I'm a Hypnotherapist, NLP Practitioner, Childbirth Educator, Trauma Cognisant Therapist and Life Coach ~ in no particular order!

Both my children were planned, I loved being pregnant and found it very exciting!  I kept fit, active and healthy and had no problems.

The birth of my first child was an unexpectedly painful and frightening 2-day ordeal - a lonely agony of fear and failure, part of a hospital 'conveyor belt' system, complete with chemical induction, pain-relieving drugs (what relief?), 'purple pushing' and forceps. I couldn't understand why it was so horrible, assumed I was rubbish and struggled to enjoy being a mum.  I think I bonded with my son when he was about 12!

Four years later, dreading my next birth (or trying not to think about it), a Yoga book introduced me to the techniques of controlled breathing, relaxation and visualisation.  I'd never practised yoga before, but I took on board the simple belief that I could control labour pain.  Naive maybe, but it worked!

Five hours of cheerful, comfortable labour with no pain relief (except gas & air in the final 20 minutes) convinced me of the value of a more natural approach. 

I now know that what I’d used during my second birth was self-hypnosis and some years later, as a practising hypnotherapist I found HypnoBirthing®.  Part of that training involved Birthing Basics - taught by a midwife - and I finally understood why my birthing experiences were as they were.  It really helps knowing.  I now know the 'failure' wasn't mine and it isn't inevitable for women to experience birth as a painful ordeal. 

In addition to my HypnoBirthing skills, I trained in Fertility through Hypnosis with Sjanie Hugo - using techniques employed at the Zeta West Clinic in London.  

Please contact me if you think I can help you in any way - even if you just want to chat about possibilites.