Beautiful Hypnobabies Home Water Birth

This is a beautiful water birth of Sarah.  Her mom used Hypnobabies and had a beautiful easy birth. 

Enjoy reading!

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Italian Hypnobabies Birth

Oliver was born on the 2nd of Jan using Hypnobabies and no medication in a hospital setting!

It was an extremely wonderful and empowering experience and very fast. I started having pressure waves at 5:30am and he was born at 6:30pm with my husband and a midwife that I had never met before in an Italian hospital!!!

The whole morning I knew that I was having some discomfort but I never thought that we were going to have the baby that same day! We kept track and I just said that I wanted to stay at home as long as I could so when they were about 2-3 minutes apart we decided to head to the hospital.

We arrived at the hospital at 3:30pm and like many hypno moms the nurses had to ask why we were there because I was so calm. Whenever the pressure wave would begin I would just turn towards my husband and lean into him until it passed. The nurses hooked us up to a external heart monitor and left us. Finally they came in and checked me and were amazed that I was at 6cm. They had me go into a room with another couple of people (in Italy there are 4 beds in a room!) and I was not sure if I was going to have to continue going through pressure waves with other people.

Finally around 4:30 a midwife came in and escorted us to the delivery room. She complimented me on how calm I was and within minutes of her saying that, the pressure waves became closer and more intense. She encouraged me to use any position that felt comfortable so I went from standing/leaning into my husband/ squatting/kneeling on all 4’s, and they even had this cool toilet seat type thing that I ended up using during the pushing phase.

I really surprised myself because I am generally a very quiet person and I ended up being very verbal using my voice to help push the baby out. After an hour of pushing, Oliver was born while I sat on the “toilet seat” and my husband supported me from behind!!! I have to say that I have no idea how anyone has had a baby while lying on their back!!!

I was able to use the strategies from Hypnobabies during the beginning but never actually listened to the cd’s during the birthing time because it just went so fast and I had to use all my concentration to work with the pressure waves. Next time I will definitely have a hypno doula there to assist but I have to say that it was a very positive first birthing experience and I would definitely recommend Hypnobabies to EVERYONE!!!

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Congrats to Chrissy

She won the give away!  Sorry it took me so long.   I had the names printed out and cut up and in a box ready for one of my boys to pick a winner.  I had 2 back to back births  I was a doula for.  That always messes up my plans.  But they were both fun, wonderful Hypnobabies births. 

So I finally had MY hypnobaby pick out a name last night. 

Chrissy, I have e-mailed you.  I just need your snail mail address and I will get your gifts out to you!

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Been at 2 births

Hence, I haven’t had a chance to pick the winner.  I have the names printed out, but need to cut them up and have one of my boys pick the winner!  I hope to do this on Sunday and post the winner on Monday!

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Hypnobabies Instructor Training for Birth Professionals

Remaining 2009 Hypnobabies Instructor Trainings:

May 15 – 18, Richmond, VA

July 17 – 20, Cypress, CA (Near Disneyland!)

REMINDER: for 2009 – we are offering a 20% discount off of our Hypnobabies Instructor Training for all DONA members!

Our Hypnobabies Instructor Training is a 4 day course, and each trainee will have a background in both childbirth and hypnosis, and a love of working with expectant families. The cost for our training course is $595.00 per person, which includes all course materials. Course fees can be paid by PayPal, Credit Card, Personal Check or a *Monthly Payment Plan. There is a Required Reading list, (books not included with course fee) which will be sent to you after you apply to our program. Each Prospective trainee will have an interview with our Program Coordinator to see if Hypnobabies is a good fit for you before sending an application.

*Monthly Payment Plan: $100.00 per month until paid off

FAQs:
Q) Does everyone need to have a telephone interview with Kerry Tuschhoff before being accepted into the Hypnobabies Instructor Training program?

A) Yes. Kerry is our Founder and Director and feels very strongly about training only people whose hearts are dedicated to making a positive impact on their community when it comes to childbirth and parenting issues! As Kerry says, Hypnobabies is not “adding a little hypno-birthing” to your current practice, childbirth class or doula meetings. Hypnobabies goes light-years beyond that and we need professionals with excellent training and personal commitment.

Q) What are the Required Reading books for this training program?

A) The Required Reading list for Hypnobabies Instructor Training: (Used versions of these books are commonly found for less on Amazon.com, or check your local library)

1) Active Birth,
by Janet Balaskas
2) The Thinking Woman’s Guide to a Better Birth
by Henci Goer

3) Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth
by Ina May Gaskin

4) Back Labor No More
By Janie McCoy King
Order here from Rick King: http://www.backlabornomore.com/contact.htm
Or call 1-800-841-1070
(you must have your own copy of this book for the training)

5) Obstetrics Illustrated (included to learn more about the medical model of childbirth.)
By Kevin Hanretty, Ian Ramsden
(Can be borrowed from Hypnobabies)

 MORE Frequently Asked Questions here 

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Hypnobabies Birth in France

Malcolm

December 30th, 2008

We live in France and so this story speaks of midwives rather than OB’s because it is they who are in contact with pregnant women in this country… in the case where all goes well the midwife handles births and pregnancies from A to Z and for any complications the doc jumps in.

So, at 34 weeks the midwife at the local hospital alerted me to take bed rest at least 4 hours every day because the baby was “low”.  I did.

At 38 weeks a “monitoring” done showed a very high heart rate for the baby and they nearly kept me over night at the hospital to observe…I finally convinced them to leave me alone in the boiling hot room for about 20 minutes so that I could calm down (I have a hard time with monitoring machines…I worry excessively about the baby due to my daughters’ previous births which were both stressful and nearly ended in emergency c-sections each time).  I put on my iPod and listened to pregnancy affirmations and calmed myself down.  It worked and they let me go home.  It was a wakeup call for me…reminding me that even though I had spent all these months working hard on hypnobabies and listening to the tracks faithfully…that I still had work to do eliminating fear  and tension related to past births.  So I cried and talked things over with my husband…I took some herbal remedies and sure enough the letting go helped immensely. 

At 40 weeks I went in for an appointment…All was well, and I was not dilated or effaced at all… after all those weeks lying down I began to worry this baby was never going to come out!

The night before my 41 week appointment I started having pressure waves…gentle at first and then stronger…all this after I settled down to try to get some sleep.  I put on my iPod and listened to birth day affirmations over and over.  The pressure waves got to being about 6 minutes apart and I thought that perhaps this was it…and then at midnight my daughter woke me up and I went to her bed to calm her back down…after she fell asleep I realized that the pressure waves had tapered off.   I finally fell asleep and woke up the next day feeling exhausted (I think I remember several good pressure waves waking me up slightly that night, but not enough to get up.) 

The next morning the pressure waves had disappeared.  My husband and I went to the hospital for our the non stress test, Monday the 29^th of December…I was overwhelmed with joy when I heard the voice of my favorite midwife coming down the hall to get us.  Her name is Clothilde and she is widely respected in this region for being a midwife who is so gentle and helps women who want natural births.  She set me up on the monitors and left me to relax…I listened to birth day affirmations and then decided that I needed to concentrate on inviting this baby into the world…so I put on “baby come out”…it was perfect.  If Clothilde was on call for the next 24 hours I wanted to give birth in that time frame!  She told me that I was at 1 cm and fairly well effaced and that all was perfect with the baby…she sent us home but told me that she thought I would be back before the night was through. 

My husband and I took our time and had a nice leisurely lunch in town before driving back up to our village to spend the rest of the day with our girls.  It was peaceful and lovely.   I had a few random pressure waves throughout the day, more as the day went on, but nothing that made me feel like the birth was just around the bend. 

We put the girls to bed and then sprawled out on the couch to relax…my husband put on a film and I put on my iPod…beginning with “baby come out” and then the “birth day affirmations”…as soon as I lay down the pressure waves became much stronger…I was not at all uncomfortable, they were just getting a bit more intense…eventually I was having to breathe through them and then I began walking around …sitting on the birthing ball, or leaning over the counter (all this with IPod on…love that thing!)  I was so happy to feel them getting stronger and encouraged them along…at one point I began trembling a bit and thought “that’s weird”.  I told my husband and he encouraged me to think about going to the hospital…ok, why not…I was optimistic that things would most likely pick up from here, but not sure and didn’t want to risk being sent home because the pressure waves stopped or because I was only at 2 to 3 cm. 

My mom came over to watch the girls and we drove the 15min to the local hospital.  Along the way I listened to “easy first stage” and felt very relaxed…it was nice.  A few pressure waves in the car on the way there…nothing unmanageable.

We arrived and slipped in the back door of the maternity ward where Clothilde was waiting for us with her warm smile…it was just before 2 am.  She hooked me up to the heart monitors and I was so relieved to learn that all was still perfect for the baby.  She then did a check of dilation, but did not inform me of the progress (because I had asked her not to tell me for fear that I would get so discouraged)…BUT…behind my back she motioned to my husband that I was already at 9 cm!  He was so happy and upbeat that it really encouraged me.  Soon Clothilde asked me if I was ready to go to the birthing room and I said “already?”  Don’t you think we should wait a little?  That was how unaware I was that I was in transition!  Thank you hypnobabies! 

The last CM was long…there was an assistant helping the midwife who showed my husband how to massage my sacrum on specific acupressure points and it was AMAZING how this relieved the intensity.  She and my husband took turns massaging me until the very end…I am so grateful.  Eventually Clothilde asked if she could break my waters.  Of course…I had been walking the halls with my husband for an hour with no progress and so it was logical.  Things got more intense and I also began to feel very tired…to my surprise she offered me a banana and juice which I ate and enjoyed immensely.  This is of course not usual practice seeing as the anesthesiologist really doesn’t want us eating at all, but she is smart and knows we need energy!  And as natural as this midwife is she did finally encourage me to put in an IV with sugar water and also to start a very small pitocin drip…I was falling asleep and tired and she was worried that the birth would take a very long time if I didn’t get a little extra umph.  I agreed and that was when my husband went to go rest on a bed for a while…things got really intense at this point, but nothing I couldn’t use my relaxation techniques and breath to help me through.  

A very short time after the pitocin drip set in, I felt pushy…and so without even checking me she told me to push if I felt like it.  Ok!  I was on my knees leaning forward over a birthing ball and then up on all fours leaning on the ball (love the ball)…in my own world pushing away.  Then on my side some and finally in traditional gynecological position (don’t ask me why this was what I chose…she didn’t ask me to, it was my own doing!)  Pushing took quite a while and was very intense (I was surprised because for my girls it had been the fastest part of the birth)…the midwife kept encouraging me to reach down and try to feel for the baby’s head…although there was a ways to go the thought that the head was nearing encouraged me along.  I tried to use exhale pushing as much as possible and was not able to keep the headphones on throughout…at some point I just began purple pushing and the midwife kept telling me to guide the head out with my breath…it helped!  Down and out.  Finally the head was VERY near and so I used the pushing when there wasn’t a pressure wave technique…they all let me do what I felt was best.  It worked!  I was purple in the face…but it worked! 

The head crowned and came out and I really must admit that I did not experience a ring of fire…at this point so close to the finish line it is the last thing on your mind…I just felt huge excitement thinking that I was soon to meet my baby and hold him in my arms!  They undid the one loop the cord made around his neck, and then turned him…they had to do some maneuvering to get the shoulders out, but all was well…and he soon slithered all the way out.  They immediately put him on my chest and I dried him…crying with joy and relief of course!  I immediately knew it was a boy just by looking at the face…but of course I verified by looking under the little towel!  Our first boy!  My husband was teary and overjoyed beside me and we both rubbed him as he began to make his first cries.  What an amazing experience.

Clothilde, who had carefully read my birth plan, let the cord stop pulsing before cutting and then let me hold him on my chest for about an hour before then took him to measure and weigh.  I was so happy to have taken the time to do it and translate it into French!  He began nursing a bit not long after and it was so amazing after having been separated from my girls just after their births.  The placenta came out easily and Clothilde walked me through all the steps and reassured me that all was intact.  Bless her heart for understanding how anxious some couples can be.  We had done it…a natural birth after two epidural stressful births! 

Malcolm, as we named him, was born at 6 AM only 4 hours after we arrived at the hospital.  And even though he was big (9 lbs)… I had only superficial tearing requiring only a few little stitches! 

I am so grateful to the universe for sending me this midwife…and especially to Hypnobabies for preparing my mind and body over the past months for this peaceful birth!  I will highly recommend it to all expecting mothers that I cross paths with.  I have a newfound respect for the power of the human mind and belief in our ability to create our reality…

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Hypnobabies Give away for Doulas and Midwives

In celebration of Hypnobabies offering their products on Amazon, we thought we would do another give away.

Hypnobabies of course has wonderful products for moms and birth care providers on the Hypnobabies Website.

Now 3 different Hypnobabies Sets are available on Amazon as well.

Hypnobabies Home Study

Hypnosis for an Easy Pregnancy CD Set

Hypnobabies Hypno-Doula Workbook Plus 5 CDs

Not only can you buy products on Amazon, but you can become an Amazon affiliate and if you refer friends, clients, doulas to buy Hypnobabies products or any other products from Amazon, you can make money! 🙂 You can even make your own store on Amazon.

This month we are giving away a

Hypnobabies Hypno-Doula Workbook plus 5 CDs

AND

the book Labor of Love by Cara Muhlhahn .

The Hypnobabies Hypno-Doula Workbook PLUS 5 CDs is a great set for doulas or midwives.  It will prepare you to support a mom using hypnosis for childbirth.   If you are an expecting mom who has a doula, this would be perfect gift to give to them!  

There is nothing more exciting than to recieve a book in the mail, except recieving a BIRTH book in the mail. I got it on Friday and had finished the book by Sunday.

The Labor of Love was written by Cara Muhlhahn, was the midwife who is shown in the movie, The Business of Being Born. It was interesting to read about her journey into midwifery and her experiences as a homebirth midwife.

Cara started her studies assisting lay midwives, went onto nursing schools and spent time working in L&D as a nurse. Cara was often disturbed by what she saw going on at births in the hospitals.

The flip-flopping of obstetrical absolutes is a disturbing trend to me. There is something suspecious about “truths” that change every few years, especially regarding a physiological process that has not changed much since the beginning of time.

She ended up going on to become a nurse-midwife and after working in a birth center eventually chose to go on her own as a homebirth midwife.

The satisfaction I get from midwifery makes it worth the high degree of dedication and sacrifice. My work takes a lot out of me. But I like the adventure that midwifery brings to my life. I like having to drop everything to answer to a higher calling, the ruggedness of hard work and the idea that when nature calls, there is no choice but to answer.

I really liked this quote. While I don’t have the same level as stress as a midwife does, I get a taste of “when nature calls” and having to respond when it does. Birth is very unpredictable and being on call as a doula is quite an adventure.

Labor of Love was an easy, enjoyable read. I think that this is a great book for doulas, midwives or anyone working in the birth field. So I am thrilled to be able to do a give away of a copy of Labor of Love on the Hypnobabies blog!

To enter the give away:

In order to enter visit any of the Hypnobabies products at Amazon (links above) or at Hypnobabies and come back and leave a comment about your favorite product. Or leave a comment about why you want to win the Hypnobabies Hypno-Doula Workbook

You can earn another entry by blogging about this give away and letting me know, you can either e-mail me at sheridan AT enjoybirth DOT com or leave a comment.

You can earn another entry by adding the Hypnobabies Blog to your RSS and letting me know, you can either e-mail me at sheridan AT enjoybirth DOT com or leave a comment. (What is this? Here is a great explination in video form.)

Also if you have used any of Hypnobabies Products you can earn 2 entries by leaving a review on Amazon or on the Hypnobabies Review Blog and let me know you have left a review in the comment section or by e-mailing me! 2 entries for each review left. 🙂

Have fun!

The Winner will be announced on April 22nd and the last entries will be accepted on Monday April 20th.

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Spring Special – 20% off most Products in our Hypnobabies Store

4/8 to 4/15, 2009

Our Hypnobabies Home Study Course for Expectant Mothers – 20% off from April 8th through April 15th, ONLY

 Happy Spring Season, Hypnobabies Fans!

In Celebration of the coming of Spring, for one week only – April 8th through April 15th, 2009, all products in our regular Hypnobabies website store are 20% off, including the following: (use the code below when ordering)

– Hypnobabies Individual CDs
– Hypnobabies Double-Track CDs
– Hypnobabies Home Study Course for Expectant Mothers
– All Recommended Books for Expectant Mothers (in *our* Hypnobabies Website Store, not our Amazon store)
– Hypno-Doula Workbook for Doulas and Midwives
– New Baby and Sleep CDs
– Introduction to Childbirth Hypnosis for Hypnotherapists Workbook

*Please note: MP3s are *not* included, our Hypnobabies Instructor Training is *not* included and our Amazon.com store is *not* included in this sale.
Please visit our website at www.Hypnobabies.com to take advantage of this offer, and you must enter the code: SPRING at checkout, to get our 20% discount on your order.

Thank you,
Kerry Tuschhoff, HCHI, CHt, CI
Founder and Director of Hypnobabies
714-952-BABY (2229)
Hypnobabies Store

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Midwife’s Experience with Hypnobabies

I have been a Hypnobabies instructor for a year now and would like to share some of my experiences. I have taught three classes (actually in the middle of one). I am a home birth midwife and all of my Hypnobabies students have been my clients, except for one couple planning a hospital birth.

First class:
One hospital couple, the other two couples were my clients, planning a home birth. All of them were first time mothers,and all of them had good experiences using Hypnobabies. The hospital couple used their hypnosis and avoided all medications.

One of the home birth mothers used hypnosis during 24 hours of pre-birthing waves. By the time she was 3 centimeters, she was well rested and nourished. That was at 10 pm. When a mother is 3 centimeters, I ask them to get some sleep if they can. I remind them to put their Hypnobabies CD on, and this is what this mother did. During the night, I got up a few times to check the baby’s heart tones. The mother was resting well. She got up at 9 am the next morning, and when I checked her she was 8 centimeters. She had her baby two hours later.

The second home birth mother was also able to rest through the night using Hypnobabies. In fact, I missed the birth. She had called me at 1:00 am with pressure wasves every 10 minutes lasting 30 seconds. I reminded her to listen to her CD, use her hypnosis and get some rest. She was asked to call me as soon as things changed. Her husband called me at 6:30 am and told me the pressure waves just started to be 5 minutes apart, lasting 60 seconds. I was on my way when he called back 25 minutes later and said he saw the bag of waters bulging. I then heard the mother pushing. Five minutes later, she pushed her baby out. She pushed for a total of five minutes.  When I arrived, I asked her if she used Hypnobabies during the night. She said, “Oh yes. It helpd me rest and relax really well. I even slept.”

Second class: Three couples, all home birth.

The first mother didn’t practice her hypnosis  much, so she did not use it during her birth. Though, she did fine (VBAC).

The second mother practiced a lot (first time mother), and she used it through 24 hours of pre-birthing waves to help her rest, relax and sleep. By the time I saw her, she was 3 centimeters. She went from 3 centimeters to 8 centimeters in 20 minutes, and had her baby soon after that. She felt that Hypnobabies helped her tremendously through the prebirthing waves.

The third mother (third vaginal birth), who just gave birth today, used her hypnosis throughout her birthing time. She relaxed beautifully.

I have 5 couples in the third class, an we are half way through. They are all first time mothers. I can’t wait to see how they do.

I have been a home birth midwife for over 25 years now. Hypnobabies is amazing for these women! The big difference between teaching home birth couples versus hospital couples is that home birthers already feel empowered, educated and well informed. They don’t have to fight the system. Also, they don’t seem to like the bubble of peace very much. When people approach them with negativity about home birth horror stories, they WANT to say something. And, they do. They feel empowered doing so.

It is such a blessing to be involved with strong, powerful women!

Carolyn Drake

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Using Hypnobabies with External Version Attempt

The whole time I was pregnant with Carter he was either breech or transverse.  By the time we got to 34 weeks, the midwives started to get concerned.  We tried everything to get him to turn.  I mean everything!  Chiropractic care, moxibustion, spinning babies techniques, Turn Your Breech Baby CD, acupuncture and acupressure.  My midwife even tried a gentle version of an external cephalic version two or three times.  Nothing worked.  So we scheduled an external cephalic version for 37 weeks.
       I was nervous about it since I had heard from many people that it was so painful.  But I’d read a story from one woman who was studying hypnobabies who didn’t have such a hard time with it.  So I decided to go into it with the expectation that it would be all right.  The morning of the version I did a Fear Release session and I listened to the Turn Your Breech Baby CD.
       We got to the hospital and checked into a room on the labor and delivery ward.  The nurses were super nice.  They hooked me up to monitor the baby.  They use elastic straps that stretch across your belly and one measures contractions, the other measures the baby’s heart rate.  I was having contractions that lasted 1 minute every 3 minutes!  But I didn’t even feel most of them.
       They took an ultrasound to confirm the position of Carter.  They said he was transverse, which was better than the frank breech he had been lately.  I was so hopeful!
       They took my blood pressure and it was quite high.  I asked them if I could do some relaxation and have them take it again.  They just left the cuff on anyway and said it would automatically take it periodically.  I laid back and listened to a Deepening track.  The next time the cuff took my blood pressure it was down to a normal range.  (I don’t recall the numbers now.)
       Nurses kept coming in while I was doing Deepening to check the baby’s heart rate.  I just used center switch if they had questions.  I felt nice and relaxed and confident.  After about an hour of monitoring, then started an IV.  Now, that was a touch painful, but not too bad.  I just stayed relaxed and focused on the Deepening track that I was listening to again.  They gave me terbutaline to prevent contractions.  I had been told that this drug made you feel really jittery.  That worried me since even one cup of coffee leaves me feeling terrible.  But again, I just concentrated on the feeling of confidence that I entered with.  And I ended up not feeling all that bad after all.  It wasn’t as bad as a big cup of coffee, though the jitteryness lasted for a couple of hours, until I got something to eat.
       So then the doc came in.  He didn’t get started until about a half hour or so later than scheduled since he had to attend a birth just down the hall.  By the time he got there, Carter had flipped back around and was a complete breech.  The doc wasted no time and got going.  He tried to push him in one direction and it didn’t work, so he tried the other.  The whole time he was doing it I was concentrating on relaxing all my abdominal muscles, like the Breech Baby CD directs you to do.  The sensation was not painful at all.  It wasn’t comfortable – I wouldn’t have wanted this done for half an hour – but it really didn’t hurt at all.  After trying in the second direction, the doc said it wasn’t happening.  I think he had tried about 3 or 4 minutes, tops, but time is funny in theses situations, so I’m not sure.  I asked him if he would try one more time.  This was my last hope to avoid a c-section!  He was surprised I asked, but did try again.  No luck.  Carter wouldn’t budge from my pelvis.
       As he was washing up, he told me that he was impressed with how well I’d handled it, he said most people don’t do so well.  I told him that I thought perhaps he was just being gentle and he said he wasn’t.  I think, from his tone of voice that he was implying that he was anything but gentle.  After that they monitored me for about another hour, longer than usual because of the contractions I’d been having.  I just lay there and talked to my husband planning what we were going to eat (I was starving!).  They finally let us go and we went for some Asian food.  For about three days afterwards I was a bit bruised where he’d been pushing.  I guess he wasn’t gentle after all!
       I chalk up my ability to be relaxed and confident going into the version to Hypnobabies and credit it with my ability to stay relaxed through the procedure.  It gave me confidence that it would work for during my birthing time.  Unfortunately, we ended up with a c-section, but it wasn’t all bad.  The results – a happy, healthy, beautiful baby boy – were what mattered.  I was happy to be able to say that I tried everything to get him to turn but that he just wasn’t supposed to.

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