-Birth Skills workshop-
how to move, breathe, release (and push) for a easier birth experience
Next date: Autumn 2024
Due before then?
“While the private antenatal classes we did with another provider left me and my partner overwhelmed, Amelie’s practical birth skills workshop made us feel actually informed, prepared and ready. The techniques we explored proved really supportive and meant I was able to labour at home with ease for as long as I wanted”
— Marta
Birth is first and foremost a physical, physiological process.
A process where what you do with your body (mind) matters.
A lot.
And yet, this KEY piece of the jigsaw of birth preparation is often missed, or skimmed over, in most antenatal preparation and hypnobirthing courses:
What should you do (and avoid doing) with your body during labour to support birth to unfold as effectively as it can?
Which positions, movements and release techniques can help create the most space for YOUR baby to progress through the pelvis at each ‘stage’ of labour as easily as possible? How can you still achieve this if you have an epidural that reduces your ability to move?
What might shorten the ‘pushing’ phase and help protect your pelvic floor & perineum?
What techniques can you try before an intervention you might not want (such as the use of forceps or ventouse, an episiotomy, going on a drip or a c-birth) is recommended?
How can you avoid exhaustion (one of the leading reasons for labour stalling and/or transfer to labour ward)?
How can your birth partner practically & physically support you in that process?
This is what we focus on, explore - and practice - in this workshop.
For anybody hoping for a vaginal/physiological birth, whether at home, birth centre or in hospital, spontaneous or induced, using pain relief or not.
“A very special thank you for your birth skills workshop; I really recommend it to all mamas! I used many of the techniques and had my dream (and speedy!) physiological birth in the water”
— Emilie
What we cover
Key aspects of birth physiology & birth biomechanics (how birth, your body and your pelvis work) so you understand the ‘why’ of the skills explored, and be able to apply them in YOUR birthing circumstances
How best to approach the early phase of labour to support physiology and preserve energy
How & what positions and movements can help facilitate your baby’s progress through the pelvis as labour progresses - and how some positions actually restrict space & progress, making labour longer, more difficult and possibly more injurious. How to adapt/make them possible in your birth setting/circumstances (eg. at home vs labour ward, if you need to be monitored, if you have an epidural, etc)
How to blend in breath, movement, focus and release techniques to approach contractions and deal with the sensations of labour with more calm, less tension and effectively support physiology/supportive birth hormones to make labour as effective and comfortable as possible
Which positions and breathing techniques can help support and shorten the ‘pushing’ phase of birth, and reduce your risk of tearing/injury or need for episiotomy
How to rest intelligently & comfortably while still supporting the labour process
What can be tried if labour ‘stalls’
How we do it
This is a very practical workshop where after an introduction chat about how birth and how bodies work, we journey along the ‘stages’ of labour & birth (from when you think labour is starting, until the birth of your placenta), as if birth was happening
Although there is a lot of information-sharing, the main focus is on lots of practical exercises, explorations and mini ‘birth rehearsals’, so you can experience and understand the skills and practices first-hand, in your body.
The aim is to provide you with an opportunity to feel, understand & remember first and foremost with your body, rather than with your head (but don’t worry, you will get handouts as a helpful reminder too).
Which will in turn help you feel more prepared and equipped, and more likely to be able to use the skills, tools and techniques most supportive to you when your labour & birth actual happens!
What you also get
a 18-page handout full of printable memo sheets of the tools and knowledge explored
2 movement practice videos
2 breathing practice downloadable mp3
access to the workshop recording for 60 days
—
£75 per person/couple including all resources & replay
—
This workshop is also available as a private session, entirely tailored to your situation and needs, delivered online or in your home (area dependent) - £150 per person/couple
including all resources.
Please get in touch if this is an option you’d like to explore.
For further support, have a look at my doula support packages or 1:1 pregnancy yoga support.
“Amelie's expert advice and tips for labour and birth were invaluable: I felt completely prepared when it came to using these different approaches on the big day.”
— Karen
FAQs
-
You might find having the following things handy helpful:
a yoga/pilates mat unless your floor is carpeted
a couple of pillows / pregnancy pillow (if you have one)
your pregnancy ball if you have one (I really recommend this prop for the whole of your pregnancy!)
a chair
a long scarf, bathrobe belt or yoga belt (again, only if you have one)
-
This workshop is best taken once you are in your third trimester, as it will make more sense in your body.
You can join any time until you give birth, it’s never too late to learn about your body and prepare it for birth!
If the next workshop date is ‘too late’ for you, it is always possible to access the recording of the previous workshop and get a free 15mn consultation call for any questions you may have. Just get in touch!
-
Absolutely not!
Although the workshop is a lovely complement to my pregnancy yoga classes/courses, the tools & techniques we will explore are accessible to everybody.
-
Yes, absolutely! Everybody signed up receives the recording and resources.
Recordings remain available so if the next workshop date doesn’t work for your ‘due’ date, there is always the option to purchase access to a previous recording. Simply get in touch,
-
I try to run the workshop every 2 months. Check the website to see future dates, or get in touch to enquire.
Book your space
Select the workshop’s date in the calendar below then follow the booking steps. The confirmation email will include your access Zoom link.