But the critical thing for me was breathing.

Hi Hannah,

Our contented little dude Beren Patrick George was born on Sunday 8 November 2020 at 4:57pm. He weighed 4.5kg at birth, but officially recorded as 4.455kg.

We had planned a homebirth through Southern Midwifery Group Practice. Everything was perfect, pregnancy was a dream, and we did your hypnobirthing course early so we had loads of time to practice and prepare.

But all the plans of mice and men, as they say.

Our little love didn’t want to turn around. We did literally everything: Spinning Babies, swimming, moxibustion, acupuncture, homoeopathy, Webster Techniques, long walks. Everything.

At some point I decided to stop, and just focus on enjoying the rest of my pregnancy. The hypnobirthing relaxations were instrumental in helping me feel good throughout every new twist and unexpected moment. Especially the fear release! I also purchased the Breech Turn Hypno and ran that in tandem.

But the critical thing for me was breathing.

I breathed my way through anxiety of every kind. While waiting in prep for my caesarean with Beren, I breathed. I breathed through the excruciating ECV when they tried to turn him. I breathed through all the needles and anxieties from anaesthetic to being put back together. I breathed through the immense pain afterwards. And I’m still using the breathing, for good voids and handling recovery a week later. I swear that it makes everything work better. I even use the techniques while breastfeeding: I remind myself to breathe, and I remind Beren to breathe when he gets worked up. It’s not just the breathing, and understanding of pain pathways and perceptions that I took away from your hypnobirthing course. It was how to ask questions; how to adapt to new circumstances; how to plan for all contingencies.

As I said to my doula and my midwife, just the B.R.A.I.N. technique alone was worth the money on the course. I used it throughout my pregnancy. And I am convinced that this is how and why we ended up with an extremely positive caesarean experience… Something I’d previously imagined was impossible.

I felt empowered at every step of Beren’s birth. So by the time he “came out”, with AC/DC playing and the nurses photographing the event for us, it couldn’t have been more perfect.

So, Hannah, thanks for your course and your efforts. Every expecting mama ought to do your hypnobirthing course. Even without the extended support that we have (with a midwife and a doula), I’m certain that what you taught enabled us to face every shift along the way with clarity and power, to make good decisions for ourselves and our baby, and to advocate for what was important to us.

Our appreciation for our village is immense and a testimonial feels thin in comparison. Nevertheless: Thank you.

Xx Leticia, Troy, and Beren.

pPS. Beren really is a chilled out little man. I attribute a lot of that to the fact that he learned to meditate hypnobubs style while in utero. He’s almost always calm (so far!). He came out calm and hungry! Amazing.

Hannah Wilsmore is a Hypnobirthing Australia Practitioner – you can find her classes here www.hannahwillsmore.com