There is a secret in our culture and it is not that childbirth is painful. It’s that women are strong.” – Laura Stavoe Harm

allwoman Yoga for Birth sessions have been carefully designed to meet the needs of the birthing woman/couple and are a wonderful support to the Pregnancy Yoga classes that we offer, enabling mums-to-be and their partners to:

• discover tried and tested birthing tools, skills and techniques, including skills gleaned from Doula work such as Rebozo and movement practices to support malpresentation and optimise baby’s position ahead of labour;
• have time for sharing and discussion around options and choices, enabling you to make informed choices as to your own birth preferences;
• find out how to utilise these skills and techniques to empower you for your own unique pregnancy and birth experience.

Our Birth Preparation sessions are designed to ensure all of these techniques and skills can then be woven together in a practice run to see how they would work in the real labour environment, whether that be in hospital or at home alongside their birth partners!

Often at this stage, the mums-to-be are now at Jedi level with their breathing and movement skills and it is time to bring the dads up to speed so that they can support the mums on the day.

“Preparation gives birth to self confidence.” – Denise Harman

Our fabulous Birth Preparation sessions have been lovingly designed to help women and their birth partners/supporters prepare for the amazing experience of birth.

In these sessions, we discuss birth from a natural physiological perspective and provide you with a safe, open and nurturing space in which to gain new skills and confidence, discuss birth (in a non-medical setting) as a couple or in a small workshop environment with other parents-to-be.

These sessions are a dress rehearsal for birth, including:

• Active Birth and Movement Techniques – A blend of birth ball work, Rebozo, active birthing positions as well as helpful Yoga movements;
• Sensation Management Techniques – Includes powerful breathing techniques, practical birth skills, the power of scent and practical skills such as active legs in labour, the use of props and partner support techniques;
• Breathing, affirmation, visualisation & relaxation practices – Supplying you with a variety of techniques designed to support you through each stage of your labour, whether to help you find some balance, peace and calm, inner vitality and rejuvenation or as a support to help manage strong sensations as labour progresses through to transition;
• Birth Partner Preparation – Learn practical skills like the “hip squeeze”, useful massage and stretching techniques or Rebozo skills to use to help relax and support mum in labour …Practice makes perfect!

The course content is gleaned from ten years of Yoga teaching experience, Doula expertise, working with Mark Harris of Birthing for Blokes, a fabulous male midwife who writes about birth from a male perspective, and feedback from women giving birth and their partners as to what worked well for them.

The sessions enable you as a couple to work together, gain new skills and confidence and more importantly discover what you both want from your birth experience. It is a unique opportunity for you and your partner to connect with your baby and explore what support might mean for you, how you can work together to empower the mother and create an environment that promotes calm and relaxation for both you and baby.

Sessions can be flexible in duration to suit your needs and can be booked as a private session in your home, or as group session.

The private session length can be tailored to suit your own individual needs, however from experience 3 to 3.5 hours is optimal to enable us to go through every stage of labour in a full dress rehearsal ahead of your birth.

We also offer the option of a shared workshop with other couples of 3.5 hours.