Hypnobirthing and Child Birth Articles
Katharine writes a number of articles and has appeared in the press a number of times during the course of her work. Please read and enjoy a selection of her writings here - we hope you find them useful and entertaining. We also have guest authors and will post other interesting articles here.
Any comments, questions or feedback is always appreciated.
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You have read the survivors’ guide, listened to your mother and aunties, and seemingly half the world has given you their tips for being pregnant. Yet most Mums will tell you they would do things differently second time round. Here we have a number of tips for your pregnancy from our favourite yummy mummies.
Sleep more
Everyone tells us to do this but have you really allowed enough time to get that quality sleep? The first trimester is often the most exhausting time of any pregnancy. This can be made even more difficult because you do not even look pregnant, and many women will soldier on regardless. Give yourself a break, enjoy the sleep, make time for it, and make sure your partner really does appreciate your need for it. Many pregnant ladies feel guilty that they should be able to do more. DON’T! Your body is performing miracles and you need to rest and put your feet up.
Enjoy this special time
Are you eating the right things? Is your baby healthy? How will you cope when they are born? There are so many things to worry about when you are pregnant and forty weeks is a very long time to be worried. Practise some positive affirmations to help keep these thoughts at bay. We have some wonderful affirmations which can be emailed to you daily or listen to a relaxation audio to help put you in a positive and relaxed state of mind.
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Read more... [What to Know About Pregnancy]
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Images of Victoria Beckham weeks after the birth of one of her children looking stick thin has done very little for us real mums' confidence in our post baby figures. Here we give you some tips for you to follow to get that flat tummy back! We recommend taking a relaxed approach and don't set yourself unrealistic targets.
You will still look pregnant after your baby has been born.
Your uterus has taken over 9 months to grow, don't expect it to disappear overnight. It takes time, be patient! With the help of changing hormones your tummy will gradually shrink back to your pre-pregnancy state. On average it takes your uterus approximately 4 weeks to return to its normal size. Fluid you have retained during pregnancy will gradually dissipate through urine, sweat and vaginal secretions. After you have given birth the nurse or midwife will feel your uterus to check the position and size. They may well massage it to help it contract.
Exercise - how much or how little?
Before you embark on an exercise routine check your body is really ready for it. Have a chat with your doctor at your post-natal check up which is usually around the 6 week mark. So many changes occur during your pregnancy if you leap back into strenuous exercise you can be in danger of injuring yourself. So forget about those stomach crunches, they may well do you more harm than good.
Ask your health practitioner to recommend a post partum exercise program that will concentrate on the exercising the muscles in the correct way. There are more and more exercise classes aimed at Mum's where they can bring little one along. Look out for Baby Yoga and Pilates, ideal exercises to improve your flexibility and core strength. Get your trainers on and use this time to get some fresh air and go for gentle walks. Get a group of Mums together and you can make these occasions a real social affair.
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Read more... [How to Get a Flat Tummy after Pregnancy]
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I am a mother. I have spent my life searching for recalcitrant football boots and making sure that teenagers with hollow legs have enough food.
Then hypnobirthing came into my life and everything changed. Last month everything changed again. Out of the blue I got an email from a mother in Kuwait asking if Hypnobirthing would work for someone giving birth in hospital. Of course Hypnobirthing can work well in any situation. In fact I had an email recently from a couple who had attended one of my Hypnobirthing classes who said; “We had a wonderful birth, because we made it so.” Her husband was wonderful as a birth companion, but the hospital was very busy and the environment was not ideal, but even so Hypnobirthing made a huge difference.
I then exchanged emails with the mother in Kuwait and it transpired that her mother was in London and the suggestion was that she should come to a Hypnobirthing Course, or even possibly a Hypnobirthing Teacher Training Course, and take the information back with her for her daughter. After a few more emails the plan moved on, as plans do, and it was agreed that I would go to Kuwait to teach a Hypnobirthing Course. Then the plan evolved again so that I found myself invited to teach not only a Hypnobirthing Course but a Hypnobirthing Teacher Training Course as well.
Now I have never travelled, because mothers with large families, in general, don’t. I have been on family holidays round Europe and I’m addicted to skiing. I did a quick flip to New Zealand 6 years ago for the wedding of one of my son’s and to meet the new baby son of another son, but that was only 10 days, a large proportion of which was spent in transit. Two years ago I flew to Philadelphia to teach a Hypnobirthing Class for Catherine-Marie Charlton whose wonderfully soothing music I use on my Hypnobirthing CDs and in my courses. But I had never been to the Middle East, so this was a wonderful opportunity which appeared to just drop into my lap, and within a fortnight I was on my way.
Kuwait Hospitality
Kuwait was a very interesting country and I was treated with great warmth and hospitality. It was strange to walk out into an airport where there were very, very few women, and particularly not women alone. Kuwait is a fine modern city. Many of the skyscrapers are sculptured shapes and dramatic floodlighting at night. A woman can walk down the street on her own, but I felt conspicuous doing this. Most women cover their heads; some don’t. Some women were wearing burkhas, but the majority were not.
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Read more... [Hypnobirthing in Kuwait]
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 Congratulations on your pregnancy. It is such an exciting time and full of new experiences.
You will find there are numerous lifestyle changes that will ensure you and your baby are happy and healthy during your pregnancy. Nutrition is central to this and the effects are widely known and understood. However less is known about the effects of water quality and amount consumed, so we have put together some top tips to help keep you hydrated and healthy during your pregnancy.
Drink Water to Alleviate Morning Sickness
In the initial stages of pregnancy a women loses lots of alkaline minerals to her baby. Waste material from the baby is acidic and this is discharged into the placenta. To balance this acidic discharge the Mother loses more alkaline minerals to the placenta.
This lose of alkaline minerals to the placenta can cause the Mother's blood to become acidic rather suddenly; one of the contributors to morning sickness. By drinking plenty of water a Mother will keep her alkaline reserves up.
Further support this balance in your body by eating an alkaline diet. As a general rule many of the fast foods and convenience foods are acid based so are best avoided. If you stick to unprocessed foods you will be on the right track.
Recommended alkaline foods include:
Fruit
Nuts
Fish
WATER
Vegetables
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Read more... [Water Facts For Your Pregnancy]
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From an article in the March edition of Top Sante:
Emma Roch decided that 40 is the right age to become a mum
'The day i discovered that I was pregnant, I felt overjoyed and relieved in equal measure. I had always wanted a husband and family, but in my 20s and 30s I was also working hard to establish my career. When Tony and I fell in love in 2005, I told him straight away that I'd like to have children. We married in 2009, and I was told by my doctor that my chances of falling pregnant naturally were slim, as fertility declines sharply from 35. We decided to optimise our chancees: changing our lifestyles and giving up drinking and smoking, eating healthily and keeping a united, positive approach - despite the tick-tock of my biological clock.
'It took 19 months for us to conceive, and I'm now 8 months' pregnant. I feel tired, and I'm sure I've put on more weight than I would have at 20, but I don't think feeling heavy or suffering from indigestion is unusual at any age. I worry about being 60 when my child finishes college, but there are lots of practical advantages to being older, as my career is more established and I can afford to take a sabbatical.
'However, it has shocked me how negative the medical profession is about older mothers. Doctors tend to look at statistics, not the individual in from of them. Of course there are risks, but at every scan I've been told that my baby and I are in great health. It's why I've chosen hypnobirthing, which teaches visualisation to help women achieve a drug free birth. I have no regrets I didn't get pregnant earlier. Tony will be a great dad, and I can't wait to be a mum.'
Katharine Graves offers hypnobirthing classes in London. For more, log onto www.thehypnobirthingcentre.co.uk. |
BIRTH IS NOT AN ILLNESS- Fortelesa Declaration
Recommendations from the World Health Organization 1985
These recommendations are taken from a report on Appropriate Technology for Birth published by the World Health Organization in April 1985 and are known as the 'Fortelesa Declaration'.
The recommendations are based on the principle that each woman has a fundamental right to receive proper prenatal care; that the woman has a central role in all aspects of this care, including participation in the planning, carrying out, and evaluation of the care; and that social, emotional and psychological factors are decisive in the understanding and implementation of proper prenatal care.
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Read more... [World Health Organisation Birth Recommendations]
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