Our courses
A course with This Mother Can provides you with comprehensive childbirth education and then some!
We’ll cover all the things you would expect – the physiology of birth, the different stages of labor, the vital role of the birth partner, coping techniques and options for pain relief, to name just a few – in addition to the amazing principles of hypnobirthing and some fabulous tools to help your mind and body relax during pregnancy, labour and birth.
Hypno-what?
WAIT! Before you run for the hills, hear me out for just a minute!!
Hypnobirthing is a type of childbirth education that allows you to prepare your mind and body to approach birth calmly and confidently. It’s a gentle and informed practice that has been developed over 70+ years and has been quietly revolutionising the way that women approach and give birth all over the world.
Everything about hypnobirthing is rooted in science – in fact, that’s exactly where we start in our first session:
We’ll explore the physiology of birth – the way the great hormones of birth kick things off and allow labor to progress, and how adrenaline can get in the way and make things more difficult.
Next, we’ll look at the connection between the mind and the body to understand how certain pre-conceived ideas about birth can literally alter your hormonal response and make labor more challenging. Unfortunately many of us in the modern, Western world have been conditioned to be fearful of birth. It’s totally normal to feel that way, but it’s not conducive to having a calm and confident labor, so we need to explore that cycle in order to release those anxieties.
We’ll acknowledge and discuss the specific questions and fears you might have about birth, including what your options are during labor and delivery (yes, you do have choices!), and how to advocate for yourself in a calm and confident way.
Finally, armed with all of this knowledge, we’ll equip you with a brilliant bank of tools and techniques – including breathing exercises, guided visualizations and light-touch massage – that will allow you to literally re-train your mind to feel positive about birth, and help your body relax as fully and deeply as possible. Muscle memory is a powerful thing, and when practiced regularly, these simple but incredibly effective tools become second nature, so that when you go into labor you can switch yourself into this deep state of self-relaxation quickly, allowing your body to do its work with minimal barriers.
When taken together, the components of a This Mother Can course allow both you and your partner to develop a hugely calm and confident mindset about birth so that when the big day comes, you feel present, supported and in control. This gentle and incredibly empowering approach to birth will allow you both to bond with your baby before they arrive, give you the time and space to communicate with and support each other at this pivotal time, and allow you both to feel confident in trusting your instincts as you journey into parenthood.
Hmm, I’m still not sure – ‘hypnobirthing’ sounds a bit of a reach…
Hey, we get it! The term ‘hypnobirthing’ conjures up all sorts of images of elaborate and whacky stage hypnosis, which could not be further from what you’ll be doing. We’ll talk about this all in our sessions, but for now if you’d like to get a feel for what hypnobirthing actually looks like, take a look at this video of a calm and empowering hypnobirth.
Call it a mindful approach to birth, if you prefer. Call it informed, empowering birth education. Call it putting the woman in control of how her birth unfolds. Whatever you feel comfortable calling it, it’s incredible, and we want more people to have the knowledge and skills to be able to birth this way!
Find out more about how our classes are offered, pricing and upcoming dates.