Empowered to Birth

About

Debra Wakefield
Midwife, Certified Hypnobirthing Practitioner

I know birth can be an amazing and empowering experience. Yet, too often people’s birth education has been gained through Google, Hollywood or the experience of others. We surf the ‘net to find answers to many questions or believe everything we see in the movies. Often well-meaning family and friends feel it their role to inform a pregnant woman “How Birth Is” from their limited experience. These uncensored stories can instill fear for many women. It is my passion to help you prepare for the birth of you baby with confidence in yourself, trust in the birthing process and the tools to cope with whatever turn your birth takes. As a Nurse, Midwife, ChildBirth & Early Parenting Educator, Hypnobirthing Practitioner and Mother of four (and grandmother of 2), I have experience on many levels to help you achieve this.

Hello, I’m Debra, from Empowered to Birth.

Conventional Hospital Birthing Classes can be quite confronting. I know, because I teach these classes, both locally and previously at a large private hospital in Melbourne. The medical facts need to be taught in these settings, but often they are large, rushed and impersonal. I want to take the time to empower couples to be knowledgeable, flexible, assertive and prepared, no matter the mode of birth.

It is my passion to help pregnant women and their birth support person overcome fear and anxiety they may have about birth. Instead filling their birth preparation with positive images of birth and practical tools to cope with the journey through pregnancy, labour, birth and take this empowerment into their early parenting.
By attending one of my Hypnobirth Australia courses I can share all this with you.

Services

Hypnobirthing

Hypnobirthing is as much a philosophy of birthing as it is techniques. When a mother and her birth companion are able to approach their birth without fear and with knowledge, good support, and tools for the birth – then their birthing can be a positive and empowering experience.

The ‘hypno’ part of ‘hypnobirthing’ refers to the hypnotherapy that we use during the program to release fears and condition ourselves to release endorphins at times during our birth. With the help of hypnotherapy, the birth of your baby can be a more calm and relaxed experience; one where you are in the drivers seat, rather than feeling like a passenger. This is likely to reduce the need for interventions during your birthing.

Hypnobirthing uses a combination of different techniques and philosophies that have existed for many, many years. Ancient wisdom is combined with modern theory – giving you the advantage in your acquisition of knowledge as you prepare for your birth.

Of course, natural birth is not a new concept! Our ancient mothers and sisters birthed naturally without the use of anaesthesia or many of the interventions that are common today.

Birth Reflection

I love the quote by Jane Weidman “giving birth should be your greatest achievement, not your greatest fear”. And because birth is not always experienced in this positive and empowering way, I offer a 90 minute professional Birth De-Brief, at a mutually convenient time and place.

If you have experienced a difficult birth, it can leave you – including support people at the birth – with symptoms similar to PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). You may have a negative reflection about the birth of your baby, or it may even lead to feelings of fear and helplessness about parenting, pregnancy or birth. If these emotions are not dealt with in a helpful way, it may leave negative impacts on your quality of life as a new family. For some people the prospect of future pregnancies and births can be so overwhelming that they delayed or even avoided future pregnancies.

I believe it is vitally important to have the opportunity to de-brief from these negative birth experiences. This was the baby’s birth can be put into a perspective and is able to be dealt with as you all move forward. Family and Friends are often the first point of call when wanting to talk things over, but not necessarily are they always the most helpful. Without medical understanding, they sometimes can unintentionally fuel the negative emotions of the experience. Occasionally retelling your birth story amongst friend, might inadvertently instil fear into other women (or men) who face going through birth in the future.

With my background in Nursing, Midwifery, ChildBirth Early Parenting Education and Hypnobirthing, I am qualified and experienced to be able to offer a birth de-brief. This can help you move forward from a negative birth.

For this reason I am offering a professional Birth De-Brief session to anyone who feels the need to talk through what occurred to them. In this session we go over your experience of the birth. I unpack the medical side of birth so we can explore how these events can be dealt with in a more emotionally productive way. I also put strategies in place for the future; how certain situations may be prevented and how to prepare for future births in a positive and calm manner. If, after this session you feel a need to follow up with a Hypnobirthing Class, there is a significant discount on a booking a course.

Healthy De-Briefing can put things into perspective and move forward with a positive anticipation for the future.

Classes

Classes can be attended at any stage throughout pregnany, however 20 to 30 weeks is the ideal time to start. Parents find the hypnobirthing techniques to be down-to-earth, straightforward and easily learned.

Hypnobirthing Australia classes are structured in a way that the support partner is encouraged to attend. Same sex couples and single parents are welcome and catered for at our classes. We also have special courses available for a “Positive Caesarean Birth” and “Refresher”, and well as our brand new, world first “On Line” course.

Hypnobirthing

Unit 1 – Creating and Maintaining a positive mindset.

• Causes of fear (including history) and how it effects our labour.


• Role of our caregivers.


• What is hypnosis and how we will use it for birthing.


• My amazing uterus—understanding the physiology behind birthing.


• Our hormones are our friends.


• Birthing Environment.


• The power of affirmations.

Unit 2 – Choices, Knowledge and tools for empowering birth.

• Conditioning techniques leading up to birth.


• Releasing Endorphins through touch.


• Choices in maternity care. Maintaining a healthy diet.


• Staying active—exercises during pregnancy.


• Tips for optimal foetal positioning.

Unit 3 – Preparing mind and body for birth.

• Visualisations for pregnancy and birth.


• Pre and post birth bonding.


• “Guess date” – a normal range of pregnancy.


• Artificial inductions—things you’re not always told.


• Achieving a natural start to labour. Instant relaxation techniques.


• Self—hypnosis techniques.

Unit 4 – BIRTH – Bringing it all together

• Birth preferences.


• Special circumstances.


• Questions to help you make good decisions. Birth companion as advocate.


• Breech or posterior—options and positions. Hypnosis for releasing fears.


• What to expect through labour and birth.

Birthing Basics

Preparing for the birth of your baby can sometimes be an overwhelming experience. This time is often filled with misleading information from well-meaning family and friends who offer their advice and suggestions. Not to mention images from TV series and movies which give dramatised depictions of this natural and beautiful event.

Come and learn the truth about labour and birth from a Midwife and qualified Childbirth and Early Parenting Educator.

Book into one of these dynamic and interactive “BIRTHING BASICS” workshops to gain insights into birth from an honest and approachable professional.

This workshop is conducted in 4 sessions.

Your birthing muscle

• The importance of having a positive mindset toward birth


• Basic female reproductive anatomy


• How the uterus works in labour


• Stages of labour


• Mechanisms of birth


• Optimal positioning of baby and mother

How to get through labour

• Cocktail of Birthing Hormones to the rescue


• How the mind works


• Role of the Support Person in labour and birth


• Benefits of being in Active labour and Birth


• Top 10 coping strategies before heading to the medicine chest

Call the Doctor

• Epidural


• Induction of Labour


• Assisted Vaginal birth


• Episiotomy and perineal healing


• Caesarean Birth

Parenting 101

• Transition to life – APGAR – the first 2 hours


• Tests. Investigations. Vaccinations


• Settling (SIDS safety) – Swaddling – Bathing – Nappy changing and normal neonatal output


• Support services available – MCHN


• Breastfeeding basics – Newborn requirements – Colostrum to Full milk

Prices

Group Course - $550

The complete course

• 12 hours of training.


• Delivered as four three-hour sessions or two six-hour sessions.
  
  
  
  
  • 4 x Tuesday Evenings: (6pm to 9pm).
  
  
  • Saturday and Sunday (9am to 4pm).
  
  
  
  


• Learn with others as part of a group.
  
  
  
  
  • Group classes will be held at a venue suitable to accommodate the size of the group.
  
  
  • Groups of three couples or less will be in a comfortable private lounge room.
  
  
  • Groups of four or more couples will have the luxury of a stately residence.
  
  
  
  

Private Course - $950

• 12 hours of training.


• Day, Afternoon, Evening, Weekend or a mix.


• Conducted in the convenience of your own home.

Half Group / Half Private - $730

This is designed for couples who either can’t attend on one of the group class dates, or have personal reasons for wanting some private class time with Debra.

Refresher - $290

If you previous birth was using the Hypnobirthing Australia techniques, and you want to brush up on the techniques for the next baby.

Positive Caesarean - $395

The Positive Caesarean Birth

In this course we teach the birthing mother and her birthing companion techniques for relaxation and self-hypnosis to assist in achieving a a calm and family.

Don’t hesitate to contact us for more information.