A Prayerful Birth: Trusting God’s Timing and Finding Peace Through Christian Hypnobirthing

I’m now 7 months postpartum, still in awe, and can’t thank the Christian Hypnobirthing (CHB) course and tracks enough. I recommend it to every pregnant person I meet, along with lots of prayer. In the weeks leading up to my birth, my church family in New Zealand (where I live) and I had been praying that my little girl would “keep cooking” until Grandma arrived from Canada. I’d also been chatting with God about my ideal birth scenario: waking up at 4 a.m., progressing slowly, and by midday, having my baby in the bath at the birth unit down the road. If I could be picky, that’s what I wanted.

And God provided.

My mum arrived on Saturday morning, and at 4 a.m. Sunday, I woke up to contractions. I was in disbelief—these contractions were night and day compared to my first birth. I turned on my CHB tracks and lay in bed, trying to get more sleep, but that didn’t work. So instead, I kept listening, soaking in the peace, and waited for a more appropriate time to wake up my husband.

By 6:30 a.m., the contractions were strong enough that I woke him up, had a little cry of joy, and marveled at God’s perfect timing. With each contraction, I used the tools I’d learned from CHB, scanning my body and releasing tension.

By midday, I called my midwife, only to find out she was away for the weekend. I’d be meeting her second instead—a midwife I hadn’t met before. I felt disappointed, especially since my first birth experience with a replacement midwife had been horrible. Still, we planned to meet at the birthing unit to assess things.

At this point, my contractions were all over the place—2 minutes apart, then 10, then 3, then 9—but with my mum and husband by my side, I managed. My mum stayed home with my 2-year-old while my husband and I met the midwife. She offered a cervical exam (CE), but I declined, saying, “My flesh does, but in my heart, I know I shouldn’t.” I didn’t want to be discouraged by a number. She reassured me, saying, “We’re not ready to have the baby yet, but I know we’ll be back before the sun goes down.”

Back home, I timed my contractions (now every 3 minutes) while prepping dinner—a slow cooker red wine braised beef. Between contractions, I was flipping beef and packing our hospital and overnight bags for my toddler, which I hadn’t prepared earlier!

When contractions were 1.5 minutes apart and much stronger, we called the midwife again and headed back to the birth unit around 3:30 p.m. This time, I requested a CE because I wanted to get in the bath, which would take 40 minutes to fill. I was 3 cm, but during a contraction, she felt my cervix opening to 5.

I asked for gas while waiting for the pool to fill. Once in the water, I initially leaned over the pool so my husband could rub my back. After about 40 minutes, I realized I was holding too much tension in that position. I asked my mum to switch the music to CHB track 7 (Positive Affirmations), flipped over, and rested my neck on the pool’s edge.

The whole atmosphere shifted.

I surrendered completely to God, focusing only on the affirmations and trusting Him. It felt like an out-of-body experience—a peaceful hum enveloped me. I asked my husband and mum to hold my arms so I could float in the water.

When the urge to push came, I let my body guide me, listening to the track and surrendering to the process. Two contractions later, her head was out. On the third, the fetal ejection reflex took over, and my little girl flew into the water.

I was in awe—no medical interventions except gas, and everything felt so calm.

We delayed clamping the cord for 40 minutes while we stayed in the bath. Then my husband had skin-to-skin time with her while I waited for my placenta. After another 40 minutes in the bath and feeding baby girl in bed, I finally delivered the placenta naturally.

Even though my daughter was 9 lbs. 5 oz (much bigger than my first!), I only had one tiny graze—such a contrast to the six suture packs I needed after my first birth.

The birthing unit closed at 11 p.m., so by 9 p.m., we were back home. I finished the braised beef for dinner, ate, and went to bed.

By Tuesday, we were back into our routine. Apart from minimal bleeding and sore nipples, it was like I hadn’t even given birth.

I’m so grateful for such an incredible experience, which I fully credit to the CHB course, the tracks, and keeping God at the center of my birth.

Tori Campbell

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