Positive Birth Story at Leeds General Infirmary Lotus Suite - A Dad's Perspective of Hypnobirthing and Birth
- Charlotte Watson
- Oct 10, 2023
- 3 min read
Updated: May 13
From "early skeptic" to "completely converted"!
Dad, Glen, shares his honest review of hypnobirthing and his perspective of his son's birth story.
When Glen's wife, Liv, signed them up to do a Positive Birth Leeds Hypnobirthing course to prepare for the birth of their baby, he was originally very skeptical. He questioned if it was going to be for him, if hypnobirthing might be "preachy and pretentious" and "not be that useful" but he also wanted to support Liv and "see what all the fuss was about".
From that early skepticism Glen's option completely changed after their first session. He found the course "really useful with so many bits of practical advice" making him feel part of the journey, which surprised him. He realised how important his role was in supporting Liv through pregnancy, labour and birth and it gave him a clear focus for how to support her.
Glen kindly recorded his full thoughts in a video testimonial, watch it below.
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Positive birth story at Leeds General Infirmary - Lotus Suite - Dad's perspective
When dad Glen sent me his perspective of his son's birth story I cried, it's beautiful. Glen's unwavering support of Liv, to birth their son Emilio, and confidence to ask questions and advocate for what was right for them as individuals, is wonderful. Liv and Glen's Plan A was to have a home birth. Due to midwifery staffing outside of their control, Emilio was born in the Midwife Led Lotus Suite at Leeds General Infirmary (LGI), their Plan B.
"The best day of my life bar none, so magical, beautiful and emotional - I’m in awe of Liv and really proud of the role I played." Glen
Liv and Glen made their own way there and after arriving made the room their own, decorating it with lights, throws, scents and playing their own music. Demonstrating the many ways you can make any birth environment your own. Something we had discussed during their hypnobirthing sessions. Liv, Emilio's amazing mum, also shared her fantastic birth story on the Positive Birth Leeds Blog.
But for now, here is Glen's perspective...
"Thank you for your amazing support, honestly I felt so confident and calm throughout and felt I could support Liv ❤️...
Liv was AMAZING throughout…we were at home until she was 6cm dilated, purely on breathing and me using the massages you taught - we had to go into the Lotus Suite as not enough midwives for home birth, but it was lovely, nice pool, lighting and relaxed atmosphere.
I decorated with bottle lights and throws from our wedding and put music on to keep Liv calm and the oxytocin flowing, that with my aftershave and some snacks really made a big difference!
Liv spent 2 hours in the pool, with gas and air which helped breathing whilst I stroked her hair and gave her affirmations, sometimes I just held her and let her know I was there.
As it went on baby's heart rate dropped a bit so we had to get out the pool onto the bed and have more monitoring with Liv on all fours. Training came in really handy here as a senior midwife came in and was pushy about moving us into a doctor led unit so they could poke and prod more. At this point Liv was already being a superhero and was pushing so well, had been 30 mins and we were getting there, so I felt confident asking for more information and challenging them. 15 mins later Liv gave birth completely naturally (only 3-4 hours in active labour) 5-6 hours in hospital in total. We managed most of it at home in our lovely bedroom.
The best day of my life bar none, so magical, beautiful and emotional - I’m in awe of Liv and really proud of the role I played. THANK YOU ❤️❤️"
Thank you to this wonderful family for asking me to help them prepare for the birth of their baby, and sharing their story with me. It was a joy and my honour to support them. I send HUGE congratulations and tons of oxytocin to this wonderful family.
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