I met Tessa in 2018 when I started going to mother & baby yoga with my first born. His wast a stressful delivery & postnatal period, he was delivered 5 weeks early by emergency caesarean, I had a 2L haemorrhage & we had lots of difficulties establishing breastfeeding as he didn't latch until 3 months old, prior to which I was expressing. Due to this I was hopeful that things would be different with my 2nd.
I was advised to opt for an elective caesarean, however was also made to feel that I would be supported to try a vbac if that's what I wanted. To be honest I felt torn about this decision for most of my pregnancy, although part of me wanted to experience natural delivery I couldn't bear the thought of things going wrong & an emergency c section happening. I decided it would be better for me if I maintained some choice & control so I asked for a planned 'gentle caesarean', which I had never heard of before.
I attended pregnancy yoga regularly & Tessa shared online articles & literature with me around gentle caesareans.
One of my concerns was the recovery afterwards, especially as I have a toddler at home, this was another reason for participating in pregnancy yoga. In fact I even got complimented at an antenatal examination in late pregnancy on my flexibility!
I always felt included in the classes & Tessa would refer to all kinds of birth.
My last yoga class was a few days before my delivery date & I even surprised myself at how I could manage the whole class. On the day, the staff at Burnley were aware of my gentle birth plan & all my wishes were met. I had the drapes lowered so I could see my daughter being born, I got some amazing photos & I asked for immediate skin to skin. The midwives were really respectful & I wasn't pressured into rushing. At one point in theatre I began feeling quite unwell & I was aware that there seemed to be a problem, I used the 'golden thread breathing' to breathe through the anxiety, which really helped, & asked my partner to hold our daughter. The theatre staff were very calm & also honest with me when I asked questions.
I had another big haemorrhage & was too unstable to go to the ward, but I was well supported in the recovery area, during which Stevie had her first breastfeed & luckily took to it straight away, I was respectfully asked if I wanted help as my arms weren't really working but the breastfeeding was very important to me & I accepted all the help I needed.
I had harvested colostrum just in case of any issues with feeding, & also found the relaxation aspect of yoga helpful with this.💛
“Tessa Clemson Yoga - your yoga studio in Great Harwood, serving Hyndburn, Blackburn with Darwen, Ribble Valley & Burnley”
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