Nia’s Induced Calm Birth

Nia’s mum was determined to take control and have the birth she wanted, despite encountering special circumstances in her first pregnancy. She was proactive and determined and ATTACKED her mamas mission course with the support of her lovely partner. We did a fish mash of face to face and virtual classes that armed both mama and papa with all the tools and knowledge they needed before heading back home to Germany toward the end of their pregnancy to have gorgeous baby Nia. Read all about their experience below…

“ Being pregnant for the first time can be scary, as you always hear all the horror stories about giving birth. So when I was told about hypnobirthing (a calm and positive labor, eliminating fear), I thought that’s exactly what I needed as I wanted to stay as positive as possible. I didn’t want to be all scared and stiff for the day.

So literally 3 weeks later after deciding on hypnobirthing classes, I was told by my gynecologist that I had fibroids (some inflamed) and that they were hindering my daughter from growing at the pace she was suppose to, so I would definitely not be able to carry her to full term as she wouldn’t make it, which meant I was being induced but that I would also have to have a C-Section if the inflammation doesn’t stop. This information threw me off guard at that moment and I completely forgot about calm, positive or eliminating fear. As induction and C-Section were negative things for me. All I thought was God protect my daughter. And as soon as I thought that I remembered the words calm and positive. So I told the gynecologist that I was 100% not interested in a C-Section and asked him what I had to do to avoid one. I was told I could only avoid a C-Section by taking anti-biotics, to stop the inflammation. On top of that I was put on bed rest. I was only half way through my pregnancy, so you can imagine how boring it was for me to be put on bed rest. But I stayed positive. I started my Calm Birth Course with Gwen my instructor. It was amazing. The more time I spent with her the more confident I felt and in control of my situation. I started writing my affirmations and reading them to myself everyday. I also had a plan and wrote down my perfect birthing plan and how I envisioned everything going the day of my induction. This plan did not include the C-Section and I made sure the hospital, midwives and doctors knew about that. No one was to even mention the C-Word. I also inform the hospital that I wasn’t going to have an induction before 36 weeks, something the doctors wanted to do before. I was confident that would be able to carry till the 36th week and that my daughter would make it until then. I prepared myself by reading my books, exercising my breathing and watching positive induction hypnobirthing videos giving to me by Gwen.

At the end of week 34 I started developing high blood pressure, doctors where worried for me and the baby and wanted to induce me immediately but I stayed in control and asked if my baby was fine and they said yes she was. Then I asked what would happen if they didn’t induce right away and they said at that point nothing but I had to be monitored very closely.

So I told them I would come in every 2nd day for them to check us (the baby and me) but today was not the day for my baby to be born. I was so determine to make it to 36 weeks. Plus I had my hair and nail appointment, my birthday and Christmas were coming up so I was definitely not spending those days in the hospital 😊. So from the 21st of Dec. my husband and I kept going to the hospital, making sure my girl was fine, the blood pressure was ok and that the fibroids weren’t increasing. 

After celebrating New Years with family and friends and sleeping in, I went for my usual check up and I was then told by the Chief Doctor of the Department that I had to stay as I definitely had to be induced that day, latest the next day, especially if I wanted to have a natural birth. As I was now at the end of my 36th week I agreed with them. My husband and I went back home got my things and drove back to the hospital. We were then taken to a room, were I was supposed to relax and get comfortable. We were told by the mid wife that I would be given 2 tablets the next day at 9am to start the induction. The next day I got woken up by the mid wife and received my tablets at 9am as discussed. Around 10.30am I started feeling the first surges which were ok but within 30mins I just felt this huge pressure. I asked the midwife for the bathing pool but to my disappointment the pool was occupied so I decided the stand in the shower hoping that would help with the pressure of the surges. Unfortunately it didn’t, so I left the shower and started walking up and down the room. My husband was comforting me as he could see I was forgetting my positive affirmations that I had been saying all the weeks before, so he started saying them to me. He also helped me with my breathing. I couldn’t have asked for a better birth partner, he kept me focused, helped me stay strong and not give up. At around 12.30 the birthing pool was finally ready but as soon as I got in I didn’t feel comfortable, so I left the pool with 15 mins. At 1pm the doctor came rushing in saying my water had to be released as they were worried for the baby and wanted to speed things up to avoid any special circumstances. They took me to the delivery room and as soon as I layed down my water released by itself. And from there everything went on very fast. The midwife kept examining me and within minutes I went from 5cm to 8cm to 10cm. She told me my daughters head was in the right position for me to start bearing down. Within a couple of minutes my daughter was here.

Nia Isabelle Afriyie Adjei was born Thursday, 2nd Jan. 2020 at 2.35pm, she was healthy and sleeping

I was definitely proud of myself because I laboured without any pain medication.”