Alexandra James (AJ) – The PT Midwife

From P&J:

Thanks to the winning combination of the KGH hypnobirthing course and AJ as our coach, my husband and I were able to have the home birth we wanted when welcoming our son into the world this May. 

The course is so much more than just learning hypnobirthing techniques – it equips you to be knowledgeable about the physiological processes taking place at birth and the background behind the maternity care which is available. Thanks to the course I had unwavering confidence in my body’s ability to give birth plus the confidence to know (and if need fight for) my rights when it comes to maternity care.

I went into labour at 6pm five days ahead of my due date in May. 10 hours later our son was born at home in a water bath. This would never have been possible without the breathing and visualisation techniques we learnt through the KGH course. I felt very well prepared and positive about my body’s ability to cope which I wholeheartedly thank AJ for.

From H:

I can honestly say that I have never felt more prepared in my entire life. I was confident, looking forward to going into labour (I realise that might sound weird) and feeling completely ready to embrace what was to come. I know that the relaxations and affirmations that I had learned and practised on the KG Hypnobirthing course were fundamental to me feeling this way. I would wholeheartedly recommend AJ if you’re thinking of doing the KG Hypnobirthing course. She has a deep understanding thanks to her experience – so you know she knows exactly what she’s talking about which is extremely reassuring, and means all your questions are answered comprehensively. Plus – she clearly loves what she does, is a brilliant advocate for women and has a wonderful energy to boot.

From T:

I honestly cannot thank AJ enough for the brilliant hypnobirthing sessions that truly contributed to my positive birthing experience. Looking back at the labour, I don’t know how I would have managed our journey without the tools and the positive outlook that hypnobirthing gave both myself and my husband.

At 31 weeks, to my surprise I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes (GDM), which threw a spanner in the works as, depending on how it is managed, it can dictate your birthing plan. It was at this point that we started hypnobirthing as the GDM diagnosis made me increasingly anxious about the rest of pregnancy and I needed a way to regain some control of my own. After our sessions with AJ, I have never been so grateful for the visualisations and breathing techniques, as these got me through the early stages of labour without anyone believing that I was actually having incredibly strong contractions. Hypnobirthing definitely empowered me to take what control I could from whatever situation came my way as nothing had gone to plan – without which I don’t think I would have had as positive an experience as I did. 

From A&S:

I started having very mild surges on Monday morning and began using the up breathing to get into the habit for later in the process. We went for a walk and then watched a couple of films and by about 10pm things were starting to ramp up. By about 11am I was finding the surges really tough and they were coming more frequently so we went back to hospital to discover I was 7cm! I got straight into the pool and within an hour started to feel the urge to push. I was pushing for about 3 hours in the end but it was completely primal, my body just took over! The hypnobirthing techniques you taught me and S undoubtedly got us through the day, so thank you so much for helping us and being part of our experience.

From F&H:

Undertaking hypnobirthing with AJ was one of our best decisions during pregnancy. AJ is passionate and knowledgeable, and helped empower us to feel confident and calm about the upcoming birth. We really enjoyed our time with AJ as she creates a safe space to learn and practice, and importantly to have a laugh together.

For me, understanding the connection between the mind and physiological changes the body goes through helped me embrace the process and appreciate how incredible our female bodies are! 

We had a wholly positive natural birth – my waters broke at 1am whilst in bed and I was able to immediately tap into techniques to keep calm and try and snooze. I used up breathing with TENS through the morning, working with each surge in a positive mindset. My husband was also able to take an active and highly informed role during labour which was invaluable. Baby G was safely born in the hospital birth pool that afternoon. We are exceedingly thankful to AJ for her support along our journey and would highly recommend her expertise to anyone considering a natural birth – she is fantastic!!

From B&T:

My husband and I took AJ’s hypnobirthing course to prepare for the birth of our first child, and I can honestly say it was one of the best decisions we made during pregnancy. The course was incredibly informative, offering a wealth of knowledge backed by evidence-based techniques and AJ is a natural teacher and she really helped us approach the birth with confidence and clarity. 

Before this course, my husband didn’t know much about the birthing process, and I was looking for a way to stay calm and present throughout pregnancy. Hypnobirthing gave us both exactly what we needed – not only a deeper understanding of birth but also practical tools to make informed decisions along the way. It just makes sense as an approach! Instead of fear or uncertainty, we were equipped with relaxation techniques, breathing exercises and a mindset shift that allowed us to truly trust the process.

Even though my birth experience didn’t unfold exactly as I had envisioned, I couldn’t be more grateful for everything I learned. Thanks to hypnobirthing, I had a low-stress, anxiety-free pregnancy, which in itself was such a gift. And an even bigger gift is having the most gorgeous little boy who is calm and confident – and I am convinced that this is in part due to my being relaxed throughout pregnancy. No matter how birth plays out, feeling calm, in control and informed is invaluable, and that’s exactly what this course provided. I highly recommend it to anyone expecting a baby!

From S&D:

We had a great time learning all the benefits of hypnobirthing with AJ. It was something we could do as a couple for our pregnancy which would connect us during the pregnancy and labour. The stories and scripts are so relaxing! 

Personally, I found that my mind wandered a lot during my contractions, but hearing D tell me to remember my breathing techniques and speak the familiar stories kept me focused. For us, our birth wasn’t completely what we had envisioned but using hypnobirthing allowed us to stay focused and facilitated a relaxed and empowering birth environment nonetheless. Our beautiful baby boy was born into a calm room and to well informed parents. Thank you AJ for all your love and support! We can’t recommend her enough :)

From L&M:

I wanted to let you know that our little one arrived yesterday evening- he’s still minus a name! All a bit of a shock as everything was pretty speedy! My waters broke around 10:30pm on Tuesday night, and thankfully labour got underway on its own mid morning and we were able to make our way to the birth centre per our plan. Little man arrived in the pool and I delivered the placenta in there too naturally. At the end he was pretty quick! It took me a moment to realise he was in the pool and needed picking up!

Huge thank you to you for helping us prepare for the birth so well. I honestly feel so grateful to you for your support and pretty much everything in the plan happened. After waking up yesterday feeling nervous about the prospect of induction I can’t believe it all went so well and he’d arrived by dinner time! Thank you so so so much! I honestly am not sure I’d have had the same outcome yesterday if we hadn’t done the hypnobirthing with you in the run up. 

From S&M:

A little update from our side as M surprised us with an early arrival a few weeks ago. The birth went as well as we could have hoped and she was delivered on the birthing suite.

We wanted to say a huge thank you as the breathing techniques were invaluable for getting me through the contractions (particularly for the long stint we had at home) and we really went into the birth feeling as prepared as we could and empowered. We so enjoyed the sessions with you and it was a really integral part of our birth experience, which I really look back on as a tough but very positive experience.

From G&T:

Just wanted to let you know that we welcomed our precious daughter W yesterday morning and are about to leave the hospital! We had a very fast labour getting to the hospital at 4:30 am with me already 3cm dilated and then welcoming her into the world a few short hours later.

I truly think hypnobirthing was a game changer!!! In terms of pain relief I used the ball, birth comb, and gas and air. At the very end I asked for the epidural but I had such a fast progression, they didn’t have time to give me a top up! W is so wonderful, happy, healthy and feeding great and wanted to share the great news. I had an amazing birth, pregnancy and really think hypnobirthing set my mindset to achieve what my body was made to do.

From C&H:

From the moment we found out we were pregnant with our first child, I was very apprehensive about what the birth would be like and set about trying to make sure I was as informed as possible without scaring myself too much! AJ  was happy to answer all our questions and we particularly loved the guided meditations and her help with creating our birth preferences. 

Ultimately, we had a challenging labour with some curveballs along the way and the goal of a straightforward birth wasn’t what our son had in store for us. But in spite of this, I have only positive things to say about my birth experience. A large part of that is down to the oxytocin-boosting prep we’d done thanks to AJ! 

We needed some forceps to assist us and I ended up requiring surgery for a retained placenta and a blood transfusion, but I feel so positive about how it went and proud of what I achieved. Thanks to AJ, we felt confident advocating for what we felt was right at the time throughout the labour and our care providers were fantastic at listening to our wishes and recommending the best course of action accordingly. 

While it wasn’t the textbook ‘perfect’, pain-free birth I had hoped for, I wouldn’t change a thing about it. And we’re so happy with our now 4-week old son. Thank you, AJ – we couldn’t have done it without you!

From C:

AJ ran our course in the comfort of our home, she created a beautifully relaxed environment which meant we felt comfortable asking questions whilst we learnt. We felt that during the course and the practices afterwards was an extremely bonding experience. We ended up having a planned C section for medical reasons, and yet the skills and practices AJ had taught us, we still used right up until the moment M was born. Whilst we waited to go in, we did the visualisations, listened to some of the audios and went into the theatre feeling calm and excited. Would recommend AJ’s course to anyone wanting to learn more, to feel more knowledgeable and to feel even closer to your partner.

…and her partner P:

I was sceptical before starting given I am a medic myself but the information AJ gave was sensible, reasonable and backed by scientific data. It helped us have a more positive attitude when stressful moments cropped up along the pregnancy process and allowed us to enjoy the moment of M coming into the world.

From H&J:

Albeit not the birth I had imagined (I thought I would be all “earth mother”, no pain relief in a birthing pool – the reality could not have been more different!), our birthing experience (both before, during and after) was unbelievably positive, and I look back on it all with a huge amount of pride and happiness. The hypnobirthing techniques and invaluable advice that AJ gave us supported us hugely during my ECV, inductions and then eventual caesarean. It relaxed me so much and helped me to draw focus. Visualisations also really helped to calm me and give my partner an even more vital role in birth. AJ went above and beyond at every opportunity and made us feel informed and confident to make positive decisions at every stage of our birthing journey. We can’t thank her enough for everything she’s done for us as a family. 

From M&L:

We really enjoyed our KGH hypnobirthing course with AJ and really liked how personal it was doing it 1-1 so that we could ask as many questions as we wanted about our own specific context. I really appreciated the fact that whilst we were learning about hypnobirthing you were able to make it directly applicable to an NHS hospital birth context because of your role and knowledge as a midwife. Our course with you enabled me to feel excited for my upcoming VBAC and empowered me to have the knowledge to make decisions about my birth with the consultant.

Our birth was a mixed bag in the end. I laboured for as long as possible at home (around 7 hours) and genuinely enjoyed the experience. I felt calm and in control. Once we arrived at the birthing centre I was 5cm and then hooked up to continuous monitoring for 30 mins. Unfortunately there were concerns over baby’s heart rate and the consultant decided that we needed an emergency section. In the 2 hours in hospital I went from 5cm to fully dilated so it all felt a bit wild. However, I felt like what I had learned on the hypnobirthing course with you allowed me to make a calm and informed decision about going ahead with the section and allowed me to retain a sense of control. 

In the theatre, they attempted forceps as I was fully dilated but in the end it wasn’t meant to be and we had a section. It wasn’t the birth that I had hoped for but I was so pleased to have had the hours at home that had been so peaceful and enjoyable. I so wish I could have done the whole thing at home! I don’t have any negative feelings towards the birth and I do think that’s because I had prepared for all eventualities and I knew what to expect and was able to make informed choices. A huge difference from my first birth was that I felt able to advocate for myself in a way I hadn’t before and I definitely think that that contributed to the positive feelings I have towards the experience. Thank you AJ!

From J:

I can’t speak highly enough about AJ and her support during my pregnancy. She completely changed the way I thought about birth, shifting my perception from it being something big and scary to something really positive and natural. Her knowledge and understanding gave me tools for birth in a way that neither our antenatal classes or midwife appointments had and also had the added bonus of my husband really enjoying the sessions! The hypnobirthing methods taught proved invaluable in my birth, I managed to breathe through the pain for the first half of labour which allowed me to stay at home much longer than I would have otherwise and definitely kept me calm when the pain increased- I had the audio files playing in my headphones on the way to hospital! Thank you AJ, superstar midwife.