Almost two years ago, a lady booked onto one of my courses and said she was terrified of giving birth. This isn’t an uncommon feeling amongst pregnant ladies, however when she said also she that was a journalist for a national newspaper and that she would like to write about how we would be able to transform this feeling into her achieving a relaxed, gentle and natural birth, the prospect of her being able to reach so many other women really excited me.

So, we did the course and I chatted to her and helped her and her birth companion with advice afterwards as I would do anyone I was helping. Interestingly, she had an amazing imagination and it was great to be able to work with someone who could be so versatile in the metaphors which ran through her mind. I remember visiting her just a couple of days before she gave birth, when she told me she could feel herself transforming, that she was getting in touch with her animalistic side and almost seeing fox-like features when she looked in the mirror. In true Ina May Gaskin style she was “letting the fox do it”.

She called me on the morning her surges began as she had discovered meconium in her waters. She was scared as she knew she would have to go in to hospital and not have the home birth she had hoped for. We kept talking until her excellent birth companion had got the car ready and I reminded her of breathing techniques she should use to help her stay calm and relaxed.

Then she left for the hospital and I waited for the call.

I was so happy when the call arrived and she told me how her wonderful birth story unfolded. Her view was that it could have been so different if she hadn’t have stayed relaxed and used the techniques she had learned. At the hospital staff talked to her about how her baby was breech and was told she would need intervention, but instead of handing over control, she went inward, focused on her breathing and enabled her labour to progress to the point where a natural delivery was the best option. As she did this, they found her baby was not breech and was also not in any distress. She gave birth to a beautiful baby boy called William and now feels exhilarated when she recalls her birth day.

It gives me an amazing warm feeling to know that I impacted Kate, Dave and Williams birth experience and this feeling, for each birth I’m involved in never lessens. The story appeared in the Daily Express, a national UK paper on November 18, 2008 and I’m sure this will have already made a difference to many thousands of women. So thank you to Kate for sharing her experience.

If you would like to give yourself the gift of a wonderful birth experience, then take a look at my new downloadable programme. This programme works alongside the care you are already receiving and will unlock the secrets behind achieving a calm and gentle birth through understanding the psychology of birth.

As always, wishing you a wonderful birth day
Take care
Juliet Eccleston