Gentle birth

sareer

Eabanos wrote: »

Sareer just out of interest was that in an ante natal classes in a maternity hospital in Dublin (don't know if we're allowed name hospitals) . Sounds like the midwife we had doing the ante natal class. Still tempted to complain about how scary she made the whole thing seem.

Yes, indeed. An elderly midwife at Holles said that during the antenatal class. I didn't mind her saying that though.

Digs

stickybean wrote: »

Does anyone know of hand do Holles Street support gentle birth?

Also if you get the app, do you need the CD and books to?

Thanks

I've had two fantastic gentlebirths in Holles street. One 3 years ago and one just over 4 weeks ago. I did the workshop on my first pregnancy and used the affirmations etc this time. Freedom to move around in labour, no admissions trace, just gas and air, delayed cord clamping without even asking, akin to skin, breastfeeding straight away etc

I don't know if it was pure luck but I got two amazing midwives, young girls who were extremely supportive of my choices. I barely knew they were in the room, although my first labour was barely an hour and a half and my second 30 mins!

The midwife on my second labour commented afterwards she suspected I had done gentlebirth as I was so calm for such a speedy arrival.

stickybean

Thanks for the reply, very reassuring to hear Holles Street supported it.

I am going to mention if to my consultant on our next visit.

When did you take the workshop?

StarBright01

I have CD's and book ( a friend lent them to me) so going to try them first and then maybe do a course in October (due December)

AlteredStates

StarBright01 wrote: »

I have CD's and book ( a friend lent them to me) so going to try them first and then maybe do a course in October (due December)

Ditto - I also have the CD and book for hypno-birthing - am going to start using to prepare for birth. May do a course see how I get on first.

LegacyUser

Noticed this thread and thought I'd pop in. I didn't do Gentlebirth officially but both my births (2014 and 2016) were gas and air only, and me dealing with contractions otherwise. It is totally and completely possible. No major trauma experiences and just a single midwife in attendance at both. I do think that my birth plan was short and fairly specific and that the midwives were happy to let me at it once they could see that I was coping ok. I did note in my second birthplan that I would like to give birth in an upright position and I'd appreciate it if I could be helped with that - something I would recommend you put in your birth plan (or whatever your variation on that is.) I gave birth on my back on my first and it felt a bit unnatural, upright felt amazing (there was pain, but I could really feel what it was doing and what it wanted). Listen to your body and don't be afraid to respond to what you feel it wants, it really, really knows what it's doing.

My hospital was the Rotunda - they now have skin to skin and delayed cord clamping as standard. The cord clamping was not standard on my first, but they did it as it was in my birth plan.

Gatica

I've signed up for the workshop as it comes with free 3 month app subscription, so worth doing it earlier to get the benefit. Have a hospital antenatal appointment close to the date anyway and would be good to know what to ask at that having done the gentlebirth one.

stickybean

How many weeks are you Gaticia?

Gatica

I'm 28 weeks now. So counting down the weeks though not the days. Still have about 3 months of the app usage (signed up 2 weeks ago), unfortunately it doesn't work without data/wifi connection which was a pain while on holidays. Was glad I had my CDs as I took the tracks off that and listened to it on flights, great way to relax and pass the time.

dori_dormer

Gatica wrote: »

I'm 28 weeks now. So counting down the weeks though not the days. Still have about 3 months of the app usage (signed up 2 weeks ago), unfortunately it doesn't work without data/wifi connection which was a pain while on holidays. Was glad I had my CDs as I took the tracks off that and listened to it on flights, great way to relax and pass the time.

With the app you can save tracks to favourites, and then it downloads to your phone and you can listen to them offline, as usually there's no signal or wifi in hospital!

January

dori_dormer wrote: »

With the app you can save tracks to favourites, and then it downloads to your phone and you can listen to them offline, as usually there's no signal or wifi in hospital!

Was just coming to post this.

Gatica

oh, brilliant! thanks Can't believe I didn't spot that

Lucyfur

I've made a point of listening to every single track so that I could download them all

pwurple

12.99 per month is a bit steep no? Workshops? Cd, apps, i've heard of bracelets for the hypno one too.

I'm very cynical when there's a price I'm afraid. So much unneccesary stuff is just hawked at pregnant women.

Even in the olden days, there was no hypnosis or cds required. My mum gave birth to the five of us, including twins, naturally, with no pain relief.

I went into labour and had my fine healthy babies vaginally, with an epi. Really enjoyed it I have to say, pain relief made it very easy. Could still feel plenty for pushing etc, just took the edge off the pain. I'd do labour again tomorrow.

One of my friends did gentlebirth on the first and hypno on the second. Two sections, one after forceps, got every possible intervention going. There are no guaranteed outcomes either way. I just don't see how cd's can make much of a difference to how you labour. But if it's nice, then what harm...

January

Gentlebirth does not guarantee a natural birth, it gives you the tools to not panic in any birthing situation and even has specific tracks for inductions and cesarean birth. The workshops are also used in place of antenatal classes as they will explain hospital policies and procedures and the different birthing methods to you. It also gives you lots of ideas for positions to labor/birth in and comfort measures that your birth partner can use on you while you labor.

Lucyfur

For me, it's not about a drug free delivery. It keeps me calm and helps me sleep. I enjoy the meditations. If I have a drug free delivery, great! But ultimately all I want is my baby delivered safely and to feel relatively calm throughout

lazygal

pwurple wrote: »

12.99 per month is a bit steep no? Workshops? Cd, apps, i've heard of bracelets for the hypno one too.

I'm very cynical when there's a price I'm afraid. So much unneccesary stuff is just hawked at pregnant women.

Even in the olden days, there was no hypnosis or cds required. My mum gave birth to the five of us, including twins, naturally, with no pain relief.

I went into labour and had my fine healthy babies vaginally, with an epi. Really enjoyed it I have to say, pain relief made it very easy. Could still feel plenty for pushing etc, just took the edge off the pain. I'd do labour again tomorrow.

One of my friends did gentlebirth on the first and hypno on the second. Two sections, one after forceps, got every possible intervention going. There are no guaranteed outcomes either way. I just don't see how cd's can make much of a difference to how you labour. But if it's nice, then what harm...

I don't know if you mean to be, but this comes across as incredibly patronising. I think most pregnant women know what they want to spend their money on and I know several who considered it a worthwhile spend. So what if someone wants to spend €12.99 a month on whatever they feel like.

Beanybabog

I just bought it!! I have done CBT in the past for my anxiety and I am a fan of mindfullness, although too lazy most of the time to keep it up, so I hope that this helps.

Gatica

I understand the cynicism around hypnosis and audio to help labour, especially with moneys involved, as I myself would be sceptical about holistic and alternative "medicine" as I believe in the scientifically proven approaches.
However, this has been widely-enough (for me) recognised (from reading books and reputable websites) as a helpful approach for women wanting a low-intervention birth.

As mentioned it doesn't guarantee drug-free or intervention-free if you happen to have a risky pregnancy or things go awry at the last minute. You can still opt for epi, gas, pethadine, etc... The whole programme just helps women and partners to be informed about their choices, ways to approach medical staff with questions and options rather than just accepting whatever is pushed on you by an understaffed hospital on a time-schedule, and provides wide range of tools for your arsenal whatever way your birthing goes; the audio part mainly encourages relaxation, good breathing and anxiety management.
The premise is that those that fear birth are more likely to be tense, and tense mental state will in turn lead to tense muscles, which as we know isn't something you want in a natural birth. The gentlebirth approach helps women take back control over their own labour, even if it requires intervention, by giving them the confidence to ask questions. From reading the birthing stories on their site and facebook group, there are regular mentions of women being happy with their labour even when having caesarean or emergency delivery, because they felt they were informed and could participate in the decisions that were being made. For those that did have natural births, even of "large" babies, the relaxation techniques, both mental and physical, helped them slowly breathe out their babies rather than stressing over their size and huffing and puffing with coached purple pushing and ending with large tears or episiotomies where these could've been avoided. Many women would've also mentioned sometimes having traumatic previous birth experiences and finding that Gentlebirth helped them cope better this time around.

I wasn't sure if it was gonna be all hippy, airy fairy and humming noises... but I'm converted. Listening to the tracks has definitely helped me stay calm and positive about my upcoming labour. I don't know how I'll cope on the day, but so far it's been a positive tool in overall every day well-being. It also helps me get to sleep at night. As with anything, if you don't believe it will help you, then maybe it wont. If it works just as a placebo, that's fine with me... as long as it helps. I bought the CDs and book for 70 Euro, doesn't break the bank tbh. I decided to do the workshop recently after speaking to a few mums who found the info provided by the local trainer invaluable. I'm not just doing it for gentlebirth, I'm also doing it to get all the info I can on what I can ask for or how to negotiate with hospital staff, consultant and midwives with respect to my care and birthplan choices. Doing only the hospital appointed antenatal class isn't going to provide this info, I feel. The app is then free for the next 3 months for me, so if I don't find that I use it I won't be paying for future subscription. The facebook support group is free btw, so you don't have to spend any money to join it and ask questions or read the birth stories. Tracy Donegan, the founder, is also on weddingsonline, and regularly answers questions there too.

pwurple

Gatica wrote: »

I understand the cynicism around hypnosis and audio to help labour, especially with moneys involved, as I myself would be sceptical about holistic and alternative "medicine" as I believe in the scientifically proven approaches.
However, this has been widely-enough (for me) recognised (from reading books and reputable websites) as a helpful approach for women wanting a low-intervention birth.

Ah yes, that makes sense. I'm generally calm, and not prone to panicking at all, so to me, it's like... eh what for? Just chill.

One of the things I disliked about being pregnant was that I was now in a marketing demographic segment with all manner of "essentials" suggested, not just from marketers, but from family, friends, colleagues etc. How could I possibly not already have the latest bump oil for example. I'm a minimalist at heart too you see. The thought of buying cd's for a short term purpose gives me the clutter heebie jeebies. And don't even get me started on subscriptions. Is there brand new content every month to warrant a new purchase every time? Because monthly fees to access the same content is a bit of a cheeky number imho.

If it's helps people with panic, and you're not nuts (like me) about stuff hanging around your room/phone/life for eternity afterwards, then wahoo! Maybe it's for you!

CheerLouth

pwurple wrote: »

Is there brand new content every month to warrant a new purchase every time? Because monthly fees to access the same content is a bit of a cheeky number imho.

No, there isn't. But they do have a daily training section which changes as you go through the course of the pregnancy. You wouldn't necessarily be listening to all of the tracks every month. I bought the hospital birth CD last time I was pregnant as like you was a bit dubious but since then, I'm a total convert. I've given the CDs to two friends while they were pregnant too so I don't feel that they are hanging around the house. Totally get that too - I'm all for binning useless rubbish.

On this pregnancy, I'm using the app. I feel I panicked quite a lot during my last delivery. It was very quick, some intervention was required. And while it didn't matter in the end when I had my baby in my arms, I feel that this time I would definitely like to be in control a bit more. If I can have a calmer birth (with less banshee like shouting), then it will be money well spent in my opinion! But it is each to their own!

Jacinta086

Anyone have a recommendation of a good gentle birth or hypo birth class in the Dublin area (i'm going to Holles Street hospital but living in D15)?
I'd rather book based on a recommendation so if anyone had any tips i'd be very grateful.

RiceCrispy

Jacinta086 wrote: »

Anyone have a recommendation of a good gentle birth or hypo birth class in the Dublin area (i'm going to Holles Street hospital but living in D15)?
I'd rather book based on a recommendation so if anyone had any tips i'd be very grateful.

I recommend lovely Emily in Naturalbirth.ie.www.naturalbirth.ie weekend class coming up in Ratoath.
I did her yoga classes on last pregnancy found them great will be doing hypnobirth gentlebirth classes with her for homebirth this time

Jacinta086

RiceCrispy wrote: »

I recommend lovely Emily in Naturalbirth.ie.www.naturalbirth.ie weekend class coming up in Ratoath.
I did her yoga classes on last pregnancy found them great will be doing hypnobirth gentlebirth classes with her for homebirth this time

Thanks so much RiceCrispy, i'll look up her details

RiceCrispy

Jacinta086 wrote: »

Thanks so much RiceCrispy, i'll look up her details

No problem and congratulations on baba! very exciting time x

MindfulMama

yes, there’s monthly Gentlebirth 1 day classes in Blanchardstown village in Dublin 15
Contact Emer 086 3898511