Positive Birthing & Parenting

01/10/2025

👋👋Hello again lovely ones, I’ve been busy in my 3 jobs, seeing new Hypnobirthing & Postnatal clients, Chairing the Hampshire Maternity & Neonatal Voices Partnership and lecturing at the University of Wi******er! Most important of all, I’ve been enjoying summer with my 3 at home and settling my littlest boy at school🥹. 🍁It’s a new season at Positive Birthing & Parenting and I can now RESTART my group courses - they are back to being held monthly (on a Friday daytime) + some new postnatal group sessions too 🥰 I can’t wait! ###

19/05/2025

Today I had the absolute pleasure of guest lecturing . The session was an Introduction to Hypnobirthing for the first year student midwives and how they can support women and families using Hypnobirthing during labour 💚

19/12/2024

✨A ‘different’ Christmas isn’t a bad thing✨
It might be that Christmas looks very different for you this year, and that’s OK. Perhaps it’s a slower-paced one if you’re pregnant or have a newborn, but the Christmas that you are used to will be back (if you want it to). Think of this one as an opportunity for new traditions. You will still make beautiful memories, just different ones. Give yourself permission to rest or hibernate if that’s what you need.

Consider also how you feel about hosting for example. Do you feel up to it? And if so setting expectations around timings and sharing the load with what needs to be done. This might be doing things differently to pre pregnancy/baby but that’s OK and your friends & family will understand. My second baby was only 6 weeks old over Christmas - it looked VERY different to previous years. Our immediate family came to us, brought the food and helped cook it. It finished earlier, there was an overstimulated newborn and toddler tantrum. But it was equally wonderful! I secretly found it liberating and it took so much of the pressure off!

➡️What are your plans for Christmas? Let me know in the comments with an emoji: 🎅= Same as always 🎄= Different this year

07/10/2024

🤦‍♀️You'd be a fool to miss this!...

🤰We will shortly be opening the doors to our new Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/pregnantnowwhat

🔐This is a members-only space so the only people who'll know you're there are other members - particularly useful if you don't want to share your news with the world just yet!

🆓What's more, is that all members will have FREE access to our exclusive birth and postnatal Masterclasses until April! So - fancy learning how to make birth more comfortable? Keen to understand your rights within the maternity system? Need to get clued up on induction? There's so much for us to talk about!!!

🚪Request access to the group today and we'll let you in shortly!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/pregnantnowwhat

02/07/2024

Have you been induced in the past year at Wi******er or Basingstoke Hospital (Hampshire Hospitals Maternity - Andover, Basingstoke & Wi******er)? Please share your views (by commenting on the original post or emailing Mindy) to help improve the service💚

Have you been induced at either Basingstoke or Wi******er Hospital in the last 12 months? We would love to hear from you! (Hampshire Hospitals Maternity - Andover, Basingstoke & Wi******er)
We would like to hear feedback from women who have had an induction, specifically around:

1. Communication before the induction about the timing and the plan.

2. What helped (or would have helped) to prepare you? Written information? Chatting with a midwife? Online information and links?

3. How about the induction itself - what feedback can you give on how things went to help improve the process for other women? What went well? What would have made things go better?

Please either comment directly on this post or email me directly (Mindy, MNVP lead on northhantsmslc@live.co.uk) or pm me.

Thank you
Mindy

20/06/2024

💪 Prepare fully for your birth, ditch the fear and build your confidence that you can absolutely do this-and you will! 💕
👋👋 Hello expectant parents, are you due soon? Want to feel less scared and actually excited about your birth? Join our last Group Hypnobirthing Course of the summer on 1, 8 & 15 July 6.30-9.30pm in Wi******er. Perfect for August - October due dates.
💬’My whole birth experience was just a wonderful whirlwind and one I felt powerful, calm, cared for and fully in control and I can’t tell you how central Hypnobirthing was to that. Thank you so much.’ - First-time parents group course ❤️
➡️Book or more info here https://www.positivebirthingparenting.com/group-courses.
🤔Want to talk it through first? Book in a free chat or sign up to the next free Taster session here https://buytickets.at/positivebirthingparenting/1114599
If you’re looking for a full birth preparation course that is empowering, light-hearted and inclusive of all births, I’m your person! Val Xx

03/05/2024

How I felt then… Overwhelmed and crushed by the weight of anxiety tormenting me with her incessant ‘what ifs’, and intrusive thoughts clouding my bonding experience, missing my own mum desperately and wanting to be mothered and be looked after. Doubting myself about whether I was good enough to be my baby’s mum. Feeling so much guilt, all the time. Distracting myself with endless baby groups, walks and visitors to get away from the intensity of the emotional rollercoaster…

What I’d tell that person now:
I’d tell her that you are a good mum. You are doing your best with what you have, you are human - some days will be tough, you will not ‘enjoy every minute’, nobody does. Feel it all, let the thoughts and emotions come - they don’t mean anything about you and your ability as a mum. This too shall pass and this season you are in, it won’t last forever. You are going through a massive transition, in the midst of extreme sleep deprivation, wild hormones and a new tiny person to care for. Give yourself time to figure it all out. Give yourself permission to rest to say no, to hibernate, to cry, to do something for you. Think of it as resourcing yourself so you have more to give to the people and the things that matter.

Tell somebody how you feel, you’ll be surprised by how many others are in the same boat - and you might make some very special friendships along the way.

Comparing yourself with others will do nothing but steal your joy. This is your motherhood and YOU decide how you want it to be. Focus on your experience and what feels right for you, your baby and your family.

And finally I’d tell her: Fasten your seatbelt for the ride of your life, and remember to open your eyes once in a while and enjoy what you can ❤️

That’s why I’m supporting and in their aim to raise awareness about maternal mental health because every mother deserves to feel seen and supported .