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Pregnancy, Birth, Postnatal and Infant Feeding

Doulas Supporting Families with: Formula Feeding and Mixed Feeding

May 16, 2022

Photo of Shel Banks, formula feeding and mix feeding expert. Shel is a white woman with blonde hair and glasses.

By Shel Banks and Emma Ashworth

Doulas who are supporting families postnatally will frequently work with women and birthing people who have made the decision to feed their baby formula, or to mix feed (part formula, part breastmilk). The decision to formula feed or mix feed can be a very positive one for some families. For others it may not be what they wanted, and for some it can be devastating. You, the doula, can make a huge difference to each family by listening to them, hearing their feelings and reflecting them without judgement, and if they wish it, by signposting them to support and information.

Doulas are not expected to be infant feeding specialists. If you are a doula and you also have training in infant feeding, for instance as a peer supporter, breastfeeding counsellor or IBCLC, it’s always important to ensure that you are clear about which ‘hat’ you are wearing when you offer support to doula clients. This article offers doulas some key tips to help you to support families who are formula or mix feeding – things that doulas have told us they wish they’d known before they were supporting families in these situations. Remember that your super power as a doula is to signpost to excellent quality information, so keep this article and the links in it saved for when you might need it!

Expensive formula isn’t necessarily a better formula
By law in the UK, all infant formula needs to have the same core ingredients, which provide the vitamins and minerals, and the right mix of fats, proteins and carbohydrates for a baby’s health. All  infant formulas sold in the UK from the most expensive to the least expensive will, therefore, provide babies with the calories and nutrients they need to thrive.

Some infant formulas have added ingredients, with a variety of claims attached to them, which may or may not have benefits to babies, but they can make the formula much more expensive. These ingredients may make medical claims (for instance, formula for babies with reflux), or developmental claims (for instance, ingredients which help to develop eyesight). Families may appreciate knowing that their baby’s nutritional needs will be fulfilled without having to buy the premium brands, but also that some of these claims of benefits may actually be at best misleading and in some cases harmful. (https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/BUSTING-THE-MYTH-OF-SCIENCE-BASED-FORMULA.pdf)

Paced feeding
Breastfeeding babies generally follow a suckling pattern which can be seen as active suckling/mouth movements followed by a few moments of rest/not suckling. This allows the baby to control the flow of milk into their mouth, and to stop when they’re full; it’s what babies are expecting.

When feeding babies infant formula or breast milk from a bottle, they cannot control the flow of the milk in the same way as from the breast. If the bottle is held so that the milk continues to flow, they have no choice but to keep swallowing to avoid choking. This can lead to a few different problems:

  • Some babies start to prefer this fast flow, which leads them to become fussy on the breast if they are also breastfed, as they’re expecting the milk to come without them having to do the work.
  • If too much milk is swallowed, the baby can become over fed and more prone to vomiting, stomach pain or reflux pain.

By using the paced bottle feeding technique, the baby has more of a chance to feed at their own pace, and have the chance to stop and swallow, and not be overwhelmed by the milk flow.

This is a great video to show how to do paced bottle feeding: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuZXD1hIW8Q

IBCLC Kelly Bonyata has a useful web page on paced bottle feeding: https://kellymom.com/bf/pumpingmoms/feeding-tools/bottle-feeding/

Pre-made formula is safer and quicker than powdered formula

Infant formula power is not sterile, and it can grow bacteria, funguses and viruses. This is why it’s important to always use water that’s around 70 degrees centigrade on the powder. This is hot enough to kill any pathogens that are on it, but not so hot that it destroys the vitamins. Of course, the bottle then needs to be cooled to be safe to feed to your baby.

This doesn’t mean that if you make up bottles differently that every baby will become sick. It simply means that sometimes a dangerous pathogen may be able to grow in the formula, and that this will make some babies sick – sometimes very seriously.

This does make it challenging to make bottles quickly. Because of this, pre-made or ‘ready to feed’ formula, which is sterile until the bottle or carton is opened, is a safer and quicker way to feed formula. Unfortunately, it’s much more expensive than powdered formula, but it might be helpful to some parents to keep some stock of pre-made formula to use when a bottle is needed really quickly, or for night time or when out and about.

Pre-made formula may be less likely to clog up the tubes of a nursing supplementer. (link: https://www.laleche.org.uk/nursing-supplementers/)

Every Drop Counts

Human breastmilk contains all of the nutrition that a baby needs, but it also contains unique components which cannot be manufactured and put into infant formula. For this reason, if a mother or birth parent wants to, and is able to, provide any breastmilk, even if it’s only a small amount, it will be valuable to their baby’s health.

If parents are feeding both breastmilk and formula to their baby, feeding the breastmilk first means that the baby gets as much as possible, and as little as possible is wasted. This might look like feeding from the breast or chest before offering expressed milk, if available, in a bottle (or syringe, cup, nursing supplementer, etc), then any necessary formula. Or it may mean feeding expressed breastmilk in the bottle (cup, etc) first, then, once that’s all drunk, feeding the formula. Mixing breastmilk and formula risks milk being left over which includes those vital, precious mls of breastmilk. 

Further Resources on formula feeding, mix feeding and bottle feeding:

Responsive Bottle Feeding – A Unicef Guide

First Steps Nutrition – a vast amount of information on infant formula and infant nutrition

A Guide to Safe Bottle Feeding – A Unicef Guide

What are the different types formula milks? – more from First Steps Nutrition

“Why Formula Feeding Matters” by Shel Banks, published by Pinter & Martin January 2022

https://www.pinterandmartin.com/why-formula-feeding-matters


Shel Banks is an experienced UK-based IBCLC, and works in the NHS as well as working and volunteering for various national and international organisations in the world of infant feeding and early parenting. In addition to a small private practice as an IBCLC, she is Clinical Director for LatchAid, an innovative app to support breastfeeding and lactation. Specialising in the unsettled baby with symptoms of colic, reflux, allergy and faltering weight, she has long been troubled by the impact this has on the family and has spent time as a committee member on 3 infant feeding-focussed NICE Guidelines – including NG75 on Faltering weight in Infants and Young Children, published first in 2017. Shel has seen a gap in the evidence base around how exactly to manage these unsettled babies and so improve family wellbeing, and so has begun PhD research focussing on a strategy to improve things for families, through their contacts with frontline health professionals. Shel has 4 adolescent children, and lives in Lancashire.

Emma Ashworth is a breastfeeding counsellor, and blog editor for Nurturing Birth.

Filed Under: Pregnancy, Birth, Postnatal and Infant Feeding Tagged With: doulas supporting families to formula feed, doulas supporting families to mix feed, Formula feeding, mix feeding

Matrescence: The untold story of a Mother’s becoming…

January 10, 2022

Photo of Charlotte Bailey and her daughter. They are both white. Charlotte has long, dark hair and wears a red top. Her daughter has light brown mid length hair and a white top. She wears pink glasses.

By Charlotte Bailey

No one told me it would be like this. I had wanted a baby since my teenage years. I’d craved the closeness of a newborn, fantasised over the kind of happy, centered mother I’d be and yearned for the love shared between parent and child. However, when my first child was born, what I felt bore very little resemblance to that which I’d anticipated.

The seismic shift in identity, from maiden to mother, left me feeling lost, unable to reconcile the woman I saw in the mirror with the one I felt inside. I saw myself as a sort of ghost, aimlessly drifting between who I was before and who I was expected to become. I grieved for the loss of that sense of self and the apparent loss of the things I used to do before…before having this baby.

I was so angry because nobody told me. Nobody told me that I could have all this love but that it would come at a cost; that motherhood was a trade-off. In order to have a baby, I’d need to become a mother and that meant putting my needs to the side, even those very basic physical needs such as going to the bathroom when I needed – preferably alone! – eating, exercising, making love…

I felt ashamed because I was struggling. I felt regret at having ‘done this’ to my relationship. I loved my daughter intensely but I hated how invisible and disconnected I felt. I believed I was alone in my suffering. I thought nobody would understand. I feared I’d never feel happy again. Sometimes I would fantasise about stepping out into a busy road, being hit by a car and breaking my pelvis or a hip. Surely, that would put me in hospital long enough that I could have a break from ‘mothering’ and find a way to reconnect with myself. 

I don’t remember exactly when things got better. I do recall a 5-Day work trip to Las Vegas – without my daughter – just before her second birthday. I had this energising sense of absolute freedom. I could see the light… And gradually, as she started nursery, I began to work more, and she started waking less at night… I sort of, somehow, returned. Not exactly the same but good enough. Better, in fact. Evolved, maybe.

Parent or not, most of us will have felt as I did at another time in life… Do you remember? When you were unsure of who you were, of what was expected of you, of what you wanted or needed? When you had all the feelings and none of the vocabulary to articulate them? Do you remember that time when hormones surged through your body and you flew from one extreme emotional state to the next? Body hair appearing in surprising places, bodily odours to make your eyes water and spots, so many spots!

We all transitioned from childhood to adulthood through our pubescence years, through adolescence. During this time our bodies and brains were in radical change. Hormones altered everything from how we looked to how we felt and thought. Countless new neural pathways were winding their way through our expanding brains as we learnt to ‘level-up’.

Physiologically, the changes experienced in the body and brain of a new mother are akin to those seen in the adolescent teen. As women and birthing people transition into parenthood, great neurobiological adaptations occur. It is no wonder that we can feel as lost during this time, as perhaps we did in our teenage years.

First coined by anthropologist Dana Raphael, the conceptual term matrescence describes the transition into motherhood, thought to commence in pregnancy and continue until at least a year after a baby is born.  Clinical Psychologist, Dr. Aurelie Athan in her 2015 publication Maternal psychology: Reflections on the 20th anniversary of Deconstructing Developmental Psychology discusses changes the new mother navigates including those which are…physical (changes in body, hormonal fluctuations); psychological (e.g., identity, personality, defensive structure, self-esteem); social (e.g., re-evaluation of friendships, forgiveness of loved ones, gains in social status, or loss of professional status), and spiritual (e.g., existential questioning, re-commitment to faith, increased religious/spiritual practices).

That’s a lot of shifting!

I speak to many new, first-time mothers and there are many commonalities in the feelings they describe. One new mother – a high-income earning professional woman used to managing large teams and making huge decisions – said she’d lost the ability to make even the simplest of decisions such as what to have for breakfast and that the confidence she had felt as working professional in a cut-throat corporate environment had completely vanished. Since having her son, she continually felt worried, second-guessed her decisions and doubted her ability as a mother. The feelings of uncertainty and self-doubt were so unfamiliar for her, she was finding it difficult to understand the changes she was experiencing. Reassuringly, after a few months things calmed down, she gained confidence and began enjoying motherhood so much that she decided not to return to the corporate world but to retrain and work part time around the needs of her son.

Similarly, I sat with a first-time mum one afternoon who shared with me that she would often wake throughout the night to check her baby was breathing. No matter how many times she checked, she was rarely reassured. She also explained that she would imagine frightening things happening when they left the house. The intrusive thoughts concerned her and she wondered if she was developing postnatal depression. Thankfully, by shining a light on the prevalence of intrusive thoughts during the postnatal period, talking through whether the intrusive thoughts were impacting her ability to go about her day in a ‘normal’ way, and by supporting her to get a few decent night’s sleep, she moved through this stage fairly quickly and the intrusive thoughts soon stopped.

Another new mother I spoke at length with explained that since having her baby she’d felt a real disconnect from her partner. Certain idiosyncrasies of his really bothered her, things that she’d found quite endearing before giving birth. Mainly, she was irritable and frustrated.

She realised she was focussing those feelings on her partner, but actually they were really generalised. She noticed she had also been distancing herself from her ‘new-mum group’ both from their virtual chat and from their meet-ups because she also felt annoyed in their presence. She also felt great sadness about the prospect of not being able to do the things she had so enjoyed before having a baby such as visiting galleries and having the time to indulge in her own creative projects.

With some support, she was able to create time to start to paint and we found a local gallery that she could walk to with the pram. Gradually she began to see a way to integrate some of those things that were important to her sense of identity, and in doing so, she felt more like her old self and more able to enjoy the company of others.

Irritability, annoyance, frustration, a sense of dissatisfaction, disappointment, loss/ grief, hypervigilance and intrusive thoughts; these are all commonly experienced during one’s matrescence. With puberty, we expect and accept that a teenager’s experience of adolescence will be challenging at times. And yet the same consideration is not offered to a mother navigating her matrescence. Societally we expect new mothers to be happy, grateful, blissful, albeit tired but on the whole, positive. If a new mother communicates that she is feeling conflicted or challenged, she is often assumed to be experiencing postnatal depression and yet her set of ‘symptoms’ don’t fit within the clinical definition of depression. Or, she is incorrectly diagnosed with postnatal depression and prescribed medications and/or often a course of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.

So, how can we better support new mothers throughout their matrescence so that they receive the right kind of support?

Firstly, we need to normalise Matresence but understanding that ‘discomfort’ is not the same as ‘disease’ and by communicating with each other honestly and openly with each other about how the transition into parenthood can feel. De-stigmatising the tougher feelings connected to becoming a mother can only be achieved when we shine a bright light on these aspects, drawing them out of the shadows, dragging them away from guilt and shame and towards a more compassionate place of acceptance.

Secondly, creating adequate time and ritualised space for a new mother to become could be so beneficial for so many. In the west we seem to have largely forgotten the practice of, and the need for a lying-in period; that sacred time, often around 6-weeks or 40 days post birth where a new mother is nurtured, pampered, massaged, nourished, supported and loved upon. She gets to rest, heal and recover whilst taking all the time she needs to learn how to tune in and respond to the needs of her babe. A modern version of a traditional postnatal confinement may help in lessening the stresses of managing everyday tasks, in order that new parents can more securely navigate the rollercoaster of matrescence. 

And finally, I am a firm believer that nobody ought to ride the waves of early parenthood alone. We are social creatures who have benefited since the beginning of mankind from living communally. So, if you are expecting or planning a baby soon, you may want to consider who you can gather to be your supportive network, or your ‘postnatal power-team’ as I like to refer to it. Your Power Team might include reliable friends and family who can offer practical support around your home by taking responsibility for the daily chores and preparing nourishing foods. Your Power Team might include professionals to care for your emotional needs – such as therapists and counsellors – and your physical needs – such as lactation consultants, women’s health specialists or physiotherapists. It could also include holistic therapists to help calm and ground your energy as well as boost your oxytocin levels – think massage therapists, reiki healers, reflexologists, osteopaths. 

And if all this seems like WAY TOO MUCH of a bother, you might consider hiring a rockstar postnatal doula who will facilitate the assembly of your Power Team and tend to all of your practical, emotional and informational needs. Some Doulas are incredible cooks and highly skilled in cooking nourishing meals designed to aid healing and recovery from childbirth. A Doula could support you throughout your matrescence by offering assurance and enabling you to build your confidence in your new role, in your own time and your own, unique way. 


Charlotte is a mother of two fierce little brave-heart girls. She is a Birth and Postnatal Doula who lives and works in Hampshire. Charlotte is a Birth Warrior on a mission to enable all women to conquer their fears around childbirth and step brazenly into their potential as courageous parents. You can email her at [email protected] 

Charlotte’s Nurturing Birth Directory listing is here: https://nurturingbirthdirectory.com/doulas/united-kingdom/hampshire/winchester/charlotte-bailey/

Filed Under: About Doulaing, Pregnancy, Birth, Postnatal and Infant Feeding Tagged With: becoming a mother, Matrescence, postnatal doula

Christmas Gifts for birth workers!

December 8, 2021

Here at Nurturing Birth we’ve curated a list of the most amazing Christmas gifts for birth workers. Why not ‘accidentally’ send a link to your friends and family, post it on Facebook as a hint, or just treat yourself so you know you’ll get the gift you really want this Christmas!

Hang it all out there…

Macrame wall hangings images - boob design and vulva design.

Boldly going where string has never gone before, we absolutely adore these incredible wall hangings. Boob macramé which features a plant pot holder, or a yoni version which would adorn your walls with a certain level of subtlety.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/seasonsoforigine/

“I made a difference to that one”

Silver starfish pendant

Many doulas know the Starfish Story, an inspiring tale adapted from Loren Eiseley’s original essay, “The Star Thrower”. In the adaptations, the story tells of a discussion on the beach between two people. Lying around them are thousands of dying starfish, thrown onto the land after a storm. One of the people crouches down, picks up a starfish and throws it into the water, saving its life. The second person asks why they bother – they can’t save them all, they can’t make a difference. The first person doesn’t answer immediately; instead they pick up another starfish and they throw it into the waves. Then they turn to the second person and respond, “I made a difference to that one.”

As doulas, we make a difference even if we can’t change the whole of world of maternity. We wear starfish as a symbol of the fact that every person that we support matters, and we made a difference to that person.

These stunning starfish pendants are the perfect way to remember that we all make a difference.

https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/PurpleMoonbyjuls

Nurturing Birth’s Nurturing Gifts

Blue gift voucher with the Nurturing Birth logo, the words Gift Voucher in white and red flowers on a blue background.

Do you know someone who would make an amazing doula? Or would you yourself like fewer ‘things’ and instead have people donate to your life’s passion?

You can buy a Nurturing Birth Gift Voucher for someone else – or add them to your own Christmas wish list – redeemable against any of our workshops and courses.

Simply email [email protected] to order.

“Look what we found!”

A pink clitoris model hanging from a Christmas Tree.

Part beautiful Christmas decoration, part educational opportunity, this 3D printed clitoris is the perfect addition to every birth worker’s Christmas tree! The more that these images of the clitoris are shared, the more people realise how big this incredible organ is. If nothing else it looks like unusual and pretty Christmas tree décor!

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/742986958/clitoris-model-figure-christmas-tree

The Pelvis and Baby – a Practical Doula Gift!

Crocheted white pelvis, pink skinned baby doll with attached umbilical cord and placenta, and a pink uterus.

Many doulas, especially those who do antenatal education, like to include information about how babies pass through their mother or birth parent’s pelvis during birth. This lovely hand-crocheted pelvis comes with a detailed uterus and baby with umbilical cord and placenta, supporting doulas to explain lots of interesting facts about birth. A very useful tool for the doula kit.

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/749231435/pelvis-and-fetal-uterus-placenta-set

Marvellous Marbles

This essential stocking filler will be used all the time by both birth and postnatal doulas. These bags of marbles represent the size of a baby’s tummy over the first few days of life, and are used to reassure parents of how little milk is actually needed at each feed, especially from birth up to days 3 to 5 when breastmilk is the low-volume but kicks-a-punch colostrum. The belly marbles help to demonstrate why it’s important that colostrum is produced in smaller volumes than mature milk. It isn’t because milk isn’t yet being produced (it is, colostrum is milk) but that the amount produced matches exactly with the baby’s tummy size. Nature knows its stuff!

We hope you’ll find some fabulous and fun gifts for Christmas from our list – to suggest to a loved one or to treat yourself!

https://nurturingbirth.co.uk/marble-bag

Merry Christmas!

Filed Under: About Doulaing, Pregnancy, Birth, Postnatal and Infant Feeding Tagged With: Christmas Gifts for Birth Workers, Doula Christmas Gifts

The myth of the “late” baby

July 5, 2021

By Sophie Brigstocke and Emma Ashworth

Photographs of Sophie (left) and Emma (right). Sophie is a white woman with long, mid brown hair. Emma is a white woman with shoulder length brown hair. Both are smiling at the camera.

How often do we see people posting on social media that their baby is ‘late’ or ‘overdue’, often with worries that their body just can’t do it, or that there is something wrong with them.

There is something very wrong with our medical system if women feel like failures if they haven’t birthed their babies by a due date, commonly known as an EDD (Estimated Delivery Date).  Crucially, we need to recognise that the date is an estimation, a guess date – plucked from somewhere in the range of 37 and 42 weeks, those dates being the point at which pregnancy is considered full term.  

Other countries choose different dates – France has long considered 41 weeks to be the guess date for birth, and that sits far better with us given that 65% of women will sail past their UK ‘estimated due date’ without the first sign of a twinge or show.  However even 41 weeks is early for many pregnant women and people. Babies arrive in their own sweet time – women and people gestate for different lengths of time. There isn’t a point where pregnant stops being ‘normal’.

When are babies actually due?
Babies are born when their bodies, and particularly their respiratory systems, have matured.  Research finally proved what people had believed for a long time, that components in the surfactant produced by the baby’s lungs enter the mother’s system and trigger the labour process to start.  It is a beautiful symbiosis between mother and baby – two bodies working together.  The process doesn’t need to be kick-started just because a pregnancy is lasting longer than average.

So why is pregnancy so often cut short when it might naturally go to 41 or 42 weeks or longer?
Research has tended to show that the rate of stillbirth rises very slightly after 42 weeks. Hilder et al (2008), for instance, found that stillbirth happened in:

Around 1/2000 pregnancies at 39 weeks
Around 2/2000 pregnancies at 40 weeks
Around 3/2000 pregnancies at 41 weeks
Between 3/2000 and 4/2000 at 42 weeks
Around 4/2000 at 43+ weeks

These increases are tiny, although of course catastrophic for any family affected by stillbirth. It is important to note that if doctors and midwifes talk about ‘placentas failing after 40 weeks’ or other scary phrases that in fact the chance of it happening are still extremely small.

However, in an attempt to reduce this number further, induction of labour is now offered to every woman or person whose pregnancy is heading towards 42 (or 41, or even earlier) weeks. It’s important to know that although it’s always an offer that we can accept or decline, it may be said to you as something that you have to do, or are expected to do. However, the reality is that no one is allowed to decide whether to be induced other than you.

DO stillbirth rates increase after 42 weeks?
Every year, the actual stillbirth rate across the whole of the UK is collected and reported by an organisation called MBRRACE. This data tells us what actually happens rather than what research looks at, which is what we think is most likely to happen. Research isn’t always right. The MBRRACE data shows us that in eight out of the past ten years, the stillbirth rate dropped when women and people got to 42 weeks pregnant! And in the other two years the stillbirth rate at 42 weeks pregnant was about the same as at 41 weeks.

The birth campaign charity AIMS wrote about this in their report, “Induction at term – how great is the risk of refusing it?”

This was a shocking finding, as it went against what most people think about stillbirth and long pregnancies, but the data is accurate.

It’s important to remember that because MBRRACE’s data is real-world data, most babies who were showing signs of a problem would have already been born by induction or caesarean before 42 weeks. This means that if there are no medical indications for induction of labour, and if the pregnant woman or person is happy to continue with their pregnancy, this data shows that the chance of completely unexpected stillbirth doesn’t increase at 42 weeks.

Have you had your baby yet?
Family and friends asking if you’ve had your baby, or asking when you’re going to be induced (whether you want to be or not!) can be exhausting. How could we make that time at the end of pregnancy easier?  What would make women and people feel better about themselves and more positive towards their bodies?  

Firstly, knowing that the decision to accept and offer of induction belongs solely with the pregnant woman or person can be helpful, so they don’t feel they have to be induced if they don’t want to be.

Secondly, knowing the data from MBRRACE can be reassuring when pregnancy lasts longer than expected. Research data is also reassuring. When we are told that stillbirth rates “soar” or “double”, knowing that this may mean 1/2000 to 1/1000 babies can feel less worrying.

But thirdly, would it help if this pressure to give birth by a particular date was removed?  Could we give women and people an estimated due month instead?  Is there a way that we could nurture and support women and people in these last days and weeks so that they can empower themselves, and  feel that they are right where they need to be, without the emotive words “overdue” and “late” hanging over their heads?  If you’ve got any brilliant ideas about how we can change the current state of play we would love to know!

Sophie is the Director and Doula Course Facilitator of Nurturing Birth, a birth and postnatal doula, breastfeeding supporter and baby massage teacher, based in London. 

Emma is a freelance writer on birth and breastfeeding related topics with a special interest in human rights in pregnancy and birth. She is the author of The AIMS Guide to Your Rights in Pregnancy and Birth.

Filed Under: Pregnancy, Birth, Postnatal and Infant Feeding Tagged With: 40 weeks, 41 weeks pregnant, 42 weeks pregnant, myth of the late baby, overdue pregnancy, pregnancy overdue

What is Mindful Hypnobirthing?

June 21, 2021

By Sophie Fletcher 

Photo of Sophie Fletcher. Sophie is a white woman with blond, shoulder length hair and blue eyes. She's smiling in the photo, looking at the camera.

You may have come across hypnobirthing before, but what is the real difference between hypnobirthing and Mindful Hypnobirthing? Quite a lot really!

As a hypnotherapist, my first introduction to hypnobirthing was pure hypnosis with some relaxation, breathing and knowledge about your body, which is brilliant for re-framing. A reframe is when you take a situation and change someone’s perspective on it, so they look at it in a different and more positive way.

Early on there were wonderful birth stories, of people whose experience of birth was so much better than their expectation. Those with acute anxiety or tokophobia going on to have euphoric experiences.

Yet, I had a nagging voice in my head that whilst hypnosis was great, it wasn’t enough on its own.

I saw women who had doubts whether the hypnosis would work, or how to use it in labour.  It seemed that many didn’t stop to think that they could labour WITHOUT the hypnosis! The hypnosis often became a crutch for dealing with fear or apprehension. This meant that rather than going into birth with a deep-seated belief that they had all the resources they needed within them, they were worried that the hypnosis wouldn’t work. This reliance on something external took away from the experience that they could do it without the tools, but also busied the mind when it should be quietening down ready for birth.

The truth is:
That we are all perfectly designed to give birth – without hypnosis, and this is where the blend of hypnosis and mindfulness really comes in.

If you had no fear leading into your birth, and the environment and support were loving, quiet, safe and private, you would be able to birth. We’ve just been conditioned to believe that we can’t and forgotten that we can.

In a true birthing state you would be:

  • unaware of time passing
  • awash with oxytocin
  • surrounded with love
  • a conduit for energy, power
  • in a state of presence 

This is where your deep power lies, and where transformation can happen. 

Mindful Hypnobirthing takes this natural ability of our body into account with a therapist’s understanding of hypnosis and its application for birth. It creates a fluidity between the use of practical hypnosis tools and the experience of mindfully being in a natural birthing state.

How is this taught?
In mindful hypnobirthing you are taught some mindfulness tools for birth, as is the birth partner (it’s brilliant for the birth partner!) with the underlying philosophy that when you have prepared using hypnosis you will feel:

  • Calm
  • Confident
  • Knowledgeable
  • Well supported
  • In control

When you feel this way, you automatically go into a state of mindful presence. In my book this is what I call the birthing zone. 

In the course I cover evidence-based approaches to increase your confidence and to let go of any limiting beliefs around your ability to birth.  You will learn about unconscious association in your environment, the impact of fear and anxiety on choices and experience, your soothing system, theories around pain, as well as lots of hypnosis tools to use when you need them.

It’s not just a birth changing course, it’s a life changing course.

What is the difference between mindfulness and hypnosis for birth?  
In a nutshell! 
Hypnosis is all about change.  It’s about creating a different experience, changing a feeling, adjusting a habit or a behaviour.  When it comes to birth, hypnosis preparation takes you from anxious to calm, fearful to confident, and from thinking you have no control to knowing you are in control.  You’ll learn to use tools and techniques that help shift old beliefs and create new deep-seated beliefs that you can birth your baby, and it can be a positive, even euphoric, experience. 

I teach some set techniques, but invite you to understand the theory, why the tools work.  This way you can create your own tweaks and adjustments to the material so that they work far more effectively and are adaptable if things take a different path. This way you can make the change you want in a way that feels right for you.

In Mindful Hypnobirthing you use a lot of short, simple and easy to learn conditioning tools, so that your soothing system is activated unconsciously without thoughts getting in the way.

Mindfulness is about acceptance.  Rather than having the intention of change, mindfulness is about noticing and being curious about why you feel a certain way, whether that’s physical or emotional. Using your breath as an anchor you can learn to meet that feeling instead of turning away from it. This can take courage and strength, but it’s also very powerful.  It can create change but in a very different way. In my experience as a doula, when I see women in this place it’s astonishing.  They are embodied in the experience, not thinking about anything else apart from the moment they are in. Not even thinking about the hypnosis.

Mindfulness is all about connecting with your body fearlessly.

The overall message is
“You have everything you need within you, but if you need a boost then the hypnosis is there to help you get back into your zone”.

What if I find it hard to get into this space?
Modern birth environments make it really difficult to create this space.  When you take a course, you will learn how to work with your unconscious thoughts and associations to create a sense of being in a space where you feel private, safe and unobserved. 

You’ll learn some beautiful conditioning tools to make that as easy as possible, so things happen without you even thinking about it! Preparation using conditioning works well with hypnosis, as it means little and often works brilliantly and easy to fit in, even if you have a busy lifestyle. 

If, for any reason, there are distractions or interruptions that take you out of your birthing zone, you’ll learn how to notice them for what they are and adjust your environment using practical tools as well as hypnosis audio tracks. These powerful tools help to get you back into that focused state of mindfulness.

What are you waiting for?
You can get started today by reading my book Mindful Hypnobirthing. Joining my Facebook Group – where you can ask questions.  I’ll be there in the group all you have to do it tag me. Click here to join (please answer the questions as I like to keep it as safe a space as possible).

Sophie Fletcher is a clinical hypnotherapist and Fellow of the National Council for Hypnotherapy. She has been teaching and training families, birthworkers and midwives in the NHS for over 15 years. She is the bestselling author of Mindful Hypnobirthing, Mindful Mamma and Mindful Menopause.

You can find Sophie on Instagram @mindfulhypnobirthingbook

Filed Under: About Doulaing, Pregnancy, Birth, Postnatal and Infant Feeding, Training to be a Doula Tagged With: Doula training, Mindful Hypnobirthing, Sophie Fletcher

A New Hope

May 4, 2021

By Sam Sheppard

It’s the 4th May: International Star Wars Day. May the Fourth be with you.

Have you ever thought how the links between the hope, positivity, and community of the Star Wars films overlap with those within the birth world? The Force is like our instincts – we can all be guided by our own needs if we stop and listen to what our bodies are actually telling us and not to unwanted advice.  Our patience and just ‘being’ is enough – in fact it’s more than enough.

In ‘The Force Awakens, Rey tells us that she knows ‘all about waiting’. As do doulas. Being able to wait and be guided by the people we support is one of our greatest gifts.  Being able to truly listen, the other. How many people often feel truly heard? When you are, how positive do you feel after?

[Read more…] about A New Hope

Filed Under: About Doulaing, Doula Mentoring, Pregnancy, Birth, Postnatal and Infant Feeding, Training to be a Doula Tagged With: birth affirmations, doula, Doula mentoring, May the Fourth, Sam Sheppard, Star Wars Day

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MAMA Awards 2017 - DOULA OF THE YEAR​ Winner - Sophie Brigstocke, Nurturing Birth

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Sophie Brigstocke,
Nurturing Birth

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