Sunny’s Birth – The mind can assist the body

She Births® for us was the foundation for our birth, the course empowered me as a woman to trust in my body and gave me the confidence to use the breathing techniques, meditations, visualisations and active labour positions to assist in my labour moving forward peacefully and effectively bringing me closer to my beautiful little boy Sunny.

She Births® gave me inner peace and confidence for the biggest event of my life and I loved it! Our deepest thanks to you and your knowledge for helping us embrace birth in the most natural and open way possible.

Thank you, Nadine, with all my heart.

Here is a longer version:
After 9 wonderful months of pregnancy in which I mentally and physically prepared myself for birth, my day had arrived. The night before, my pre-labour started with what felt like period pain, I decided to ignore this and have a large glass of red wine which pretty much knocked me out until 7 o clock the next morning. I remember waking up full of energy and knowing that my baby was going to be born today.

My labour started slowly and steadily, I adopted my breathing techniques and yogic movements all of which I learnt during birth. Lots of swaying and deep belly breathing, I knew I had to give my body every opportunity to contract and open and therefore embracing every contraction as it came and making sure to rest in between. My husband made sure I was well hydrated. At about 6 pm my contractions were 2 min apart and becoming stronger and stronger, at this point I knew that it was time to go to the birth centre, after various calls to my midwife I made my way.

When I arrived my mum and husband turned the room into some sort of birthing heaven: candles, oils, sarongs, pictures, even the midwives were blown away but more importantly I felt safe and ready. After an examination, the midwife told me that I was 6 cm dilated. Needless to say, I was delighted. At this point, I felt pretty much in control and calm, for the next 4 hours I used the Swiss ball, was in and out of the bath, changed my position every 2 minutes and did lots and lots of big deep belly breathing,

I cannot tell you how much this all elevated the intensity of the contractions, I also had my husband on hand with a heat pack and lots of lower back massage. I was very fortunate to have my mum who was doing reiki on me throughout the entire birth, I felt safe knowing she was helping me and the baby.

At 10 cm dilated I came out of the bath as my little one needed some help getting around the bend in the birth canal, gravity was needed. I walked around, kneeled on all fours and finally decided to push. At this point, I felt scared, out of control and vulnerable. After a lot of intense encouragement from my husband, I found some strength. At first, the intensity was coming through my voice and my lovely midwife told me to use that energy in the push instead, for me this was the toughest part.

I had to go deep inside my body and mind and become so powerful to get this little man out. After what felt like an eternity my midwife directed me into the big warm bath. On all fours in the bath I had another three to four contractions and with that my little man “Sunny” decided to join this world at 11.44 pm and at 3.9 kilos. It was the most spiritual powerful experience of my life. I feel so privileged to have had the knowledge and support from the birth, and the most supportive partner, all of which made me feel safe, supported and empowered.

Personally, I knew my biggest challenge during birth would be my mind, so I worked very hard during my pregnancy to train my mind to assist my body and not to hinder it. When I went into labour I felt strong, trusting and ready to surrender to my body’s natural ability to birth. She Births was everything and more that I needed for this amazing journey.