Hypnobirthing East Sussex - Teachers' Directory

Hi! My name is Hannah. I am a student midwife, nearing my final year of training and fully qualified KGHypnobirthing teacher. I have a background in perinatal mental health and supporting women and families to recover from their conditions. An important aspect for me is reducing the pain felt by women in labour. After suffering chronic pain for a number of years, it is crucial to me that women experiencing chronic illness and normal pregnancy discomfort are supported effectively. I have further knowledge of living with daily discomfort which may be useful to those giving birth.

I have seen how negative care and birth experiences can impact the entire family and would like to show you that being pregnant and having a baby does not need to be a time of fear. All parents and babies deserve calm and happiness. An important aspect to consider in this is the idea of informed decision making - you have the power to no! You might not feel like it yet, but you can ask questions and decline procedures. I will teach you how this is possible and why it is so important in enabling you to the birth you desire.

My experience in a midwifery environment allows me to discuss with you what happens locally in hospitals and how you can convey your wishes. It does not matter what type of birth you are considering - home, hospital, c-section - I can support you. 

I not only offer the KGHypnobirthing training, but also a postnatal package which encompasses newborn care, transition to parenthood, breastfeeding and more. You will have my full support throughout the duration of your course and beyond.

I am a fully qualified solution focused hypnotherapist specialising in hypnobirthing. I am passionate about passing on the knowledge to empower women to have a positive birth experience - leading to a confident start for them and their babies. Over the last five years I have taught many women and their partners who have had their babies in varied settings - at home, in hospital, by caesarean. Its not about having a 'perfect' birth - it's for all births! The simple and gentle techniques really can have a profound effect on mothers, fathers and babies.

I became interested in hypnobirthing after the birth of my daughter. I had a long labour with a lot of intervention and felt traumatised by the whole experience, which put me in a vulnerable place to start motherhood. I felt that I must have had an unusually difficult labour, only to discover when speaking to other mums that my experience was pretty common and seen as "just the way childbirth is".

This seemed wrong to me on so many levels. Why was this a normal experience? Childbirth is something the majority of women will experience in our lives, it is a natural process that our bodies are designed to do. It should be something we look forward to as a rite of passage, surely it shouldn't be such a trial? And I found that it really doesn't have to be!

In my search for answers I became interested in hypnotherapy and trained at the Clifton Practice in Bristol. I then went on to specialise in hypnobirthing. 

When I became pregnant again, I had my son at home in water using the hypnobirthing techniques I had learned and I had such an amazing time. What was the difference? I felt calm, confident and in control of my experience at all times. I was able to allow my body to do what it needed to do without interference from worries and anxiety. 

This time I came out of the experience of childbirth feeling empowered and strong and it meant that I bonded easily with my baby, felt confident in my abilities as a parent and recovered quickly physically. I was able to let go of my previous birth experience and move on. 

This is why I teach hypnobirthing. I am passionate about passing on this knowledge to empower women to have a positive birth experience - leading to a confident start for them and their babies.

Since my own experience I have taught many women and their partners who have had their babies in many different settings - at home, in hospital, by caesarean. Its not about having a 'perfect' birth - it's for all births! 

The simple and gentle techniques really can have a profound effect on mothers, fathers and babies.

I am the proud mother of a little boy and live with my family in Brighton. My birth experience made me so passionate about hypnobirthing and made me realise that this is something I would like to do in the future . So went on to become a hypnobirthing instructor myself. It is an amazing feeling to enable other people to experience a powerful and fearless birth.

I hold a masters degree in Agricultural economy and currently working part time at a secondary school as a science technician.

I am a nurse and midwife with over 7years experience, so I have experienced first-hand the amazing benefits of hypnobirthing. My active registration can be confirmed on the Nursing and Midwifery Council Register.

I also have two children of my own, and often wish I had discovered hypnobirthing earlier so I could have tried it myself.

Having worked in a busy London hospital for several years, and then a busy local hospital, I decided to have a change of pace and pursue a great passion of mine, antenatal education.

When I heard about the KG Hypnobirthing teacher training course, I felt it was a brilliant way to combine antenatal education with hypnobirthing, something I’d always be fascinated by. Through completing this Royal College of Midwives accredited course, I now hold a Diploma in Hypnobirthing and I am a member of the Association of Hypnobirthing. The KG course exceeded my expectations and I am very excited to share this knowledge and help to empower you in your pregnancy and birth. 

My name is Meg, I'm a KG Hypnobirthing teacher living in Brighton.

When I'm not teaching hypnobirthing I work as an NHS community midwife, which allows me to support births on a regular basis, something which I absolutely adore.

I first witnessed the power of hypnobirth a few years ago, and was astounded at how calm and relaxed both parents were during their labour and waterbirth. It was incredible to sit back and watch the magic of birth unfold unhindered before my eyes. More recently I was at a beautiful homebirth with a KG Hypnobirthing couple. The birthing mother was so relaxed and comfortable that she spent most of her labour out in the garden, bouncing on a trampoline with her young daughter! Despite having already attended a hundred or so of births, I was amazed at how easily this family laboured and just had to find out how this was possible.

I chose to train with KG Hypnobirthing, founded by Katherine Graves, world reknowned hypnotherapist who brought hypnobirthing to the UK. She has developed a course that is accredited by the Royal College of Midwives, recognising the depth of its content, and its value to expectant parents. I loved every minute of the training and couldn't wait to share the knowledge and skills with expectant parents.

Before training as a midwife I undertook a Biology and Psychology degree at Cambridge University. I developed the skills to analyse research studies, and this passion continues today through midwifery - I enjoy keeping up to date with the latest research and sharing evidence with the couples I work with. Coming from this background, I can really see that KG Hypnobirthing works through sound scientific understanding of the psychology and physiology of birth.

​I am passionate about supporting all types of families, whether you are a single parent, part of a couple or family network, or wish to have a close friend as your primary birth support.

The journey that brings me to HypnoBirthing has evolved over the past 30 years and has been beautiful and exhilarating as well as difficult and frustrating at times.

The births of my own children were wonderful and.  However, I often look back and am struck by overwhelming gratitude as, by luck rather than design, I recall how, with little planning or intervention, I managed to have 3 uncomplicated and relatively short labours.   

This was not the case for many of my friends.  I soon began to ponder on what had happened and how things could have been so different.  I began to look into the physiology of birth and read about how birth could be affected by fear and Adrenaline.  I read books by Ina May Gaskin, Michel Odent and Frederick leboyer and began to formulate my own ideas of how it might be possible to bring children into the world more gently.

After attending over 10 births, as a friend and supporter, I was told about a movement of women who were supporting women in childbirth as a profession.  This was a complete light bulb moment for me as I was already training to become a Medical Herbalist and realised that combining both disciplines could be complementary.  I decided to train as a Doula attended 2 different training courses (one with one of my birthing heros Michel Odent). That was in 2002.

Since then I have had 2 more children, finished my degree (which took me much longer than the original 4 years) and raised a family.  Although I was unable to commit myself to attending many births over that period I was always involved in one way or another and the passion never left me.

And then one day in Autumn last year I happened to hear an article on Woman's Hour about Hypnobirthing.  I was entirely enthralled and set about finding out everything I could.  It was as if this had been the thing I had been looking for all these years.  

I trained with KG at the end of the year and immediately coached 2 of my friend's children through their labours and a friend having twins at 50.  So far the couples I have worked with have found Hypnobirthing transformational and I am so excited to bring this birthing method to pregnant families.

My Qualifications:

BSc Hons Phytotherapy - University of Wales

Doula - Kasandra Clemens

Doula - Michel Odent

KG Hypnobirthing - Katherine Graves

I have the three best jobs in the world. Wife, Mummy and KG Hypnobirthing instructor (in no particular order!). Each of my jobs has it's own unique set of challenges and I couldn't love any of them more.

Having had cancer at 18 I have spent a LOT of time in hospitals and as you can imagine a lot of those experiences have been less than pleasant and left me feeling helpless. (Let me assure you, I am FAR FAR from helpless!) When I found out I was pregnant I started to search for something that would give me back some power and control for the birth of my baby, something I felt in my heart ought to feel natural and instinctive.

Whether by luck or judgement I came accross a KG Hypnobirthing class and I made the leap to book in (a little cautiously, half expecting to have incense and crystals waved around me). From the very first session I knew I had made the right choice (even my husband was convinced!!!) and from that moment onwards my passion for the KG Hypnobirthing method has continued to grow. When my son decided it was time to make his way in to the world, the tools I'd learned from KG hypnobirthing kept me calm, in control and helped me make rational and informed decisions when thing didn't go as I had envisioned them.

I didn't have the "perfect birth", but we had exactly the right birth for us. This empassioned me even more to help expectant parents understand that birth is not one size fits all. Birth (and parenthood) when in the hands of the parents without fear or undue influence is, in my eyes, just like love. It's not the same for everyone, it might not happen exactly as you anticipated, it's not always the easiest thing in the world and probably isn't 100% perfect; yet somehow it is exactly right for you. This is the message I want to spread and what I want to set families on the road to acheive for themselves.

Hypnobirthing is amazing, it helped me have such wonderful births and after experiencing first hand the enjoyment and confidence that undertaking the hypnobirthing course gave me, I decided I wanted to share the knowledge and so retrained to teach KG HypnoBirthing. I trained in London under Katharine Graves on her course accredited by the Royal Collage of Midwives. I have two 'hypno children' (no longer babies any more!) 

I am a mother of 2 grown up and amazing sons. I am also a midwife, a KG Hypnobirthing Practitioner and a Positive Birth Movement Facilitator. My family are kind enough to allow me plenty of time and space to indulge my passion for all women and their families to have THEIR best birth possible. I live in Central London but have an undying love for Brighton, East Sussex so happily share my knowledge and passion there too. I love my vocation and love to share.