the yoga babies

This page has lots of beautiful babies and their birth stories. It is undoubtedly the most beautiful page of my website! Sharing our births and experiences in a constructive way helps women prepare and connect with their envisioned birth and then digest their experience afterwards.

Some are simple, some more challenging, but all of them are real women and babies who have used my yoga and breathing to make their journey into the world more gentle and present. If you would like your birth story added please send it to me.

Here’s to the power of our individual experiences, our shared journeys, and ultimately the power of love and motherhood,

Happy reading…

Baby A

Baby A arrived safely and a week late on the 8th July at 12:25am weighing 7lbs. I managed to go all natural with labour and had her in the pool, I didn’t need any pain relief, not even gas and air, the breathing techniques worked amazingly well for me. I just focused on my breathing whilst hubby and midwife chatted away. I was in labour for about 6 hours and in the pool for the last 4 hours, I was on the big ball beforehand. Overall what an amazing experience.

….

I also met one of my closest friend at your classes and we often talk about our yoga experience together. I had another daughter, E and had the same amazing birthing experience thanks to the breathing techniques I learned from your class.

Baby X

I gave birth to X (6 days late weighing 7lb 10oz). Long labour (hind rupture at 3.45am Fri, gave birth at 2.26am Sunday) finally being induced Sunday morning.

The breathing techniques were fantastic, and really helped me. The classes were brilliant and all your nuggets of information were really useful. I’m glad the extreme pregnancy sickness and spd are now behind us and we’re settling into more of a routine at 5 months.

I keep in touch with D from the first term I did, and L, A and L too – which was fantastic as a way of meeting people being quite new to the area.

……

It was a lovely class, from start to finish – with your lovely treats too. Xander is 3.5 now and doing well he’s a happy, softie of a little boy, kind and caring and v funny. He’ll be a fab big brother.

Baby A

I am delighted to tell you that I had my wee girl. She is perfect. Remember I was saying about her position and you felt my bump with the big hard part at the top, I arrived at the hopsital basically ready to start breathing her down and they found out she was breech and the hard part we had all been feeling was her head!!

They said at that point it was too late to try and move her and wanted to get her out before she moved into my birth canal. I did asked about doing it naturally but they said there was too much risk due to her postion as I would need to get the legs and head through at the same time.

Without the breathing and relaxtion techniques I would never have coped so well, the midwife said she had never seen such a calm c section baby as A just cleared her lungs herself and then Mark cut the cord and she was put beside me.

Thanks again for all your help and advice

Baby M

Just a quick email to let you know our little girl was born yesterday morning. We’ve called her M and she is just perfect! We’re both so in love with her.

Sorry I didn’t make it to yoga the last two weeks. I had a lot of problems with my back and was struggling to drive but I found all the stretches you showed us helped a huge amount – so thank you!

Labour was tough. 29 hours in all but managed with just gas and air for the last couple of hours. Again, all the breathing techniques helped massively and I would thoroughly recommend your classes to any expectant mums!

Thanks again for everything.

Babies L, P & A

I gave birth by planned c section to beautiful and healthy triplets: P 4lbs 7 and L 2lbs 8 and A 4lbs 8. The girls came out running despite little L’s size, wee A had a collapsed lung on first few days of life and needed a wee bit of help but is now biggest and bottle feeding and just doing amazing. We should get A and P home soon but L may have to stay in longer to put on some weight.
C from our yoga class was also in special care unit and just got home today with her baby.
I found the yoga and breathing very useful when on the operating table about to have my section with over 30 people watching me, and also when I suffered a bit of anxiety when having to come home without my babies! I always recommend you and your class.

Baby G

I thought I’d let you know that we welcomed our little girl G into the world on 20th feb just under 3 hours over her due date, so can’t believe she’s 3 weeks already! She was 8lb 5oz, and I managed labour with just with the breathing you taught us and gas and air. I got to the hospital at 9.45 pm and was 5cm dilated, so was praised for doing so well at home, spending most of the time in the bath and breathing thru each contraction – G was born at 2.50am, and we were lucky enough to have a water birth, which was amazing. Staying focused on my breathing, thinking positively that each contraction was getting me closer to meeting our baby, and the water made my labour relatively calm and something I’d go thru all over again 😉. I thought I’d share, as really surprised me just how in control it made me feel, which I found provided a big boost psychologically throughout labour.

Baby F

I just wanted to send you an email to let you know about our new arrival. F arrived on Monday 15th April, on her due date! Breathing and relaxation came in so useful at each stage. I woke up contracting on Sunday after a great nights sleep, and the lay slowly and surely increased in frequency and intensity throughout the day. Though I was able to go about my day as planned, we even had visitors pop by unexpectedly and they didn’t notice! By 8pm contractions were about 4 mins apart so headed off to hospital. Breathing really helped me stay at home for so long and was particularly useful to get me through the car journey. Things really ramped up at hospital and I dilated the last 7cm in 90mins! Needless to say breathing was so important at this stage. In particular the third breathing exercise was useful for me. I Spent a couple of hours in the birthing pool where she was born at three mins past midnight weighing 8lbs11. As the birth was smooth with no interventions or tears – do your massage ladies! – we got home in time for breakfast on Monday. She’s feeding like a dream and we are constantly surprised by how little sleep we can function on! Thank you so much for everything, it was the birth I’d only hoped for and I think I was in shock for a few days that it had gone so exactly to plan! A photo below of her in the pool with me just after she was born, and a few days later sleeping on her daddy.
Lots of love and thanks

Baby E

Finally managing to write to let you know that baby E. arrived 2 weeks early weighing a dinky 5lbs 5. Contractions started around 7:30 am, but it took me until 2:15 pm to actually realise that I was in labour, but which point contractions were pretty regular. I managed to use the breathing cycle you taught us a couple of times, but mostly just used the middle breath as I didn’t really have time to get myself organised! This worked brilliantly and I managed through labour using only gas and air and the breathing. A (very) long second stage did lead to an assisted delivery right at the end, but baby arrived safely and unphased! I have really enjoyed coming along to the yoga classes and will miss them— the breathing training in particular was invaluable. Thanks again for all the advice and support over the last few months.

Baby!

I had a little girl on Sunday night. It was an amazing birth with tens machine and breathing only which made me really happy. I’m completely in love with her ( no name yet!). Maybe see you at baby yoga if we can..,

Baby R

I would like to let you know that M and i had a lovely baby girl on the 16 th of August called R – 7 lb unfortunately like L she was breach and therefore c section was required again but the yoga breathing helped me to stay relaxed throughout the procedure and my stay in the hospital, so far L loves being a big sister to R. The breathing also helped settle me during the sleepless nights too.

…..

Through attending your pregnancy yoga sessions that we both ( myself and husband) have made wonderful friends who helped the journey of pregnancy and have stayed friends now for 12 years and counting!

Baby B

My waters broke and I went into labour on Boxing Day evening (I was so glad I managed to enjoy my Christmas dinner first!!!). Unfortunately I came down with an infection during labour, so had to move to the consultant led unit and wasn’t able to have the water birth I’d hoped for. However, all was well in the end as at 5.15pm on the 27th December I had my beautiful baby boy called B. He was 8 pounds 1 ounce and 21 inches. I couldn’t thank the NHS staff enough, we stayed in hospital until the 30th December and the midwives and other doctors and nurses were amazing. The last couple of weeks have been so filled with joy, my husband and I have been in a blissful baby bubble! B’s furry big sister (our dog, Nala) has been so curious and protective of him too, I’m sure they’ll have a great bond! Thank you for all the knowledge you passed on at pregnancy yoga, it was always really enjoyable and a highlight of my week. The breathing techniques in particular were really useful in early labour.

Baby R

R was born 5th January, 8lbs 8. My contractions stopped on arrival to hospital so I got hooked up to the hormones and all the monitors and it was difficult to make use of the useful yoga poses and didn’t do much breathing after that apart from huge gulps of entonox!! Managed to get her out naturally in the end 🙂 All of the weekly information was invaluable throughout my pregnancy though when I was getting pelvic pain etc so thankyou so much for that.

Baby L

Just to let you and the girls know L was born on Wednesday… I would have been doing my breathing with you!! Ultimately failure to progress meant we eventually had a Caesarian, he was a whopping 10lb on the nose and clearly knew best.
All home now and doing well – the breathing was invaluable. Thanks so so much!

Baby J

Last week that I gave birth to J on the 27th. My husband’s birthday! He was 10 days early and weighed 8lb 4oz. Controlling my breathing helped through the contractions and I managed on gas and air and morphine. I loved coming to yoga, it was very relaxing after a hectic day. Thank you also for all your lovely cakes! I’m really looking forward to growing as a family and making lovely new memories.

Baby C

We had our little baby boy last week. C was born on Friday 29th at 7.28. He weighed 7lb2 and is absolutely perfect. I was 39+6days. My Labour story: I upped my walking in the last week of labour as this often seemed to bring on my Braxton Hicks. We went for a long walk around Blair Adam in the morning on Thursday which really brought them on with a change in intensity. They went on all day but only lightly, still managed to bake a cake and nap for a few hours. Into the night we started timing them and they had ramped up to 2 in 5 minutes, using breathing techniques i felt really in control.

We went into the hospital at 3am and was delighted to hear I was 5cm dilated. Unfortunatly I wasn’t allowed in the pool due to high BP but continued to manage with only gas and air and a tenns machine, from 7am I brought him into the world after 25 minutes of pushing. Over all I’m so positive about my birth, using my breathing techniques was undoubtedly the best coping strategy for me. The yoga and keeping moving also really helped with being physically ready for Labour! We are loving being a family of 3 and looking forward to trying yoga with baby C soon.

Baby M

M arrived on the 15th November and all has been non stop ever since! He’s already been to his first yoga class (a family class in the village) and proved very good at cobras!! M’s birth was completely different to my first – I. was 5hours in the pool, with hypnobirthing breathing and calm, dark and mellow. But after I had to go to surgery to patch up a third degree tear which took a very long time to heal. M was 14hours, I managed to get in the pool but couldn’t stay long as part of my plan to reduce tears again, but as I got out they realised I was at high risk of haemorrhage when my waters broke, so the room became full of consultants, scanning machines and all the moving about to get the right angle for them was excruciating. Anyway , my waters broke, Murdo arrived and barely a first degree tear! I was delighted as had been so worried of a repeat bad year/episiotomy. The student midwife actually said after that it was the best birth she’d seen – there was a fair amount of drama but we had all kept to the birth plan kept breathing and kept the faith and I managed with just gas and air . Though I’m now done with babies, two is enough for us! He’s doing brilliantly and is pretty chilled and happy.
I hope your classes are going well, I’ve recommended you to several others, particularly the cake and quiet bit at the end!

Baby E

E was born, as planned, on Fri, weighing 91b (4.06 kg). Birth very relaxed thanks to wonderful medical team and the c-section turned out to be a good choice for us. We came home on Sunday night and everything has been going really well with recovery and E. I didn’t need to use any relaxation breathing in theatre, but yoga has come in handy for keeping moving in hospital and at home. Best wishes to everyone and many thanks to them all for their words of encouragement and support. I hope they all have a positive experience, however the birth comes about!

…

I loved yoga while pregnant – as well as all the practical advice of managing pregnancy and birth, I gained a lot of support from others in the class, hearing their experiences at different stages. It taught me every pregnancy and birth is different, but it gave a sense of confidence that this is normal. I also look back on it as the start of bonding with baby – often it was the only time in the week I had to relax, enjoy my pregnancy and give sole attention to the being inside, with warm thought hugs to the baby to be.

Babies J & G

Just to let u know I had my twin girls by forcep delivery. J was 5.1lb and G was 5.10lb, girls and I are doing great x

Baby R

Our little baby R was born today weighing 8lb. Breathing really helped as I got to the Hosp and was 7cm dilated. All well and looking forward to Christmas as a family of 5 🙂

Baby D

Thank you for the lovely relaxing pregnancy yoga classes. D was born by c-section on the 3rd of November and is settling in nicely.

Baby O

My baby boy O was born on Friday at 2am, weighing 8 pounds 2 ounces. I started having contractions at 5am on Thursday and used your breathing techniques, dandelion visualisation and the standing and swaying, stretching movements and the exercises on all fours that you taught in class until 11pm when I was contractions 3 mins apart and 50 seconds in length and starting to find it all a bit much!
I got to hospital and they told me I was fully dilated, my baby was breech and gave me the option of a c section- which I took. O and I got out of hospital on Christmas Eve and we are both doing well.
Your classes and advice and book really made me feel confident about giving birth and helped me manage my labour completely naturally so thank you very, very much.

Baby E

Just to say that we had our baby girl E on the 29th of April. All went really well and we had a beautiful water birth. This second birth was much faster than the first one, the contractions very intense, with almost no rest between them, so I could not use some of the relaxation techniques I used with the first one. However, the first and second breathing were great, specially the golden thread, I kept using it throughout labour and I did not need any pain relief, just the golden tread and water was enough. Hope all the mums are well and wishing everyone positive experiences, we are loving to be 4!

Baby Y

Sorry for not attending your final classes. My waters leaked in week 35 and after an induction, I ended up having a forceps birth. Everything is fine and the yoga classes do helped to stay calm during the whole process. Thank you so much. Your classes were a total highlight.

Baby J

Just a short note to let you know that I had a baby boy, J last Wednesday, a little brother for B.
I was very lucky in the fact that Iexperienced a very short two hour labour with no time really to even think of pain relief but was told I had excellent breathing techniques so thank you for all your training!
Take care and thanks again.

Baby M

Baby M finally made an appearance 11 days overdue! Went into labour naturally 3 hours before I was due to be induced. Was a slow moving labour for 24 hours before heading to hospital at 5am on the morning of Friday at 6cm dilated. Ended up giving birth at 12.35pm with just gas and air.

The breathing exercises you showed us helped get me through those 24 hours of slow labour – don’t think I would have been able to do it without having that to focus on.

Thanks again for all your help,

Baby N

I had a lovely early surprise arrival last month. My waters went at 34,4weeks, induced at

35,4 weeks, and welcomed a beautiful baby girl. Labour was great again, I had the drip to get me started and managed labour with breathing, x1 morphine and equinox. Baby was monitored throughout, so was limited to the bed space but using your breathing techniques helped me so much again. The midwifes were even complimentary about my breathing! After 6 hours of contractions, and 3 pushes N arrived into the world, healthy and safely. I cannot thank you enough for your support and your

breathing exercises, they were paramount in both of my labours in coping and achieving the type of labour I had envisioned.

Baby R

R arrived safely on 24th March by emergency section, however I ended up having two blood hemorrhages which resulted in my loosing 5.5 litres of blood, another two operations and a full blood transfusion. I spent a day in intensive care then pretty much in hospital out of action for 10 days. Thankfully we are home now heading for night three together. R is amazing, such a content little boy. I think he knows his mummy has been poorly. Taking each day as it comes and making the most of getting to know my wee man as I missed out on quite a lot of the first moments. I’ve attached a photo of my wee smasher. Despite everything your breathing techniques definitely worked a treat and helped me get through the troublesome active labour.

Baby N

Sorry its taken a while to get in touch! It’s true what they say about the tiny humans taking up all of your time! N arrived on 12th September at 12.25am weighing 10lbs exactly. My birth plan went completely out the window and I ended up having an emergency caesarean after an unsuccessful 39 hour labour! The yoga breathing really helped me to stay grounded throughout however, and despite being on the hormone drip and monitored I was able to stay upright on my ball throughout the labour process. Your yoga class was invaluable to me and we will hopefully be able to join you at Baby Yoga soon.

Baby K

After much deliberation I decided to go ahead with the early induction which happened at 40 weeks. Unfortunately I ended up having an emergency c section, however my beautiful baby boy K was born weighing 8lbs exactly. He is a happy and healthy baby who is bringing so much joy to us every day. I am also recovering well. All the breathing techniques came in very useful during labour so thank you for all your help and advice. Say hello to all the yoga ladies, hopefully meet up with you soon with babies. Good luck to everyone, it’s all worth it.

Baby T

I really enjoyed coming to your maternity yoga class each week from 16 weeks pregnant. Your breathing techniques really helped me keep calm during labour. Baby T was born on the 26th June at 1.38pm weighing 8lbs 12oz!! I had to be induced which was not ideal but due to my hynd waters leaking it was the only option. Once my contractions kicked in, the labour was quite quick.

….

I have lots of lovely memories of maternity yoga and have met a lovely friend I meet up with often and our boys were born only weeks apart. Keep up the good work

Baby S

I’ve been meaning to email you and let you know that our baby boy arrived on 4th Feb weighing 8lbs 9oz. We are in a love bubble and enjoying getting to know him. The first pic is from just after he was born and the second are from this week. He is already changing so much and getting bigger. We still can’t believe he is ours.

Baby R

I went to Susannah’s yoga classes during my first pregnancy. Probably more than any of the ante-natal classes I attended, it gave me confidence, kept me in tune with what was going on in my own body and afforded me a sense of control (or at least awareness) of what would happen to me during my labour. I went to the classes right up until the wee boy was born at 38 weeks. We had a pool birth, and I managed to use the controlled breathing techniques Susannah had taught me – with a bit of help from the gas and air! The yoga classes were a lovely way to relax and learn some techniques to prepare for the big day – and the next one three years later!

Baby M

Just wanted to share my news that I had a baby girl on 31st jan weighing 7lb 7 and we have called her M. My labour went extremely well, was only 4 hours from my first contraction to holding her in my arms. I feel that coming to your yoga class helped me relax and also learn about optimum baby positioning and breathing techniques which I used for my labour as had no pain relief, there wasn’t any time! Thank you for all the advice.

Baby A

Just so you know A was born. No need to go in to detail but I ended up with an emergency c-section but couldn’t have got through the bit before hand without remembering my breathing! It was also really helpful for the first week of breast feeding when attachment was painful at times.

KA T

Baby N

N was born at 18.24 yesterday weighing 5.3lbs. We’re both doing well.

Again, I really enjoyed the class and I used the breathing (including the humming!).

Baby Girl

Just to let you know, as I said in last weeks Mat Yoga on Tuesday I was ‘very’ pregnant at 37 weeks, alas my baby girl decided to enter the world swiftly and safely on Thursday night 3 weeks earlier than schedule, weighing in at 6lb 12 oz at 23.20 from getting at hospital at 21.20. Baby was delivered in birthing pool with no pain relief required whatsoever, the power of the brain and breathing!

Baby D

Thought I’d let you know about the arrival of D. He was born by c-section on Friday 8th August, 3 weeks early and weighed 7lb13oz. He is absolutely beautiful. Daniel isn’t very well with kidney problems (we knew about this from 20wks) so is in Sick Kids waiting for an operation on the start of long journey to get him home. I loved Yoga class and found the exercises really helpful and breathing helped to keep me calm when getting spinal injection etc etc. I’m thinking yoga might be something I’ll try post pregnancy as well now.

…..

D is now 6yrs old and has had a really hard time. He started dialysis treatment at 10mths old, had a kidney transplant at 3yrs old and then developed a type of post transplant cancer at 4yrs old. So I have to admit that I didn’t get much time for more yoga, however, in the lead up to his transplant I joined a class again and it helped me get through the long hospital stays and helped to stay calm and focused.

Baby C

Its a girl!!! My waters broke on a walk just before yoga class on Tuesday and with no progression to labour, I ended up with an induction on Wednesday night. I had the pessary and didn’t respond- then the oxytocin drip. Very little response, not even to the max dose of oxytocin for 7 hours so had a csection in the end On Thursday night. Feel like I ran the gauntlet of birthing options but it was all so positive – just as well as it was 48 hours in total….

She is 8 lbs 1oz and 21.5 inches long, she came into the world at 8.13pm on May 28th and has been chilling out ever since. We are all happy and healthy, looking forward to family time together over the next few weeks. We don’t have a name yet but we’re working on it 🙂 Thank you for all your help through the pregnancy- it was really straightforward. I did have some contractions from the oxytocin and the breathing exercises really helped too.

Baby H

H was born on Saturday 11th May at 20.10pm weighing 6lbs 11oz. The birth didn’t go quite to plan – I think I had mentioned at the last class that I had had a blood test as I was itching, the next morning I got a call to say I had a liver problem and to get straight to hospital that morning to get induced. On the Saturday I ended up with drips in my arms and H being constantly monitored so it was difficult to move. I didn’t like gas and air so gave up after 2 minutes and just used my yoga breathing – it was fantastic – I breathed my way through 6 hours of contractions – I used the visualisation exercise as well when breathing out imagining gold thread blowing out. I wouldn’t have managed without medication it the breathing hadn’t been so effective. Near the end H’s cord got stuck so he had to be pulled out quickly – he ended up a bit bruised and I lost a litre and a half of blood so we ended up in hospital for 5 days as H got jaundice and I was very anemic. For any of the girls who are going to the Victoria Hospital – the staff were brilliant and I was amazed with the advice and care I received. G and I are so grateful for your help and everything we learned at the workshop and the weekly classes as it definitely helped us deal with a less than straightforward birth!

Baby Z

Baby Z was born at home on May 5th at 21.21pm after a chilled out 12 hour labour. She weighed 7lbs 12oz. The birth was perfect. Laboured with R and my home birth team at home in comfort, easy breathing, remembering to keep my vocals low and contro lled rather than loud and screechy really helped focus me when I needed it. Managed the whole 12 hour thing on 4 cocodamols and a couple huffs of gas&air (wasn’t keen on it – barely used it). It’s all been a whirlwind and we are very happy to be all together and discovering parenthood and life. Thank you for all of your support and help! All the best to the girls and I hope they have wonderful births and babies x

Baby O

Finally getting round to emailing you with the news of our new arrival – O was born on 10th October at 19:06, weighing 7lbs 14. I got my wish and didn’t have a long labour and didn’t get to hospital too early – only 5 and a half hours altogether, only just made it to the hospital at 8-9cm dilated, gave birth with gas and air only an hour later! If only my birth story ended there – unfortunately I had a retained placenta AGAIN, and had to have it manually removed in hospital. So much for my “chain of intervention” theory for why this happened with I…

Things that helped me in labour:

Pacing around and distracting myself at first (also not sure if I was in proper labour at this point having had similar pains the night before that had just stopped).
All fours rocking in the shower with the water on my lower back as things got more serious (though contractions were still erratic at this point).
Rocking back and forth on my birth ball whilst “vocalising” my out-breath. By this stage the normal breathing was past being any use, but hearing the breath by sort of low moaning definitely worked for me – the low moaning later became much louder though!!! (Only at this point did my contractions become regular, at 2 mins apart! Oops! I was very calm though, which I think came from the natal hypnotherapy stuff – I was aware that 2 mins was possibly too late, but those conscious thoughts were sort of in the background and unimportant.)
Earphones on with loud music on the journey to hospital (not relaxing birth music, mostly upbeat stuff!), I also kept my eyes closed the entire way which helped me stay in my “zone”. (Poor A meanwhile, had to drive whilst listening to my “vocalisations”!).
I also used the yoga breathing pattern to help with my after-pains, combined with relaxation techniques from the natal hypnotherapy CD.

All the best of luck to everybody else with the rest of their pregnancies and births.

Baby M

Little Baby M was born on the early morning of Tuesday weighing in at 7lb 7ozs (not so ‘BIG BABY’, but happily normal) and she born via emergency c-section in the end as my bp wasn’t playing ball. Your classes and relaxation advice worked so well for me in the process and I wanted to really thank you so much for all your classes, advice and guidance throughout my pregnancy. We are over the moon to finally meet and have her in the world ❤

Baby M

I also had a VBAC with M, which was great. So calm – hard work – but a much easier recovery and no meds or intervention at all. Used my breath and had my tranquil music on. I actually still use the soft breath blowing my dandelion clocks when I meditate. I love it.

Baby S

Baby S was born earlier than planned on Wednesday at 0430 weighing 6,13. It was a very quick labour only 3hrs and 45mins. We got our home birth and it all went to plan. I managed to use the tens and your breathing for most of the birth, using some gas and air for the pushing bit. Thank you for all your help. I have loved coming to your classes and will miss them.

Good luck to everyone else on their births. It is completely worth it. We are loving the cuddles and O is besotted with his new baby sister.

Baby M

I thought I’d just send a quick e-mail (am on the midnight feed and waiting for the little one to fall asleep!) to tell you about the birth of M. After having convinced myself that she would come early, M decided to break all the rules and get me in a panic by coming 11 days late. This meant that I’d tried all the tricks to try and get her to shift and then had to attend the hospital to be primed for induction. I had been pretty adament that I didn’t want to be induced but to be honest, I was getting so fed up and just wanted my little one here tha in the end I decided to go ahead. I was booked in to be primed on Tuesday 18th September but was hoping that I wouldn’t need to be and that they would send me home. Again, no such luck! I was given the Propess hormone in the morning and told I would have to stay in overnight so they could monitor me. I managed to sneak away a couple of times during the day as there were no beds and I was desperate to see D before I stayed in that night. I. and I returned to the hospital at tea time and I was put on a ward with another 3 girls who were also waiting to be induced the following morning. At 7.45pm I suggested that I. should leave to get some rest as nothing was happening and I took a bath. Almost as soon as I got in the bath I started to feel contractions but was unsure what was going on as one would finish and another would start almost immediately. I was thinking of you all in the yoga class doing your relaxation at the time! I also found it very helpful to put into practice some of the visualisation you talked us through. Mine happened to be coloured bubbles as I was able to focus on the bubbles in the bath. When I came out I had an examination as the contractions were growing stronger each time and the midwife found me to be 5cm dilated. I was taken down to the labour ward and called Iain at 8.45pm to tell him to make his way back to the hospital. I think he thought I was joking as just an hour ago, he had left with no signs of baby making an appearance! I tried to stay as active as possible and remained standing up pushing against the pole in the room as I used gas and air to help me through the contractions. I told the midwife that I was hoping for a water birth and she went off to investigate the possibility. When she returned she explained that it was just being cleaned and filled for me but by then it was too late as I needed to push and there was no time. I. arrived back at the hospital at 9.15pm and M was born at 9.28pm! He only managed to play 3 songs from his ipod labour mix and out of a shuffle of 150 songs, M decided that she would opt to hear Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Waiting on a Sunny Day’ – the same as D had when she entered the world. Things didn’t go the way I had planned them this time round and although I needed a small amount of intervention, I still feel I had an extremely positive experience. I think I had thought that everything would be the same this time round but everyone says that no 2 babies are the same and they’re right. M is proving to us every day that she is different and unique and it’s fantastic getting to see another little personality. D is being a wonderful big sister and has welcomed M with open arms and a warm heart. I am so proud of them both and although I think our family is complete, I’ll not say never again as I’m just not sure what the future holds! 🙂 Again I’d just like to thank you so much for helping guide me through this pregancy every week in yoga. It kept me focused, energised and empowered and definitely had a positive impact on my birth experience.

Baby C

Just to let you know that baby C arrived on 31 May (11 days over) at 18.42 after being induced at about 9.30 that morning. The breathing techniques in class were a great help for getting through the contractions as it all happened so quickly I didn’t get any gas and air until we were rushed to the delivery suite at 10cm dilated after 5pm.

Baby T

This is T – he was born on Thursday 11th July at 12.58 weighing 6lb 10oz. Labour was very quick in the end – my waters went on Tuesday night but no contractions. I was due to be induced on Friday but pains started about 5am on Thursday morning. Stayed at home until just after 9am – contractions went from 5-6 mins apart to about 3 mins apart in about half an hour. Journey to the hospital was pretty uncomfortable but my yoga breathing really helped. When we got to the hospital at 10am I was 3cm dilated – they reckoned I wouldn’t be having a baby until tea time but T thought otherwise! I didn’t get to use the birthing pool as I was supposed to get IV antibiotics (although in the end they didn’t have time) so I went in the bath for a little bit but then mostly laboured on my knees over the back of the bed. Contractions started coming really close together so I had some gas and air and managed to deliver T in just a couple of hours! We’re all doing well back at home – just getting used to our new arrival and find our way around each other. Thanks for all your help during the classes – they really helped my pregnancy be more comfortable and I’ll definitely be recommending Pregnancy Yoga to other mums-to-be.

…

I can actually update our story a bit too. I came back to pregnancy yoga in 2015 when I was expecting my second. He was born at home (a planned home birth) in August. Established labour only lasted 6 hours and it was another quick and easy birth. The yoga breathing really helped again the second time.

Your classes were my first introduction to yoga and I really enjoyed them (and especially the cake!). Even though we moved in 2016 I am still in touch with some of the other mums from the classes. I also started going to yoga classes here about 3 years ago and I love it. I’m attempting to get on my mat every day in 2021 and I haven’t missed a day yet!

Baby B

Well it looks like we won’t be attending your class this week! Introducing B born yesterday, mummy and baby back home and doing great x. After getting small niggles of pain on and off all morning yesterday, contractions suddenly became more intense around 3.30/4pm although still 10 mins apart. Aware that 1st baby came quick, so we decided to go to the hospital, got there at 17.10 being measured at 6cm, and he was born at 17.55! Thank you for letting us attend your classes, the Breathing techniques, mainly long slow breaths were very useful, especially as there was no time for anything else! Love to everyone and good luck with all your journeys and adventures with your new little bundles of joy 💙

Baby J

I can honestly say thanks to your classes I had two really positive experience.

Baby J was born in a hurry! He weighed 7lb 11.5oz.

Started having tightening at 9pm on Monday night and by 10pm it started also in my lower back. Used yoga breathing, all fours, bath and birth ball until 4.45am on Tuesday when phoned hospital. Was examined at 6.30am and was 1-2cm dilated but nothing else. Went home and got sleep 7.30am till 9.30am. Backache bad and not comfy in any position but kept going with breathing. Phoned hospital at 11.15am and told I was sounding fine and in control and to phone back at tea time! 11.30 had blood so husband phoned again and told to go in.
Most uncomfortable car journey ever on all fours in back of car. Arrived hospital 12.30 -fully dilated and Jack arrived 13.49 with lots and lots and lots more gas and air!!!! Home by 10pm same day.
Breathing exercises definately allowed me to not panic whilst at home but advice to others to listen to your body and if you feel your not in control with pain go to the hospital no matter what they tell you!

Baby R

It has been a couple of weeks since I last saw you and the girls from yoga but nine days late, our beautiful little boy finally arrived. Not realising I was in labour until my waters broke at 9pm, R came into the world very quickly just six hours later. All of the techniques learned from yoga and my hypnobirthing CDs obviously worked for me and we now have the most wonderful early Christmas present. While nothing prepares you for parenthood, he is already such a little character and we can’t imagine our lives without him in it. Best wishes to all the ladies in the class.

Baby E

Meet E! My baby girl took me by surprise 5 days early on Easter Monday, 2nd April at 16.32 weighing 7lb 1oz 😊 I was only in labour for 7 hours so she was good to me!

Your class was one of my favourite parts of my pregnancy, it helped with my pregnancy aches and pains and really helped me stay relaxed throughout and on the lead up to labour. I loved meeting other mums to be and sharing our experiences.

Baby J

Just to let you know I had a baby boy on the 21st June, J. He kept me waiting 9 days but when he decided to come he was here in under 3 hours, all 9lbs 1oz of him! My daughter was only 7lbs so I wasn’t expecting that! Although my labour was even faster than the first time I was able to use my breathing better and felt more in control and aware of what was happening. Yoga was such an important part of my pregnancy especially during lockdown where that time just me and the baby was so important to me and really kept me relaxed during a stressful time. Thank you so much for continuing to run the classes during lockdown. I’m still good friends with some mums I met during classes now and hope to be for years to come, which I am also very grateful for.

Baby J

Sorry I missed last Tuesday’s class – I had been in hospital since the Sunday getting steroids and actually totally forgot it was Tuesday! Things progressed faster than planned with the wee one after a period of reduced movement last Sunday, so the decision was made to get him out at 36 instead of 37. On Thursday 31 October at 12.09pm our perfect little boy was born by elective section, weighing a tiny 4lb 8oz. 💙 His breathing and bloods have all been great and he’s been with us since delivery – no need for special care. We’re all still in hospital to get support with his feeding but hoping to get out later today. Thank you so much for your support since joining up for pregnancy yoga this year.💞 I’ve felt very lucky to have your advice, thoughts and care over the last few months – allowing me to remember E but to also enjoy this new pregnancy.

Baby M

Baby L

I’m happy to let you know that baby L has arrived! He was born on the 10th of October (week 40+3) at 3.46pm measuring 9lbs9oz (4360g) and 56.5cm! My labour was very calm and relaxed and a positive experience. I did most of it at home with the help of my husband with whom we also took a hypnobirthing course. I used visualisations and breathing techniques both from hypnobirthing and your class. Actually, I might be the first one to say the most useful of the breathing techniques we went through in your classes was the first one! It must have been around noon that my contractions got more powerful and closer together and before leaving to the hospital I was mooing! So I was happy to know at that point that it’s totally normal and a good sign. I just forgot to tell my husband that (we’ve laughed about it ever since)…

In my official notes from the hospital they wrote that I had no first stage at all and my second stage was 20 min! By the time we arrived in the hospital, I already felt the urge to bear down. And it was exactly as you said: there was no way to miss that or not work with my body at that point. The whole labour felt very calm and focused, and I actually just took a paracetamol at home around noon (they kept asking if I had taken any over the phone so I decided I’d better take one). Thank you for the yoga classes, I found myself using some of the positions during 1st stage and all the info regarding breathing and making sounds was extremely useful! If any of the ladies in your classes want to talk to someone who has had such a positive birthing experience, feel free to share my details to get in touch! I believe it’s possible for everyone.

….

L still does yoga at home spontaneously. He knows the names of some yoga poses and will go in downward facing dog if I just say the name of the pose… Here are a couple of photos of us enjoying yoga at home.

Baby H

I just wanted to let you know that I had my beautiful baby girl, H, on Sunday 16th June, weighing in at 7lb 4oz. I had a very straight forward labour and birth in the waterpool – I would thoroughly recommend waterbirth to everyone, the contractions were much more manageable in the water and I only had gas and air for the whole process. As for my breathing, the face mask was brilliant and although I didn’t use our breathing pattern, I actually found visualising the opening and closing flower breathing we did with our hands the last class I attended was very useful and calming during contractions. Big breaths in and slow breaths out got me through every contraction, along with Chewbacca noises on every exhalation!! With face mask on I sounded like Darth Vader when I breathed in 🙂 Many thanks for your advice and support over the past two terms and best wishes for your future classes.

Baby D

Thank you for the lovely relaxing pregnancy yoga classes. D was born by c-section on the 3rd of November and is settling in nicely.

Baby A

Just a wee email to let you know baby A was born on the 26th November – 1 day early 🙂 We are all doing well and luckily I had a positive birth experience overall.

Thank you for all the tips and advice during yoga, I thoroughly enjoyed it and have already recommended you to a couple of friends who are pregnant.

Baby S

I can’t believe after all of these weeks it’s time to write this email to let you know that we welcomed a baby girl into the world on Friday night, S. All doing really well, and I. utterly besotted. She was 6lb 3oz.

I had a growth scan last week in the basis of measuring small, which showed growth tailed off to a worrying extent and therefore advised to undergo induction. We went in on Thurs evening to start the process, and really nothing happened for about 22 hours, then I started to get regular contractions, and instead of an examination at 24 hours as planned, I delivered in the induction suite very quickly to everybody’s surprise, including my own!!

The breathing strategies were so helpful in giving me something to focus on, and I stayed on all fours throughout, I couldn’t even persuade my body to get on to my back to allow an examination! All in all it was a really positive experience, and undoubtedly I felt more confident going into it following all of the advice, support and knowledge shared through our wonderful classes.

Will be thinking of you all going forward – not long until newborn cuddles now!!

Baby A

Just to let you know that P & I had a daughter on Wednesday 6th Sept, she was a little surprise at 2 weeks early! Her name is A and she was 7lb 5oz.

Everything with labour went really well and I am putting it all down to yoga and the breathing techniques I learned. I got to the hospital fully dilated and managed to have a waterbirth with no drugs, it was all really quick too, she arrived within 2 hours of us getting to the hospital. Thank you for your fantastic pregnancy yoga class and for the yoga birthing workshop, both were really helpful and I’m sure have contributed to making my labour a good experience. I will hopefully be able to come along to your general yoga class at some point in the future and will keep a look out incase you do a baby yoga class again. Thanks again for everything.

Baby H

Our little girl arrived on 23rd October and we’ve named her Heidi. We had planned to have a home birth but I ended up having to go to hospital to be induced as my waters broke and she did a poo so we needed to get her out asap. Despite this being pretty much the opposite of what we had wanted, and a sudden change at the last minute, the birth itself was uncomplicated and I was only in labour for seven and a half hours. The breathing you had taught me was invaluable. I had taken my husband through the three stages in advance and we had practiced them so he was able to talk me through the techniques at times when I started to feel less in control. H is now three and a half weeks old, and I already don’t want her to grow up anymore!

…. Your pregnancy yoga classes got me hooked on the benefits of yoga, the mental benefits as much as the physical ones. And as H has grown we have continued to do yoga together, initially at your lovely baby yoga classes. She’s much better at it than me! We both really enjoy spending some calm time focusing on our bodies and having a good stretch and balancing. I’m so glad I discovered yoga through Susannah’s classes, it’s brought a wonderful new element of mindfulness to my life and I can now share that with my daughter.

Baby P

I was – naturally – frightened of the prospect of labour and childbirth, particularly being a doctor, as I had only ever attended complicated births while training. I loved Susannah’s classes, I felt they really helped prepare me for labour. And the delicious cakes were a lovely touch….

I vividly still remember hearing her words of encouragement when I was in labour at home, telling me to focus on the fact that every contraction will only last two minutes maximum, so you just have to get (and breathe) through it. In the end I managed with just a TENS machine until I went to hospital at 8cm, with a labour app which was really useful for timing. I genuinely don’t remember labour being awful, but more of a process to get to an exciting endpoint.

I do remember pacing around our home for most of the night, watching terrible tv (this was pre-Netflix in 2013). I even made sandwiches and packed a snack bag for my husband for the hospital admission, while the poor darling slept soundly upstairs. What on earth was I thinking…!

Our beautiful little girl P then arrived, and is now 7. Sadly I had to have an elective section with my son a few years later, but I wouldn’t have been frightened of labour again. P, now 7, who has developed a love for cake…possibly stemmed from yoga classes while she was in the womb!

Baby R

I hope you have returned to the mat and are doing well. Just a wee note to say I gave birth to little R on 13 February (1 week early). He is perfect 😄😄. The breathing techniques and positions learned during the classes really helped. I was worried I wouldn’t remember them but it all came flooding back! The midwifes were very impressed with my breathing!!! It reduced my need for pain relief and certainly helped during the whole labour!

Baby E

I wanted to let you know that baby E arrived safely on Thursday 18 July at 15:37 weighing 8lb 6oz. I also wanted to say a massive thank you for everything you taught us in class, the breathing techniques were particularly helpful during my labour. E surprised us slightly arriving 4 days early! My contractions started around 09:00 and we stayed at home until 15:00, we really had no idea how far along We were at that point. We arrived at the Maternity reception at around 15:30, and Ellie was born at 15:37! I obviously did not get the water birth she hoped for, be I was very happy with how things turned out. Thanks again and I will hopefully see you at a yoga class in the near future.

Baby F

I started having mild twinges at around 8pm on the Saturday night (6 days after my due date) which ramped up during the night. We started timing them and by early morning they were coming frequently. My waters broke at 9.30am and my contractions were every 3 minutes so we headed to the hospital.

When we arrived and I was examined I was 5cm dilated. I used gas and air and the breathing techniques as well as a TENS machine – I would really recommend this for pain relief – the “boost” button was a godsend during contractions! We got moved to a room with a pool at 2pm and I loved it – I was able to use lots of the yoga positions (on all fours, hips swaying, rocking back and forward) as well as the yoga breathing and gas and air. Again, I really loved the water as I found it helped with the pain relief.

I didn’t end up giving birth in the water as it didn’t really work for me for the “pushing” stage of labour. I gave birth to my beautiful baby boy at 7.24pm and it felt amazing. I would say the yoga breathing and positions really helped me and meant I was able to manage with only gas and air. I would also really recommend the digital hypnobirthing course with the Positive Birthing Company – my husband now knows all the pregnancy affirmations off by heart as they were playing throughout my labour!

Baby V

Just a quick email to say I’ve been unable to make this new term of pregnancy yoga, which is disappointing. With only 3 weeks to go my body is telling me to sleep so I must obey! Although I think I only made half of the term I found your classes really beneficial and picked up some really useful tips which I’m sure will help me on the ‘big day’!

… One thing I always remember (that I didn’t know when I emailed you back in 2013!) was how useful I found the breathing techniques to help me deal with after pains. I think these tend to be much more noticeable with a second baby and I remember feeding V at night and being in quite some discomfort but used the golden thread technique and it made such a difference. It was 8 years ago now but I still remember!

Baby S

I will not be at yoga tonight and I am sorry I missed last week. Baby S was born earlier than planned on Wednesday at 0430 weighing 6,13. It was a very quick labour only 3hrs and 45mins. We got our home birth and it all went to plan. I managed to use the tens and your breathing for most of the birth, using some gas and air for the pushing bit. Thank you for all your help. I have loved coming to your classes and will miss them. Good luck to everyone else on their births. It is completely worth it. We are loving the cuddles and O is besotted with his new baby sister.

Pregnancy

Just a quick one to say thank you for a great pregnancy yoga term, my first insight into yoga and I really enjoyed it. So much so I had no idea tonight was our last night – ha! Baby brain I guess 😉.
Anyway, I think we had a great group and I appreciate all your help, insight and expertise (and the lovely cake!) I am hopeful the wee one will arrive before his due date next week but we shall see! All the breathing exercises and calming poses are fresh in my mind at least!
I’m definitely keen to join the general yoga class once I’ve had the baby and settled into life as a mummy so I’ll keep an eye out for future terms.

Baby H and 2 Twins

Sorry its taken such a long time to write and say thank you for all the yoga and breathing coaching but becoming a mummy has been a real adventure! Baby H arrived on 17 July at 1.45am weighing 7lbs 6.5oz. My waters broke the morning before at 1.30am so I was in labour for 24 hours, but active labour for about 4.

Turned out yoga breathing saved me alot of trouble as I laboured at home after going to the hospital at 7am on the 16. In the end we went back to the hospital at 9pm that evening. I didn’t think we should as my contractions weren’t close enough together and I was coping by doing yoga breathing but when I was examined it turned out I was 9cm dilated! I was offered gas and air but it made me feel sick so I did it au natural with just breathing and determination!

H is now 3 months old and a joy I never knew existed! I was never a gushy person, but he really is the world to me and his dad!

… I recently also had twin boys and pushed them out too using techniques I remembered from your classes. It was a medicated birth (epidural, gas and air) but with twins it’s better to have the epidural in case you need a section. It went really well both born with no complications at a good weight, albeit t2 was breech. Still pushed him out though! I hear its not that usual at the Vic, but it should be, they were all amazing with me.