For me as a dad the best thing was that the class and Hypnobirthing generally really gave me a key and important role. I felt I was an active and useful member of ‘team birth’ rather than a bystander who was just in the way. Everything from the light-touch massage and supporting visualisations, to being the gatekeeper gave me a role that was really important, making me feel I was helping my wife, rather than not knowing what to do or feeling in the way.
O. W.
Midwife led care for us was absolutely the right decision, we loved it and it made the whole pregnancy, birth and postnatal period so enjoyable because we had total confidence in you. We both found you so supportive and genuinely caring, much more so than we experienced at hospitals. There are loads of things that we loved about it all, so it’s hard to pin down some specifics but some of the things we loved best about it were: – That it was always very positive and we had total confidence in your expertise to pick-up quickly if there was anything a bit amiss, but that it wasn’t so invasive as hospital-based care. Every time I went to the hospital (before we met you,) I seemed to have endless scans and they would then use lots of jargon that I didn’t understand, which made me uneasy and feel that there could be things wrong, when the reality was that I was doing great in pregnancy! – That midwife led care always gave us options, and that the care was tailored to us. When we were deciding on things, you would give us our options in simple English and then let us decide. That wasn’t our experience in hospitals as we often felt that we were being ‘pushed’ to take a particular ‘package’ and that it was quite confusing. – The birth well, that was just completely awesome! Definitely one of the most euphoric and extraordinary experiences of our lives. It was everything we hoped it would be. And more. For us having a home birth with midwife-led care was just wonderful as we could do all the postnatal checks etc in the warm and familiar comfort of our home. You were just brilliant at doing all the checks and work so quickly and competently, but also calmly to keep the atmosphere we wanted – brilliant 😉 The postnatal care was invaluable!! Those first few days were a whirlwind getting to grips with breastfeeding etc and having you be able to come to the house and talk through any issues was just such a help! – We loved how you talked to Jake in the womb too 😉 Lots of love, N xx
Nicole
Refresher class: I liked most that I was able to ‘debrief’ our previous birth experience. It also gave me confidence to hear what we can do better (differently) next time, and that perhaps once the little hiccups (logistics) are resolved, we have what it takes to make the next time much smoother. Our two biggest discoveries in our refresher class with Red was the vocalization techniques and that the doula’s role is to support the decisions of the parents and (not make decision for them) thus they cannot speak on behalf of the parents. So we need to be more active and vocal in our participation of all the decision-making! The refresher was very useful as there were a lot of details that we had forgotten, so it was very useful to have those blanks filled in. We could ask plenty of questions that were specific to our situation, which was especially helpful because we already had a good idea of what we wanted to achieve for this birth. This helps us obtain more targeted information. Red is very open and gives a lot of down to earth advice based on real life experiences, so we benefit from that and not simply a theoretical or textbook view of Hypnobirthing. Simple things like putting up reminders for the people entering the birthing ward are practical and useful tips. How little touches and reminders can ‘hold the space’ to ensure that people entering the birthing ward can be a quiet, calm, and respectful. Red is very polite and soft spoken. She uses a gentle approach to communicate her opinions and empathizes with our views.
Ben & Xiuwen
Having a private midwife for my 5th pregnancy was a great experience. The antenatal appointments at home were so much more convenient for the whole family than going for hospital check-ups with 4 children. Red was great at involving the kids too. They would even try to feel where their little brother’s head was! Having longer appointments gave me time to ask all my questions and address any concerns in details. So different to a doctor’s room where I would only spend 5-10 minutes. During the pregnancy, I felt generally better than the previous times because more attention was given to my iron level and general diet. During the home birth, Red was very patient, even though I had a really long pre-labour. She gave me all the time I needed to labour as I wanted to. There was absolutely no rush and she ended up spending about 9 hours (!) with me to make sure I was completely well before she left. This was the first time that I could labour and birth a baby exactly as I wanted to. I had the most restful day at home after the delivery. Not being woken up all the time by hospital staff was a big bonus.:) I’m really thankful for the wonderful midwifery care I received!
Agnes
The Hypnobirthing classes made me discover that it’s possible to have really calm, positive births. I know that sounds weird but the only person I knew before that who had had a positive birth experience was (luckily for me,) my Mum. But other than that, I’d only ever heard horror stories and I’d never seen any positive birth footage or discussion, it always seemed to be something to be endured/ feared. Also that you can ‘train’ for a positive birth. I can’t think of another way to put it. But once I started viewing it in the same terms as say preparing for a big run that really helped because it framed it as something positive, but also you wouldn’t just do a marathon from scratch, you’d train for it. So we viewed all of my diet, prenatal yoga and crucially all the visualisations as part of that preparation which I did every day. That really helped because it made us feel positive and empowered, rather than nervous and disempowered. Prior to that it just seemed like whether or not you had a good birth was completely random.
Nicole
During my pregnancy Red was my midwife for prenatal visits and helped me to plan for our birth. She was thorough, gentle, and caring. She always goes the extra mile to provide support in whatever area is needed – whether that’s emotional, diet and exercise, or natural remedies to help with pregnancy symptoms. She highly respects what each woman and family wants for their birth, and supports them in that. While providing the knowledge she has to support a healthy mother and baby. I loved working with her, as the care she gives, as a midwife is so much more than what I got from my obstetrician. I highly recommend her care!
Amy
I’m very grateful that I met Red and I enjoyed and appreciated her visits a lot! She helped and supported me during the first months; I don’t know what I would have done without her! She has a great personality and an excellent knowledge about babies, breastfeeding and all other related topics. I love her nature-based approach and I can fully recommend her to all other mums-to-be! I love your personality, you are always calm and relaxed, friendly and open, not stressed or under time pressure. I love that you have a natural-based approach and that you have a great knowledge of health in general. I appreciate a lot all the advice you gave me, may it be a recommendation for breastfeeding, coconut oil, craniosacral therapy or baby massage.
Yvonne
I did Craniosacral therapy with Red at a time when emotionally I felt very shaken from my birth experience. The session definitely helped me to feel calmer and mentally helped me to resolve some issues; my baby also seemed calmer after the session and would sleep better.
A.R.
Craniosacral therapy was a wonderful way to relax ~ to have time just for myself. I became aware of the self healing ability of my body. Each time when I left Reds healing hands I could feel my body working more smoothly.
Andrea
We took the full series again even though we had taken it for our first baby also I loved simply taking the time, at least 2-3 hours a week, to tune in to the baby, together with my husband (without my little boy around 🙂 ). Becoming aware of what is happening inside, seeing it from the perspective of the baby. Since it was a refresher, most of the topics were familiar to me. The humming/sounds were new and very helpful! The tips and awareness regarding diet and eating well and diverse (and how that affects the unborn child) were very helpful and influenced my eating and drinking habits.
Marjanne
