"At 8 am we checked into one of Bronovo delivery rooms, at 9 am and I was 2 cm. I  started using TENS machine straight away. They ruptured my membranes and the water was not clean, so I was put on the hormone drip to speed up the labour (my contractions were not regular). I was hooked up to the machine by 3 wires, which indeed limited mobility, but I was still able to stand up, walk a few steps, sit on the birthing ball, and go to bathroom (unhooking from the monitors) as we learnt in class. What helped me was just remembering to take as long breaths as possible, breaking contraction into 3 breaths as in the class and to concentrate on the fact that each of them brings the baby closer to me. TENS probably helped as well, thought I was not keen to find out just how much exactly ;) (by turning it off).
I was vertical most of the time before, so they said to rest a bit and put me on the side. This is when the strong ones started... Shortly after I felt strong need to push, but was too early, 'I will not push' technique helped then. 7 cm to labour was the hardest time for me, as it was so hard not to give in to the need to push, while trying to live through the strong contractions, my whole body was shaking, I couldn't speak. It was a great relief when they checked me again in an hour and said it's Ok to push now. Out of 40 min of pushing 20 were just learning how to do it! I was amazed that when you are using contraction to push, you don't feel any pain. Or was it just me loosing it? ;) Pain during pushing was short and manageable. Alex appeared very content from the 1st moments of his life. We have a picture of him with something like a big smile shortly after birth. He's gorgeous and very smiley baby now, I'm absolutely loving being a mom!"

" I also wanted to thank you for all your advises and information. Breathing worked really well for me, even midwife was impressed how I kept everything under control. Also perienial massage helped, no stitches were needed!"

"The course was really helpful - we felt especially prepared for the contractions/breathing/massage and also have been consulting the materials on breastfeeding and the guide to poo etc!  All going well (though occasionally he's a bit sleepy on the breast and I need to tickle his feet etc, but his poo is yellow and he's back to his birthweight and is just a really relaxed and good little baby)."

"By the way, during the strongest contractions I was the whole time blowing thousands of 'dandelions clock'... I was standing up or on my knees until I had to push and I delivered in a horizontal position but almost sitting, and the most beautiful part was during the last push I heard the midwife shouting ' Karina, Karina, open your eyes look at your baby' so I could see the last part of Björn coming out...wonderful!
Thanks Tina, big part of it is because of you and your lessons!"

"Talking about the delivery: Tina i must say that attending your course was...excellent! not only by  all the information but because we could put it into practice!  Fortunately we have had sufficient time to create the atmosphere that we planned! Flowers, fruits, candles( even with the day light :)) and a nice relaxation CD...and tons of Oxytocin :))"

"While following your classes Tina, I never really understood the breathing part. I thought: would you really need that??? Yes!!!! And it kicks in automatically. Thank you for all your good advice and building different pictures in my head. Because of this preparation I was never too overwhelmed by what happened."

"Thanks a lot Tina! Not only for this web references but for all your help and for the enthusiasm you put every week in the classes. It's been really wonderful to do this course with you; not only I feel much more prepared now, but besides the "birthing" tips and information you have also given us a lot of "good feeling". Don't ever loose this contagious smile! It makes us all feel really good when we come back home on Tuesday evenings!"

"I just want to say that following Tina's course proved to be absolutely invaluable. Pain relief techniques, like massaging and the pressure points helped a lot. The knowledge of how inducing works and even what the stages are helped us make some decisions and I think especially getting the epidural before the oxytocin was switched on has proven to be a great relief for Theressa. We're also reaping the benefits of Tina's practical advise as to how to care for the newborn, breastfeeding her, using a breastpump and being prepared for what happened to Jacey after she was taken to special care, just to name a few things. In other words: Thanks for everything Tina! Going to all your classes was worth every minute!"

"By now you guys know that we have had a bit of a challenge with Sebastian but there is light at the end of this tunnel. Sebastian will be coming home in about 2 or 3 days and is doing really well. We have so many Guardian angels that are looking after him and Tina I want to tell you that you were definitely the lead one. What you taught us was invaluable but also the emails and support that you have given us in the last few days is very special and we cannot thank you enough.You are very special!!!!!"

"Everything went really well at the Westeinde. SOS and 4 candles were really helpful, especially the candles. From time to time, your voice or face appeared in between contractions. It is all quite a surreal experience."

"On Thursday morning I gave birth to my beautiful baby boy - Yuri! He weighed 3895 and it was a natural birth. I would like to thank Tina for everything - we are very lucky to have you in The Hague!"