Birth like a Boss - Hypnobirthing with Hannah

13/07/2024

Good morning everyone - once again apologies for the radio silence, I am still here and have been loving every minute of my final maternity leave with Imogen who is now 8 months old and still as happy and content as ever! 🥰

After much deliberation recently - I have decided to formally announce that I will be closing Birth like a Boss following the end of my maternity leave.
This is not a decision I have taken lightly as I have loved every second of supporting so many families - and using the techniques and skills myself in my home birth with Imogen which will forever be one of my most amazing life experiences 🥹🫶🏼

The return to my full time day job, the juggle of 3 young children, one of which I now coach in the local girls football team 😂 alongside trying to maintain some form of social life with friends and family has meant that I need to ensure I don’t balance too many plates and priorities mine and my families wellbeing 🥰

This is not a goodbye forever - as hypnobirthing is a passion that I would love to come back to - but this final baby has made me see just how quick time flies and I want to soak up every moment of my girls being young and needing me at my best mentally 💪🏼

Thank you to everyone who has supported me with this venture - I have loved making a difference and hope to offer this again in the future 💜💜💜

19/01/2024

Team Lunar were fantastic in my pregnancy with Imogen! This will be a great opportunity to meet a midwife, explore home birth and meet other mums! 🥰🙌🏼

We are delighted to announce that we will be celebrating Team Lunar – Home Birth Team’s first birthday on Saturday 10 February 2024, 10am to 4pm at Thelwall Parish Hall, WA4 2SX (opposite the Little Manor on Bell Lane, Thelwall).

We look forward to welcoming past families we have cared for, those booked with us now, or those who are wanting to hear more about homebirth.

Everyone is welcome.

19/01/2024

🟣 D U E D A T E S 🟣

Did you know that only 5% of babies are born on their due date? And that 10% of women are still pregnant at 42 weeks?

This is an area I am particularly passionate about as has been something that was a big impact in all my pregnancies, but in particular my most recent with Imogen.

Imogen was a surprise so I didnt know exactly when she was conceived, however when I went to my 12 week scan, I was expecting to be 11-11.5 weeks, and I was dated as 12+6. This immediately brought my due date forward and no matter how many times I discussed and raised I didn’t feel this was right, I was advised there were no process for this date to be changed 🙄

What then followed from my 20 week scan was concerns for the baby’s size. Despite my pleas that I think my date was ahead, I was booked for biweekly scans, on occasions with a consultant and each time faced difficult and challenging comments.
As the weeks went by, Imogen’s growth continued to go up and follow the 3rd/10th centiles - however because these were low I continued to receive scans and concerns.
My main thought was surely as long as the baby is growing well does it really matter what centile they are on? 🤷🏻‍♀️
What was also interesting is as sooooon as one scan was above the 10th centile - that was considered ok and I didn’t need anymore scans, despite the previous weeks and weeks of concerns 🤦🏻‍♀️

I was fortunate to have a supportive midwife who understood my determination on my dates being wrong (we used to joke that I would go ‘overdue’ and this would be my biggest baby yet!) but this still didn’t prevent me being offered induction at 40+7 due to hospital policy. I declined induction on 3 separate occasions and as you can see, each time it was noted down and I was advised on stillbirth increases, despite my pleas that I didn’t actually feel I was ‘overdue’ 🙈

I was a day shy of 42 weeks when Imogen was born - a 55 minute labour at home with no intervention or pain relief, weighing a healthy and chunky 9lb 4oz (my previous babies were both induced at 40+5 and 40+4 weighting 7lb 13oz and 7lb 3oz.)

Now I can’t say that if I’d not been induced previously the girls would have been any bigger or my labours would have been more/less successful. However in my situation, there has been a clear difference in allowing the baby to arrive when they were ready rather than be focussed just on dates. And having the confidence in my own body and knowledge of processes through hypnobirthing gave me the power and confidence in those challenging conversations where stillbirth was mentioned. I was aware of what my alternatives to induction were, and was able to advocate for myself to make my birth my choice 💪🏼🙌🏼

Above are some of the affirmations I used throughout my pregnancy and particularly in those final couple of weeks. Knowledge is power and why I am so keen to support you through my hypnobirthing courses 🥰💪🏼💜

14/01/2024

💜 M Y B I R T H S T O R Y 💜

I got slightly emotional writing this out, as thinking back it truly was one of the most incredible experiences of my life, not just from the birth but I am so proud of the way I held myself in those final couple of weeks.

It can be really challenging being up against medical professionals and hospital policies, I knew what I wanted and was prepared and knowledgeable unlike my other pregnancies - and truly believe that waiting until Imogen was ready to arrive made a huge difference in my birth experience 🥰🩷

I have been asked a few times on why I didn’t have a pool, as I think most people have presumed home birth happens with a pool.
I never had a water birth with my previous births and always remained active (standing up, moving around) and didn’t feel I had missed out or not had a positive experience, and from my others I knew the chance of me labouring quickly was high (didn’t expect under an hour start to finish though!) so based on this, I had a feeling we wouldn’t get the pool filled in time and felt I may feel more restricted as I have always liked to be up and about when labouring 🥰 plus there was much less to tidy up afterwards 😂

13/01/2024

Wow I think this is the most delayed birth announcement ever, however baby number 3 hits differently with older kids and school runs to keep doing!

Over the moon to update you all that our surprise third baby girl arrived on 8th November - Imogen Ada is now 9 weeks old and I have honestly had the best newborn bubble following the most incredible birth experience! 🥹🩷

As you may or may not know, I was determined to focus on homebirth after always wanting this with my second daughter, but not being confident enough in my knowledge and rights prevented this.

I am so thrilled to update you that baby Immi was born 13 days overdue at home, with no pain relief, weighing a whopping 9lb 4oz and within 55 minutes of waking up 💪🏼 (full birth story is to follow on another post!)

Eloise & Alice absolutely adore their sister and we have enjoyed the last few weeks settling in as a family of 5 girl tribe 🥰✌🏼💕

I will share my final pregnancy challenges/birth story/breastfeeding journey in the next couple of days but for now here is some Immi spam from the best few weeks 🥹😍👩🏼👧🏼👶🏼🩷