"Relaxation Class"

I attended the Relaxation class 5 weeks before my due date last July. I wasn’t sure what to expect & was a little nervous about attending but Geraldine was lovely from the get go. She ran us through some slides & practiced some visualisation & breathing exercises/techniques. It was a lovely relaxing class & the breathing technique is so simple, it’s just about putting it into practice. 

I went into labour the day before my due date, the contractions started in the early hours of the morning and weren’t too painful as I was able to sleep on & off for a little bit. About an hour & a half later my contractions were about 15 mins apart and getting stronger, we called the triage line and were told to make our way in. We got there about 3 hours after my first initial contractions started and by this point the contractions were getting really strong & close together. It would have been really easy to panic & lose control of my breathing but I knew that wasn’t going to help make the contractions any easier to deal with. Taking big slow deep breaths really helped me cope deal with the pressure/pain and not panic. I was checked over when we arrived at Triage & I was already 5cm’s dilated. We weren’t there long when my waters broke & the midwives then transferred me through to the labour ward. All the time the contractions were coming thick & fast. I don’t remember much after this point as I was in the zone and just trying to concentrate on breathing through the contractions. The midwife in the labour ward asked my boyfriend what pain meds I’d had, which was only paracetamol & asked if we had gone to a private relaxation / breathing class as I was doing really well. We couldn’t have been in the labour ward longer than 30 mins when I felt the sudden urge to push, I was checked over when I told the midwife this and right enough I was fully dilated. My baby was born just over an hour later, with the help of forceps. 

The midwives afterwards couldn’t believe how quick my labour was for a first baby and told me how well I did. I 100% put that down to Geraldine’s relaxation class, I wasn’t scared about going into labour and I knew that staying calm & breathing through the pain would help keep my labour going. Our bodies are amazing things. 

I would definitely recommend attending the relaxation classes. It isn’t just for first time mums either, it’s really helpful for all expectant mums.