Table of Contents

Track 1 - Introduction 02:24 Track 2 - Excitement phase 22:31 Track 3 - Serious phase 17:02 Track 4 - Reduce adrenaline 06:05

About the Author

Maggie Howell * An experienced, articulate broadcaster and media spokesperson available for interview and expert opinion * Qualified Clinical Hypnotherapist d.Hyp, c.Hyp, LHA, UKHypReg (specialising in natal hypnotherapy) * Experienced Doula (trained birth partner) * Mother of 5 sons * Founder of Natal Hypnotherapy * Pregnancy & Birth Magazine Expert to 2008 * Birth expert on Greatvine Areas of expertise: * Conception * Pregnancy * Birth - preparation, labour and post-natal * Breastfeeding and Co-sleeping * Baby sign language and communication skills * Attachment and Instinctive Parenting * Communication with children Maggie's Story Maggie is fighting the culture of fear that surrounds birth. The founder of Natal HypnotherapyA', Maggie's work has helped over 100000 women around the world to have a better birth. Maggie didn't set out to be a birth guru - in fact, she's an unlikely convert. She was a busy international sales executive who only reluctantly attended a hypnotherapy course to help her with her first birth. But she was blown away by the mind's ability to control the body's response to pain and 3 months later, she had a peaceful, manageable birth at home without so much as a paracetemol - to the surprise of her and her NHS midwife who said: Maggie appeared to be 'sleeping' during most of her contractions, breathing slightly more deeply as they peaked. She used no pharmacological methods of pain relief and conducted her labour and delivery entirely under self-hypnosis. She appeared to experience no pain and very little discomfort.A" It was the turning point in her life. Inspired by her experiences, she trained to become a clinical hypnotherapist and left her job to pursue her new life goal: to teach other women the techniques which help them have a positive birth. The result was Natal HypnotherapyA', the UK's leading provider of hypnosis for childbirth. The philosophy is simple: to help women have a better birth. Maggie's work is revolutionising women's birth experiences by teaching them to overcome fear and work with their bodies during birth. Maggie says: In our society, fear has become the overriding emotion pregnant women feel about childbirth - something fuelled by TV depictions and horror stories other mums love to tell. We have not been brought up to see birth as a positive thing, so we've lost confidence in our own ability to give birth naturally and so go into it fearful and anxious - feelings which cause much of the pain and complications in birth.A" The facts speak for themselves: Natal HypnotherapyA' users have an average caesarean rate up to half the national average and are recommended by 97% of users. Medical research has repeatedly found that hypnosis reduces surgical intervention, use of pain medication, mum's pain perception, and labour times. Maggie says: This could revolutionise the way women give birth. If we could give every pregnant woman in the UK a Natal HypnotherapyA' CD to listen to we could save the NHS a fortune and change birthing culture!A" It may not be on prescription yet, but Maggie's work is already changing the birthing world. Thanks to Maggie, effective birth preparation is no longer only available for those with the luxury of money and time. Her range of self-hypnosis CDs for pregnancy and birth, and new book effective birth preparation - your practical guide to a better birthA" are accessible for everyone, and designed to fit into a hectic life. From terrified teenage mums to women planning their sixth home birth, the techniques have helped women from all walks of life have a more positive birth. Today, Maggie has personaly trained over 500 midwives, has a network of practitioners who teach the techniques in comprehensives courses all over the country, regularly appears as a birth expert acorss the media, and has used the techniques for the births of each of her five sons plus helping in excess of 100,000 women have a better pregnancy and birth experience! Maggie in the Media * TV - This Morning, London Tonight and The Baby Channel * Radio - BBC Radio 2, Woman's Hour, BBC London, BBC Solent, County Sound, Radio Leeds, Radio Belfast, Radio Dublin * National newspapers - The Guardian, Daily Mail, Daily Express, Daily Mirror, Daily Telegraph, Sunday Express * Articles/comments written for - Prima Baby, Mother & Baby, I'm Pregnant, NCT New Generation, Flying Start, ABC, Eve Magazine, Doula UK Newsletter, Red, Womans own, That's life * Speaking appearances - 1st World Congress of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Andrology, one life exhibition at Earls court, The baby show at excel, The Tooting birth cente, Birth Professional Training at Royal Surrey Hospital, Hull Regional Midwives Conference, Association of Radical Midwives conference, Lichfield Birth centre, Hastings NHS, National Childminding Association Conference, Parent Craft workshops at Basingstoke Hospital, attachment parenting groups and home birth groups

Reviews

A.C Wishes to be Anonymous When the voice started as well and it matched the soothing voice on the preparation CD, my body automatically responded by relaxing and I found I was breathing more deeply. My husband said apart from one moan, all he could hear was heavy breathing - he even wondered if it was a false alarm and that it wasn't proper labourA" The first track was very good when I started labouring at home. The contractions were manageable and the cd was an ideal extension of the preparation cds that I had listened to previously. The imagery, soothing tones of the voice and reassurances definitely kept me calm and positive. The two other tracks were used when I arrived at the hospital and the complications became evident and I needed to stay in the zone. I continuously went back to them as my contractions became stronger and stronger and my partner used a number of the techniques (eg 3,2,1 relax) to great effect.A" Zoe Tapper I had a very start & stop labour for days which is difficult as I found it hard to keep my spirits up & stay focused. However for the 2 days that labour started for me and fizzled out the labour companion CD helped me stay focused & calm & helped stave off the disappointment of not going into full labour. I was beginning to wonder if the baby would ever arrive. 10 days after my EDD my waters broke with no accompanying pain I slept with the aid of the CD and woke at 4am with 2 pains 10 minutes apart. I called the midwife who came to the house (bearing in mind she had been on 2 previous days with mo result!) and I had very manageable pains every 10 minutes or so until 9am when she examined me again to say I was 3cm and favourable. I was disappointed as I thought it would take hours longer but as it was my 3rd baby the midwife thought baby would arrive within the hour. We went up to the bathroom and set up the gas and air and tens machine and sure enough 45 minutes later out she popped! I put my speedy labours down to hypnotherapy and great midwife support, both of which make for a fear free labour.A" Bella Jordan The first track I listened to when contractions were still relatively mild, even though at the time I thought they were quite strong! The track really helped me re-focus on what I had tuned into during the original CD. The 2nd track was really helpful just to hear the voice and the reminders to relax etc... The music also really helped. Although I have to admit I found it VERY hard to actually block out the pain... I definitely did it every now and again but it was almost easier to ride the contraction out feeling the pain, although it definitely felt better when I managed to control it!! Bearing in mind that I was sleep deprived as my early contractions had been going for days before I headed into the birth centre. The 3rd track was very helpful. I had it on regularly to bring me down off the ceiling. I would highly recommend that people buy this CD if they're buying the birth preparation CD, because I feel as though if I didn't have this CD more of my hypnotherapy prep would have gone out of the window.A" G.B. wishes to remain annonymous The labour companion CD really helped me to calm down and 'centre myself' once I realised that this was definitely it! It reminded me to use the breathing techniques and visualisations I had learned from the birth preparation cd. The cd helped me calm down instantly and got me into the right frame of mind to deal with labour. I had been really nervous about the possibility of going into a hospital, and had chosen the local midwife led unit in order to try to avoid a hospital birth. I obviously knew that transfer would still be a possibility, and was glad to have the birth companion cd available. However, meconium in the waters meant that I had to be transferred to hospital. An ambulance arrived to collect me, and despite my husband having to travel separately, I remained calm and positive. During the transfer, I went through transition. I remember this being very painful and uncomfortable, but not worrying. In the ambulance I had some 'gas and air', the only pain relief I used throughout the whole labour and birth. I arrived at the hospital at 1:30am in stage 2 of labour. I was attached to a fetal monitor, but the pads kept slipping. This meant the machine was showing a varying heart rate, but still I was able to stay calm and positive, and knew that this was a fault with the machine, and that my baby was absolutely fine. During this stage I experienced no pain at all, and after nearly 2 and a half hours of pushing, baby F was born in full health, weighing 8lb 8oz, with an APGAR score of 9/10! I unfortunately sustained a 3rd degree tear, requiring surgery, but I hadn't felt this during the birth, and (despite my prior fear of hospitals and medicalisation) approached the surgery with the same calm positivity as I had the birth!A" I was surprised to find that I accepted the news calmly, and did not panic, as I had been afraid I would. I am sure that this is attributable to the natal hypnotherapy cd's I'd used, specifically track 1 of the companion cd that had helped me to recall the birth preparation techniques I'd learned. Laura Nickell The excitement phase track helped remind me of all my preparation and get me in a positive mindset. Serious stage helped me stay focused when became intense and the Adrenaline helped me relax when scared. The birth preparation helped me the most, and the labour companion tracks reminded me of relevant stages so could focus my thoughts and remind myself what I'd learnt. I've recommended the cd and book to all my pregnant friends, I'm a worrier and it helped me immensely throughout. Thank youA" Kirsty Clifford I used your labour companion CD when I birthed my third son. As it was a very quick birth - 1 hour 50 mins from first contraction to him being born, I'm afraid I only listened to track 3 on the CD - I went straight into active labour with the first contraction, no time for the excitement phase! And as I was in transition in the lift on the way to the labour ward I wasn't able to concentrate on the CD player enough to change the track from repeat. . OK, firstly I found it immensely helpful to have the same music in the background to your birth preparation CD. Even though I was in the car I found that as soon as I heard the music I relaxed - I noticed my shoulders drop immediately, without even listening to any words. When your voice started as well and it matched the soothing voice on the preparation CD, my body automatically responded by relaxing and I found I was breathing more deeply. I wasn't always able to listen to the individual words on the CD, depending on where I was in the contraction - I dealt with them by really focusing on my breathing so zoned out sometimes - but key phrases such as 3,2,1 relax stood out and really seemed to work, I noticed myself going from grasping the door for dear life to relaxing my grip and resting my hands in my lap. My husband said apart from one moan, all he could hear was heavy breathing - he even wondered if it was a false alarm and that it wasn't proper labour! I kept the CD player on throughout the journey to the hospital, getting out of the car into the wheelchair, going in the lift and then in the labour room I had it on throughout the birth. I still heard the midwife and my husband and was able to respond to both of them, but in the background I could always hear the music and your voice. It was incredibly helpful as it seemed to just let my body get on with things without my needing to think about it - which was exactly what I wanted. I think all I said to the midwife was 'I'm pushing' and that was about it until he was born! I did have G&A but I was expecting to need that, I got a bit distressed in the lift as I was in transition (which I knew to expect) and the wheelchair went over a bump getting into the lift which distracted me, so I asked for gas as I knew from previous births that it helps me concentrate on my breathing. I didn't actually need it much since I was pretty much pushing as soon as I got there, and could feel every stage of his head and body coming out. As my body had done so well on it's own, I also felt confident enough to ask for physiological third stage which I had previously been concerned about, having had 2 x pphs. However, my body knew what it was doing and it all went fine, with no pph either. Again, I repeated 3,2,1 relax in my head to deal with the contractions to push it out and it seemed to automatically relax me. I was a little bit unsure as to whether natal hypnotherapy would work on me or not, as listening to the preparation CD in the weeks leading up to the birth I never felt 'hypnotised' - I was always scratching my nose, fidgeting in the seat and generally being aware of my surroundings despite my best attempts to sit still. I did however find them incredibly relaxing and surprisingly emotional - the first few times you spoke about the golden light warming my baby I was in tears! Given my concerns, when the time came I was amazed at how well it all worked - I genuinely didn't feel scared (even though I began to realise I was only just going to make it to hospital) and both my husband and the midwife were really surprised and impressed with how I coped as well. I have recommended hypnotherapy to anyone who has asked and cannot thank you enough for helping me to enjoy my birth so much