Birth is always with us. Like the food we eat, the air we breathe, the sleep we sleep and the death we eventually arrive at. It is an integral part of human life with its own set of rhythms and tunes. Yet in today’s technological world, how many mothers enjoy a birth that is undisturbed and without fear? How many babies are born in their own time? The benefits of social support around the time of childbirth are re-presenting themselves within our collective consciousness however. My feeling is that we need to go back to basics and reconsider the fundamental
Did you feel the urge? I certainly did! The memory of it is still deeply imprinted in my body. It felt so primal, so passionate, so irresistible. It moved me… moved through me… seemingly unstoppable. At times I could and did feel out of control, but when I aligned with it, I felt so powerful and totally in sync with the force of Nature. I have always been in awe of the incredible beauty and power of Nature, her ability to create the most exquisite and intricate life forms, as well as her power to unleash a tidal wave that
As a Hypnobirthing practitioner encouraging women to ‘breathe their baby down’, I find that it is often a very challenging concept for them to embrace. The portrayal of the second stage of birth in the media has mainly been of the mother being coached in an urgent and intense tone of voice, generally by a doctor, to hold her breath, count to ten and then bear down as forcefully as she can. This technique, known as the Valsa maneuvre, or variations of it, has tended to be the standard practice in most hospitals in the UK and US. I always