WEIGHT LOSS, FOOD AND BODY IMAGE ISSUES
BEFORE
AFTER
I was treated by Tamika Hilder about 6 weeks ago for some ongoing hormonal and weight issues that I had been having.
For 5 years, I suffered from abnormal menstrual periods, spotting and breakthrough bleeding. I tried 4 different contraceptive medications including Levlen ED, Microgynon 50 ED, the Implanon implant and the Nuva ring. The Nuva ring did alleviate most of my abnormalities, however over the time that I was trying to find a contraception that worked, I put on 5 – 6 kg’s… and no matter what I did, I could not lose it. So I went off the hormones all together, then the problems started again, and I still couldn’t lose weight.
I am a personal trainer and competitive athlete, so exercise or motivation was not the issue. I was training 2 hours a day, 6 days a week, and getting no results.
Until one day I mentioned my problems to Tamika. Tamika said that she could see a definite link between my roller-coaster hormones and a stressful, emotional experience that I’d had in the past.
At first I was a little sceptical, as I have a strong Science back ground, and had never had much faith in alternative therapies.
But after one hypnotherapy session, I cleared these emotional blocks from my past, and straight away had a ‘normal cycle’!
Tamika also prompted me to look into the alkaline diet, which was funny, as another clinician had picked up that my body was acidic… Probably from all the training I was doing, my high protein diet, and all the stress and frustration I was feeling from not being able to lose weight.
After 14 days of following a strict alkaline diet, I had lost 3 kg’s, and felt amazing. My digestion had improved, my skin was amazing, my energy levels were almost out of control, and people kept asking me what I had done to look this great in such a short period of time. Here are some before and after photos, so you can see my success with this amazing way of eating!
Thanks Tamika, your therapy and advice has meant the world to me.
Tara T. Melbourne, Australia.
THINK YOUR BODY SLIM COACHING AND WORKSHOP
I came to see Tamika because I was binge eating at least once per week and felt horrible about my appearance. I weighed 73kg. I felt so horrible about myself and felt I was ugly. As I look back it was so black and depressing. After attending Tamika’s Think Your Body Slim workshop and doing 12 hours of phone coaching with Tamika, I now feel in good spirits; so positive about myself and like a huge weight has lifted. Things are so much clearer. I’ve changed my thinking and I’ve noticed that I am in control of my thoughts, which used to really get me down. I actually feel good about me and a lot more alive. Before I didn’t want to be seen and now I want to get out there and meet people and I’ve even joined Facebook! I have lost 6kg in 4 months of working with Tamika and I feel really good about my body. I haven’t binged in over a month and don’t obsess my thoughts about food anymore. I feel like I am in control of my thoughts and my food now. I really cannot explain how different I feel because it feels like a different lifetime ago. I used to obsess about a granule of sugar or a potato and feel really guilty about what I ate but now I see food in a different way. Food doesn’t control me anymore and I’ve now developed a very healthy relationship with food, my body and myself. I love you Tamika and I love your work. You have bloody saved my life! Seeing you on A Current Affair has changed me! Thank you!
Lisa Casavin, Penrith, NSW
I have lost 8kg since your last workshop (4 weeks ago) without changing a thing! Cas Phillips, Brisbane
Hey gorgeous, thanks so much for the weekend (2 days ago). I really enjoyed it. Ii feel reconnected and many lessons learned and awesome tools to work with. My stomach is already flatter…yah! Hannah Seeman, Brisbane.
It was like nothing else. I now feel more positive and empowered to change and move forward in life.you can’t buy this experience anywhere else! Michelle Mussett, Brisbane
I now have more tools to help me in my life journey. It has reminded me I am my own power and in charge of my life and weight. No-one else but me. It was a very relaxed presentation style. There was no forcing of beliefs or opinions onto others. Julie Newman, Gold Coast.
I am already working hard on the positive thinking and have given myself free rein on the food and have already noticed that I am not wanting some of the foods that are unhealthy that I would normally have craved. I have severe motivation issues and have simply started by getting around 15 min of sunshine a day as I felt that was easy and feel a lot more energised already. Thank you for your workshop I feel that I got a lot out of it and hope to continue with the good work. Toni Cash, Mount Tamborine.
EMOTIONAL AND PHYSICAL WELLBEING
Tamika has helped me grow and develop as a person unlike any other health professional has ever been able to and I have seen a few in my time!At 21 I was diagnosed with Bipolar affective disorder after many years of ups and downs and struggling with life in general. The diagnosis came as no shock as my Father and Grandmother also have what was formally known as “Manic Depression”, however I struggled with the fact that I may need to be on medication for the rest of my life. After being off and on meds for 7 years, seeing a number of practitioners including psychiatrists, psychologists, GP’s, naturopaths, acupuncturists and kinesiologists and learning yoga and meditation I still needed medication to function and continue working.
At 28 I fell pregnant and decided I wanted to take the final step to leading a balanced happy life, without medication. This is when I began seeing Tamika on a regular basis. I have never felt comfortable enough with any other practitioner to really open up, and deal with my underlying issues – Tamika helped me to do this. She made me feel secure, and understood me in a way no one ever has. By helping me to go to the source of my fears, anxieties and self image issues she helped me to let go of these things and move forward in my everyday life. I am so happy to say I am now completely off all medication and I owe so much of this huge step to Tamika. She is an amazing guide, has been a huge support to me and has such a wonderful outlook on life, and I thank her for helping me in becoming the person I have always wanted to be.
Alicia Ryna, Gold Coast
If you’re a person that suffers from depression, anxiety, panic attacks, or you just worry about everything around you, or about what people think or say about you, well guess what, I know completely and understand where you are coming from. I was an enthusiastic, fun exciting person, and full of beans up until the age of 25. Then it struck, the first panic attack. It was horrible. I thought I was going to die. For the next few years, anxiety set in. I lost my confidence, hit the drink to the point where I had no control, and said and did stupid stuff. I was embarrassed about what I did and people looked down on me. I always worried what people thought and I got scared. I needed some help. My wife started seeing Tamika and in probably 5 or 6 sessions I saw her flip completely 360 degrees with an unbelievable positive outcome. So I thought I’d see her too. I’m so glad now! After a couple of sessions in person, and a few Skype sessions with Tamika my world has changed completely.
My outlook on life has completely turned around. I can approach people with confidence. I’m very assertive, never scared of what people do or say behind my back. If they do I don’t care anyway I just got over it .People can see my body language is fantastic and I have total respect of all my work colleagues, my mates and family. I still drink and have fun but I’m in complete control of my self. I don’t do or say anything silly anymore which gives me total respect. My boss even told me I’ve changed and I’m a better and nicer person in the office, and that I care for people which made me feel ecstatic! I’m so glad I went to see Tam. I was sceptical at first as you are with this kind of stuff, but with the results I got why wouldn’t I recommend Tam to you. So anyone out there who is going through what I went through, don’t hesitate or procrastinate cause if I didn’t see Tam I don’t know how long it would have gone on for? I probably would have had a nervous breakdown. So good luck out there who ever you are remember I’m on your side all the way and good luck
Nevan Kolakusic, Arundel, Gold Coast
After being separated from my ex-wife for about six months, I had really hit rock bottom. I was depressed and felt like I had lost all hope. I was introduced to Tamika and she really helped me get back on track. She helped me with issues from the past and really helped me get rid of some of the demons I was carrying inside me for so long. I still have work to do with Tamika, anxiety issues mainly, but without the therapy she gave I don’t know what sort of road I’d be on at the moment. The future looks brighter already.
Eddie Kolakusic, Melbourne
Mate, I had the best sleep in probably a week because my shoulder didn’t worry me!! It was a bit stiff when I got up but so much better than its been in years since doing the emotional clearing work with you. Its soooo much better! I think I might be getting somewhere! Imagine what I can do when I focus my brain in the right direction! Thanks again mate. Wendy Bruce, Brisbane.
Mate, just a quick message to let you know the swelling in my throat has dropped by at least half since my emotional release session with you last night. My throat has been swollen for the last week and I have not been able to eat any solid food. since our session it has dropped so dramatically that I’ve been able to eat solids for the first time in 5 days! So stoked, thank you! Wendy Bruce, Brisbane
I had heard about Tamika from friends on the Gold Coast and was impressed with their views on her and thought it worthwhile contacting her even though I lived in Auckland, New Zealand. I was in a relationship that was emotionally draining and my partner and I were at odds with each other over many things like money, marriage etc. After speaking with Tamika about this I felt that it was worthwhile trying as I believed my realtionship was worth saving. I spent a number of sessions with Tamika on SKYPE, around 1 hour each time and was amazed at the results. I felt more relaxed, not so stressed and had a clearer path of where I could make a difference. I felt I was able to ‘let go’ of negative behaviour and thoughts that were not even related to our relationship.
The result of all of this is that 2 years later my relationship is emotionally better and I feel that we have made leaps and bounds in other areas as I now know how to deal with my own emotions. I did not feel that my experience with Tamika was lessened in anyway by SKYPE, it was like being in the same room with a wall between us! Tamika is a wonderful warm and gifted person. There is no emabarrassement when talking about personal problems, she makes you feel at ease from the very first minute. Take a chance, I did, you have everything to gain and nothing to loose.’
Dianne Taylor, New Zealand.
Tamika your authenticity inspires me. Thankyou for teaching me – a number of years ago – about the power of surrendering all. It was a gift of knowledge that has changed my whole life here. Rianna Schuh, Brisbane.
Thank you so much! I am mobile again. After our one hour phone session last night, I am 75% better, next to no pain and mending quickly. Lots of hugs for you. I am being very conscious of my thoughts and focusing on keeping my body in bliss where you left me last with your amazing guided relaxation. Thanks again. Stephen Royds, Harvey Bay.
I hadn’t had a period in two years. Tamika and I did a one hour emotional release session and a couple weeks after my session with her, and in conjunction with a colon cleanse detox from Tamika, I got my period for 4 days slightly. This was a really good start seeing as I had not experienced anything for such a long time. I think also the heart opening meditation that Tamika gave me to practice (because I had shut down love for myself and others) was also helpful in bringing back my period because because we were addressing the root cause. Since this meditation, I do feel like my heart has opened, because it has allowed me to have affection for animals. In the past I never used to care for them, and now, I actually care for them and feel like becoming a vegan. My whole perception around animals has shifted since working with Tamika.
Lisa Casavin, NSW
First of all thank you! Thank you for making me appreciate not only life but more importantly myself. To be honest, when I first came to see you, I didn’t know what my issue was. I just knew there was something not right. Being a 20 year old male, you could understand that to begin with I was a little sceptical, after the first session however I just knew this was something I had to do. After only 4 hours with Tamika, well what a difference, she has truly changed my outlook on life. Together we removed some built up emotions that I’ve had for quiet a while; emotions I myself didn’t even know I had. I’m so glad this whole experience happened now and not later on in life, so now I can really live life to the fullest. Lastly, the most important thing Tamika unblocked with me was to be happy, not only with myself but also with the life I create! Thanks again.
Jake Parker, Gold Coast, Australia
I came to Tamika when I saw an ad for a one day workshop called Think Your Body Slim! I went along and found it very interesting but one thing struck me in that workshop. I still had to deal with lots of emotional issues which was preventing my happiness and weight loss. This seemed to be the perfect opportunity to finally face my issues and then move on and start living life. Coaching has helped me so much. I have dealt with my emotional issues and feel really good about life. I am now concentrating on my eating and still developing a positive body image and gaining confidence. I was then diagnosed with secondary breast cancer. I have got through this hurdle and the chemo and I am still seeing Tamika on a regular basis which is keeping me positive. I would highly recommend Tamika to anyone who needs to deal with any sort of issue, to get positive, to gain confidence and needs to start enjoying life. She has helped me so much and I look forward to my monthly visits with her.
Carol Hines, Mount Tamborine
I have known Tamika for a long time, but have never had the privilege of being treated by her. After 5 years of persevering with GP’s, gynaecologists, sports specialists, and Chinese herbalists, I was just about to settle on the fact that my hormones were never going to be normal. Until one day I mentioned my problems to Tamika. Tamika said that she could see a definite link between my roller-coaster hormones and a stressful, emotional experience that I’d had in the past. After one hypnotherapy session, I cleared some emotional blocks from my past, and straight away had a ‘normal cycle’! Tamika has opened my eyes and my mind to new things. I am a scientist, and in the past have put my trust in science and medicine. However, Tamika’s natural approach has sparked a new interest in natural healing. Tara T. Melbourne.
The innate ability, empathy and insight to resonnate with her clents on their level illustrates that Tamika has much wisdom and guidance to impart and share. Thank you Tamika. Rose-Maree Cairncross, Mount Tamborine
PRENATAL PSYCHOLOGY
After your offer of swapping sessions, I was interested to see what would happen, although I did sense some scepticism in myself! My aim was to feel complete confidence in having an easy, ecstatic birth next time. I do now feel very confident about this. The particular issue that came up is something I have been working with for about 15 years, so I am delighted to see it shift as it did in only one hour with you!
During the session I also felt very empowered, and connected to my vision and how I want to help in the world. I enjoyed the way you listened, and how the way you encouraged me helped me feel really confident about expressing all that I did. I also enjoyed how you celebrated each thing I said, and that you gave me so much space to do all that I needed to do there. Now, I feel more confident to say what is true for me to people, even if that is saying “no” to them. I would recommend your services to my friends and others because I think that it would help people gain more clarity and empowerment in their lives.
Marion Badenoch Rose – Aware Parenting Facilitator. Mullumbimby NSW, Australia
Tamika has helped me grow and develop as a person unlike any other health professional has ever been able to and I have seen a few in my time!At 21 I was diagnosed with Bipolar affective disorder after many years of ups and downs and struggling with life in general. The diagnosis came as no shock as my Father and Grandmother also have what was formally known as “Manic Depression”, however I struggled with the fact that I may need to be on medication for the rest of my life. After being off and on meds for 7 years, seeing a number of practitioners including psychiatrists, psychologists, GP’s, naturopaths, acupuncturists and kinesiologists and learning yoga and meditation I still needed medication to function and continue working.
At 28 I fell pregnant and decided I wanted to take the final step to leading a balanced happy life, without medication. This is when I began seeing Tamika on a regular basis. I have never felt comfortable enough with any other practitioner to really open up, and deal with my underlying issues – Tamika helped me to do this. She made me feel secure, and understood me in a way no one ever has. By helping me to go to the source of my fears, anxieties and self image issues she helped me to let go of these things and move forward in my everyday life. I am so happy to say I am now completely off all medication and I owe so much of this huge step to Tamika. She is an amazing guide, has been a huge support to me and has such a wonderful outlook on life, and I thank her for helping me in becoming the person I have always wanted to be.
Alicia Ryna, Gold Coast
HYPNOBIRTHING AND BIRTH STORIES
“Before your course, I didn’t feel at all involved, but now I can sit and read the book with Cristina, and practice all these exercises with her, so we’re a team again…Now that we’re going with this different style of birthing, it has brought back the fascination for me. Thank you!” Pete Van Loon, Nerang, Gold Coast
“I did the course mainly because I wanted as natural child birth as possible but from experience knew that I would need something to help me through it, I had also seen a few women have seemingly painless birth using the technique…I didn’t need any further pain relief for 18 hrs. Unfortunately I didn’t have a straight forward birth. I got stuck at 6cm and had to have a caesarean section…When I went for the caesarean section I was very surprised at how calm I was considering my previous fear, in fact I had no fear and I think it was down to the HB that helped me through this. I still believe women can go through birth with minimal pain using HB I was just unlucky that my baby was in the wrong position (posterior occipital), I will definitely recommend it to my friends, family and women that I care for. Thank you for everything and keep me updated so that I can pass the information on to women I care for at the GCH.” Bethan Griffiths Midwife at Gold Coast Hospital
BREECH TURNING PRIVATE SESSION
Shae Bleakly, Gold Coast, Australia
Well 2 hours later we were still there pushing! It wasn’t meant to be. My obst was fantastic, he knew I wanted to do it naturally so left me alone until he knew he needed to check things out. We decided to go into theatre to see if he could pull her out. Once we were there we learnt that she wasn’t fully engaged in the pelvis so he couldn’t even pull her out. I had a c-section. The same thing happened with the twins so I know now why, we just thought it might have been the way the twins presented, but perhaps not??
Anyway, I was totally thrilled I laboured at home on my own and pretty much arrived at hospital to start pushing. It doesn’t matter to me that she didn’t come out the way we intended, she is well and content. As Marie Mongan says in her book even if there needs to be intervention, hypnobirthing helped me relax and cope with the decisions we needed to make, it was wonderful! Also for your information, the hospital and their midwives were briliant.
Thanks for the training Tamika, it helped me wonderfully.
Cathy and Peter Wilks
KLARA’S BIRTH STORY
The birth of my second daughter Klara was powerful, intense and absolutely beautiful. It was also challenging and overwhelming. There were moments which I would not exactly call happy – yet, I feel completely joyful about the birth!
I think these things were key to the bliss me and baby Klara were left with:
Hypnobirthing, the people who supported me and surrendering.
Labour begun with some mild but definite surges the night before. I was so excited to feel them, I went and enjoyed them on the couch while listening to my hypnobirthing CD and dozing on comfy pillows. In the morning, labour took a break.
My doula (who is also a midwife) came by after her morning yoga and I asked her to check me. Klara was “overdue”, and at 11 days I was beginning to get offers of induction – something which was not on my wishlist. I really wanted to feel reassured that labour was starting. As she checked, she also stretched the opening a little bit and birthing started again, this time more intensely.
It took me a little while to realise just how quickly things were progressing. Surges felt so manageable and “right”. When they were minutes long and a few minutes apart, I texted my doula who had ducked out for coffee, suggesting it was time to down that cuppa. I was going more quiet and holding on to furniture for my surges. As in my first birth, I preferred to be upright. In between surges, I was able to totally relax. My partner gave me acupressure, and my doula gentle verbal encouragement. They could see that I was going into myself, and were very attuned and respectful of that.
This was the hottest day of the year so far, so I moved into the coolest place –the bathroom, leaning on the cold washing machine in between. As my doula saw surges coming more often, she suggested moving somewhere more comfortable. To me, that actually meant the Birth Centre. I needed to be in place so I wouldn’t have to move when things got more intense.
In we went, and as I got into the lift I saw a woman with her newborn. She smiled and wished me good luck. It was good to see a little baby at that stage – soon, that would be me! Truth be told, I was a little envious to, but it spurred me on. Another wonderful thing was being greeted with such excitement at the Birth Centre. A bath had been drawn, the big birthing room was cool and nice, and there was celebration in the air. My midwife is such a positive, strong spirit. To look at her and see a smile and hear a happy tone in her voice really boosted me.
And I had begun needing a boost. After only an hour of more serious birthing and intense surges, I was starting to feel more nauseous and the pressure inside the belly was building up. I “felt” that uterus expanding so strongly – I could “see” a dark red circle widening and “hear” a crescendo of tones as it did. At this point, I couldn’t relax into the surges, but only hold on to the legs of my partner and the voices of my good women. And I desperately needed a poo, I thought.
I moved to the toilet and started moaning – “How long will this be”? My doula and midwife kept reassuring me; “You are doing great”, “Not long now”, “Your baby will be here soon”. And suddenly I felt something warm and soft come down. I knew it couldn’t be the baby, as the bearing down surges hadn’t begun yet. It was the membranes, unbroken, coming down before the baby!
I didn’t know it then, but it meant that my baby and I had the waters until I was fully dilated. I think that was a wonderful thing to have, both for my baby and I! I was also amazed that it didn’t get any more difficult than that for the opening part; a few moments of being overwhelmed, and then we moved into the next stage. How efficient was my uterus 
?! There had been some mechonium in the waters, so the midwife needed to follow procedures and bring the paediatrician and the emergency gear in. She was fantastic at how she conveyed that to me; “There is a little bit of mechonium in the water, which is perfectly normal especially with well-matured babies, so we are just going to get some back-up – don’t think about it, don’t even look that way if you like, it’s just there for safety”. I just blanked out that part of the room.
The bearing down phase was like nothing I have ever experienced before. I went to a completely different place, was connected to the earth by a force I have never known, and had time to think it was a cosmic experience before the next surge ploughed me down into the ground again.
I was on all fours holding on to my partner’s legs. I needed his strength. My midwife and doula were behind and beside me, still giving gentle encouragement but letting me completely in charge. I rested in between, almost sleeping, although there was only seconds between surges. The sounds that came out of my mouth were primal, from the beginning of time, matching the strength of those surges. I was reduced to sensations and sounds.
After some thirty minutes, I knew we were near but I also felt there was something in the way. I didn’t think this way at the time, but my coxis had been a bit stuck. I just knew something was not yielding, and said that I needed to change position. My midwife got the birthing stool, and while this may or may not have been the best option, it worked for little Klara!
With two mere pushes, she was out, caught by my doula and handed to me – this warm little miracle. I still get tears in my eyes writing about it. Such love, such joy, such bliss! My partner and I discovering that it was a girl, seeing her beautiful eyes, hearing her healthy cry. The smiles on the faces of my women friends.
Because of the mechonium and the procedures, we weren’t allowed to wait to cut the cord. My partner was handed the scissors and did the job, and our little girl was whisked away for a quick examination. She was fine, but there were some concerns about me. I had torn a bit and was bleeding quite heavily. The midwife helped the placenta along with a soft tug. Our Klara was put to the breast right away, and not allowed to find her own way, because they wanted to ensure my bleeding stopped and my tears were taken care of. This was not such a concern to me at the time, but I believe it may have something to do with the feeding problems we then had (we are having trouble attaching).
I was transferred to the medical part of the delivery unit and Klara was left to bond with Pappa. There I was shocked to be offered and epidural to sow up the tear, which was a “medium” one! I said “no way”, and was fine with just local and laughing gas. What a different environment. Still lovely professional people, but operating on a different logic, creating a mood a world away from the nourishing Birth Centre. Lucky my women came with me, supported me, explained my attitude to drugs to the doctors and then laughed with me as the gas did it’s job.
So it was a happy ending of a healthy, natural, supported and joyful birth. Klara is such a sweet, chilled little baby. When spend a lot of time gazing into each other’s eyes, and I feel like I am looking straight into pure consciousness. She is already smiling. We are so grateful and joyful! Thank you for supporting us in having this amazing birth.
Lotta, Matt and baby Klara
Baby Klara
AMELIA’S BIRTH STORY
Hi Tamika
I don’t know if you remember but I came to see you twice last year in October I think, and I was going to let you know how the birth of my baby went – she’s almost 4 months old now so better late than never!
I just wanted to say thanks for the techniques you taught me for how to get into a relaxed state, it really helped during labour. I think the biggest thing I took on board was our discussion about surrendering to the pain, I did manage to do that for most of the labour and I think this is part of the reason why labour went so fast. It took my husband and I by suprise, he didn’t think I was very far through labour because I was handling it so well in comparison to when our first baby was born, and I also thought we had a lot longer to go as my first birth took about 8 hours from when the contractions were intensely painful.
This time things were intense for only about 3 hours, and baby ended up being born at home as we hadn’t left for the birth centre yet when baby’s head started to emerge! The difference between this birth and the first was that I really went with the contractions, breathed through them and didn’t resist what was happening. Baby was in a posterior position, and it felt right to do lots of hip circling which I think helped to turn her around. I felt confident and strong, and when we realised that baby was going to be born at home with just my husband and mother in law in attendance (she arrived from Adelaide just as baby was being born) I knew that everything would turn out alright – and it did. The ambulance arrived about 5 minutes after baby Amelia was born, they cut the cord and I was sweet as. My midwife checked us later at the birth centre and I didn’t have any tearing. Amelia was, and is, perfect. I’m so happy we had a natural drug free birth and that labour was over so fast.
Amelia is just beautiful, and is a very outgoing baby – she likes to be held facing outwards, and likes to be always on the move. I think she just couldn’t wait to come into the world! thanks so much for your help.
Paula Corban
ILLONA AND PEPPER’S BIRTH STORY
I am very grateful to Tamika for introducing my husband & I to the world of hypnobirthing as it certainly put us in the right frame of mind for a natural birth. I had no fears on the lead up to giving birth as I really believed my body would know what to do and I didn’t think about it being a painful experience.
The hospital gave me a due date of the 6th May and by Saturday the 8th May I’d been having surges on off for a few days but not much else was happening. Once I went overdue I didn’t want to be induced by the hospital so my husband and I thought we’d get things started ourselves and had sex at around 11am on Saturday 8th May. That definitely did the trick and by 12pm I could feel the surges intensify! I did the breathing & visualisation I learned in hypnobirthing and tried to relax. Once things started to get a lot more full on I found myself instinctively moving into different positions. One minute I would be in the shower squatting, the next I would be rocking my pelvis on the birthing ball, then I wanted to lie down, then walk around – I just couldn’t sit still! By 5pm it was so intense I thought it was definitely time to go to the hospital. I rang the delivery suite but because I sounded quite calm on the phone and they knew it was my first baby and my waters hadn’t broken they told me it would be at least another 10 – 12 hours and to just take a couple of Panadol and relax. After 2 more hours I really felt like my husband would have to deliver the baby at home if we waited any longer so I rang the hospital again (at 7pm) and they told me I could come in if I wanted strong pain relief (epidural / Pethidine) but otherwise I would be better off staying at home because coming in would just slow things down. I insisted on coming in anyway and they told me they would check how dilated I was and if I was only a couple of cm, which was very likely, they would be sending me back home. When we got to the Labour ward at 7.30pm I got onto the bed & the midwife checked me and then asked my husband to pass her something out of the cupboard. She then broke my waters and told me I was 9cm dilated and that the baby would be out in no time! At about 8.45pm I asked for a bit of gas to take the edge off as I needed a little time out before transition. I only had the gas for about 8 contractions or 30 minutes and then the midwife took it off me and told me it was time to push the baby out. I was lying on the bed with my husband down the business end holding up one leg and the midwife holding up the other! The midwife was like a personal trainer and really pushed me to get the baby out. It worked and 30 minutes and a few contractions later baby Pepper was born at 9.54pm weighing 7bl 5 or 3.3kg. No stitches for me just a small first degree tear and a couple of grazes so I was very happy!
Once I got to the labour ward the birthing experience I had expected was totally different to what happened, I was not asked if my waters could be broken it was just done without my permission, I was not in a squat position while giving birth but was instead lying on a bed with my legs in the air and I had to push hard to get the baby out. Doing the hypnobirthing course got me to 9cm dilated in a short space of time and then kept me calm through the rest of the experience even though it was not what I had expected. Once the baby’s head was out it was easy and then my baby girl was lying on my chest and I couldn’t feel any pain at all due to all the endorphins in my body (the endorphins stayed with me for the next 4 days making me feel high as a kite). After one hour of bonding with my baby I got up and went and had a shower and then walked up to the maternity ward. I only stayed in the hospital for 2 days (to get the hang of breastfeeding & to make sure Pepper & I were fine) and then came home. All the physical & mental preparation paid off and I was really happy with the end result.
The hypnobirthing relaxation techniques and the use of light touch massage have also helped me to cope with breastfeeding. Pepper is a very vigorous sucker and I have had a couple of bouts mastitis so being able to relax & release my bodies natural pain relief helped me to get through the mastitis without needing antibiotics.
Hypnobirthing also helped my husband. Before we did the course he never imagined he would be the first person to see his baby girl’s head come out! Seeing the birth from that end has really made him in awe of the female body and what it is capable of doing and he is really grateful to have shared that amazing experience.
If we are lucky enough to be able to have a second child we hope to have a water birth at the birth centre. The midwife who delivered my baby thought it was quite possible that I may be able to breathe my baby out second time around!
I would highly recommend doing a hypnobirthing course as it clears your mind of all the bad birth stories you have heard and gives you a real belief that your body can cope with giving birth no matter how it happens. It also gives you the mental tools to keep relatively calm through the whole experience which can also be used throughout the rest of your life whenever needed.
We love every moment of being parents to little Pepper and are very grateful to Tamika for enlightening us to the hypnobirthing way of thinking which I attribute to Pepper’s beautiful entrance into the world.
Ilona and Pepper
Baby Pepper
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