Join the birth revolution and pump up your womanpower! Say YES to feeling confident and empowered about birth. Increase your chances of a beautiful, positive, gentle birth by hypnobirthing - learn all about the process and what to expect along the way, practise useful strategies, and build your inner strength and confidence in your own body. I absolutely love teaching and enjoy making it fun and interactive - you will be forever happy that you have decided to invest in your wellbeing by doing a KGHypnobirthing course. I teach in groups and 1:1, and you can come to my farmhouse B&B for free if you book a long weekend course. Check my website for free, no obligation taster sessions.
A KGHypnobirthing teacher and Doula, I live on the stunning Dorset coast near Wareham. I am passionate about helping women achieve a calm and happy birth, no matter where and how it takes place. I particularly love surprising birth partners with hypnotherapy and teaching them how to be really useful in labour :-) I have been a teacher for 25 years and came to hypnobirthing when my daughter gave birth using it. It blew my mind and knew that this was what I wanted to do. My approach to teaching is enthusiastic, calm and kind - I think you will enjoy learning with me.
Because it works! It is a complete antenatal course which will leave you with all your questions answered and feeling confident and excited about your up-and-coming birth. KGH combines the effectiveness of hypnotherapy with learning all the information you need to ask the right questions, make the right decisions for you and feel confident that you can handle anything that comes your way! Because you can :-)
I was taught Hypnobirthing by Katharine Graves 14 years ago as I was terrified of giving birth. After amazing sessions and a doing a ‘little’ homework I felt confident and excited to be having my 1st baby. ( it didn’t go to plan!!!). I was calm and quiet & had an inner strength for both of my births, one being VERY medicalised (52 hour) and the other an amazing euphoric water birth. It taught me that both can be positive empowering experiences & I have always been in awe of the power of Hypnobirthing ever since! I just hope that I can allow partners/families to experience the amazing journey without fear & enjoy the wonder of it all. X Marie.
“I attended my hypnobirthing course just a couple of weeks before I had my daughter but it still worked it’s magic (it’s not magic you’ll soon find out, just completely logical and amazing!). The course was such an eye opener for me, all the information about how birth actually happens and how capable our bodies are made me feel so confident. I came to the course feeling so unprepared and frightened of what birth would be like and left with this sense of excitement and actually looking forward to it! Labour came and I felt powerful and ready! Every surge was just getting me closer to meeting my baby and with the breathing and knowing exactly what was going on in my body I felt in control. We had a beautiful home water birth and I credit hypnobirthing for not having to use any drugs or even gas & air. I wish every woman could be empowered with these incredible tools for every birth!!” Romany.
My third and most favourite birth was nearly 8 months ago now and I’ve never actually written down my birth story so here goes...
40 weeks and 6 days pregnant and after about a week of what I assume was stop/start labour (effacing, dilating) and some SERIOUS braxton Hicks I’d had enough. So that morning I went for a walk around roath lake but didn’t last very long because I felt like the baby was going to fall out. I’d given up hope for Osian to come without a little help from the midwife (ie a stretch and sweep which I had to have at 41 weeks with both of my first pregnancies however really wanted to avoid this time) I got home had a bath then had a talk with myself in the mirror and told myself and baby that we were ready! I went to bed that evening as normal, annoyed, fed up but no surges or any sign of baby coming.
12.30am, I’d been asleep for about 3 hours and woke up feeling some pressure and then heard what I can only describe as a slowly deflating balloon “pssssssssssss” still half asleep I thought I’d wet myself and woke my husband up to say I think my waters had gone. I went to the toilet where the rest of my waters went and then got back into bed feeling a little anxious and shell shocked to be honest because this had never happened to me on my other two births, both my waters went just before baby was born! I felt my adrenaline rush and my surges started so I immediately put on my vapouriser and relaxation tracks. My husband rolled over to turn off the lamp hoping for a few more hours sleep but I knew this baby was coming soon. I told chris to go downstairs and sort out the birthing pool while I call my mum and the midwife to let them know things had kicked off.
I got myself in the bath and continued listening to my hypno tracks and positive birth affirmations. Surges were intense but bearable and I got myself out of the bath just as the midwife arrived because I felt like it was slowing my surges down. The midwife offered me a V.E which I happily accepted curious to know what the week of stop start labour had been doing bearing in mind my waters only went half an hour ago and was pleased to be told I was 4/5 cm!
Chris and my mum were nowhere to be seen but I could hear some chaos and expletives coming from downstairs and realised that the birthing pool was not going to plan as the hose wouldn’t fit to the tap. I paced around upstairs for a bit using the up breathing technique with each surge (in for four out for 8) and for some reason repeating in my head “down baby” I know you’re supposed to be active and move around in labour but I suddenly had an intense urge to lie down and rest and asked my midwife if this was a good idea? She told me that I was doing amazing and to do whatever my body told me to. I lay down for maybe ten minutes then felt a change in my contractions and the baby move further down.
At this point I decided I needed to be downstairs with my husband and mum who were still trying to fill the birthing pool and told them to stop. I found a comfortable position on the sofa on my knees leaning over the back of the chair and knew I was ready to push. The surges were intense and I decided to ask for some gas and air at this point not so much for pain relief but to keep me feeling calm (it makes you feel like you’ve had one too many prosecco’s) I didn’t want too much as I overused it with my second birth and felt completely spaced out and very sick after he was born!
I started pushing using the down breathing technique and with another two contractions Osian came into the world at 2.52am, 2 hours and 22 minutes after my waters broke. It was one of the most amazing moments of my life and all I could say was “we’ve been waiting for you!!” crying my eyes out. I decided to have a physiological third stage of birth to deliver the placenta and was FaceTiming my sister when it came away. It was amazing to be at home with my Mum and husband by my side and my other two children sound asleep in bed, exactly how i’d imagined it happening. Hypnobirthing exceeded all my expectations and now I’m passionate about sharing its benefits with other woman so we can all feel empowered like the superwomen we are on one of the biggest days of our lives. Nia.
I just wanted to share my experience of having a lush birth in an Obstectric Unit ...I didn’t do a Hypnobirthing course but I’d had Hypnotherapy and was very much in tune with my body. I was induced a week after due date due to medical reasons, went in, had pessary, few hours later was checked and 3cm (no pain or anything), went and had waters broke, walked up and down corridor laughing and joking with husband, stopping to hold banister and breath through surges, went back to OU, had a bath, on the ball, then got on the bed in chair position, on knees holding onto back rest with gas and air for the last 45 mins and had my lush little boy, delivered up through my legs 4 hours after breaking waters and it was the best moment ever! Just goes to show that it doesn’t matter where or how you give birth as long as you are comfortable and relaxed, I really didn’t want to be induced or be in the OU but it really was the best experience of my life!
My courses are run over 12hrs. You can learn 1:1 with me coming to your home (perhaps find a friend and split the cost?), or you can do it all at once over a long weekend, staying in my lovely farmhouse B&B for free - it may be the last relaxing weekend away on your own before your baby arrives :-)
I also run weekly classes, 4x3hrs, at the lovely Bindon Abbey Wellness Retreat in Wool. Max. 5 couples.
Free taster session available. See my website for more details.
Located in: Dorset