I’ve been asked by the very lovely Louise to tell you all about what I do and why it’s important and because it’s my favourite subject, I jumped at the chance!
Before I explain what I do, I want to start off with why it’s important.
The problem
In the UK alone, it is estimated that around 1/3 of all births are traumatic, which means approx200,000 women and their families are affected. 10% of those will go onto suffer PTSD. The real numbers are probably much higher than this, because many women won’t report their birth or their symptoms.
Where are we going wrong?
Well I could talk for hours about this subject but, to summarise, our maternity system has become highly medicalised, totally removed from supporting the natural process of birth. We don’t have enough midwives to give women the continuous care they deserve and we don’t have enough antenatal education. Women are going into birth with no clue about how their body works, they are assuming that being in hospital is the best place for them and they think birth will be awful so there is no point preparing for it.
Hypnobirthing
I teach something called hypnobirthing. I know it can sound a bit ‘out there’ to some people & I want to reassure you that it really isn’t anything wacky or hippy dippy!
Hypnobirthing in a nutshell is a set of simple but effective tools and techniques that will help you to stay calm and relaxed so your body can do what it needs to do in order for your baby’s birth to go as smoothly as possible.
How can it help?
My hypnobirthing course is the full antenatal education that every pregnant woman deserves. I teach them exactly what is going to happen to them at each stage of labour, and we look at all the practical things they can do to manage the pain and cope with contractions.
Hypnobirthing isn’t about preparing for a pain free birth, or a natural birth, it’s about understanding how to have a positive birth, no matter what happens.
I always encourage birth partners to come, and a large part of the course is focused on all the ways the birth partner can support mum. They leave my course with a set of tools they can use to help mum stay calm and relaxed. They understand how they can best support mum and work together as a team.
About me
I am a mum of 3 and am fortunate to have discovered hypnobirthing in my first pregnancy and I’ve had 3 very positive experiences (& 2 home births). I have supported many couples through pregnancy and birth and I love making a difference to their experience.
I’m based in Cardiff, but can offer sessions via skype to anywhere in the world. If you’d like to know more about how I can help you prepare for your positive birth then please contact me.
www.youmeandbaby.co.uk/hypnobirthing
mindfulmillieweb.wordpress.com 
This is a really interesting concept I’ve never really heard of but now I’m glad I have. It is so important for women to have a full understanding of what is going to happen to their bodies and how they can best deal with it!
Alex x
http://allthingsalexx.wordpress.com
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I’m so glad I found out about it! Knowledge is power 😍
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This is so accurate! I was terrified to give birth and felt safer in hospital, I had a different midwife every appointment throughout my pregnancy which made me feel so uneasy and I swear I suffered with PPD but because the aftercare was so poor no one picked up on it and I was discharged from their records as fine
xx
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I’m so sorry you went through that. My care in the uk was similar – different midwife every time, wouldn’t listen about my HG. I gave birth in Sweden which was very different, here you get the same midwife for all the pre and after care. If you have another baby I’d definitely talk to Jenny she is so good at helping people who have been through difficult experiences and helps to minimise anxiety. Sending hugs xx
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Thank you so so much! It definitely scared me about having another so if I come round to the idea and we (as a family) are ready then I’ll definitely seek advice xx
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