Yvonne Cobb's negative experience during the birth of her first child led to her setting up a business in signing. Here she tells babyworld of her life as a deaf mother and her desire to bring sign language to a wider audience.

• The lack of awareness frightened me a lot
• I trained 30 midwives!
• Toddler groups can be tiring
• My children's mother tongue
• Learning the lingo
• Why I started Sign and Bond
• Strengthening the parent-child bond

The lack of awareness frightened me a lot

I enjoyed my pregnancies as much as many hearing mums had but I had a traumatic labour with my first child Serena (5). While in hospital, there were several communication breakdowns because the midwives were not aware of my deaf needs and I was not very assertive about them.

For example, when I decided to have an epidural during the birth, the anaesthetist did not explain, slowly, that I must not move while he was fitting the epidural nor what I should do if I felt a contraction coming. And because she was behind me, I couldn't hear or see what she was saying and that frightened me a lot. My husband Reg, who is also deaf, was at the birth and had to help out with the communication.

When we were transferred to the postnatal ward, I did not feel comfortable because not only was it was a first-time experience for me but I felt very alone and unsupported. At several points in the middle of the night, my baby cried and I did not hear her. I couldn't bring my baby alarm facility with me as it would not work properly in the hospital environment - the pager triggers every time a baby cries and it would go off endlessly when all hospital babies cried! The midwives woke me up several times, giving me rather disgusted looks because they thought I was ignoring my baby crying!

I trained 30 midwives!

It all boiled down to deaf awareness needs and this is why I decided to train midwives when I had my second pregnancy with my twins, Jovita and Frazer, now 17 months old. Before the birth, I visited the same hospital beforehand and gave lively deaf awareness training to 30 midwives. They thoroughly enjoyed it and subsequently the twins' births were wonderful. All the 11 people who looked after me were so nice, friendly and approachable and I did not want to leave the hospital! I was given a red carpet treatment, to think about it now!

Toddler groups can be tiring

Being a deaf parent obviously entails some differences from being a hearing one. For example, I cannot normally hear when my babies are crying so I had to invest in a pager system. There is a transmitter in their bedroom and, every time they cry, the transmitter sends a signal to my pager to vibrate to warn me. The pager itself is very compact and clips onto my trouser or in my pocket. I do also wear hearing aids which means I can hear them crying if they are no further than the next-door room.

Toddler groups are a bit more difficult for me. I feel very positive about my situation and have a sense of humour so the other mums take me for who I am and not just see me as a deaf mother. However, I don't attend groups very regularly because they can be very tiring, as I am constantly lip reading! However, I am lucky in that I have many deaf friends whom I meet up with regularly.

Altogether, I don't think being a deaf parent is much different to being a hearing one. You just need to push forward a little more to get what you want to get. I believe that I am very assertive, approachable, friendly and fair and this helps. I have become a devoted mum!

My children's mother tongue

My three children's mother tongue is British Sign Language. Serena signed the word 'cat' when she was nine months old and, not long after, the word 'phone'. It was amazing for all of us that she could communicate with us before she had the verbal ability to talk. Serena had mastered some of the sign language before her vocal chords had developed so she was able to take advantage of using her hands and facial expressions to enhance her language. It was an amazing feeling to see her signing when she was not even walking yet!

Suddenly we knew what she wanted. She could tell us if she wanted milk and if she wanted more to eat she would sign 'more' rather than scream or cry like other babies would do! By the time she was two, Serena had a vocabulary of over 200 words and about six nursery rhymes (in signings). Our friends were amazed and they followed suit with their babies.

Our hearing twins are following suit and, what is more, they are even communicating with each other by signing! They sign things like 'Frazer where' and 'cat gone'.

Learning the lingo

Serena is completely 'bilingual' and can talk and sign simultaneously. Sometimes she gets carried away with speaking and I have to remind her now and again to sign as well! But she's very adaptable and can speak and/or sign with whomever she's with in our family, some of whom can hear and some of whom cannot. This is a dream come true really because I know of many deaf parents with hearing children and their bonds are not always very strong because of the difficulty in communicating and understanding.

My other two children are only 17 months old and are in the babbling stage, but they know that I am deaf and tap me if they want to communicate with me, or even turn my face around to see them! I think that's amazing!

Why I started Sign and Bond

When my eldest daughter was born in 2000, I naturally used sign language to her as it was our home language. Then I had heard about the phenomenal interest in the USA about baby signing and, when I was pregnant with the twins in 2003, I investigated this further and immediately launched Sign and Bond after my twins were born in January 2004.

I use standard signs from British Sign Language, which is now an official recognised language in the UK. Some of the BSL signs are slightly modified to match the movements of the tender fingers and thumbs of the babies, as some are quite difficult to use and sign. We are the only company who uses highly trained trainers with at least a level 2 signing qualification and with experiences of working with babies and children. We also work closely with a large charity called the British Deaf Association, which has endorsed the work we do.

Strengthening the parent-child bond

I have seen the immense benefits of baby signing with my children and many of my other friends' children. For example, it increases their self esteem, reduces their frustrations when they cannot form the words they need to communicate and strengthens their bonds with their parents and other family members. This is why I have called my company Sign and Bond, and I have not looked back since!

Baby signing greatly benefits hearing babies too, as they can communicate as effectively as our children. Many parents and professionals think it only applies to deaf babies but that is totally untrue. If hearing babies sign, parents will see a marked improvement in the number of tears, tantrums and frustrations. It allows parents to share their worlds, to boost their children's self-esteem and self-confidence, and to strengthen the parent-child bond. They enable their children to communicate before their vocal chords are developed because of their pre-language acquirement. Baby signing is a good opportunity for babies to tell us what they want or need or to just say they saw a bird.