Please read this inspiring Birth story from one of my students attending my classes at http://fit2drop.net/
 
 I was due to give birth around the 25th of August and we had chosen to give birth in Royal Berks, like we did for our daughter 3 years ago. On the 10th, as I was starting to prepare food for my husband Andy's birthday, I started to feel tensions in my tummy, it must have been 2pm. I first thought I had caught a bug but when the tension came and went regularly I started to wonder. My daughter was home with me but my husband was at work. I called him to let him know that I thought I was in labour, so he left work (in London.. We live in Berkshire). I called my mother in law too as she lives nearby and she came over within minutes.
 The surges started to get stronger and closer but were not really regular, so it was hard to see how far gone I was. With my daughter panicking to see me breathing differently, my mother in law trying to calm her down and my teenage nephew who happened to be on holiday at my MIL at the time, I found it hard to relax but the surge breathing helped me greatly nonetheless. 
 When I thought the surges were 15 minutes apart I called Royal Berks to let them know that we would be over soon (my husband wasn't home yet) and they told me that they couldn't take me in because the maternity ward was closed. I then asked if I could go to Heatherwood, but I was told that I wouldn't be taken there either as Wexham Park was also full. Then the lady said that she would check with Frimley Park and would call me back within the hour. I must admit that at that stage I panicked and forgot all about hypnobirthing. Thankfully that's exactly when Andy came home. He took over everything, grabbed my bag and started to organise our departure. Royal Berks called back within minutes to confirm that Frimley Park was ok to assess me. So off we went.
 We dropped my daughter and the others off at my mother in law's and went on our way. Andy was brilliant, all the time calming me down and reminding me about the breathing, reminding me not to look at the traffic and to close my eyes and concentrate on the breathing. Looking back, I should have kept a copy of the hypnobirthing CD in the car as it would have helped me further. 
 We eventually made it to the hospital in Frimley, I was assessed straight away (when we eventually found the maternity ward) and they told me I was 7cm dilated. 
 That's when Andy took the music out. The second it started to play, I felt myself relax and got back into control quickly. By then the surges were coming fast but I was keeping on top of them. All afternoon I'd been standing during the surges, but when they asked me to lie down to assess me, I couldn't believe how much stronger the surges felt, they were much much harder to breathe through. As soon as I stood up again, the surges were much easier to deal with.
 As I was settling myself down on my knees, rocking on a birthing ball (very comfortable at that stage, time was about 6.30pm I think), the midwife told me that the pool was available if I wanted to use it. I'd never considered having a water birth only because I was afraid to be disappointed on the day if someone was already in there, so when she offered, I gladly said yes straight away. She went to prepare the pool and left me with the birthing ball for a few minutes. When she came back to advise me to go to the loo before getting in the pool, I had to ask Andy to help me go there, the surges were getting strong. 
 I made it to the side of the pool just as I started to push. One strong push. I managed somehow to climb into the pool and was kneeling down in the water when I pushed again, and I felt the baby's head come out! I only had time to make myself a little bit more comfortable in the water (still kneeling), and I pushed again, and our son Luke came out. The midwife barely had time to roll her sleeves to catch him.
 I cried with relief and joy. They left us both in the water for a long while, with Luke on my chest for a lovely first cuddle. So at the end, he was born 3 full weeks early on his Dad's birthday. 
 I never had a chance to try the third stage breathing techniques but the surge breathing helped me greatly and made the surges so much shorter and easier to deal with. 
 This was a magical experience, despite all the stress at home before we left and I will recommend Hypnobirthing to all my friends.
 Andy and I are thanking you with all our heart for your class and advice. Luke is settling down well and has started smiling. He's now 2 months old and already knows what he wants. He is truly lovely and he likes to look at his sister making silly faces for him :-)