CHILDBIRTH EDUCATION
class options
Meditative Birth® OR HypnoBirthing®
Meditative Birth® Weekend Classes
Meditative Birth® classes are offered in a Weekend Format, Saturday and Sunday (10am to 4pm), catering to your unique needs and schedule. Individual, one-on-one sessions are also available.
Meditative Birth® is a unique approach to gentle birth, combining meditation techniques, fear release & affirmations, breathing and visualization. Through preparation and knowledge, you WILL achieve your gentle birth.
HypnoBirthing® Weekly Classes
HypnoBirthing® classes are offered in Weekly Format, 2 hours each week for 5 weeks, providing you with much needed preparation and support.
The HypnoBirthing® Program is a comprehensive program, developed by the HypnoBirthing® Institute, which provides parents with the tools they need to achieve a gentle birth.
meditative birth
how does it work?
How Does Meditative Birth® Work?
" Meditative Birth® brings calm and peace to your pregnancy and birth "
What is Meditation? Simply put, Meditation is an exercise of the mind. It can include simple introspection, prayer, mantras, self-reflection, and much more! Many religions promote Meditation as a way to learn more about the Self and achieve spiritual growth.
Meditative Birth® utilizes a variety of Meditative techniques to bring the body and mind into a calm state, which in turn allows for the birthing body to birth in an easy, non-restricted way.
Using the Meditative Birth® techniques, you will feel strong and confident, clear of your purpose and intention to have a gentle birth. More than just a Childbirth Education class, Mediative Birth® is a transformative experience, which will positively affect your everyday life.
what will I learn?
What Will I Learn in Class?
Meditative Birth® is a full child birth education class and as such, we cover all topics necessary to help you through your pregnancy, labour and postpartum times.
Some topics that we will be covering include:
- What Happened to Birth?
- Your Changing Body
- Meditation Practices
- Preparing your Body & Mind for Birth
- Fear Release & Birthing Affirmations
- Pre-birth Parenting
- Selecting your Caregivers & Birthing Environment
- Your Body: Perfectly Designed for Birth
- Techniques for Achieving Your Gentle & Relaxed Birth
- Breastfeeding
- Postpartum Needs & Care
- Community Resources & Support
my meditative birth®
What to Expect from My Meditative Birth®
Labour is a very intense experience and is a lot of work. But, why suffer through labour when it can be an empowering and life-changing experience?
The biggest question is: 'Am I going to feel any pain?' There is a big difference between pain and suffering. Pain is a simple feeling. A mosquito bite may be painful. But, suffering is the unbearable resistance to pain. With Meditative Birth®, you can eliminate suffering and get back to the celebration of life that you are a part of!
A woman that utilizes Meditative Birth® during labor and birth is fully cognizant, experiencing each contraction as a surge or 'tightening' of the abdomen. She is rested and energetic, working with her body in the celebration of birth. Fear, tension and pain are absent as the body flows with the natural rhythm of birth.
hypnobirthing
how does it work?
How Does Hypnobirthing® Work?
" Practicing Hypnobirthing® will improve your body's ability to have its perfect birth "
Your body, without any fear, will give birth without excessive pain. Fear present during birth causes tension in the body, which deprives the uterine muscles of oxygen and causes a tightening of the muscles that close the cervix. Dr. Grantly Dick-Read, an obstetrician in the 20th Century, coined this process as the 'fear-tension-pain' syndrome typical of modern childbirth. This 'fear-tension-pain' process is unnessary and is not your bodies natural way to give birth.
HypnoBirthing® teaches women techniques to deal with their fears and stop the 'fear-tension-pain' cycle by training the body to release tension. Unnecessary pain is avoided and birth is experienced in a relaxed and natural way.
What to Expect from My Hypnobirth
Labour is a very intense experience and is a lot of work. But, why suffer through labour when it can be an empowering and life-changing experience?
The biggest question is: 'Am I going to feel any pain?' There is a big difference between pain and suffering. Pain is a simple feeling. A mosquito bite may be painful. But, suffering is the unbearable resistance to pain. With HypnoBirthing®, you can eliminate suffering and get back to the celebration of life that you are a part of!
A woman that utilizes HypnoBirthing® during labor and birth is fully cognizant, experiencing each contraction as a surge or 'tightening' of the abdomen. She is rested and energetic, working with her body in the celebration of birth. Fear, tension and pain are absent as the body flows with the natural rhythm of birth.
what will I learn?
What Will I Learn in Class?
Hypnobirthing® is a full child birth education class and as such, we cover all topics necessary to help you through your pregnancy, labour and postpartum times.
Some topics that we will be covering include:
- What Happened to Birth?
- Your Changing Body
- Preparing your Body & Mind for Birth
- Fear Release & Birthing Affirmations
- Pre-birth Parenting
- Selecting your Caregivers & Birthing Environment
- Your Body: Perfectly Designed for Birth
- Techniques for Achieving Your Gentle & Relaxed Birth
- Breastfeeding
- Postpartum Needs & Care
- Community Resources & Support
birth stories
Testimonials
"HypnoBirthing changes lives. I went from being a women to being a mother." (C.R.)
Welcome Baby Maya
"It's been a while but I wanted to pass on my thanks to you, Caroline, for your support and guidance in teaching us about Hypnobirthing. We truly had a wonderful birth experience."
At first I was concerned because they needed to induce me early. I thought that induction meant that things would quickly get away on me in terms of pain and I'd need a cascade of interventions despite all of our mental and physical preparation. They started to induce me on [Wednesday] in the early morning using Cervidil. I had to lay flat for a couple of hours and then got to go home and do typical stuff. Nothing much happened for the day and we went back to the hospital for a non-stress test in the evening to see if baby was okay. All was fine so we were told to come back the next morning.
Same routine the next day. Once again nothing was happening until my water broke while I was resting at around 5pm. Surges came soon after and I was well on my way to relaxing with the audios but the hospital told us we should come on in to be checked. When we got there, we were far enough along to be admitted and so began our birthing journey.
I am a true believer in hypnobirthing and the nurses were amazed that I was even experiencing contractions. All it felt like for the first half of labour was the heavy, tightening feeling that they spoke of in the book/videos. Basically from about 6:30pm until 1:30am it was quiet and peaceful as I progressed while I listened to the meditation cds.
I was 6 cm at 9pm and the nurse thought everything was moving along perfectly, 1 cm per hour. When my doc checked at 1am he said I was still stalled at 6cm and that baby was not moving down because it was face up. They couldn't believe I wasn't having really bad back labour pain. Maybe I was, I was just so relaxed! We were told to try some different positions to get gravity to help turn the baby. Kneeling, leaning forward and all fours were all challenging for me to get relaxed enough to ride out the surges.
This is when I realized for the first time what a "contraction" really feels like for most people. Ouch!! I don't think they were any more intense than before that but I got to experience the fear-tension-pain cycle and I can see where women reach for an epidural in a hurry. Just when I thought I'd take a little wee something to take the edge off, our nurse suggested a shower.
[My Partner was wonderful.] He was able to get me back into the zone of relaxation even though I was feeling tense and quite afraid at that point- what a difference it makes to just release fear and tension and return to a place of trust in my body. Within a short while ( okay a few hours but it didn't seem like it, really) I was feeling the need to push (now I know what they mean about overwhelming urge to push). I was fully open and ready to go. I admit that at that point I just gave 'er and pushed rather than breathing the baby down. It had been 12 hours through the night and I was ready to meet this little one sooner rather than later. Between contractions, however, I did use the J breathing to keep the baby down in place. And then [with a final push] out she came!
Since that day she is living proof of the notion that hypnobabies are often calm and relaxed. She is just so laid back and cuddly and she took to nursing just fine. We came home the next morning and my recovery has been pretty much 100% which I also attribute to having a gentle birth."
Welcome Baby Mara
"[Our] birth experience was a 'textbook' hypnobirthing. I felt very very prepared as I had been practicing for months, but to be honest I figured that if I could manage at least half of the experience hypnobirthing promised, I'd be happy. Little did I know that the birth would go above and beyond my expectations. And for a first time mom, I KNOW I had a wonderful labor. [Mara] was born after a 15 hr labor, and even though I did experience 'discomfort', it was the HB techniques that made it completely comfortable and natural.
First, Hypnobirthing WORKS.
I woke up to a small gush of water. Got up and more came. Realized this is it. Mild 'menstrual-type' cramps started about 20 mins later.
Surges jumped around at first with anything from 20 mins apart to 4 mins apart so it was frustrating. Called my brother in BC to notify my mom, when I told them I was in labor they asked why I sounded so calm! Called my doula at 8:30 am because the surges were regular 4 mins apart and about a min long. She didn't think I was really progressing because I was talking just fine and she couldn't tell by my voice when each surge came, but she came over anyways. I threw up once before she arrived, which made me think I might be pretty far along already.
Poor hubby was getting stuff together, out to the car and trying to finish up the bathroom project! Meanwhile I just sat in my glider chair with soft music playing and concentrated on being totally relaxed and taking big belly breaths when each surge came along, to help give the uterus more room to work. I found that I was not able to move around/walk much because the surges would be more intense and not 'comfortable' (if that makes sense). Plus, I just felt way more in control seated.
At about 12:30 pm I started to feel really weird, very 'buzzed' like someone had given me demerol. Slightly nauseous, And restless and nervous... like I felt that we needed to go to the hospital very very soon. My doula suspected I was in transition, so we headed down there. Surges were about 90 secs long and 3-4 mins apart. By the time we were checked in, it was 1:30 pm. There was another lady that was admitted at the same time as me, and she was actively pushing, whereas the nursing staff did not think I was even in labor, so no one even came in to check my blood pressure/dilation or anything until about 2:15 pm.
I continued to do my breaths with each surge and honestly, that was the only way my doula knew if I was having a surge or not, because I had told her that was the sign to look for.
Finally at 2:15 pm a nurse hooked up my initial strip to monitor, and then at 2:30 she finally did a vag check.... at this point I was 6 cm, 75% effaced and +1 station. Not bad for 10 hrs since my water broke, and no one thinking I was in labor. My doula put a chair in the shower for me and I went and sat in it while they ran hot water down my belly... felt awesome. I spent 2 hrs sitting there. I found that I could NOT move or change positions because that made it impossible to concentrate and do my abdominal breaths properly... and if I wasn't able to do that, I would lose focus, feel out of control and then that particular surge would feel painful... so I opted to just 'go with what was working for me' and stay in one position.
At 4:30 pm I moved back to the bed, and I KNEW I was much further along because I was starting to feel pressure, sorta like an impending bowel movement. I told my doula that yes, I wanted someone to check me... but she couldn't get anyone to come in because they still thought I had hours and hours to go. [My OB was in the OR and he was in no hurry to come up.]
During a few surges I actually reached in myself and felt the top of a head. My doula told the staff this and finally at 5 pm the nurse rechecked... I was 100% effaced, fully dilated and at +3 station. The nurse commented to me that I would have to get ready for some 'good pushing' and my doula mentioned that no, I didn't want to be coached to push... It was funny because the nurse was thinking, well, how the hell will the baby come out, then? Especially because it still looked to them like I was just sitting there sleeping.
With the hypnobirthing, to bring the baby down you change your breathing pattern to sorta 'focus each downward breath' out your hoohaw. So I started to do this, but here's where something I didn't expect started to happen... I was surprised that my body started to bear down a bit with each surge whether I wanted to or not. I couldn't just 'breath it down'... body wanted to do something else, too. That was ok, though because I found that the 'pushing' actually felt much better than each surge did.
The nurse kept stopping in and asking my doula if I was starting to feel the urge to 'push' yet, and I told her I'd been 'pushing' already for some time. That floored her, and she didn't believe us. The doula told her that with each surge, she was able to see a head crowning. So for the next surge the nurse stuck around and observed that yes, indeedy.... there was a head peeking in and out with each surge.
Sooo...... she went and got the OB. This was 7 pm. He came in and stood and watched, and when he observed that I was totally relaxed during each surge... but there was a head crowning.... he said out loud "she has another 2 hours yet." When I heard that I thought in my head "LIKE HELL I DO" and when he left the nurse checked the baby with the doppler and I told her there's no way I have 2 more hours... she looked at me and agreed. I told her we'd have a baby within 30 mins. I was still in a seated, semi-reclined frog position and they had put the squat bar up for me, but I had tried it while earlier in labor and I couldn't do it because leaning forward was too uncomfortable. But now that the dr had said 'two hours' and I knew that head just needed another two good surges...
I remember thinking that if I could just squat, hopefully the gravity would help me out. So I leaned onto the bar, squatted, rode out another surge and could feel I was SO close! This time the dr watched and no one left the room - on the 2nd surge my body was giving it all that I could muster... and as the surge faded I thought NO! I don't want to wait for another surge!!!! So I kept bearing down past the urge, and OMG it felt sooooooooo good when I got that head out!!!
They were telling me I needed to lean back cause I was sorta sitting on her head, so I did, and then they wanted me to push again to get the shoulders out, so I did... and that was an even BETTER feeling! BABY OUT!!!!
Some things of note, though...
1) It was WAY more intense than I could ever have imagined. Even though the hypnobirthing definately 'worked' and was so worth it in my mind.... the sheer intensity of everything had been beyond my scope of imagination.
2) I looked asleep and totally relaxed to everyone.. and my body was completely relaxed between surges... but I told hubby afterwards that I was sooooooooo close many times to requesting something because I kept thinking "wow - this is so much more than I had thought!" What saved me was something my doula had said to me when I was about 6 cm... she said that the intensity of the surges I was feeling had reached their peak - and so now they would increase in frequency alone. She said that from then on it would be a test of my endurance - hearing that made me realize that 'ok... endurance... I can do that. I can handle this. Bring it on.'
3) The hospital staff was AMAZING. They accomodated me in every single request that I had made. No one said anything at the time, but later that night and the next day all the nurses that had attended me had come to express their amazement and to thank me for letting them have the experience of watching that birth. They all wanted to know more about the hypnobirthing and each commented that they would definately remember this birth, and that if anyone ever mentioned to them again they wanted to do 'hypnobirthing' they'd be eager to attend that birth! They even said that although the OB would never say anything, they all noticed that he, too, had been impressed because they've never seen him just stand there and watch a birth without reaching in and doing something. He just 'observed' and waited.
4) When she was delivered and sitting on my chest, I was bleeding pretty heavily so the dr wanted me to have an IV for fluids and some Pitocin. I agreed to it, because frankly, at that point - I had given Mara a completely unmedicated birth, and that had been my biggest 'battle'. After that I was pretty agreeable! They had no problems putting in an IV, and I don't think the pitocin did anything anyways cause the placenta was delivered before they finished getting the IV in and I never felt any contractions after that.
One other note: Mara is a *very* difficult baby... so I don't think I necessarily believe that HB creates a calm baby, as I could not have had a more relaxed pregnancy and natural labor.... but no matter - we love her anyways!!!"
Welcome Baby Avery
"I know that people love to hear about positive birth experiences. It helps us feel stronger in what we are practicing and in what we are about to do (for all those mums about to birth). So, here is my experience.
I had been experiencing surges for a long time, but they were very mild and I was grateful that my body was preparing far in advance so that I would have less work to do when it was time to birth. Around the beginning of February (after successfully attending the Ayurveda course that I had been waiting for), I felt like things were about to begin. But, then we had other important things arise and I believe that my body decided to wait a little longer so that we could easily deal. As my midwife kept saying "Your body and baby have impecable timing".
By February 13, I was getting very uncomfortable. I was having 'pelvic-girdle pain', which is basically extreme stretching of the muscles and ligaments in the pelvic girdle. I was unable to roll over in bed and walking was getting very difficult, but I found that Yoga did wonders for my body, so I kept that up. I made an appointment with the midwife on the 13th to discuss any ideas for helping with the discomfort I was experiencing. She gave me some great suggestions like keeping my legs tightly together when I roll over etc. Then, she checked my cervix. To both of our surprise, I was 3-5cm open. She smiled and said that we will be seeing each other soon! I was so happy because she was the midwife that I wanted to birth with, and she is only on for a couple of days a week.
I went to Walmart to walk around and buy a Valentine's present for my husband. I was hoping that walking around would get things started and I wouldn't have to drive the 20 minutes back home from the hospital. But, I successfully made it through my shopping trip and the drive home. I rested for the remainder of the day, knowing that we would be seeing our baby soon. I asked my mom to come stay with us (to help with our 3-year old) that night just in case baby was coming.
I had a really good night's sleep. I think that my mind and body were preparing and I am so glad that I got the time to rest. In the morning I was still experiencing surges but they were very irregular. Sometimes 5 minutes, sometimes 3, and then other times 8 minutes. Oh well, I just gave up on trying to count and focused on relaxing my body. I told my mom that she should go to work and that we would call her if we needed her. She decided to stay and I am very glad she did!
I had a rest in the morning and then decided to have a relaxing bath. That was at 11:30am. A few minutes later I thought, you know, these are getting stronger but I am comparing them to what it was like with [my first]. That's when I decided that we should probably go into Stony Plain to the hospital. It was definitely a different experience than with [my first birth] because I could feel my cervix opening with each surge, but I felt very little discomfort and it was difficult for me to know how quickly I was progressing. What I found really helpful was quiet meditation, picturing my cervix opening with each surge. The visualization was my key.
When we arrived at the hospital, the nurse looked at me and basically said that she would check me but she wasn't sure if I would be staying. I agreed to be hooked up to the monitors as long as I could sit upright (baby was still posterior and causing some lower back discomfort). Again, my surges appeared strong but they were very erratic in their timing. After seeing this, the nurse still wasn't convinced that I should be staying. I knew that I wasn't going home so I suggested she check my cervix.
She spent a lot of time trying to determine how open I was and then when she was finished, she wouldn't tell us. We asked and she said, "I just have to go check something first." We were pretty confused. Is there some magic 8 ball sitting outside our room telling her how open I am?
We heard her talking in the hall so [my husband] went to the door to listen in on the conversation. She was talking with our Midwife over the phone saying, "She's over 7 cm open but she doesn't even look like she's in labour. What am I supposed to do?" The midwife told her that I do HypnoBirthing and to just relax, this will be a quick and easy birth. Finally, convinced that things were happening the way that they were supposed to, our nurse came in and told me how open I was and then started asking me questions about HypnoBirthing. She was thrilled that women could birth like this. I was completely able to talk and joke around in between surges, but during surges I went inside and chose to take the time to visualize baby coming and relax those circular muscles, which takes concentration!
An hour later, my surges were much closer together. I finally called my mom to bring [our son] to the hospital and the midwife was also called because this was moving a lot faster than we all thought it would. I still wasn't convinced that I would be birthing anytime soon. So, when I started feeling the urge to push, I was a little confused. I was in the water and my membranes still hadn't released. The midwife asked if I wanted to reach in and release my membranes. But, I told her that [my son] wasn't here yet, and I was waiting for him.
When [my son] finally arrived, I was ready. The surges were strong and very productive. I still wasn't suffering through them, but I did find them very intense. [My son] was a little scared of the hospital environment at first, but he warmed up to the midwife and we gave him some licorice (my valentine's present for Hubby). I was starting to vocalize during surges, but I used the 'Om' breathing which [our son] is very used to because that's what we get him to do when he's having a bowel movement. He joined right in.
My membranes still hadn't released and I was feeling very 'pushy'. The midwife checked me and said that my membranes were really thick. I hadn't planned on letting her release my membranes for me, but that's just what I did. And what a relief. However, I had only a couple minutes of release and then, it was time for baby to come. I did not remember the overwhelming feeling of wanting to push. I kept thinking, I am supposed to be birth breathing, letting baby come by herself. But, my body was not listening. 5 minutes later, baby's head was on my perineum. It took everything I had to slow down while she was coming out over the perineum. But, I had done my perineal massage, and my tissues stretched perfectly. No tears! And then, baby was here. What a relief. I can't even explain that feeling of relief after baby is out. But, all you mom's already know!
As soon as baby was born, [my son] was brought back into the room. I had kicked him out during transition when he was being particularly loud. He jumped in the tub with [my husband] and me and it was the most amazing bonding experience!
Our Valentine's baby came to us at 3:38pm; just a few short hours after my 'labour' began. I don't really know when to think that labour began, but does it matter? Avery joined us on Valentine's Day, and it was perfect."
schedule & register
Meditative Birth® Weekend Class
10am to 4pm | Saturday and Sunday
Register Online - CLICK HEREOur currently scheduled weekend dates are:
January 28 & 29, 2012 (Edmonton)
Weekend Course Cost: $400 $295 +gst
HypnoBirthing® Weekly Class
6:30pm to 8:30pm | 5 Consecutive Tuesdays
Register Online - CLICK HEREOur current scheduled weekly dates are:
June 21 to July 19, 2011 for 5 Tuesdays (7:15-9:00pm)
Weekly Course Cost: $400 $295 +gst
Individual Sessions
If you can't make a weekend/weekly course or would be more comfortable with an individual session, you are welcome to call into our Centre to book this one-on-one instruction, which will be ~6 hours in length on a mutually available date.
Individual Sessions Course Cost: $400 +gst
It is our belief that this course should be accesible to ALL families, as the knowledge is invaluable for a gentle birth and beyond. We have lowered our prices because we know that HypnoBirthing® and Meditative Birth® are amazing tools in achieving your gentle birth. -->