It was important to us that our first child be born without medical intervention or the use of pain…read morerelief, and hypnobirthing (whatever that was supposed to be) promised just that. We met Anna four times; she was friendly, enthusiastic and professional, and flexible enough to be happy to carry out the final part of the course at our home when me and my pregnant belly were too exhausted to move. We had no idea what to expect and, with both my partner and I still working full time, we didn't often get around to practising the exercises we were set. I only finished reading the book that accompanies the course on the morning the contractions began, after which I still wasn't entirely sure whether or not I'd actually learnt anything, or if I even understood how 'to do' hypnobirthing at all. Nonetheless, Anna had given me everything I needed: the strength and optimism to believe that childbirth needn't be painful.
As the contractions kicked in, the hypnobirthing concept suddenly became clear: I knew exactly what I had to do. Our baby girl arrived after less than 3 hours in hospital. The birth was intimate, painless, relaxed for both mother and baby. The midwives were speechless and we were home a couple of hours later for breakfast. It was the most wonderful experience of our lives, thank you Anna!
