Affiliate Tag: Teacher

Teacher

Inspired to be a teacher

“Birthing Archie was the best moment of my life and I feel that this is something I must help to share with other women. I am beaming with excitement to help mothers and their birthing partners to feel positive and calm during their birth, to feel comfortable with any decisions that they make and to know that they can have a birth that is right for both them and their baby.”

Hollie

Food Blogger Hollie Robinson shares her KGHypnobirthing story:

Have you ever felt strongly that something is so right that you want to get on and do it straight away? Feeling empowered by her hypnobirth, food blogger Hollie Robinson of The Broodie Foodie did just that. She attended a KGHypnobirthing teacher training course to become a hypnobirthing teacher when her son was only 10 weeks old! And we have many other examples of KGHypnobirthing teachers experiencing the same enthusiasm and taking action to make it a reality.

Hollie Robinson gave birth to her gorgeous son Archie on 29 April 2019. She and her partner, Karl, attended a KGHypnobirthing parents’ course when she was in her third trimester after hearing about hypnobirthing from friends. She immediately realised it was how she wanted to birth her baby. She says: “Hypnobirthing was without a shadow of a doubt one of the best things I have ever done, well apart from giving birth and having a beautiful son, but that goes without saying.”

About her hypnobirth, she explains: “Over the course of my pregnancy I prepared myself for not only a natural labour, but also any instances that I may need an intervention. I think this is very important, to know your options and be accepting of a plan B. The feeling of being in control for this moment is of the upmost importance and is only possible once you arm yourself with the information you need.”

She says that as soon as she understood the physiology of birth, something that is a big focus in a KGHypnobirthing course, she was able to “Lose sight of any fears that I may have had regarding childbirth and began to feel at ease with the process.” When Hollie’s surges began, she managed to labour in a serene, controlled and calm way, and she describes Archie’s birth as “empowering and beautiful; something I had never thought was possible.”

“Although my birth had a few twists and turns, I still felt so happy and serene both during and long after the moment, I wholeheartedly believe it is due to KGH helping me to find inner strength, focus and confidence.” This led to Hollie’s decision to sign up to a hypnobirthing teacher training course in London: “birthing Archie was the best moment of my life and I feel that this is something I must help to share with other women. I am beaming with excitement to help mothers and their birthing partners to feel positive and calm during their birth, to feel comfortable with any decisions that they make and to know that they can have a birth that is right for both them and their baby.”

We can’t wait to follow Hollie on her journey as one of our KGH teachers. Inspiring!

Her birth story can be read here and she can be found on Instagram.

Knowledgeable trainers

I found the course amazing. The trainers are so knowledgeable and approachable, and inspired the whole room – Clarice

Generosity of your approach

‘I just finished a weekend KGHypnobirthing teacher training course with one of your trainers. I am so pleased with the generosity of your approach. I was on a course with another method as a mum-to-be which didn’t compare…thank you!’ – Karolina

Privileged to be a Doula in Italy

What has my holiday in Italy got to do with hypnobirthing?

Last year I was invited to Italy by Alice Parkinson to train a group of KGHypnobirthing teachers. One of the joys of the course was Giorgio, Alice’s baby son, who held out has arms and insisted on a hug every time I saw him.

Alice and her husband Gavin have restored a beautiful stone farmhouse in the hills of Tuscany and they let out self-catering accommodation http://cavalenzano.com/ and they are now expecting their second baby. At very short notice I had an invitation to stay with them for a week and rather jokingly said, ‘If the baby arrives when I am there I will doula for you.’

As I arrived Gavin came out to the car with the news: ‘She’s in labour!’ Perfect timing.

Alice was on her hands and knees on her bed with wonderful views across the Tuscan hills through the window with gentle surges coming every few minutes. The pool was ready, and shortly after I arrived Gavin started to fill it. Her two lovely midwives, Marianna and Giovanna, who I had met on last year’s course were there, and her Italian neighbours were happy to entertain Giorgio. In Italy there is no state support if you have your baby at home and no pain relief such as gas and air (nitrous oxide) if you want it. As the farmhouse is very remote, the local volunteer ambulance (rather like our St John ambulance) was on stand-by in case of need. In the event they sat around in the sun for four hours and then went home again.

Alice got into the pool with her surges increasing in frequency. She was surrounded with love and positivity. Gavin was stroking her arms and gently encouraging her. Marianna poured water down her back as a soothing massage. I stroked her back and quietly supported her with positive thoughts as needed. Every labour is different, and Alice wanted to talk and have gentle encouragement between surges. Many women would prefer silence. We followed where Alice led.

After four hours of labour her baby boy, Emilio, was born into the water and gathered straight into his mother’s arms.

We celebrated with pasta for supper.

What a perfect start to a wonderful week in Tuscany. The only other thing that was waiting for me was the mosquitos. Thank you Alice, Gavin, Giorgio and especially Emilio.

Alice’s Birth Story

Read this Alice’s inspiring birth story below or visit her blog to read here.

After the traumatic (long labour ending in unnecessary rushed hospital interventions) birth of Giorgio, we were more determined than ever to have a positive birth experience for our second child. Ideally this meant at home with our lovely midwives Marianna and Giovanna, but we were realistic to know this isn’t always possible so the main things for us were ensuring as ‘natural’ (safe environment, drug and intervention free) birth as possible with positive supportive people around us who would advise and respect our decisions.

We prepared everything for a home birth, with back up of the local volunteer ambulance as standby (we live quite a long way from the nearest hospital), two very experienced midwives and months of preparation with our midwives and using Katharine Graves’ hypnobirthing techniques.

In the end, Emilio and I decided he was ready to be born a little earlier than expected, but we were basically ready. Initial irregular surges started at about 8 in the morning so we informed our midwives, who started to make their way to us when we informed them the surges were getting stronger a few hours later. Gavin rushed about getting everything finished – pool inflated, preparing lunch for everyone, warning our neighbours there might be some long hours of babysitting of Giorgio ahead while I pottered about doing what I could between surges.

Our midwives arrived at about 1.30pm, and soon after Katharine Graves (we had invited her to stay in one of our holiday apartments) who was out of the car and came straight up to our room to be our doula! Soon after I entered into active labour, kneeling on all fours on our bed and mooing like an angry cow in a deep voice (this would continue until birth with all the surges, I had a really sore throat the next day!).

At 3.30pm Marianna asked if she could check dilation and I was about 5-6cm so I got in the pool by the open window and continued to stay on my knees through the surges that became gradually more powerful. My husband Gavin was right in front of me the whole time, holding on to me, squeezing my wrists as I squeezed his, smiling at me and encouraging me through and after each surge, while Katharine, Marianna, Giovanna and a lovely young midwife Martina (who had asked to come and observe, and also offered to take photos) looked after me as well, fetching drinks, stroking and trickling water down my back and generally telling me how well I was doing.

To me this was one of the most important aspects, at one point I even started saying I was scared and couldn’t do it, partly just to hear from them all that I could and it was going great, it was as if I somehow just needed to hear it specifically in response to my ‘fear’ even though there wasn’t really any fear! On the other hand though I was able to joke in the breaks, asking if someone else wanted to take over for a while!

I think it was in this period that the hypnobirthing preparation really came into play. I couldn’t really concentrate on visualisations or specific breathing techniques, but I did notice that I would go to a different place during surges – I remember mentioning once that I was walking through the woods – and while I would become totally present in the room again between (some of) the surges, I would still be split in two, ready to go to the other place again. When I looked at Gavin at these times it was as if he knew I was somewhere else and could comfort me there, but not follow me there, it was something I had to do myself. Marianna told me after that my surges seemed quite short, but powerful, and in a way I’m glad – part of me thinks I couldn’t have managed longer ones, as the power/pain balance might have tipped by my losing concentration in favour of the pain! Who knows.

Around 5.30ish I needed encouragement from Giovanna to really direct my energies down, rather than most of it coming out in the mooing! Katharine encouraged the opening visualisations, bringing me a sunflower from the garden and Gavin fed off her positive energy, telling me how well I was doing. By now I really was to stuck in, making the physical space bigger (raising one or other leg up) and the mental space too (directly imagining my cervix and vagina widening and the baby coming down). At the end I kept being afraid the head was coming out ‘backwards’ (it felt as if my anus was going to split!) and also that the baby was slipping back between the short surges (he might have been as the cord was around the back of his neck so might have been pulling hi a little), but by push 6 of these last intense push surges I felt his head come out (oh, the relief!) – Marianna seemed to say an age later ‘His head is out’ to which I replied ‘I know!’ His body followed very quickly, with both shoulders coming at the same time (unfortunately re-tearing the scars from Giorgio’s birth), Marianna passed him through my legs to Giovanna who unwrapped m backthe cord from his neck and I took him from her arms, this tiny thing with wide open eyes. I was in shock I think, I didn’t know what to do or say so I just stared at him, only gradually becoming aware of the room and everyone else again and savouring the sense of relief that I had finally done it.

And not to forget the third stage…..by this point the water had cooled a little too much so they all helped me out of the pool, juggling baby and cord and onto the bed where I quickly birthed the placenta (also a massive relief, it felt really icky!), lay back to have some stitches (not nice at all but necessary) while holding out little baby with Gavin next to me comforting and stroking me still.

What I appreciate most about Gavin, about out midwives and Katharine, about the hypnobirthing preparation and about being at home was the confidence they all gave me. Going through labour, even essentially a pretty quick textbook labour, and birth, was still a massive shock and such a strong experience, but I can now say with pride that I gave birth – it wasn’t something that happened to me but something that my baby and I did together, supported by a whole team of wonderful people both in the room at the time and through out the preceding pregnancy, online, on the phone and in person.

I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed the course

‘I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed the course. There are no words in the English language to tell you.’ – Caroline, midwife

KG Hypnobirthing Proud to Support the Doula UK Conference

KG Hypnobirthing is very proud to be supporting the Doula UK Conference being held on 19th March in London. This precedes World Doula Week which commences on the 22nd March.

Any birth professional, from doulas to midwives, hypnobirthing and antenatal teachers, health visitors and other persons who support women in the perinatal period would find this event a true learning experience.

They have a fascinating line up of talkers and workshops including talks from:

Mia Scotland (Clinical Psychologist, birth doula, and author) – “Sane Mothers in a Crazy World; how society sets us up to fail”
Elizabeth Prochaska (Chair of Birthrights and barrister at Matrix London) – “Human rights in childbirth”
Mars Lord (Doula, Head of Internal Communications at Doula UK) – “Doulaing, the Spice of Life”
Plus, poetry from Kati Edwards throughout the day.

There are several workshops:

Kate Greenstock – Birth Your Business into Being
Katherine Woodbury – Beaded Birthlines
Indira Lopez Bassol – Tongue Tie and Symptoms for Breast and Bottle

Further details about the conference and the doula website click here.

The Role of a Doula

To have a doula to care for you at birth has become more usual over the last few years.

So what is a doula, and what does she do?

Doula is the Greek word for female slave, and it has been adopted to describe someone who supports a woman giving birth. She is not medically qualified, but a doula has done a full training and is knowledgeable about birth. She knows about the birth process and how to create an environment and state of mind to facilitate it. She knows how to make a woman feel comfortable and to help her and her partner feel confident . When a woman feels comfortable and confident, birth often proceeds more easily and is more likely to be a gentle and positive experience.

A doula will have more knowledge than the couple she serves of any procedure that is being proposed and of the possible outcomes. She will also know about any alternatives that a busy midwife or obstetrician might not have the time to explain fully, and she can help a couple ask the right questions that will help them make the right decisions for them. These decisions are important and can have implications for the health of mother and baby for many years to come.

She may have a knowledge of essential oils to calm the birthing room and flower remedies to help the mother release any fears she may have and relax. She may be trained in massage for birth, or other therapies.

Continuity of Care

Vitally a doula provides continuity of care for a woman giving birth. Without exception everyone agrees that continuity of care in pregnancy, labour and birth is the gold standard of care, but in general medical services are unable to provide this. There are a few exceptions, and pockets of excellence that are a shining example of what can be achieved, but in general when a woman goes into labour she meets a stranger.

Usually a doula will meet the mother two or three times before the birth and get to know her. They will discuss how she would like her birth to be, and her preferences in terms of care. The doula can explain to her things she may have heard but not understood, or not understood the full implications. A doula is on call whenever or wherever a woman goes into labour and will be with her throughout labour and birth. She will be able to suggest the most comfortable positions, and gently massage her back or stroke her arm or her abdomen. She will make sure the woman has a sip of water from time to time so she doesn’t get dehydrated, and offer her a snack to keep her energy up. Most importantly, she is simply there for her – all the time. A comforting a knowledgeable presence that helps put a mother’s mind at rest, allows her to relax, and the birth to proceed smoothly.

Support for the Father

But what about the father? It is enormously comforting for him to know there is someone else there who has more knowledge than him and who will boost his confidence as well as that of his partner. She can suggest little things he can do that would be helpful, and even allow him a rest if the birth takes place at night.

In a way you could regard the function of a doula as the role a midwife used to perform. These days, a midwife is a highly qualified medical professional whose area of expertise is normality. A century or so ago the midwife would have been a woman in the village with more experience of birth, maybe a knowledge of herbs to aid relaxation, and someone that everyone trusted, with a soothing and calming presence. In a busy modern hospital, a midwife simply does not have the time to just ‘be there’ for a labouring woman, much as she would love to. She has notes to write, checks to do, maybe she is caring for two women and has to allocate her time between them both. In recent years, the birth rate has gone up, but the number of midwives has remained the same. At the same time bureaucracy has gone through the roof, and midwives spend far more time writing notes and checking that the protocols have been adhered to. She would love to perform the traditional role of a midwife as well, but she simply doesn’t have the time.

A doula fills this gap. As midwives become busier and more medicalised, doulas become more popular. Many women find it extremely comforting to have a doula supporting her when she gives birth, and it is certainly something to be seriously considered.

Many doulas have also trained in hypnobirthing to better support a mother, and you will be given a list of KG Hypnobirthing teachers who are also qualified doulas when you do your KG Hypnobirthing Course to prepared you for the birth of your baby.

Breech Baby

A little while ago I worked with a mother to turn her breech baby, and the baby duly turned, as it does in 80% of the cases when you use hypnotherapy to turn a breech baby. Last week I heard that the baby had been born by c-section because the baby’s heartbeat had slowed in labour due to the cord being round its neck. This set me thinking again about interventions in labour. Was the baby breech originally because a combination of baby’s and mother’s instinct knew that, in this case, it was safer to be born this way round. After all, the baby is the only person who knows where the cord is and the exact position of the placenta, and it’s extremely presumptuous of us to think we know better, because we don’t.

In the modern world, a breech baby is almost automatically delivered by c-secion, but I know hypnobirthing mothers who have easily delivered a breech baby with no drugs, no pain and with a gentle and easy labour.

The modern assumption that having a baby is a medical emergency and that we know better than the baby what should be done is dangerous and arrogant. A healthier assumption could be that all is well unless proved to the contrary, rather than that we should intervene unless it’s proved to be unnecessary.

A mother will always do the best she can for her child. Maybe that’s why we use the phrase, ‘Mother’ Nature.