What the parents say about Relax & Breathe Birthing

We attended the course initially as a way to get info and find coping strategies for when the pregnancy/labour became difficult or stressful. After the first session we quickly realised that we wanted to go down the home birth route with all the benefits that brings.

The course itself essentially gave us the tools to give us the confidence in ourselves and the natural way of childbirth to allow us to have the calm, natural birth that we wanted for us and our baby. Covering everything from positions and what to expect in labour to massage techniques and birth plans the course left us feeling fully empowered and ready to face any challenges that may come during the birth.

We even recommended a drop in session to a friend who had an emergency C-section with her first baby and after speaking to Onie and Jenny it gave her the confidence to deliver her second naturally.

On our big day everything went about as smooth as we could have hoped. Tessa was amazing, helped by the little calm affirmation cards that we received as part of the course that she had placed all around the house in preparation. Little Leo was born at home in the birthing pool after just 5 hours of labour. I think the attending community midwives were a little shocked at how calm Tessa was and how quickly everything progressed given that it was our first baby.

I very much doubt that we’d have had the same experience had we not attended the course and built that level of confidence in ourselves and had access to all the amazing tools that the course gave us. We can’t thank Onie and Jenny enough!

ROBIN

We heard about hypnobirthing from a friend and after a bit of research we came across Relax and Breathe Birthing. We still speak about it: how useful and pleasant it was and how it allowed us to have a wonderful and unforgettable experience.

I felt more in control and self confident to the point that I decided to change my options and go to the midwife-led centre instead than the hospital. My husband felt more involved. He played an active part both before and during the birth of our daughter Sofia, and I could have not done it in the same way without him.

Listening to the scripts helped me to relax and prepare for the birth.

When we discovered that Sofia was misplaced and we would have a delivery with the forceps or maybe caesarian, my first feelings were disappointment and fear, but I remembered Onie’s words of how the skills learnt would have helped us even with a change of plan. I took a breath and got on with it. I will be always grateful to Onie for guiding us to a relaxed and positive experience.

Ambra

Me and my partner signed up for the Relax and Breathe Birthing course as we really wanted to broaden our understanding about the journey of pregnancy, birth and parenting.

Onie who ran the course was incredibly knowledgeable and the course covered relaxation techniques, massage, the physiological process of birth and all he options available in an in depth yet fun way. Onie was very supportive and encouraging of everyone’s personal choices and really cared about supporting each couple to explore options for their birth and helped equip each couple with tools to achieve this.

We had a peaceful water birth at home in 5 hours and welcomed our son into the world calmly. We feel all of the above helped us on our journey to achieving this and want to thank Onie and Jenny for their part in this. I couldn’t recommend Relax and Breathe Birthing highly enough.

TESSA

Everything has been excellent and made me feel so much calmer and more prepared for the arrival of the little one!

The Relax and Breathe Birthing session was brilliant, both my partner and I benefited form it, and found the atmosphere very relaxing and welcoming. We went through lots of breathing, relaxation, visualisation and massage techniques. We also were able to discuss birth options and Onie was great at answering any questions we had, and explaining things we didn’t even know about!

After only having medical advice up to this point it was great to have more emotional support and to learn about all the wonderful aspects of the birth ‘journey’. Simple things like changing the language you use when thinking about giving birth is so effective in helping improve your mindset about it all.

I would recommend this to all new parents to be…or indeed those who are parents already and want a refresher or who maybe didn’t have a great experience first time round. I now feel excited about giving birth rather than scared…which is a great improvement 🙂 Thanks Onie and team.

zoe

We just gave birth to a wonderful little boy and I just want to extend a massive thanks to Onie for helping me to have such a calm and positive birth experience. During my pregnancy, we attended a Relax & Breathe Birthing Workshop with Onie, where we learnt valuable breathing techniques, massage, shiatsu pressure points and more to assist with the birth. These classes allowed me to have a drug-free water birth with minimal pain and no screaming – my ideal birth!”

Nikki

Last year my husband and I finished the hypnobirthing course with Onie. These teachings changed us forever. 🙂 Onie is great teacher, in the same time she gives you so many informations but leaves you in calm, relaxing space. Just right place to be when you are pregnant 🙂

From the first session we decided to have homebirth, but more important was that I felt so peaceful about my incoming birth. Even my husband who didn’t know anything about it became an advocate of homebirth, especially after our son was born in such calm and familiar environment (in our living room :)). Thank you Onie.

Rea

My husband and I attended the Relax & Breathe Birthing Workshop with Onie. It was everything I could’ve hoped for and more!

My husband and I both left feeling inspired and encouraged about our upcoming birth, and that we are able to experience a really positive, calm natural birth.

The course was very detailed at the same time we didn’t get overwhelmed with information. I felt like everything was covered at the same time tailored to the small group of couples that attended. Thank you so much Onie for such an informative and insightful day!

EMMA

At 30 weeks pregnant we decided to book onto the Relax & Breathe Birthing class. The class was excellent, full of really useful information, practical tips and techniques and made us feel a lot more in control of our birth choices.

The best thing about the class is the way it is delivered; very non judgmental, inclusive and supportive of each couple. We are a lesbian couple and we arrived with a third birth partner and felt completely accepted and included thought the course. We can’t wait for our home birth and we are already trying out the relaxation, breathing and massage techniques!

ESTHER

Onie ran a 3 hour one-to-one birth preparation ‘refresher’ course with my husband and I at our house, 1 month before having our son Sam. I had done a lot of reading and we had attended an active birth workshop together, however I felt that my husband did not really ‘get’ the hypno-birthing stuff – particularly the use of visualisation techniques and massage.

Onie – I just wanted to say a big thanks from John and I. All the ideas you gave us were great and the few hours we spent with you were a real turning point in our ‘joint’ approach to child birth. Sam was born in a pool at home and it was a truly wonderful experience.

John was fantastic and totally relaxed and really believed in me and the use of hypno-birthing techniques. He now tells all pregnant folks to do it! I particularly think your pragmatic and down to earth approach helped John see beyond the ‘hippy’ name and understand the science behind the techniques. Thanks again – I always recommend your classes to others too. We loved it!

KATE AND JOHN

I took part in one of Onie’s course with my husband. We found the course helpful and interesting, and used the relaxation techniques a lot. I was planning a hospital birth, but wanted to try to avoid the use of too many drugs and interventions. We chose the hypnobirthing course as it we hoped it would give us tools which would help me to achieve the birth I was hoping for.

The relaxation techniques were invaluable during my pregnancy – I used them to help me get to sleep most nights and also used them at other times, including the drive to and from work. I have also been using them to help me get to sleep since the birth of our daughter.

Our aim for a natural labour and delivery didn’t go to plan, as I was eventually induced, required a drip to start my labour and had a forceps delivery. I used the techiniques learned at hypnobirthing, especially relaxation and visualistion, throughout the induction process (which was 2.5 days from start to finish). It was invaluable at key points, including when my epidural was administered and when we were taken to theatre for the delivery which made both me and my husband feel very anxious.

It was a huge help to us that hypnobirthing techniques were relevant to the labour and birth that we experienced.

Emma

When my husband and I first heard of hypnobirthing we were sceptical to say the least. However we wholeheartedly threw ourselves into it and found that it wasn’t as wacky as we thought!

When people ask me now what it is I say, basically a set of activities to help you relax and prepare for birth. You pick the ones that resonate with you and practice, practice, practice.

Onie is a fabulous teacher and her course was very interactive, informative and fun. It’s only really on your baby’s birth day that you realise how powerful the mind is.

We had the perfect birth, it was exactly as I had dreamed of, most of the labour at home, 9 cms dilated on arrival, no pain and a beautiful water birth (we christened a room in the new birthing suite at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.) We both feel totally blessed in every way.

LISA AND DOM

My husband and I attended the hypnobirthing class with Onie earlier this year. I had been recommended hypnobirthing by some friends and I was keen to attend as I felt quite fearful by the thought of giving birth and also seemed to only hear horror stories from less than helpful collegues and family.

The course really helped my husband and I approach pregnancy and labour with a positive frame of mind and confidence. I gave birth to my son in the birthing centre and used lots of the techniques we learnt on the course.

We both felt very positive about the birthing experience and calm throughout even when things didn’t go exactly to plan. I would highly recommend this course with Onie- it had a good balance of theory and practical and felt informal and relaxed.

ALISON

My husband and I did the hypnobirthing course with Onie and would highly recommend it to anyone who not only aim for a natural birth but to all of those who want to build their confidence and knowledge of this amazing but challenging process.

The course gave us tools to remain calm and positive even in the face of the unexpected. Onie kindly agreed to be present during the birth of our son and even when all of my natural birth plan had to be ditched, I could still feel in control knowing that we were making informed choices from the start.

Onie was a key part of this process, thinking it through with us, at every turn of events. She brought calm and peace to the birthing of my son with her background support and knowledge, which helped us have the clarity and confidence to make the right decisions. I cannot thank her enough for all of what she did for us three. She is the BEST!

LAIZ AND NEIL

It has been almost 5 months since I had my baby girl. I have since met a lot of mothers and heard a lot of stories about birth. After my experience with hypnobirthing, I would just like to say that I would strongly recommend the classes to all pregnant women.

The workshops are very relaxed but also very informative and structured, filled with educational videos and comprehensive handouts. I knew what I was signing up to but my partner was very sceptical. Now he acknowledges its benefits and was happy with the guidance and structured approach, overall he enjoyed the whole experience.

Personally, the course gave me the invaluable knowledge of what is possible and what choices I had when it came to the birth of my child and that it emphasised the point that every woman should have peaceful and respectful environment in which she can bring a child into this world.

My birth was calm and undisturbed, with little intervention by medical staff, I got the water birth I requested and was able to bring my daughter into the world in harmony with the rhythm of nature. My daughter Matylda is a very happy and easy going baby and as her first minutes in this world very peaceful, she is a calm and easily content baby.

Onie, thank you very much for all the excellent class and the experience and confidence it gave me!

DOROTA

My husband and I decided that we wanted to attend a hypnobirthing course as part of the birth preparation for our first baby. This was the first antenatal course that we attended and we appreciated the small group size and ease of discussion within the group (well facilitated by Onie).

Onie does not just explain and teach hypnobirthing techniques but also brings in a wealth of other information such as demystifying different approaches to birth and massage techniques, all in an accessible, down to earth way. My husband was initially worried that the course may be a bit ‘flakey’ for him but quickly recognised that Onie’s approach was based on fact and professional knowledge and really looked forward to the sessions. In fact, when we attended other antenatal classes he realised how much he already knew about birth and the options available compared to the other dads and felt part of all the decisions at a very early stage.

The birth itself ended up very different to what we had planned. We had wanted a water birth at home but having started the labour at home I ended up having a non-emergency transfer to hospital. It later transpired our son was ‘face up’ which was why I didn’t dilate even after a long labour. We had previously decided not to have someone else with us at the birth (other than medical staff) but had asked Onie to be our doula phone support. She was a massive help throughout the labour. We called her at every stage as circumstances changed. She supported us in helping us explore how we felt about our options, so that we felt comfortable making the decisions that were right for us.

Although the birth was not what we had ideally planned – our son was eventually born via non-emergency c section – we both feel very positive about our birth experience. This is largely down to the relaxation techniques we learnt in our hypnobirthing course (very useful for me when I got to hospital as I am sacred of needles!) and the opportunity we had to explore our choices at each stage. Onie’s phone support during the labour was also invaluable at a time when the situation was changing all the time. A big thanks to Onie for all your help and support throughout my pregnancy and birth.

JO