Frequently Asked Questions

What are the benefits of Hypnobirthing?

Some of the key benefits I would highlight are:

• It gives the birth partners an active and supportive role in the birth

• It can reduce labour time

• It provides a detailed set of tools to stay relaxed and manage pain

• It puts you in control of your birth It helps you work pro-actively with your

• body and natural birthing instincts

• It empowers you to know all your birthing options

• It helps both mum and birth partner bond with your baby before, during and after

• birth

• It can lead to a quicker physical recovery after birth

• It can lead to fewer interventions during birth

What can I expect from a Hypnobirthing Workshop?

Hypnobirthing workshops are a 12 hour workshop (across two days) packed full of education about birth, labour, your rights, choices and options as well as the toolkit of resources to create a beautiful, relaxed birthing experience!

You receive a detailed folio of resources to take home along with 4 mp3 tracks of guided meditation, affirmations and birth music.

The workshops are a great place to come and learn about birth – air any fears, have open and honest conversations about birth/birthing options, learn wonderful evidence based and effective techniques to manage pain during labour, actually understand what is going to happen to your body during labour (and how you can work that to your advantage!)….and to also interact with other couples who are often birthing around a similar time to you.

There is a combination of practical activities, guided meditation and relaxation, birth videos and discussion.

Should I bring my birth partner to the workshop?

Yes! The workshop is very inclusive of birth partners – be it your partner, a friend, your mum or a doula. Whoever has been chosen as your birthing companion will benefit enormously from the workshop and leave with a solid understanding of what happens during the birthing process and how they can support and guide the birth mother through the workshop.

I find that its often the birth partners who are the most surprised by the workshop and they leave knowing that they are an important element of the birth!

If you have chosen not to have a birth partner present then come along to the workshop regardless – there is some partnering work which can be easily adapted for birth mothers who are labouring solo.

How many couples do you have per workshop?

I like to keep the experience intimate so as to allow time for questions and the opportunity to really benefit from the learnings in the workshop. As such I limit my class sizes to 4-5 couples.

Is Hypnobirthing just HIPPY?

There is often a misconception that Hypnobirthing is a fluffy, hold hands and sing approach to birth. This could not be further from the truth.

Yes there are candles, dim lighting and nice music (if you want them)….but these things are based in science not the flower-child movement!

Hypnobirthing provides a very thorough education for couples about how our brain and body work to support us during birth. This foundation is key as it shows us how much we can then use our mindset to impact our experience of birth.

Many factors can prevent the uterus from working as efficiently and effectively as it might otherwise do during birth – fear, noise, distractions, poor breathing and poor support to name a few!

Having a detailed understanding of how the birthing body works and combining this with learning practical techniques and tools to enable you to breathe, relax and stay in that instinctual birthing mode is paramount!

Is Hypnobirthing just for natural or home births?

One of my favourite things about Hypnobirthing is that it is not judgmental or prescriptive.

It advocates positive birthing experiences – no matter how they may happen. It advocates empowerment to know about all your birthing options and choose what is best for your birthing experience.

It equips you to feel calm, positive and prepared no matter what turn your birthing takes – because like all things in life birth doesn’t always go “to plan”.

It can be applied to public/private hospitals, birthing centres, home birth, birth’s with pain medication (although the techniques often make this less likely to be required), cesareans, land births and water births!

Does the Hypnosis part of Hypnobirthing mean that I lose contol of myself?

People sometimes worry about the Hypnosis element of Hypnobirthing. Will I be in control? Will people be able to make me do things I don’t want to do?

The simple answer is no. You are always in control. No one can make you do anything you don’t want to do.

My favourite definition of hypnosis is being focused on one stimulus to the exclusion of all others. We go into states of self-hypnosis every day in lots of different ways – when we sleep, drive, watch TV, read a book, meditate, listen to music.

The techniques learned in Hypnobirthing enable you to go into a deep state of relaxation and anchor in positive, calm energy allowing you to focus on that - excluding all other distractions. Anytime you need to you can come out of that state and be fully alert to everything around you.