Save 10% on all merchandise!
With Child celebrates HypnoBirthing
Mon. Jan. 28
6-8 PM
705 Pape Ave,
just south of Danforth
TTC: Pape Station
Parking in lot on west side of Pape
Enjoy refreshments, introduce your babies, share stories and shop for the nearly and newly born.
Pick up cloth diapers and covers, Bravado bras, stroller and car seat covers, lambskins, breast pumps, breastfeeding pillows, glass bottles, baby slings and carriers and more.
Owner Tina will offer her expert advice.
Call her to find out if With Child has what you are looking for: 416-466-9693
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The birthing experience
is a paradigm for inner connection. If she listens, a woman's soul is telling her exactly what she needs to do to birth her baby - for there is absolutely nothing else she is supposed to be doing at this moment. By nature of her feminine gifts, she is blessed with the ears to hear her quiet, gentle voice.
Miriam Maslin
Doula and Polarity Therapist
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Next available 5 week series begins:
Mon. Jan. 21
Tues. Jan. 22
Thurs. Feb. 21
Learn more:
Having another baby?
Take your second HypnoBirthing class for half price! Attend as many classes as you like!
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2007 HypnoBirthing Stats
births: 66
unmedicated:39
home births: 17
intact perineums: 10
Please send in your
Birth Reports so that your birth is included in these stats!
And remember to announce your births to your classmates.
They are waiting to hear your news! |
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HYPNOSIS HELPS!
Private hypnosis sessions to
enhance fertility
cope with medical conditions,
connect with her baby,
turn a breech baby,
release fears, and
let go of disappointing birth memories.
To book an appointment
contact Jennifer at 416-462-1938 or jennifer@lifesjourney.ca
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Purchase a CD for yourself or a friend:
Birth with Calm and Confidence
Calm and Confidence for the New Mother
Destination Graduation
a great gift for your favourite university student.
These CDs are written
and recorded by Certified Hypnotist Jennifer Elliott
at Zoo Music
in Toronto
Available from
www.lifesjourney.ca
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Greetings!
 Letting Go
'Letting go' is a big part of the HypnoBirthing program. We let go of negative messages about birth and of fears about birthing. And as we let go we find our confidence builds and our peace of mind grows.
Here is my favourite story of 'letting go' in 2007.
'A' birthed in mid December. As she progressed through her labour she found herself with an urge to have a bowel movement. Even though she was standing up, with her surges intense and close together she couldn't find the time or the energy to get to the toilet.
Her midwife spread a towel on the floor beneath where she stood and encouraged her to squat and poo on the towel. She describes how she resisted this seeming indignity while her midwife assured her that it was a normal human behaviour. She was caught between holding back and letting go, between resisting or releasing. Finally she talked herself into accepting the urge and going with it. As she did she realized, and then declared, that it was the baby creating this pressure, not a bowel movement.
Her husband and midwife helped her onto the bed (because she was induced after a long period of released membranes she had a doctor attending the birth who was not familiar with receiving babies with women on a birthing stool). In just 3 surges her baby was born. Her body opened and unfolded and the natural expulsion reflex took over, as soon as she let go of resistance.
Hers is a wonderful example of what happens when we release and let go of resistance, when we get our minds out of the way and just allow our bodies to work.
Letting go is not only a physical act but also a mental and emotional one. When we are ready we can let go of painful memories and disappointments that we are carrying. We can release fears and let go of grudges and negative beliefs.
It usually helps to put our intentions in words. "A" might have said to herself, "I let go of my inhibitions and put my trust in my body." You might have something different to let go of. You might even choose not to focus on what you are letting go of and instead state only your positive intention. As my children grow older and more independent I find myself letting go of worries by repeating, "I trust my children and I trust the universe to take care of them." It's so much better than worrying about them when they are out on their own.
Letting go isn't easy. One of the most difficult things to let go of in birth is finding that your baby has a different plan from yours. I share your disappointments when your birth does not go as you have planned and prepared it to. My wish for those of you who have experienced difficult births is to appreciate everything you did to remain calm and to create as peaceful a birth as possible. I like this affirmation but you can create your own: "I created the most peaceful birth possible as I followed my baby's lead."
May you find admiration in your determination and your wise decisions and may you let go of focussing on any disappointing events. We cannot always control events, but we can work to control our response to them. I wish you peace with your birth memories.
As we come into 2008 it is a great time to reflect on what we are ready to let go of in order to bring greater peace into our lives. May 2008 be a year you let go of unhelpful beliefs, behaviours and emotions.
Wishing you a year of peace and joy. Jennifer HypnoBirthing Childbirth Educator
P.S. I look forward to seeing you at With Child, 705 Pape Ave, on Mon Jan. 28, 6-8 PM! See left column for more information.
Past issues of Toronto HypnoBirthing News containing more birth stories, research and resources will be available on my website this month: www.lifesjourney.ca
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Alexandra and Angelo share the power of faith in birth. Note that they, and the couple in the next story, all refer to their birth as magical.
The Birth of EvangelinaWe are happy to announce the birth of our baby girl Evangelina Gabriella. I am so happy to share our birth story with other families. It's important to let women know that it's possible to have a natural childbirth with the help of hypnobirthing and a supportive spouse. My whole birthing process took 33 hours. I was lucky to have my husband, Angelo and my 2 midwives, Fang Yu and Laurie Hintzen. They all made me feel safe and secure. They never offered pain medication or to speed the process along. They encouraged me during each surge and praised me for my strength and dedication to have a natural birth. I was at home for 24 hours and then went to the hospital for the remainder of my birth. I also have to mention, the midwives honoured my birth plan and reviewed it while in my home and when we arrived at the hospital.
I religiously practiced my breathing each morning and night along with the affirmations and yoga. This allowed me to work through each phase. I always wondered why people trained for marathons but women never prepared themselves for birth. I have to admit there were times when I wanted to give in and then I thought of my unborn child and all the women before me who went natural. I obviously then continued with my breathing and focused on what was happening in the here and now. I ended up pushing during second stage and also breathing. My husband and I started to lose focus at this point because we were unsure how to apply this breathing. The midwife was not trained in hypnobirthing so we allowed her to assist in this phase. For our next birth we will have a hypnobirthing practitioner join us.
I was fortunate to have caring midwives that helped keep my perineum intact as much as possible. I actually would not have torn if my daughter did not arrive with her hands by her head. Since I had a 1st degree tear (very tiny), no stitches were required and the tissue healed on its own. I believe with their skills, perineum massage and kegel exercises I was able to birth my child with more ease.
I believe my journey with hypnobirthing and Yoga allowed me to have the most magical birthing experience that will always remain a sweet memory. I will always remember the physical, emotional and spiritual transformation I experienced as a new mom. I am grateful to all the wonderful and supportive people I surrounded myself with from the beginning. I thank my husband especially for his strength, sensitivity and open-mindedness to join me on this journey by exploring hypnobirthing as an alternative. And to all the women who told me I would give in to an epidural...
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Another moving, magical birth created by the preparation and determination of Stacey and Sean.
The Birth of Cole
At 3:30pm, November 28, 2007, Cole Joseph entered our world with the grace of an angel.
On Wednesday night, Stacey commented that she was feeling a bit "crampy" with a few mild practice labour urges, similar to what she'd been feeling for the last few months. They were mild and she ended up going to bed and having one of the best sleeps she's had in a long time. At 6:30am she got up to do her morning yoga stretches and halfway through felt as if she was about to wet herself. Turns out that her waters had released (and they continued to release over the next couple of hours as we hung around the house - hanging pictures in the baby's room and getting excited that we were going to have a baby soon)!
From 7:30am to 10:30am the surges that Stacey felt were pretty irregular and mild, but she used the time to practice her relaxation and have a shower. The surges started to become a bit more frequent (2-3 minutes apart) and intense around 10:30am when Stacey announced that it might be time to go to the hospital - things were moving faster than we expected.
By the time we got to the hospital, her waters were releasing with more gusto, causing her to have a few embarrassing moments at the admission desk. When we finally made it to the triage unit at around 11am, the nurse checked her and found her to be 5 cm dilated and told us we'd have to wait until they could find us a delivery room.
An hour and a half later, we were still in triage and Stacey was finding it somewhat difficult to focus on her relaxation, knowing that this was not the room that she would birth in. Nevertheless, she was making great use of her slow breathing and the three of us were working together beautifully in spite of less than ideal circumstances.
By 12:30pm Stacey's surges were turning into urges, and sure enough, when the resident checked her again, she found her to be fully open. THEN they gave us a room!! Stacey declined the wheelchair and walked to our birthing room - smiling on the way at who would turn out to be our nurse for the delivery. (Later the nurse confessed to us that she couldn't believe this was HER fully dilated "patient", smiling and walking herself to her room. She then proceeded to ask us more hypnobirthing. HA)
The doctor who would be performing the delivery came in and told us that the baby's head should be a little lower before we should begin any big pushes. So, Stacey assumed a few different positions, but found that being on her side worked best for moving the baby along. Maybe 30 minutes later, the baby's head was low enough.
While the lights remained dimmed, the team of medical staff watched in awe as Stacey commenced with her breathing down with each surge. The chief resident told her it would be more effective if she held her breath while she pushed. This is when I spoke up and mentioned that our preferred technique was to breathe down and exhale with each push. After a short while though, Stacey did decide to try holding her breath while pushing through the first part of the surges - she said that it just felt like what her body was telling her to do. I was so proud that it became her decision to do so when she felt it necessary. I think that reaching down and feeling where the baby's head also helped reassure her that the baby was actually as far along as everyone was saying. Nearing the end, I could see the head appearing and then receding slightly. After a couple of rounds of this, the doctor suggested an episiotomy. He strongly advised it since he felt she would tear in a way that would not be good. So, Stacey and I discussed it after the next surge and decided to proceed with his suggestion. I think we were happy that we did. Cole arrived at a whopping 9 lbs 2oz, even if he was two and a half weeks ahead of the guess date.
The overall experience was extremely positive. We gained our affirmation from comments like "wow, you were in such control" or "I've seen many births over the years and I've never seen anyone as relaxed as you." Apparently the whole ward was talking about us!
Stacey wanted to make sure that I mentioned a few things - specifically, that this birth was not "easy", but "easier." She didn't feel "pain," but more like intensity and pressure. And the breathing really works - especially the slow breathing for opening up the cervix.
We really feel that we owe this magical, natural and gentle birth to the Hypnobirthing philosophy in general and to Jennifer's wonderful instruction in particular. We wish all of you the same amazing experience.
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