sugary black tea and I suddenly burst into tears and lots of emotions of fear exploded out. I think this was from the stress of the 2 weeks prior to her birth and the unexpected c-section. I really had thought that this time round I was going to have a 'natural' birth and visualised it so much in my mind and heart that I was in shock and suffered a panic attack.
 Two weeks on and all is well. I can re-visit the whole experience with no
 regret and with the thought that we did do the best for Jasmine, and of
 course me and our family. One big lesson learnt though was that as much as I visualised the ideal birth, having had a previous c- section, i had always labelled this operative and medical route almost like some predator...so it was this thinking and real determination on my part not to have this experience again that ultimately stressed me out even more.
 The more> determind i was the more it felt like a battle each time I visited hospital, and they became the enemy. They are far from this and
 provide a fantastic service and are amazing caring people. I cannot know now if my birth story would have had a completely different script had I had an independent midwife, less hospital visits etc but this I guess was my destiny and now, as i hold Jasmine, does it really matter how i reached this point? What matters is  that whatever Yogabirth experience you encounter it can still be a yogabirth experience. Everyone has a different journey and ultimately the joy and gift of motherhood is the most blessed gift. We all went to the park in the sunshine today and it was wonderful to feel like a complete family unit, mischievous dog included. I wish all the girls a positive journey into motherhood. With love and support being sent to all.  Sibel xxxx 26/09/08

Hi Lynda

Sebastian and I had a really great time what a great event and a chance to help a good cause. I think we all owe you a huge thank you for organising this picnic and giving us this opportunity. It was so lovely to have a catch up with people and see the babies. What a lovely day! I still think of my yoga birth classes and how invaluable they were to me at both a wonderful and very stressful time in my life. Don’t think I could have done it without them or your support!Thanks again Ellie and Seb xx June 2008

I am really grateful to Lynda for all her support over the last couple of years. The moonlight yoga class was my first introduction to yoga with Lynda and I enjoyed it so much.

 I started when my first child was about 15months old and I was wanting to loose weight and was starting to think about having another baby. It is the first time that I have ever actually enjoyed any sort of exercise class and I feel that I will continue with yoga in the long term. The main benefit I found was it gave me such a positive frame of mind and more energy so I found I started eating better and walking more with the my son and managed to lose a bit of weight. I feel that all these things helped me conceive my second child. I then went on to the yoga birth class from around 14 weeks of pregnancy and as well as enjoying the yoga  it really gave me the confidence to prepare for the birth I wanted having had a caesarean with my first child.

The couples work shop also helped greatly in my preparations by giving my husband information and helping me explain to him what support I wanted from him. 

 Here are photos of my 2 beautiful children . Sorry this is very brief, the babies won’t allow me to sit at computer any longer. Clair, Will and Sophie x xApril 2008.

x 

Well, it does seem a bit pointless to write my birth story after coming in and telling it to about 60 preggers girls (I'm sure there were only about 20 in my class!), but for the girls that were busy giving birth themselves (and are now in need of a little "me time" break from early motherhood), here it is.....

 After a few hurdles and at the 11th hour, I managed to get my home birth booked and my lovely midwife brought her bag of goodies round to leave at my house the day before my due date (EDD: 14th July).  By which point I was more than ready to meet my daughter so I went about preparing a very lively (two whole chillies - with seeds) stir fry.  Having sweated through dinner I got a bit brave and at midnight thought I'd reach for the bottle of castor oil which had been sitting in my cupboard for some weeks.  I poured a good glug into a glass and mixed very quickly with fresh orange and then in a fashion that was reminiscent of my more hedonistic partying days, I threw it down my neck, how it didn't come straight back up I'll never know, it was foul.   A night on the loo followed but by 5am I was woken by a slightly more familiar pang in my lower tummy - a contraction!  I tried to get back to sleep but as I couldn't resist timing the gap and noticed that they were every two minutes, I woke my husband (Jamie).  Our son Ralph who was two just five days previously was sound asleep so we went downstairs to make some camomile (coffee and a fag for him) and have something to eat.  The contractions were every two minutes for a while and then they started to slow to five, then ten, then 20 until they finally stopped at around 10am.  We took Ralph to my mums around the corner and then headed home to try to get things kick-started.  Unfortunately, Jamie had a coldsore so open-mouthed kissing (Lynda's recommendation) was out of the question so (and I was too embarrassed to tell this at the baby showing) we decided to go for broke and have a quickie, this was not a pleasure seeking exercise you understand.  No immediate change so we set off on a brisk walk, stopping at the park for a go on the swings and ended up at my mums where Ralph was beside himself that mummy wanted to chase him around the garden for a full hour!  And hey presto we were in business around every 15 minutes.  So we took Ralph home, fed him and then packed him off to Jamie's mums to stay the night.