Skip to main content
Read page text
page 30
FAMILY / BIRTH 'We discuss different images we would like to think about while we breathe to help us achieve an even deeper relaxed state' > refresher session nearer our due dates) we practice breathing – counting steadily in and out, slower for between surges, a little faster during them. We discuss different images we would like to think about while we breathe to help us achieve an even deeper relaxed state. Mine is a big red balloon, which fills with air as I fill my lungs and floats majestically away into a clear blue sky as I exhale – the metaphor being the tension and fear leaving my body and floating away too. We are given two CDs to take away to practice our relaxation exercises with. The "affirmations" disc has empowering statements reassuring the listener that she can have the birth she wants repeated in a calming voice, and the other, which I prefer, with just relaxation music. As someone not prone to just sitting for sitting’s sake, I find doing my homework rather wonderful as it forces me to take the time to stop racing around and simply relax – something that isn’t easy when you have a toddler to look after as well as a growing bump. I try to do the exercises every day once my son is asleep, either lying on my bed or soaking in the tub. In the class, Rose talks about different tried and tested positions to ease the birth (the standard lying on your back does not help gravity). She even gives us a list of phrases to say if the medical staff try to intervene and you are unsure if this is the direction you want to take. She is keen for us to try and make the space we birth in, if we are not at home, to be as homely as we can make it. The hospital room, a notoriously starchy and clinical place, can be quickly softened she advises by scented candles, photos of loved ones and our own pillows. She suggests covering the clocks (no pressure, just listening to your body and nothing else) and hanging a sign outside the door to let the midwives know you are having a hypnobirth and prevent them from crashing noisily in just when you have achieved that perfect symmetry of peace and tranquillity. REAL-LIFE EXPERIENCE So did it work for me? I like to think it did. While I admit that my birth was certainly not painfree, I used the breathing techniques through every surge and was amazed that when I arrived at the hospital I was practically fully dilated. Our daughter Emily arrived just 20 minutes after we walked through the doors of the delivery suite. My midwife didn’t even manage to fill out her paperwork (and I was not able to make the room more “homely” although this was the last thing on my mind) and I just had time for a few puffs of gas and air before the room filled with the sound of our crying newborn. I breathed through the whole thing with no pain relief. Clare Smith, who also did Rose’s course, was equally delighted at how much the techniques helped her achieve > 30 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2015 www.thegreenparent.co.uk CREATING THE BEST BIRTHING ENVIRONMENT 1Use aromatherapy oils (many hospitals offer this) 2Make sure that your birthing partner and you have discussed your options for birth beforehand so you are confident that he/she can advocate on your behalf and that he/she understands and feels secure in their role as birthing partner. 3Stimulate oxytocin! Take something from a room at home that you love and feel very relaxed in, or a photo that makes you smile and feel happy whenever you look at it. 4Move any clocks or anything related to time from the mother’s view and avoid ‘clockwatching’. A birthing mother when she is properly in her birthing zone will experience what is known as time distortion. Meaning that she will be unaware of time passing, many women who have used hypnobirthing will think that their labour was much quicker than it really was. 5Keep the room calm, anxiety is contagious and if your birthing partner is anxious you will pick up on that anxiety. With thanks to Sophie at mindfulmamma.co.uk.
page 31
It’s not just about BABY... YOU deserve the best experience too! Your placenta can be made into smoothies, capsules, tinctures, essences, creams, balms and homeopathic remedies for your own use after birth. Hundreds of mothers around the UK are speaking out about their positive experiences with placenta remedies. “Compared to my first baby’s birth, I definitely stopped bleeding sooner and my milk came in quicker. I’m delighted I have my capsules and will save the rest for when I’m in need. “It made a huge difference to both me and baby. Especially emotionally. The placenta tincture is invaluable, my son is a different baby after, it always calms him. The capsules helped me get my equilibrium back straight away, a clear significant impact.” “I have benefitted so greatly from placenta encapsulation that I believe it should be optional for every birth as standard NHS practice. Should the ongoing legislation to outlaw it pass, I for one would be dismayed and outraged at losing such a valuable and worthwhile service.” “I couldn’t recommend the capsules more highly. I suffered from postnatal anxiety after my first child and took the pills to prevent that. Not only did they help my emotional well being but also boosted my milk supply and were an amazing energy boost.” “Because my birth went so well I wasn’t sure that I really needed the capsules in the end, but when I stopped taking them for three days I felt low and tearful at times. I began to take them again and felt ‘normal’ again and had many ‘you look amazing’ comments. That was proof enough to me that the capsules were doing their job, I’ve recommended them to all of my pregnant friends.” ”“My friends and family couldn’t believe how well I looked and acted after just three weeks of giving birth. If I have another baby I will most definitely be doing it again.” “I believe it was because of my placenta pills and smoothie that I recovered as quickly as I did from the birth. I lost a lot of blood and I was unable to breastfeed immediately or give my newborn skin to skin for many hours. My baby was also fully tongue tied—but none of these factors affected my ability to breastfeed. My milk was abundant, and effortless. Also, despite feeling horribly low after a few days of giving birth I simply took one of my placenta pills and instantly felt tonnes better. More upbeat and energised. Thank god for my happy pills! Thank you IPEN!” “Taking my placenta as capsules gave me a mental boost, whether the effects were placebo or not (it was my first baby). I have felt amazing and energised throughout the first six months of my baby’s life and my milk supply has been excellent. I heard recently that the services offered by IPEN specialists are under threat because of European rulings about exotic foods. I would be so very sad if I had another baby and this service was no longer available. It gave me the mental and physical boost to have the best post birth experience possible.” www.placentanetwork.com Help Us Save Placenta Services The Food Standards Agency (FSA) are deliberating the regulation of human placenta and are inclined to name YOUR placenta a ‘novel food’. Novel foods are GMO’s, food colourants and other exotic foods which require strict regulation. Tell the FSA to make an exception in the novel food regulation for placenta services by signing our PETITION - Google ‘change.org placenta’

Page Text

View plaintext

It’s not just about BABY... YOU deserve the best experience too!

Your placenta can be made into smoothies, capsules, tinctures, essences, creams, balms and homeopathic remedies for your own use after birth.

Hundreds of mothers around the UK are speaking out about their positive experiences with placenta remedies.

“Compared to my first baby’s birth, I definitely stopped bleeding sooner and my milk came in quicker. I’m delighted I have my capsules and will save the rest for when I’m in need.

“It made a huge difference to both me and baby. Especially emotionally. The placenta tincture is invaluable, my son is a different baby after, it always calms him. The capsules helped me get my equilibrium back straight away, a clear significant impact.”

“I have benefitted so greatly from placenta encapsulation that I believe it should be optional for every birth as standard NHS practice. Should the ongoing legislation to outlaw it pass, I for one would be dismayed and outraged at losing such a valuable and worthwhile service.”

“I couldn’t recommend the capsules more highly. I suffered from postnatal anxiety after my first child and took the pills to prevent that. Not only did they help my emotional well being but also boosted my milk supply and were an amazing energy boost.”

“Because my birth went so well I wasn’t sure that I really needed the capsules in the end, but when I stopped taking them for three days I felt low and tearful at times. I began to take them again and felt ‘normal’ again and had many ‘you look amazing’ comments. That was proof enough to me that the capsules were doing their job, I’ve recommended them to all of my pregnant friends.”

”“My friends and family couldn’t believe how well I looked and acted after just three weeks of giving birth. If I have another baby I will most definitely be doing it again.”

“I believe it was because of my placenta pills and smoothie that I recovered as quickly as I did from the birth. I lost a lot of blood and I was unable to breastfeed immediately or give my newborn skin to skin for many hours. My baby was also fully tongue tied—but none of these factors affected my ability to breastfeed. My milk was abundant, and effortless. Also, despite feeling horribly low after a few days of giving birth I simply took one of my placenta pills and instantly felt tonnes better. More upbeat and energised. Thank god for my happy pills! Thank you IPEN!”

“Taking my placenta as capsules gave me a mental boost, whether the effects were placebo or not (it was my first baby). I have felt amazing and energised throughout the first six months of my baby’s life and my milk supply has been excellent.

I heard recently that the services offered by IPEN specialists are under threat because of European rulings about exotic foods. I would be so very sad if I had another baby and this service was no longer available. It gave me the mental and physical boost to have the best post birth experience possible.”

www.placentanetwork.com

Help Us Save Placenta Services

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) are deliberating the regulation of human placenta and are inclined to name YOUR placenta a ‘novel food’. Novel foods are GMO’s, food colourants and other exotic foods which require strict regulation.

Tell the FSA to make an exception in the novel food regulation for placenta services by signing our PETITION - Google ‘change.org placenta’

read next page

My Bookmarks

Buy this Book
Skip to main content