Hypno Baby Part 2

Planning is one thing, but it doesn’t work with birthing and Nico showed us that quite soon…

Totally inspired and looking forward to the home birth, I started to arrange everything. I created special birth candles, already pictured the pool under the Christmas tree, because I was convinced he was coming earlier than the actual “due date”, and looked for a special outfit.

But the reality check came quite fast. At week 36 we had a check-up at my midwife's practice to see how all was going. Nico was still in breech position. Since week 20 were he was once for a short time with his head down. Almost the whole pregnancy he was in the same position, sitting happily with his butt on my cervix. That meant that I couldn’t give birth at home, at least not with my chosen midwife. She was not experienced with breech birth. So, what to do?

I had to go to the hospital where my husband, Pedro ( I still wanted to introduce him as he played the most important role at Nico’s birth ), and I had already completed a tour and planned the birth in the beginning. They also did an ultrasound and told us what options we would have to turn the baby. I was not feeling good about an external cephaliv version (ECV) because some of our friends had quite a negative experience. Actually, four of our friends were pregnant at that moment and all babies were in breech. Statistically only less than 5% of babies are in that position after 37 weeks. The friend that had decided to do the ECV had a really bad outcome (emergency C-section) because the baby didn’t want to turn. I also wanted Nico to turn himself, not to get turned. It just did not feel right. There were also several other options, such as acupuncture, moxa, special positions and hypnosis.

Just turn please...!

Still hoping for my dream birth under the Christmas tree, I tried to reach out to Nico via hypnosis. That was honestly the best choice I made. Nico signalled me strongly that this was his birth and choice and that I should stop planning it! Got it! I knew at this point that there would be zero possibility that he would turn, so my birth became 'medical.'

In the Netherlands, 'medical' means that the birth needs to be in the hospital, under the supervision of a gynaecologist and midwives. You can also give birth in the hospital with your midwife, which is a bit like renting a room there. I had such a good connection with my midwife that she also offered to still be part of my birth and support me even when not in charge.

For me, it was clear that even though Nico was in breech position, I wanted to have a natural birth. I studied and looked into it. Besides the horror stories and hearing that c-section was my 'only option,' I found enough convincing material to justify a vaginal birth. Breech position doesn’t mean the baby is in the 'wrong' position, only the upside down. You can still have a perfectly smooth birth.

This was the case. Exactly one year ago my little one literally kicked himself free…