Birth Works Hypnobirthing

09/01/2023

Hey it’s me, how’s it going in the big, wide, world out there? Checking in from my *adjusting to 3 children* bubble 🤪, I’m finding the headspace and energy to get back to helping others is starting to sparkle back like this morning’s light after winter ✨.

Who am I and what am I about? I’m a mum to 3 beautiful kids, wife to Ali, I live in Edinburgh which even tho the winter sucks is still a brilliant place to live.

I live for movement, specially strength training, yoga, running, horse riding, golf and skiing. Some of these I’ve not been able to do for a while due to a hip problem. I’m down for a hip resurfacing at 37 this year 🥳.

I had pelvic floor reconstruction surgery 6 months ago following the birth of my last baby. The injury was sustained during the birth of my first child which sparked my passion for treatment of women in birth, the power of language, hypnobirthing and basically all things badassary of women.

Fundamentally I believe that birth is about the woman, the mother giving birth. Anybody else in the room is there to support, encourage and help her achieve this in the way that she wants.

I support mums to give birth anyway they want to, including using pain relief or by caesarean section. However, I believe that families should be given all the information involving interventions, including the potential impacts on mother and baby’s long term health, even though these conversations are difficult, I approach them with as much love as I can.

I’m looking forward to getting back to teaching how birth can be euphoric and fulfilling in 2023. Please do share this page with anyone expecting 😀.

🥰🌈👶🏼

21/06/2022

I’ve been quiet on here.

I don’t make timelines for returning to work postnatally as to me every experience has been different.

There has been so much learning and relearning to be done. A lot to integrate and to create headspace to do so whilst also feeding a baby and keeping all the other family plates spinning.

It doesn’t take me 6 weeks to “heal” my postnatal body. It takes me closer to a year to feel at home. And I don’t mean the look. I mean how it feels.

What I do know, I’m still here to talk. To have conversations about your birth and what you want it to look like. To help you plan and to help you execute that plan with grace, power and joy.

Birth work, I’m still here. I’m just rebirthing myself first.

📷

27/01/2022

The evidence shows that holistic care around the birth of the placenta significantly reduced the rate of postpartum haemorrhage for low risk women… like from 11.2% to 1.7%, in a hospital setting.
The researchers in this study concluded that ‘Active management was associated with a seven to eight fold increase in postpartum haemorrhage rates for this group of women’.
This means that when you attend a hospital as a low risk woman, at low risk of postpartum haemorrhage, the standard method of placental birth management (use of oxytocin injection and controlled cord traction) will result in an 11.2% chance of experiencing a postpartum haemorrhage… this is compared to if you had holistic midwifery led care to support placental birth to come out without medication or intervention, which results in a postpartum haemorrhage only 1.7% of the time.
There you have it, you can read it for yourself, it’s called ‘Holistic physiological care compared with active management of the third stage of labour for women at low risk of postpartum haemorrhage: a cohort study’

06/12/2021

'We are worried': The alarming rise in birth interventions in AustraliaBy Professor Hannah Dahlen| 3 days agoEvery year in November the Australian Institute for Health and Welfare (AIHW) releases a report on pregnancy, birth and baby outcomes.The 2021 AIHW Australia's Mothers and Babies report has j...

27/11/2021

27/11/2021

It is utterly devastating to see these figures in black and white, but sadly it comes as no surprise. I have been in the birth world as a Midwife, Doula, Hypnobirthing Teacher and as pregnant and birthing women for 27 years and I'm not going to pretend it's ever been ok. The level of intervention back in the 90's when I trained as a Midwife and again in 2010 when I hung up my Midwife's uniform were high, in fact it was a key reason in me leaving the profession that I adored.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
But these statistics go beyond anything we have ever previously witnessed and it's shocking. In 2020-21 less than half of women & birthing people went into labour spontaneously and there was NO significant reduction in adverse outcomes.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Hearing these statistics has floored me, as I sit here close to tears I wonder how the f---k do we come back from this. How are we failing women and babies in such a catastrophic way.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
As a Midwife I can with deep regret recognise that I was complicit, I was part of a system that was controlled by obstetrics, I was in no way an 'Independent Practitioner'. As Midwives, and yes even during the horrendous crisis in Midwifery, we have got to reclaim birth. We have got to take it back. We have got to start to question what has become normal practice, we have to give women their voice, we have to listen, we have to advocate, we have to empower and support.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
As an antenatal educator I have to shout louder, I have to scream from the rooftops that you are powerful, strong capable, your body, your baby, your decisions ... every bloody one of them. I will point you in the right direction of accurate evidence based information and I will never stop sharing that birth is incredible and so are you. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
As a pregnant woman, I needed to take ownership of my own experience, I needed to get educated and informed, I need to ask questions and then ask some more.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Together, we must take birth back.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Wendy x

16/11/2021

・・・
Maternity services are at breaking point. There is a very real and worrying midwifery crisis in the UK and we need urgent action. Midwives are leaving the profession in droves, unable to continue working in an under funded, over stretched and neglected system. Staff levels and morale will and does affect the experiences of people giving birth, and in turn the outcomes of babies. The statistics for both midwives themselves and the families giving birth make for terrifying reading. If you’ve given birth, plan to, or know someone who has, or just care deeply about the outcomes of babies and new parents, please consider adding your voice to the outcry to the government by signing the petition and joining the vigils on 21st November 2pm.

The current state of maternity service isn’t sustainable or safe, and the lack of support and funding is and will result in dangerous and avoidable outcomes for mothers and babies, as well as the staff who work in maternity.

To all the midwives, working in really difficult conditions, thank you.

05/11/2021

Thanks so much for all the well wishes and sharing in our joy 🥰. In those moments straight after birth that’s all there was, the pain that’s gone before totally forgotten.

Hidden away behind those photos in every birth are the other moments, the secrets of birthing and feminine, the wild, the raw, the unpredictable.

One of the reasons I wanted a birth photographer, is with Kit’s birth there were the hard times I perceived afterwards as undesirable and unwanted. I even felt shame I hadn’t coped as calmly as I would have liked. I wanted to see what those moments look like from the outside, not clouded by the intensity of the moment. What if they were in fact desirable and necessary to life? The moments that prepare us for the challenges of parenthood.

The labour with Imogen was for the most part so enjoyable. I felt safe and in control and Ali was there with me every step.

As I reached what I perceived to be full dilation in the pool I actually felt high with joy and the whole room went white like I was in the clouds. It felt like a dream- maybe dilation elation is a thing? I thought baby would be born really soon.

And then there was the next hour where I kept checking her head with my hand and she seemed to just wait there, waiting to be born. Waiting for her perfect moment. This was so different from Kit it threw me and doubt crept in.

I said the words as most women do “I can’t”, “help me”, I need drugs”.

But everyone in that room understood I didn’t need saving. There was no way to save me. I felt panic but they showed me calm. Each reassured me, Ali stayed with me, our midwives both looked me in the eyes and said you’ve got this, you can do this. I leaned on all the reassuring conversations I’d had with birth worker friends of mine and the births I’ve witnessed. Becky our photographer carried on holding calm space around me reminding me just by being present that this is an event to be celebrated not to be feared.

It took me a while in the pool to work up the courage to think, right only I can do this now (I believe my exact thought was “f**k this s**t I need this baby out”) and with help from Ali and the midwives I got out the pool to change position. With one long, long continual push she was born and Ali caught her as the midwives continued to physically support me. Ali says it was the best day of his life, how amazing for the birth partner to also feel that power to 😍.

This is the shot. The moment “It’s a girl” and our lives changed forever.

Thank you Becky for being the most perfect birth photographer and now friend. I know that birth works best when it is unobserved. Becky was incredible at stepping out the room with the midwives when Ali and I needed to be alone. Stepping back in the room at all the right moments. We’ll treasure the photos forever and imagine when Imogen might be pregnant how she’ll feel having pictures of her beautiful birth. What confidence it will give her that she can do it too.

28/09/2021

Please do take the time to sign this if you have been affected by the midwife shortages in the last few years. It’s really important for all families.

8,311 signatures are still needed! Support urgent government investment into maternity services to solve the staffing crisis

22/09/2021

Pregnancy is such a rush of ups and downs and change and more change.

I’ve not been interacting on social media much since July. From about 30 weeks, I find my body and mind wanting to soften, soften, soften, shutting out external noise and distraction. I see causes I care about but I struggle to make noise about them. All energy gets directed back inside and to the family and space around me.

It kind of results in a full personality transplant 🤣 of being pretty direct, driven and active to being kind of pliable, docile, oxytocin running riot. I like this side of me and the more I step into it the more I prepare for the softening of giving birth.

At first it’s so jarring for someone that likes to do and achieve but I’d encourage anyone who also experiences this to let it happen. It’s all biological and all makes perfect sense. How it would change birth experiences for all women to have the space and support to prepare like this.

All is well with this pregnancy and we are expecting this baby to arrive any time in October 🍂 👶🏼. Kit says it’s a girl and Raife sensibly says he’s not sure 😊, time will tell. Xx

20/07/2021

Pretty high on the list of things I never thought I'd do is be a guest on a podcast 🤩

If you are wondering what different kinds of birth preparation there is, why understanding our fear is the key to a positive birth experience and how to deal with pain in labour, have a listen to me talk about all this and more in my first podcast interview 🤩 https://wellbetter.com/.../14-the-wellbetter-podcast.../

If you find it interesting and would like to learn more, I'm running a free session at 7.30pm on Tues 10th August with my next group course starting Tues 17th August. Sign up details are here http://eepurl.com/hiG7CT

p.s. I have to say I loved being interviewed on my specialist subject, I'll definitely be doing it again. If there is something out there that you've been putting off because of doubts (maybe ignoring preparing for your birth out of fear...) - just pull the plaster off and do it!❤️

This week on the wellbetter podcast our host Fiona Gray is joined by julie smeaton! Julie is a Hypnobirthing teacher, Birthing coach and Birth Doula! She joins us to discuss hypnobirthing and how it can differ from the more traditional route of birthing. As well as this she discusses the impact a co...