Mind and Body Birthing with Gemma Struzena

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Mind and Body Birthing with Gemma Struzena

Preparing pregnant women and birth partners for a calm, positive birth with hypnobirthing. www.mindandbodybirthing.com

I offer hypnobirthing classes to pregnant women and birth partners looking for ways to have a calm, positive birth. Unsure whether hypnobirthing is for you - watch my FREE online, 30 minute video series: https://www.mindandbodybirthing.com/free-mini-birth-class

25/08/2025

Having a positive birth is life changing. The way you feel about your birth experience will impact you not only on the day of birth itself, but in the days, weeks, months even years to come.

It will impact your postnatal recovery and how you feel about possibly giving birth in the future as well.

What we want is that you look back feeling positive, not negative or even worse traumatised by the whole thing.

Healthy mum and baby are the absolute bare minimum of standards. You should be aiming way higher than that. You deserve so much more.

Giving birth can be, and should be, the most incredible and empowering experience of your life.

You deserve access to the best information and support to help you feel ready, confident and capable.

You deserve to approach birth feeling excited, not terrified.

You deserve to know that it is entirely possible to love giving birth.

You deserve to feel calm and positive - no matter where or even how your baby is born.

18/08/2025

Where the mind leads, the body follows.

It’s your mind that will lead your body through labour. If your mind is not mentally prepared for birth, if you feel worried, scared or out of control, your body will not relax. It can’t.

Relaxation is led by your mind.

Your mind controls the release of your birthing hormones.

When you train your mind to work WITH your body you are setting yourself up for an easier, more manageable birth.

When I learned how to use the power of my mind to influence my body for birth, this was such a game changer. It absolutely made the difference to me experiencing 2 naturally pain-free and very positive births, even when things didn’t exactly go to plan for me.

♻️ repost to share with your pregnant bestie

PS - if you want to know how to actually do this so you can prepare for a calm, positive birth, head to my link in bio and find out the different ways I can support you further.

18/07/2025

This is something that absolutely needs to be on your birth plan if you want an easier labour and birth.

There should be a section on your birth plan titled “Labour and birth positions”.

If you want to have the easiest and most comfortable birth you need to write on your birth plan that you wish to be as mobile as possible during labour and that you would like to labour and birth in upright positions.

I would also recommend making it really clear that you DO NOT wish to birth on your back and that you request a midwife or doctor who is confident and capable at supporting you with this.

Birthing on your back has been shown to increase your likelihood of tearing and needing support such as forceps or ventouse to birth your baby.

Trust in your body and follow its lead. You will naturally get into upright positions that feel comfortable for you and that help your baby get into the best position for birth.

If you are interested in hypnobirthing or hypnobirthing classes, I teach birth positions, how to breathe, relax, what to put in your birth plan and so much more as part of my childbirth antenatal classes.

Follow along for more or comment hypnobirthing for more info 🥰

06/07/2025

To have the easiest and most manageable birth possible you need to be in your calm, not stressed nervous system.

When you are calm and everything is working as it should, giving birth should feel powerful and intense but still manageable.

The best way to ensure your calm nervous system is driving your labour is to get informed about birth during pregnancy.

Understanding the birth process can help you feel capable and trust in your body.

Learning effective breathing and relaxation tools can help you stay calm and relaxed.

An informed and prepared birth partner can help bring your nervous system back to calm if something happens that takes you into fear or stress.

Learning about the maternity system you’ll be birthing in will help you feel prepared, informed and in control.

I teach all these things as part of my hypnobirthing classes. Want to find out more? Comment CALM and I’ll send you a link with more details.

If you’re ready, I’m ready!

Gemma xx

28/06/2025

Giving birth can be, and should be, one of the most incredible, positive and empowering things you’ll ever do in your life. Whilst we cannot control how our baby is born there are absolutely things we can do that will influence our experience.

Some things will make your birth better and others will make it more of a challenge.

There are things that help birth feel calmer, more empowering, positive and even easier and more comfortable. 🙌

And then there are things that can make birth more difficult and challenging. Things that don’t just affect our physical experience but also our emotional experience as well.

If you’re pregnant right now one of the best things you can do to prepare for birth is to get informed…
✔️Understand the birth process.
✔️Understand your rights and choices.
✔️Choose supportive care providers.
✔️Choose where to give birth that would best support your needs and wishes.
✔️Make informed decisions based on facts, not fears or assumptions.

You have all the power and strength you need to birth already within you. You can have the most amazing and incredible birth. You just need the right support and information to get you there. 💕

22/06/2025

Hooray! Your contractions have started and your labour is beginning! 🥳

But before you get too excited there’s something I want you to know…

🤰Early labour can take a while and your body will need to bank as much energy as possible early on so you don’t tire yourself out later in your labour.

Your contractions are likely to be a bit stop-start at the beginning.

The best thing you can do when labour starts is rest. Conserve your energy. Sip water to stay hydrated and eat light snacks or meals as you feel the need to.

One of the best naps I’ve ever had was when my labour started in the day with my 2nd baby. It felt almost euphoric as my body slowly began to release Oxytocin in preparation for established (active) labour!! I totally recommend a warm bath or shower and then a nice cosy nap 💯! ☺️

Save this post for later and share it with your birth partner so you remember what to do!

And also, if you’d like help with getting starting using positive birth affirmations to mentally prepare you for birth, comment POSITIVE and I’ll ping you the link straight away! 🥰

15/06/2025

There are a few different signs that your labour might be starting 🙌🙌

The 3 biggest signs are that you get your bloody show, your waters break or your contractions start.

Not every woman will get her bloody show or have her waters break as the first sign. And even when your contractions start they might be a bit stop start at the beginning so you might not even realise you’re in labour!

When your labour does start though the best thing you can do is REST. Conserve your energy and remember that giving birth is a marathon not a sprint. You’ve got plenty of time. There’s no rush and no need to panic.

Breathe.
Rest.
Relax.
And follow the lead of your body.

You’ve got this 💪🥰

PS - Hi! I’m Gemma! If you’re new here then hello and welcome to The place to be if you want genuinely useful birth tips to help you feel calm, confident and prepared for birth.

And if you’ve been here a while now, thank you! It’s so great to have you here 💕

07/06/2023

Mama, I want you to know that your body is AMAZING!

From growing to birthing your baby your body can do some pretty cool things!

These are just a couple of my favourite things about birth.

What do you think is something amazing about pregnancy or childbirth?

I’d love to know in the comments ❤️🤰❤️

Ps - be sure to share this with a pregnant friend so that she knows just how amazing her body is too!

23/05/2023

Pregnant? Here’s what you can do to increase your comfort levels when you give birth…

🧘‍♀️Use visualisations - focus your mind and utilise the powerful mind body connection that will lead you through birth

🌟BREATHE - deeply and slowly

❤️ Keep your OXYTOCIN levels high - Oxytocin is the main hormone your body needs to start your labour and keep it going. High levels of oxytocin help your body to birth faster and more comfortably

🤲 STROKING - feels amazing and is a good distraction tool

💦 Warm water is incredibly soothing. A shower or birth pool will add immediate relief and comfort

🤰MOVE AROUND - go with the flow of your body, get into positions which feel comfortable to you - upright positions work best to get your baby into a good position for a faster and more comfortable birth

Was this useful? Let me know by hitting the little like button ❤️

What other comfort measures might you use? Let me know in the comments!

Gemma xx

28/01/2023

Just a little update… Our baby girl was born after a very smooth and rather fast natural labour at 42 + 1 weeks (or 42 + 6 if I’d accepted my first due date!)

I wasn’t able to have a home birth in the end because the midwives were no longer able to attend past 42 weeks so our plan was to head to the birth centre.

Our baby girl had other plans though and in the 10 minute car ride to the hospital ended up being born in the car just as we arrived! My amazing husband stepped up to the role of midwife and was the one to catch the baby as she was born! Our planned home birth ended up being an unplanned free birth and it was really an incredible experience.

I felt so calm and safe the entire time and had complete trust in my body which just took over and did it’s thing!

Hypnobirthing has really helped empower me with the knowledge and confidence to trust in my body, make informed choices, and wait for labour to start naturally and spontaneously.

This is the power of hypnobirthing that I love sharing with the couples I teach. You CAN feel POSITIVE and EMPOWERD by your birth experience, even if it doesn’t go exactly as you’d planned!

13/01/2023

It’s important that you do things that make you feel calm about giving birth.

When your mind is calm your body will relax.

Preparing for a calm birth starts in pregnancy:

✔️get informed by taking a good birth class with your birth partner
✔️ practice your breathing and relaxation techniques
✔️ surround yourself with positive stories about birth
✔️ make a birth plan for different birth outcomes (don’t make the mistake of turning up to a hospital or birth centre without a plan!)

Want help with this? The hypnobirthing course I teach will provide you with all of the knowledge, tools and techniques to feel calm, confident and prepared for a positive birth (I’ll even share my birth plans with you!).

Plus, birth partners are invited to attend the entire course so they are informed and ready to be a useful support to you when you give birth.

Link in bio for more! ☺️

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08/12/2022

How to know for sure your labour is about to start…

Here are the three signs your body is preparing to go into labour soon.

1. You get your “show”
2. Your waters break
3. Your surges start

You might not get your show or your waters might not break until after your surges have already started. That’s okay too.

Be prepared for talks around induction of labour if your waters do break as the first sign - it’s a good idea to have thought about your options for this BEFORE you go into labour so you know what to expect and what YOUR wishes are.

Your surges starting are the most common first sign that your labour is beginning.

Already given birth? What was your first sign?

Leave a comment below! 👇❤️

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http://www.mindandbodybirthing.com/

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