Hypnobirthing Devon - Teachers' Directory

Hi, my name is Caroline Freathy. I live in Devon with my husband with my three children and I am a self-confessed birth geek!

I love TV, although I now mainly watch CBeebies or Boomerang – one day I shall be in charge of the controller again! I adore reading (again, an obsession which before kids was a 52 book a year challenge, now I’m lucky to reach 5! Not counting ‘Ten Little Dinosaurs’ or ‘Each Peach, Pear, Plum’ – those I have read at least 6,597 times!) I am also a big fan of National Trust houses (and love to pretend that I am the sole owner of whichever house we are visiting, walking around in a big swishy skirt – yep, basically the usual Elizabeth Bennett fantasy!)

Before having my children I was a primary school teacher, then in 2010 I became a stay-at-home mum when my first son was born and the birth obsession began! Since then I have had two more children, but the birth obsession didn’t wane, so I decided to become a KGH Hypnobirthing teacher to help spread the love, whilst reducing the fear surrounding birth.

I have experienced three very different births: one C-Section; one VBAC with a retained placenta and one vaginal birth, which was very straightforward. Therefore, I feel I am in an excellent position to offer women antenatal classes and help signpost them to further information, as I have had a range of experiences and therefore understand how birth can be on or off-plan and how that can make you feel, as well as how best to prepare for all eventualities.

My name is Hanna, I am a trained chef,  youth worker, grower of vegetables and mother to Rudy-Rae.

Hypnobirthing had a very positive impact on my pregnancy, birth and journey into motherhood. I am passionate about supporting women and their own transition into motherhood.  Please feel free to get in touch to chat over any thoughts about doing the course.

GOODBIRTH aims to ensure that ALL women feel safe, respected, informed and in control, wherever and whatever their circumstances. Having the right support and finding up to date practical information through your pregnancy, will help you feel more relaxed and prepared for your birth. Every woman has different needs and antenatal education can be  individual to you, answering your personal concerns and focusing on your birth. 

As a former Midwife and a qualified Nursery Nurse I have over 25 years experience working with women and babies.

I was privileged to attend a course at The Farm Midwifery Centre in Tennessee, USA, with the acclaimed midwife and author Ina May Gaskin and her colleagues. What I learned there shaped my Midwifery practice and continues to influence my practice as a Doula and Hypnobirthing teacher. I have complete respect for and belief in a woman’s ability to give birth naturally without intervention, but if a woman does require obstetric care, for whatever reason, I have experience to support her.

I began my career as a Nursery Nurse and worked as a Nanny, and in a Day Nursery as Nursery Nurse in charge of the Baby Unit. I am a mother of three grown up daughters, and I had very positive births with them all, in different environments. When later I trained as a midwife, I was shocked to learn that not all women experience this, which is why I made it my mission to help all women in my care feel safe and confident, however they gave birth.

I worked in NHS trusts and a Birth Centre as a Midwife. I supported women having homebirths, water births, births on the labour ward and in Theatre. I have experience caring for women under obstetric care, including VBAC (vaginal birth after Caesarean), IVF pregnancies, multiple births, women with medical concerns and those suffering bereavement.

I was delighted to support my  eldest daughter at the births of both her babies, and am a proud Nanna! This has also deepened my understanding of the needs of new Mothers. I chose to leave Midwifery to focus on giving true one to one care as Doula. I trained with Nurturing Birth and am a recognised Birth Doula and postnatal Doula registered with Doula UK.

As your Doula I can offer non biased, non medical, practical and emotional support. Please visit my website to find out more about my services.

www.goodbirth.co.uk

GOODBIRTH SERVICES INCLUDE:

KGHypnobirthing Birth preparation courses.

Birth and Postnatal Doula, supporting homebirth, water birth, and natural birth, all obstetric led births including VBAC (Vaginal birth after caesarean) and high risk pregnancies.

Breastfeeding and night support. 

I cover parts of SOUTH DEVON including

 ·         Torquay

 ·         Paignton

 ·         Brixham

 ·         Totnes

 ·         Newton Abbott

 ·         Teignmouth

and surrounding areas.

QUALIFICATIONS:

 BSc(Hons) Midwifery (1st)

NNEB  Nursery Nursing

 KGHypnobirthing DipHB(KGH)

 Doula preparation course- Nurturing Birth

 Doula UK Recognised Birth Doula and mentored Postnatal Doula

 Midwifery Workshop at The Farm, Tennessee USA with Ina May Gaskin

 Rebozo technique with Nicola Mahdiyyah Goodall

Breast Feeding level 3 

My name is Olivia and I am currently a Registered Midwife, living in Devon. Having seen how effective hypnobirthing techniques are in creating such a calm and serene birth experience for women and their partners, I was inspired to find out more and so enrolled on the KG Hypnobirthing Teachers Training Course. I successfully obtained a Hypnobirthing Diploma, accredited by the Royal College of Midwives, which provided an enlightening experience and supplied me with the necessary expertise to begin teaching hypnobirthing to women and their partners. 

My name is Sophie Annett and I have been a practising massage and holistic therapist for 13 years. I trained to become a certified Infant Massage Instructor in 2013 giving me a chance to lead many courses in this wonderful, ancient process. After using KGHypnobirthing with the home-birth of my son, I became increasingly amazed and awe-inspired by its immense power and simplicity. I knew it was a tool that I wanted to share with as many expectant mothers and their partners as possible and feel incredibly privileged to now teach it. I am easily accessible, teaching both from my home in Lyme Regis or from your home and can travel between Dorchester and Exeter easily. 

My name is Sophie Laycock and I have been a practising massage and holistic therapist for 13 years. After using the simple yet hugely powerful methods of KGHypnobirthing during the home-birth of my son, I became increasingly amazed and inspired by its power and simplicity. I knew it was a tool that I wanted to share with as many expectant mothers and their partners as possible and I feel incredibly privileged to now teach it. I am easily accessible, teaching both from my home in Lyme Regis or from your own home and can travel between Dorchester and Exeter easily. 

I am Mama to three boys with a background in psychology. I am passionate about birth and empowering women having had two wonderful hypnobirths myself (after a less than ideal hospital birth first time round). I am in awe of what women's bodies are capable of and believe strongly that if women and their birth partners are fully informed and equipped with the right tools, then they will have an empowering and positive birth experience wherever and however they choose to birth their baby. Nothing is more rewarding for me than helping women and their birth partners prepare for this key moment in their life.

My own pregnancy 16 years ago (I was aged 26) was all it took to inspire me to become a Midwife and then a Hypnobirthing teacher. Prior to this my background was in Complementary Health Practice. After qualifying in Midwifery, I was fortunate enough to work at The Birth Centre Ltd., Professor Caroline Flint's well known establishment. Here the vast majority of our clients were hypnobirthing. There were vast differences between these women’s labours and those I had looked after within the NHS. I immediately realised that the benefits of Hypnobirthing had a strong ripple effect, extending to the Midwife! Coming back from a hypnobirth, I would feel relaxed and refreshed thanks to being in such a positively peaceful atmosphere. I cannot imagine a more fulfilling career than supporting clients / couples and their babies through what is undoubtedly the most important time in their lives. I am very proud to have been trained by Katherine Graves herself and to be continually inspired by the birth experiences of my personal clients. I appreciate the intimacy of life. My passion is to gently facilitate the human experience in ways that point directly to wholeness, or true nature. Hypnobirthing does this very effectively.

Hello, I am Tracey. I'm a mother of two who relies heavily on her instincts. So when it came to parenthood, I read and read and listened to others, and still do, until I was comfortable with a collection of approaches that suited my partner and myself. The common theme among these approaches is really that we already have the instincts and sense of naturalness to guide us through the journey of parenthood. As a student of psychology, I have been really pleased to discover there is considerable evidence to support these more instinctive approaches, especially in the world of neuroscience. This is true also, of Hypnobirthing. And, it does help to have some support along the way. This is where Hypnobirthing came into play for me. I came late, but not too late, to Hypnobirthing for our first child, Joe. Convinced that even a few weeks of practice gave me a helping hand during Joe’s birth. So I committed fully to Hypnobirthing and yoga (which go really well together), two years later for the birth of my daughter, Nicole. We were really chuffed to have an amazing home birth that progressed so well that we didn't even make it downstairs to the pool. Until recently relocating to Devon from Surrey, I worked in the NHS developing children's, women's and maternity services. I still do this on a part time and freelance basis and continue to be very committed to children and women's wellbeing. I am no stranger to the stresses of parenthood and continue to rely on yoga, meditation and relaxation (guided meditations) to keep a check on my own sense of balance. I also rely on the support of other parents - there is nothing like going through the same challenges to keep people connected, grounded and sane! I hope you will find these true of joining a Hypnobirthing class too. I initially trained on the Marie Mongan Hypnobirthing Programme in 2011. I then chose to study under Katherine Graves after having had a home (hypno)brith, in London in the summer of 2013. Katherine's approach is able to dive into greater detail of the birthing options and circumstances of the UK systems of antenatal care and childbirth. I am a certified KG Hypnobirthing Practitioner and am so very glad I found hypnobirthing both personally and professionally. Tracey Warrener Dip. Hb MHbA, BSc (Hons) Psychology

I am passionate about helping you to have the best birth possible and I bring to the classes a long and wide experience in the world of pregnancy and birth.  

Before training as a KG Hypnobirthing teacher with Katharine herself I was already a fully qualified, registered and practising hypnotherapist.  I chose her method because it stood out from all the others.

After giving birth to my first child I trained as an antenatal teacher and taught for the National Childbirth Trust for seven years before qualifying as a professional registered homeopath. As a homeopath I’ve attended a number of births over the years, at home, in hospital, in and out of water as well as giving birth to my own two children.  I was also commissioned to write a distance learning course on using Homeopathy during pregnancy and labour.  

So as you can see I have a wealth of knowledge and experience of birth both as a hypnotherapist, through my work as a homeopath and as a teacher and mother in my own right and I bring all this to my classes.   

I like to make my classes fun and informative as well as giving you all the tools you need to give birth with confidence, calmly and comfortably.

I am passionate about helping you to have the best birth possible.  I taught ante-natal classes for the National Childbirth Trust for seven years and I’ve attended a number of births over the years, at home, in hospital, in and out of water as well as giving birth to my own two children.  I am also a fully qualified, registered and practising hypnotherapist trained as a hypnobirthing teacher by Katharine Graves.  I chose her method because it stood out from all the others.

I like to make my classes fun and informative as well as giving you all the tools you need to give birth with confidence, calmly and comfortably.