Trauma informed birth preparation and recovery
Childbirth can be a wonderful life affirming experience, but for some this is not the case.
If you have experienced a prior traumatic birth, or perhaps have experienced something in life that leaves you terrified at the thought of childbirth then I can help.
As a qualified active birth teacher, I noticed within my classes there was a factor that connected the people I was working with. Trauma.
Be it birth trauma, sexual trauma or complex childhood trauma the reason they were seeking education or resolution was because of their past experience., and how that now made them feel about their upcoming birth.
Trauma is individual, it is not what happened to you, more what happened to you but how your body reacted and continues to react to what happened to you. For this reason, I stopped working in groups and now work exclusively with people who require a more tailored, trauma informed birth preparation.
I have now developed a birth preparation course that is specific for individuals who have experienced trauma.
This course can be taken on its own, or can be combined with rewind therapy, regression therapy, coaching and body work.
The course includes active birth modules, hypnotherapy for childbirth, breathing exercises, optimal birthing, as well as concise personalised trauma informed birth planning.
Pregnancy massage
Pregnancy is a time in a woman’s life that is filled with so many emotions, thoughts and feelings, and it is most definitely a time where massage is hugely beneficial.
“Everything grows rounder and wider and weirder, and I sit here in the middle of it all and wonder who in the world you will turn out to be”
Carrie Fisher
There is a lot of misinformation around what is and isn’t ok during pregnancy. Anybody can give a pregnant woman a massage, but not everyone has the training and understanding to give a good massage during pregnancy!
What makes a pregnancy massage good? Knowledge, confidence and experience. Don’t settle for anything less, you and your amazing human growing body deserve the best, most blissful, balancing, energising massage available!
“The most blissful due date massage today, all rested and relaxed now for when bubba arrives”
Nisha, Altarnun
My specialist training with Wellmother means I have the knowledge and experience to work with pregnant women confidently, offering not only safe but deeply effective massage.
Enough about me, what about you? Pregnancy is a wonderful and miraculous event, some people thrive with pregnancy, others struggle, wherever you are at in your pregnancy, massage will support you in feeling your absolute best.
Women leave me feeling light, free, flowing and in touch with their ever changing body. On a physical level nausea and headaches can be greatly reduced. Pelvic pain from SPD, PGP and sciatica can be eased, hormonal balance restored, water retention reduced, blood pressure lowered. Muscle tension relieved, inflammation reduced.
On an emotional level stress and anxiety can be greatly reduced as the work I do is not only body work, but hugely informative. As an ex active birth coach I can help inform you and answer your questions regards birth and your choices. I can point you in the right direction for services to support your birth choices and help unpick your pregnancy and birth worries.
Pelvic pain in pregnancy is very common, but this by no means has to be put up with. By rebalancing the muscles around the pelvis, reducing inflammation and giving you guided exercises to follow the discomfort of PGP and SPD can be greatly relieved.
Another benefit of massage in the later stages of pregnancy is that it can greatly assist in optimal foetal presentation by releasing certain areas of pelvic tension and also facilitating some deep fear release, your baby can be naturally encouraged to move gently and of their own accord should that be the right thing for them.
And of course, the relaxation and hormonal balance combined with the oxytocin release you get during a massage can be just the thing encourage labour to start naturally. A wonderful way to mark your elusive due date!
Pregnancy massage is a 1 hour treatment at a cost of £70, you can have a longer session to include reflexology for 1.5 hours at a cost of £85.
Or if you would like to do some deeper work on birth preparation, then do enquire about trauma informed birth coaching.
3 step rewind birth trauma recovery
Do you have feelings of deep sadness, hyper vigilance, depression, anxiety, insomnia or fear.? Do you constantly replay your birth, do you suffer mood swings, have feelings of not coping? Does the thought of experiencing birth again fill you with dread?
The lasting effects of a traumatising birth can be long term and debilitating.
Traumatic birth may not present as classically as you may presume. Often the women that I work with who have been traumatised by birth start with “I don’t know why it has affected me so badly because it wasn’t like I nearly died or anything” And this is the point, a traumatic birth is not a text book thing, and it is often those who have not “nearly died” who have slipped through the support net.
PTSD after traumatic birth is a very real and very disturbing psychological injury, it can lead to a number of different responses. The joy of your new baby is often over shadowed by the feeling and thoughts that are attached to how you were treated during your birth. It is how you felt during your birth that has the lasting effects.
“I had a natural home birth, it was supposed to be beautiful, but I keep playing it over and over in my head. On paper it was beautiful, but for me it was terrifying, I was so vulnerable and unable to ask for help, I don’t think I can go through that again”
Anon
If you have experienced a traumatic birth, if you feel that your mood and actions now are not healthy or helpful for you, perhaps you feel anxious, constantly replay your birth in your head, perhaps you feel disconnected from your loved ones, can’t sleep, can’t function properly,
You desperately want to shake these feelings off but seem unable to then these are all signs of possible PTSD.
I am pleased to say that there is a solution to this sort of injury. The 3 step rewind process is a simple yet hugely effective NLP and hypnosis technique that literally unhooks the emotions attached to your birth experience, allowing the body to reset itself. In just one session the strong negative emotions attached to the memory can be lifted.
Do you avoid situations where you may have to think about, or talk about birth? In doing so survivors of traumatic birth can feel isolated and lonely, often avoiding the help that is available to them. With 3 step rewind there is no lengthy recount of events needed, the initial rewind session will take around 90 minutes in total, and the effects can be felt almost immediately, in the form of deep relaxation and a sense of release, and over the coming days this feeling settles in and becomes your new normal.
If you have experienced traumatic birth and are concerned that it is having a long-term effect on you and your family then please call me to discuss whether the 3 step rewind technique for traumatic birth recovery is suited to you.
“I feel lighter, more clarity, free of fear. The knot (of emotion) has gone, it’s just not there, I feel like I can breathe again for the 1st time since having (my baby)”
Joanne, Truro
“Persephone helped me to understand why I couldn’t move on from my first birth, despite it being on paper a textbook birth. I now feel less guilty about my struggles, and fully prepared for my upcoming birth, understanding myself better I can ensure I get what I need this time.”
Beth