Here are three ways to relax in early labour: It’s helpful to conserve your energy before the intensity builds up – especially if labour starts at night. Rest and even sleep between contractions lying on your left side, with your upper body well supported… …or kneel over a ball, onto a comfy pillow. If you
We received a beautiful email from Imogen, just one day after her son’s birth. — My baby was born at home at 8.10am, weighing 7lbs 9oz. My labour was 4 hours and I practiced my yoga as much as possible, imagining spiralling downwards and using sound work to breathe through the contractions. Despite having read
Jana attended Lynn’s pregnancy yoga classes and gave birth to handsome baby Leo with her husband, midwives and nurses cheering her on! It’s amazing what positive energy can do… “The birth of our son Leo started in the middle of the night. Around midnight my waters broke, I was surprised because I knew that
Birth is intimate and I think, where possible, it’s important to honour that. My husband, Bruno has a son from a previous marriage who was born by caesarean. When I told him I wanted to have our baby at home he deeply respected my decision but was understandably concerned. We decided to do a preparation
Dr Michel Odent was recently reported in the Sunday Times and The Daily Mail to claim that that women are losing their ability to give birth and breastfeed naturally, due to a rise in caesareans and a tendency to induce labour. I agree with Dr Odent completely that current induction policies are having a devastating effect on
A new book of water birth stories has been published recently – (see below). Janet Balaskas has contributed her story of the birth of her 4th baby in 1988 to this book, which we include here, plus some rare personal pictures of Janet and Theo taken a few hours after the birth. Here follows the extract from
I have always marvelled at the way nature has provided the newborn baby with a double lifeline in the critical period immediately after birth. Moments after birth, the baby takes its first independent breath. It takes a few minutes for changes to occur in the chambers of the baby’s heart so that is begins to
In my last post I wrote about having a ‘natural caesarean’, inspired by the experience of Emily and Adam, who came to my Active Birth Weekend Course, which I teach with Jill Benjoya Miller. Emily and Adam wanted to have a natural birth, but they had a ‘just-in-case’ plan for a ‘natural caesarean’, which in
