I started Pregnancy Yoga with Tessa at around 16 weeks after suffering terribly with sciatica; it was the only thing that seemed to help. A few weeks later I started suffering from PGP & was devastated when the physio said that it would remain for the rest of my pregnancy. The pain was so bad it left me unable to continue working.
I soon realised that after I’d been to yoga the worst of the pain was alleviated, often for up to 3 days. I started to do the exercises daily & the improvement was massive - no one wants to spend their pregnancy in constant pain.
The consultant decided to induce me at 39 weeks due to worries that baby was small. I was gutted not to be able to have the birth I had wanted at Blackburn Birth Centre but it did mean that I’d have my baby in time for Christmas.
When we went in I was already 3cm dilated. Unfortunately, there was a bit of a hold up & after 24 hours of walking round the hospital & doing yoga exercises they decided to give me a pessery. After this my husband went home to visit our son & I spent a couple of hours doing yoga while looking out the hospital window. When he returned I was cramping quite bad so the midwife gave me some pain relief and told me to get some sleep. I went to sleep but I was in some pain so woke up regularly. When the midwife checked I was 7cm dilated. They rushed me through to the birthing suite & got me settled in the bed. It was the midwives shift change, but once they’d swapped midwives & got me settled I told her that “he was coming & I wanted more pain relief”.
I’d been adamant all the way through my pregnancy that I would have all the pain relief they could give me... I’d done it once without so this time I’d have the drugs. The midwife reassured me that he wasn’t coming yet & checked my notes, saying that yes I was able to have more pain relief as of 15 minutes ago. I remember thinking ‘No wonder it’s bloody hurting the drugs have all run out... I hope they hurry up with them.’ Then another contraction hit & I couldn’t stop myself from pushing. As I pushed I felt my waters go but then I heard the midwives saying that the head was out... then on the next contraction I pushed again & Alfred was born. The midwife hadn’t even had chance to get her gloves on! The last two stages of labour are listed in my notes as being two minutes long. It was so fast but I’d been pretty much doing yoga for 24 hours before I went into labour so I must have got him in a good position. We left the hospital six hours later with our new baby ready to meet his brother.
“Tessa Clemson Yoga - your yoga studio in Great Harwood, serving Hyndburn, Blackburn with Darwen, Ribble Valley & Burnley”