Today’s Hypnobirthing Class at the Southbank

February 7, 2010 – 6:38 am
It's 6.40am and the car is all packed.  I'm off to teach a Hypnobirthing class on the Southbank.  I'm really looking forward to it, but Hypnobirthing is very special, but I have to admit that I'm not at my most enthusiastic when my alarm goes off at 5.30am.  I've just bought a new car, a small Fiat Panda, because my old car, also a Fiat Panda, was becoming unreliable and I have to have transport that I can trust completely to get me to a class on time. Sometimes I'm asked to doula at a birth.  It is a huge privilege to attend a birth - like being present at a miracle - but I can only doula on the basis that, if I'm teaching a Hypnobirthing class, I won't be able to be there. 2am is fine, but I can't leave half way through a class. It really does feel as ...

Hypnobirthing on a Building Site?

January 25, 2010 – 7:30 pm
The venue for the Teddington Hypnobirthing classes is right beside the Thames and really lovely, but on Saturday at about 8pm (the class was due to start the next morning) I received an email saying the builders hadn't finished the work they were doing so there would be no smell of paint but most of the building had been prepared for painting on Monday. When I got there - half an hour early to forestall any problems - it looked as if I was walking onto a building site and my heart sank; hardly the calm and peaceful environment I liked to create for my Hypnobirthing classes. After much moving of heavy furniture and equipment, I had the room we were going to use (not the one we normally use with the lovely view of the river) in tolerable shape and at the beginning of the class I said: 'We have a choice.  ...

Hypnobirthing Babies

January 20, 2010 – 6:15 pm
Well, they aren't really babies any more.   Today I have visited two babies whose parents I taught Hypnobirthing a couple of years ago.  One was a very delightful little 17 month old girl called Zoe.  She's just woken up from her nap, so she was a little suspicious of me, but I had a lovely chat and cup of tea with her mother. The other was my grandson who is now just over two.  An absolute ball of energy, and we had a great time jumping until suddenly the game changed to 'all fall down'.  Bags and bags of energy.

Making Contact

January 19, 2010 – 9:12 am
Back to normal now - England and no snow - but snow of a different sort; snowed in under a huge avalanche of papers and messages that built up while I was away. It is such a delight to hear from people and speak to expectant mothers, but it may take me a little while to answer you all, so please be patient.  I will - soon!

Skiing

January 15, 2010 – 4:25 pm
If you've called or emailed me this week and I haven't replied, I'm really sorry.   I've been skiing ni Austria and, just to make you green with envy, there's been stacks of snow and gorgeous sunshine. Everyone will be answered as soon as I get back early next week. And thank you so much for your calls.  I'll be much refreshed for the next Hypnobirthing course. Katharine

I’m Snowed In

January 7, 2010 – 6:34 pm
Which is fine, except that I want to go skiing on Saturday.  It's rather anomalous to be unable to go skiing because you're snowed in.  BUT the sun shone today, so I'm optimistic that I amy slither down the valley tomorrow, and a kind friend has offered to let me sleep at her house tomorrow night so that I'll be close to the main road ready for an early start on Saturday. When I taught my last Hypnobirthing class last weekend I felt rather bad about mentioning my holiday as skiing was off-limits for all the expectant mothers.  But I'll come back refreshed and ready to be even more supportive to the couples I teach.

Hypnobirthing This Weekend

January 4, 2010 – 10:35 pm
I taught a Hypnobirthing class near the Southbank to a delightful group this weekend.  There were lots of good questions and I was impressed by the mother who was expecting twins and had decided to have them at home attended by an independent midwife. One part of the course that I particularly enjoy is sharing lunch together on the second day.  It gives everyone a chance to get to know each other and maybe make friendships that will last after the babies are born which can be a great support in early motherhood.

Induction of Labour

January 1, 2010 – 11:56 am
If your baby hasn't arrived on the 'due date', an induction is generally proposed quite soon afterwards.  Let's look at this for a moment. For nine months your baby has grown undisturbed inside you.  There have been checks to make sure all is well but, in general, everyone has trusted this miraculous process.  Suddenly this date arrives on which such store has been placed and everything changes.  Now the presumption is that the baby no longer knows best and that nature may have got it wrong. My personal observation is that we meddle at our peril.  Which of course is not to say that there are no circumstances where intervention is necessary and even beneficial.  To claim that would be stupid and dangerous and, as a hypnobirthing teacher, I cannot give medical advice, but I receive a great many birth reports from mothers and I hear what they have to say. Yes, there ...

Bank Holiday Hypnobirthing

December 27, 2009 – 7:24 pm
Tomorrow may be a Bank Holiday, but I shall be teaching Hypnobirthing.  I was supposed to teach a class at my home on the evening of last Tuesday, 22nd, but I was completely snowed in and had been for four days.  More to the point, the couples I was supposed to be teaching were snowed out. The next evening of the course was supposed to be tomorrow, 28th December, but, just in case another foot of snow deposited itself in the area of my cottage, we decided to go for a daytime course instead and do it all day tomorrow, so at least they'll be able to see the country lanes as they drive here. In the event the snow has almost completely melted, so I'm looking forward to a wonderfully relaxing day. Teaching Hypnobirthing is a delightful thing to do, and I'm sure I get the benefit of the deep relaxation each ...

New Hypnobirthing Baby

December 27, 2009 – 7:18 pm
I visited one of 'my' Hypnobirthing babies today.  It always does feel like a new addition to my family when I hear of a new Hypnobirthing baby whose mother/parents have been to one of my Hypnobirthing classes.  This little one was born on 16th December and she was very pink and peaceful. She was born at home, and it was lovely to have the chance to hear from her mother about the birth, which was hugely different to the birth of her elder sister in hospital.  Her elder sister, by the way, was happily playing while the baby was born and completely unfazed by the whole experience.  She took it completely and naturally in her stride. Her mother did absolutely brilliantly and deserved a huge hug.