Your complete childbirth preparation programme
GentleBirth is a complete childbirth preparation programme that teaches easy self hypnosis techniques which enable you to feel calm, confident and in control throughout your pregnancy and during your labour. Created by Irish midwife and hypnotherapist Tracy Donegan, GentleBirth provides you with the road map to a fulfilling, empowered, dignified birth experience in whatever direction your body and baby will take you – in hospital or at home – with or without an epidural. The program also supports your partner in their significant role during the birth process.
Consider GentleBirth to be a fitness program for your mind – it’s ‘brain-training’. Just like any physical fitness program you would follow at a gym, the more time you invest in the program the more benefits you experience. Thankfully you experience the benefits of GentleBirth almost immediately and with a lot less effort!
As you follow the program week by week, each of the 8 CDs in the GentleBirth program build upon the last, resulting in the most comprehensive and effective birth preparation program available today. At a GentleBirth workshop, you and your partner will also learn about different support strategies used by midwives and birth assistants around the world.
In contrast to other birth hypnosis programs that focus on only one element of birth preparation, GentleBirth combines three critical elements which is part of a robust comprehensive birth preparation program.
Brain-training
Using mindfulness, sports psychology, hypnosis and cognitive behavioural therapy techniques
Comfort Strategies for Birth
Including creating your labour toolkit and relaxation techniques.
Negotiating the best birth for you
Understanding your options and what is current best practice in international maternity guidelines.
Combining all three elements makes for the best birth experience possible.
Within days of beginning the program your confidence increases and you start to look forward to your baby’s birth. You find that you can think about labour without any of the anxiety you had in the past. The more you use the program the more your confidence increases and you begin to enjoy a calm relaxed pregnancy without the fear. The benefits don’t stop there – being relaxed and confident during the birth of your baby can significantly reduce your need for epidurals, unnecessary interventions and often shortens labour. GentleBirth babies are known for their calm, relaxed demeanours making those early weeks of parenthood even more rewarding.
How does GentleBirth Work?
Science demonstrates the negative impact high levels of stress hormones (adrenaline) have on mother and baby during pregnancy and birth. Fear causes a chemical response in your body that slows labour and makes it more painful. Learning self hypnosis helps you create a deep state of relaxation – keeping stress hormones low and enhancing your body’s natural pain-relieving endorphin and oxytocin production. Hypnosis changes how you perceive the sensations of birth and is well documented as a leading therapy in pain management. Some mums experience pressure or tightenings rather than debilitating pain, others experience period-like sensations.
During your pregnancy you’re taking better care of yourself as your body does the amazing work of growing your baby. This is very important in preparing for the arrival of your baby but mental and emotional preparation for birth and parenting is practically unheard of. Mentally and physically preparing yourself for the big day ahead with confidence and information can turn your baby’s birth into a life changing empowering, amazing experience.
The GentleBirth positive birth program is influenced by the work of several motivational teachers such as Louise Hay and the ground breaking fear resolution work of Byron Katie. It brings the expertise of leading, internationally-renowned midwives such as Ina May Gaskin and obstetrician Dr. Michel Odent right to your door. It also applies the principles of the most influential sports psychologists and positive psychology teachers in the world to bring you the most unique childbirth preparation program available today.
Stacking the Odds in Your Favour
GentleBirth provides you with the road map to a fulfilling empowered, dignified birth experience in whatever direction your body and baby will take you. You and your partner will learn to recognise the sign posts that will take you closer to your dream of a GentleBirth for you and your baby or further away from it.
Deliberately directing your thoughts to a more positive mindframe takes practice and is not high on the priority list for most mums-to-be in our busy lives, but with some focused attention you can change your entire outlook during this magical time. Your thoughts (positive or negative) dictate what’s going on in your body – fear leads to panic, tension and pain. Every thought you have creates a chemical reaction in your body.
GentleBirth helps you to change chronic thought patterns (worry, anxiety and stress) to confidence and excitement in a very short time. Your expectations of the experience ahead is transformed. It feels like a weight has been lifted as you look forward to your baby’s birth without any fear. The confidence that comes with GentleBirth means that you and your partner feel prepared to handle anything that comes your way on the day of your baby’s birth without anxiety. As you learn to tune into your instincts and trust your amazing body you’ll find that your new skills will be an additional bonus as you settle into mothering and breastfeeding your baby.