Hi, I’m Jackie, author of Let’s talk about preparing for your baby’s birth and I live in Crystal Palace, South East London with my partner and our two children.
I first came across hypnobirthing around 11 years ago when I discovered, with elation, that I was finally pregnant for the second time. Whilst I was of course delighted, I was not looking forward to the birth at all.
A friend told me about hypnobirthing – something I’d never heard of and felt very sceptical about! I did my research, attended a course and then spent the rest of my pregnancy relaxed, feeling in control and having tools to hand to turn to if I had a wobbly moment. I even dared to look forward to the birth!
Our practice paid off and our daughter’s birth was calm and swift. Whilst it was not a walk in the park, I would say it was pretty easy, comfortable & quite honestly incredible.
I felt like Superwoman afterwards! Literally on top of the world. Every woman should feel this way following her baby’s birth.
Starting parenthood either for the first time, or again, on the ‘good foot’, having had a birth where you felt involved, knowledgeable and in control is so important for everyone. A positive birth for one woman may be a home birth, for another it may be a planned caesarean birth, but what makes it positive is how the couple felt along the way, how involved in decisions they were, that they felt they had all the information they needed at their fingertips to make these decisions and that they had practical, useful techniques to use along the way.
My experience made me become very interested in all things birth, and amazed at how well hypnobirthing works. I decided to train with the National Childbirth Trust (NCT) – the only university-accredited qualification for antenatal teachers – gaining a Level 5 Diploma in Antenatal Education and the highly respected Licence-to-Practise in 2012 via the University of Bedfordshire. I then went on and trained as a Hypnobirthing Instructor with Katharine Graves.
Now I offer my own, successful hypnobirthing method incorporating my skills as a cognitive behavioural hypnotherapist and NCT practitioner.
The best part of facilitating hypnobirthing & NCT sessions is couples ending the course feeling knowledgeable, clear on their options, confident and as ready as they can be to meet their baby.
Take a look at the testimonial page to read some lovely birth stories direct from the parents themselves.
https://www.baby-bumps.net/hypnobirthing-testimonials/
In addition to all things pregnancy and birth, I am also a Reflexologist with over 15 years’ experience specialising in Fertility and Pregnancy Reflexology and running Baby Reflexology courses for parents. I also offer Baby Massage courses.
Lastly, I am an aromatherapist and you will soon be able to purchase soothing products to help you for pregnancy and postnatally.