AMY’S BIRTH

"My husband and I were incredibly excited when we found out we were having our first baby. As the months progressed we started to prepare - making space in our flat, buying the first few things and then we started to think about the birth.

We really didn't know what to expect. I had heard lots of other people's birth stories (good and bad) and whilst I felt that I could probably, on a good day, just about "do it", I really wanted to feel prepared as much as possible for the experience. I started reading about Hypnobirthing and read these incredible stories about women enjoying their births and feeling no pain whatsoever during labour! Whilst I didn't really believe that could be possible, I did believe that having the right mindset - feeling strong and confident - could only be a good thing.

We met with Stina and started to talk through our thoughts and concerns about the birth. Stina is very friendly and approachable which helped us feel relaxed. We also watched videos of women giving birth - unbelievably this was the first time we had actually seen a birth - and talking about it helped bring our own birth into focus. For the first time it started to feel that we were really having this baby!

After our first session with Stina, we already felt more prepared and clearer about what might happen on the day. In between our sessions, I listened to the Hypnobirthing tape and read the Hypnobirthing book, which I really recommend doing and practising the breathing techniques. Eventually, as I had dreamed about, I went into labour feeling calm and confident that we would have a positive birth. And we did! our baby daughter was born on 14th November 2013 - after quite a long, but trouble-free labour.

We both feel that our Hypnobirthing sessions with Stina played a huge role in making us feel prepared for the day, leading to a very positive experience when our baby daughter finally arrived. Stina is a fantastic teacher and she is also incredibly kind, going out of her way to support us in the lead up to the day. We feel lucky to have met her!”  AT, London 2013