Birth Stories
“I Don’t Want to Interrupt Your Zen” — Danielle’s Empowering Birth Story
I would love to share my birth labour story with you and tell you able the pain relief methods that helped me through.My labour progressed slowly with a long latent phase on Thursday until it ramped up on Friday afternoon. I began using the TENS machine & it helped me immensely. I really loved how the TENS helped me mentally; it gave me something else to focus on & helped draw the pain away from the contractions. In addition it assisted my breathing (hypno-breathing) and really helped me get into the zone.At 2am on Saturday (48hrs later) my contractions were at the stage where I was on the way to the hospital to meet my midwife. I arrived & my midwife was so amazed how calm I was. She said, “I don’t want to interrupt your Zen”. I kept telling her how much of a life saver the TENS was. I got to the hospital & was 7cm dilated. I then used a combo of the TENS & Entonox for 2 hours. I then moved to the shower with the Entonox. Another 2hrs later I got into the birthing pool and had a lovely water birth!!! It was such an empowering experience & I truly believe the TENS machine had a huge impact & place in creating my successful birth. My birth experience is one I wished for but never thought I would get to experience. Thank you for this service you provide to me & other woman. I am forever grateful & if we are blessed to have another child, I will most certainly be using the TENS machine as part of my labour & I highly recommend it to anyone.Thanks for allowing me to share my story with you. -Danielle E
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Hayley's Labour with TENS, Acupressure & Hypnobirthing
Pain relief during labour is on most pregnant women's minds. Everyone's tolerance to pain is different, and as such our need for pain relief will vary. Thankfully there is a whole range of pain relief options available to women in New Zealand; some are widely available; some you may need to arrange in advance. Remember you may have a substantial number of hours in labour so it makes sense to have a 'toolkit' of pain relief options ready before you go into labour. Here, Hayley has shares her birth story and describes how she coped with pain using acupressure, TENS and hypnobirthing techniques. I went into labour on Saturday morning and fairly quickly my contractions worked up to 3 minutes apart and 60 seconds long. My husband had been using acupressure up until this point during contractions but we then decided to try the TENS machine for the first time (my labour started two weeks before my due date so we hadn’t had a chance to try it out!), and immediately felt relief due to the distraction of the currents. I was then able to labour at home and then hospital for the next six hours before delivering our baby girl Ruby using hypnobirthing techniques completely naturally and drug free! What I mainly found helpful about the TENS machine was actually pushing the start and stop button for each contraction as it gave me something to focus on and also a way for me to feel like each contraction was only for a certain about of time, allowing me to use hypnobirthing techniques to control the pain. Hayley
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Welcome to the world Matilda Grace!
New mum, Hannah, shares her advice for a positive labour... During early labour I started having intense contractions. My husband had the TENS machine ready to go. He put it on me and instantly I felt relief. The TENS machine was very easy to set up and put on. I would recommend having your birthing partner apply the sticky pads and to do this as soon as your contractions start to make best use of your machine. I continued using my TENS through the rest of labour, gradually increasing the strength and using the booster as the contractions got stronger and closer together. I laboured at home for 12+ hours (it was a long one!) before heading to the hospital to give birth to Matilda. I am really pleased I was able to spend so much of the labour in the comfort of my own home with the TENS. Throughout labour I used hypnobirthing breathing techniques to help me through. My partner also set up our diffuser and applied essential oils to my stomach and back to help me through. I’d definitely recommend a combination of tips and tricks to get through your labour eg massage, breathing techniques, essential oils, but definitely the TENS! It really helps to distract you when the contractions hit! I truly feel like I could not have gotten through my labour without the TENS! And now we have our gorgeous little Matilda Grace. She was born after 28 hours of labour as she was positioned awkwardly - but our beautiful 3.7kg girl is now safely in the world and we love her sooo much! Thanks for the much needed help, NatalCare!
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