International Birth Week

In celebration of International Birth Wisdom Week, I decided to share my experiences with supporting women all over the world!

I have the best job in the world!  I get to help women from all over the world prepare for a comfortable, empowering and enjoyable births using Hypnobabies.  How is it possible to help women all over the world?  The internet (and sometimes the phone) of course!

I am one of the Hypnobabies Home Study liaisons.  When a mom purchases the Hypnobabies Home Study they have access to a Hypnobabies Instructor to answer any questions.  They can do this by e-mail or by calling me.  I have gotten calls from Australia and the UK at interesting hours of the day and of course a lot from the US.  I am always happy to talk to moms and help them in any way I can.  I once had a mom call me during her active birthing time with questions.  That was fun.  I felt like I was a phone doula!

I also help hundreds of moms from all over the world every year by moderating the Hypnobabies Yahoo Group.  The Yahoo Group is a great place for them to ask questions and get advice from other moms preparing for birth using hypnosis.  There are over 3000 members and we get on average 60-80 messages a day from moms all over the world: China, India, Estonia, France, England, Canada, Mexico and the USA to name just a few.

The moms on this group are wonderfully supportive of each other and encourage one another to trust their body and their baby and make the best choices regarding birth for THEM.  Certainly each family and experience is different.  Each culture has their different issues and traditions as well.  They e-mail questions on many different topics from hypnosis to care providers and baby friendly practices, or lack thereof.  They get support from the other moms to ask questions, demand answers and make changes if they aren’t happy with the answers; basically to empower themselves!

It is wonderful to see how these women who believe in the beauty of natural birth; that it is something to be embraced instead of feared, can encourage others to feel the same way.  Not all of the women come to the group with that mindset, but over time reading the other messages and asking their questions, reading the birth stories, they slowly change and start to trust in their bodies and birth too.

One of my favorite things about moderating the group is reading birth stories from all over the world. The continuity between these stories is they have all used hypnosis to prepare for birth, which helps them reach into themselves to find their inner power to birth.  The differences are that each birth is different and unique, that each mom used her Hypnobabies tools in whatever way was best for her!