HypnoBirthing in Bridgeport, Yale-New Haven, New Milford, St. Vincent’s and Hartford Hospital

Cynthia, We wanted to write and share the incredible story of Emerson Catherine’s birth as well as express our deepest gratitude for the knowledge and resources you generously shared with us.  We truly believe that the tools we learned through HypnoBirthing allowed us to have the natural birth we worked so hard for.   After mild surges on and off for a day, we headed to Bridgeport Hospital at 6pm where we learned that I was only 2 cm.  The hospital insisted that if I stayed, I would be required to receive morphine order to get some rest, so we instead decided to return home.  Surges continued to intensify and we returned to the hospital a second time about 11pm.  At 3am I was only at 5 cm.  As my surges began to slow as a result of uterine exhaustion, we began the tough discussion with our midwife as to how to proceed.  She was beginning to be  concerned, but knew how important a natural birth was to both of us.  We began to discuss an epidural to give my uterus a rest, and while receiving fluids as part of the preparation process, my water broke about 4 am and I dilated from 5 to 10 cm in less than an hour…truly a miracle.  I began to push and an hour later my midwife said to me, “Reach down and grab your baby”.  As I pulled Emerson onto my chest I felt an incredible gratitude for my daughter as well as the team of loving and supportive practitioners who shared my goal of a natural birth.  Cynthia, we consider you to be such an important part of this team and are so thankful for giving us the confidence and strength to navigate a challenging birth.  In spite of it being the hardest work I’ve ever done, I would do it again in a heartbeat.  I’ve never felt such joy and confidence and can’t imagine a better way to enter the world of motherhood.   With deepest gratitude, Jennifer Masi, West Haven CT.  (Birthed in Bridgeport Hospital)

Dear Cynthia, Paxton (Pax) Lindenmayer arrived last Sunday night at 10:07, weighing in at almost 8 lbs. I was in labor for 24 hours and things stalled out at 7 cms for over 7 hours, so I ended up on Pitocin. Thanks to HypnoBirthing and the inspiration of women like you, I delivered him naturally. It was the most intense, transformative, and empowering experience of my life. This bliss of motherhood began to set in from the moment he slipped into my arms and that feeling has not left. I am overwhelmed by my love for him and I am changed forever. I hope that the new mommies from my HypnoBirthing class with Cynthia are all doing well and that those of you still awaiting the birth of your babies are sweetly anticipating their arrival. It is all so amazing!!! I am so grateful to Cynthia, and the philosophy of HypnoBirthing. – Ellie Lindenmayer, Farmington CT (Birthed at Hartford Hospital)

Penelope Rose was born at 6:42am as the sun was rising on the morning of Monday November 14, 2011 weighing in at 8 lbs, 1oz. It all started with Dad’s ‘induction pasta’ (spicy eggplant, sage, rigatoni and cheese). About 30 minutes after dinner, I felt my first surge which felt like a mild cramp.  About a minute later, came another, and another…it seemed like they were becoming progressively stronger very quickly. I hung out on my bed on my hands and knees during each surge and remarkably, I was able to doze off in between. By midnight I insisted that we head to the hospital.  The 30 minute drive to Yale felt like it took 5 minutes- in retrospect I realize that this distortion of time was similar to how I felt during hypnosis sessions in Cynthia’s class and while listening to Rainbow Relaxation.  When my midwife arrived to check me, all were shocked by the fact that I was already 8 ½ cm dilated.  I am so happy that I listened to my body and didn’t prescribe to notions about how long it ‘should’ take for labor to progress. Then unfortunately I remained at 8.5cm for 4 hours! I coped by using breathing exercises and avoiding communication with everyone.  Eventually the nurse recommended I take a shower and that got me to the point where I could push. I was excited and aware and communicating with everyone again.  I really did enjoy this phase of labor although it lasted for over an hour and was extremely challenging. I listened to my body and did not push with every surge because I wanted to conserve my energy and I didn’t want to tear.  Intuitively I knew the baby was moving down regardless of whether or not I was actively pushing. When Penelope was born it was very surreal and took a while to sink in that I was holding my baby.  Once she latched on I felt a wave of happiness/giddiness and satisfaction roll in and then it became real. I can truly say that I had an ideal labor.  My only thought is that next time I will seriously consider a home birth.  – Jen Terra, Easton CT (Birthed at Yale-New Haven Hospital)

Sophia Catherine Whitehead was born on 11/12 7:23pm at  7 lbs 11oz.  I started feeling a minor tummy ache at around 4 am on Saturday,  November 12 and by 6:00, I was pretty sure my membranes ruptured. I decided to wake up Justin and tell him that we should start getting prepared to head to the hospital (as I was positive for GB strep and knew I had to have antibiotics every four hours). After calling the doctor’s office, turns out I would be seeing the on call doctor – not our doctor. Despite “the plan” being much different than I had envisioned, I remained calm and went with the flow.  I wasn’t having any surges yet, so we walked into the hospital around 9 am. The nurse asked if we had a birth plan and we told her that we were going to be HypnoBirthing. She understood and told us she wouldn’t bother asking about drugs, etc. and that she’d bring a birthing ball in. We soon met the on call doctor. At this point, I still wasn’t having any surges, but I was 2-3 cm dilated. I started having surges shortly after, but not very close together and not very intense – though I did have a bit of nausea. My nurse was sweet enough to help me stay mobile while hooked up to the IV, but I still hadn’t “progressed” much within the next hour or so.  At this point, the doctor mentioned Pitocin as a way of helping things along. I was very calm and collected and asked if we could have an hour to ourselves, as we’d really like to do this naturally. He had absolutely no problem with that. This was the turning point of the labor! I The next time the doctor checked me, I was 4 cm and had a nice pattern of surges. Our nurse was ecstatic for us and we avoided Piton. Yes! For the next few hours, I turned the lights off, kept mobile & took an amazing hot shower and swayed my hips in a spiral motion while the water dripped down my back.  When the doctor next checked me, I was 9 cm! From then on, to my surprise, I felt comfort in being hooked up to the monitor and sitting up in bed because Justin could count up and down the surges with me. I was focused the entire time and my red balloon visualization was perfect! Once I had the urge to push, it felt *awesome* to be actively participating. I loudly grunted through each urge to bear down and told the doctor in between pushes how much I loved this phase!  After a few strong pushes, Sophia’s head was out. I reached down to touch it, which was pretty neat. Her body came out easily with one push. Thank you SO much for everything, Cynthia – I wouldn’t have had such a wonderful birth story if it weren’t for you. - Melissa Whitehead, Fairfield CT (Birthed in Bridgeport Hospital)

Cynthia is very knowledgeable about the procedures used in hospitals and birthing centers. I felt I was provided with a well-rounded amount of information (both pros and cons) that will help me make the best decisions for my own birthing process. I was made aware of many things that I never knew of before that I am very thankful to now know about. I honestly think the class environment was wonderful. It was very comfortable, inviting and the snacks were a wonderful treat to have! I feel like I came away from the class with all the knowledge I was hoping to obtain. There are so many things I now know to ask my doctor and the birthing plan check list is a tremendous help! Since I am going to be birthing in a hospital, I really feel like I have an idea of what I am in for and I have the knowledge to stand up for what I feel will be right for myself, my husband and our baby. Thank you so much Cynthia for sharing your knowledge with everyone! I felt like I was the minority when I told people I wanted a natural birth. It is heartwarming to know that there are other mothers out there who want a natural birth and ones that have had a natural birth. It has been a wonderful opportunity to meet you and the other parents in the class. Post-Birth Update: Hi Cynthia – I just wanted to let you know that our baby boy was born Monday, January 17th weighing in at 9 pounds 10 ounces and 21 inches long. No one expected him to be such a big baby! I am only 5′ 1″ and weigh 115. Just another person to show that you don’t need a C-section for big babies! Thank you again for all your information from class – it was a huge help through the whole birth experience! - Anna M., Trumbull CT (Birthed in Bridgeport Hospital)

Cynthia, This is long overdue but I wanted you to know along with any fathers-to-be how beneficial I found your class.  I will always remember our first class – probably because it was the last thing I wanted to do. Bare with me.  I remember that I had to cancel on a boys’ weekend and was going to miss a Yankee game because they conflicted with your first class.  Most of my friends spent a couple of hours in hospital birthing classes and told me how awful they were.  So there I was, arms folded and completely resistant to hypnobirthing.  And then it happened.  Within 30 minutes of your class I realized it was up to me and my wife to define this moment – not conventional wisdom and “TV” births.  I’m more of a handshake guy but the hug I gave you after our first class was for opening my eyes and allowing me to look at birthing in a whole new light.  Thank you so much Cynthia. Best, PJ MeElroy, Stamford CT (Bridgeport Hospital with Dr. Ronika Choudhary)

It was obvious from day one that Cynthia is very knowledgeable and passionate about birth. I’m am so grateful for the variety of topics she covered and feel like I walked away with the tools I need to take control of my birth. My husband was worried about feeling excluded before the class started but that was not the case at all. Cynthia makes sure to include the birth partners and let them know how important they are in this process. It was nice to be in a room every Saturday with like-minded people. We missed class when it was over! I think it’s almost a shame that women have to relearn that childbirth is a completely natural process that our bodies are designed to do. I’m so grateful that HypnoBirthing of CT exists to teach women what they’re capable of. Not only am I looking forward to meeting my daughter, I’m truly looking forward to labor and birth. I can’t wait to experience it. Thank you, Cynthia! I’m going to recommend this class to every pregnant woman I meet! – Brenda Torres, New Haven CT (Birthed at Yale New Haven Hospital)

Cynthia, last night Jon and I were discussing this, and we both feel that the price we paid for your class was an incredible deal for the amount of information we received. I don’t know where we would have gotten this info otherwise, and it was a true blessing that we found you and attended your classes. Jon really wanted me to add the fact that the lessons we learned in HypnoBirthing not only have benefited the way in which we birth our baby, but our lifestyle on many levels as well. You were very influential on me as a whole, and your class rocked!  Post-Birth Update:  Cynthia, I wanted to let you know that Jon, baby, and I successfully HypnoBirthed at Bridgeport Hospital on August 15^th. It was a long labor- 33 hours. I was so tired, but was determined NOT to get the epidural or C-section. I was so happy with our birth! Long story short, HypnoBirthing totally worked for me. All the nurses at the hospital could NOT believe I was walking the halls at 9 centimeters dilated. And they could not believe I never screamed once. They said that most women come into the hospital and want the epidural at 1 cm. They thought I was amazing. I inspired many-including the doctor! Thank you for everything. She latched onto my breast right out of the womb and is a champion breastfeeder!!! Thank you again for all your help. I could not have done this without your class. - Adrienne Wilson (Birthed in Bridgeport CT Hospital with Dr. Choudhary)

Cynthia, you are very inspirational. You showed us that even the most worried of expecting mothers can train herself to be relaxed and focused through the birthing process. You birthed a 9.5 pound baby peacefully without drugs or medical intervention of any kind. You showed us all that no matter how big or how small a woman is, her body was designed for birth and nature will provide for her all of the accommodations she needs. I have recommended this technique to every pregnant woman I know. Bethany Klinger, Bridgewater CT (New Milford Hospital)

Cynthia! You will be excited to hear that we welcomed our new daughter, McKenna, this morning, June 14th, through a successful vaginal-birth-after-cesarean HypnoBirth! McKenna weighed 9 lb. 6 oz. at birth.  She’s beautiful and doing well. Thank you for all your love, support, wisdom, and positivity!  It was instrumental in our success.   I wish I had known about your classes for my previous births.  You have empowered me in ways that I realize every day.  I am thrilled and so excited to welcome this new little baby into our lives in this life-changing and peaceful way.  Thank you so much!   Kind regards, Leanne O’Connell, Shelton CT (Birthed in Bridgeport Hospital)

Cynthia, I’ve been meaning to email you and thank you for such an informative class.  Tom and I really learned a lot and became even bigger advocates for what we wanted for our birth. Thank you! Good thing we were informed and had a very specific birth plan.  She was out in three pushes, literally less than five minutes from when the doctor arrived. They asked me to stop pushing at one point, because they were not ready! Ahvah Mae was born, at 1:48 p.m. A healthy beautiful girl, 6 Pounds 10 oz. It was the most amazing feeling, she was placed on my chest immediately and breast fed within minutes. At the end I got what I wanted a healthy baby girl and a natural birth. However I was definitely disappointed in the staff at Yale and my doctor for not listening to me when I knew the baby was coming. My next baby will be a home birth! – Sandra Marino, Shelton CT (Birthed at Yale Hospital)