The NHS website says: ‘Hypnobirthing aims to help you feel confident and calm, and encourage an easier labour with less need for intervention or pain relief. Hypnobirthing combines deep relaxation and breathing techniques, visualisation, and self-hypnosis.’

But it’s so much more than that!

You can find out more about hypnobirthing in the ‘Find out more’ section on this website.

It’s up to you!

Mother Your Way courses don’t cover things like changing nappies, safe sleeping or breastfeeding. They focus just on preparing for birth (though you’ll likely use the techniques you learn throughout parenthood!) They also tend to be smaller groups, so you may not meet as many other parents.

Traditional antenatal classes tend to cover information about the birth process (what happens, interventions, pain relief etc). They don’t usually include any physical preperation (yoga, breathing) or hypnobirthing content (the relaxation and visualisation bit).

It’s worth checking if your hospital offers free antenatal classes, too, if you’d rather not pay for two seperate courses. And apps like Peanut are great for making local connections with new parents, if that’s what you’re after.

You’ve probably already seen the huge range of hypnobirthing online courses, often for a very reasonable price - and they’re a great option for some people.

However I believe that a face to face course offers a lot more, if it’s an option available to you.

You can ask questions and probe more deeply when you want to.

You can make connections and new friends (we all know online video calls just aren’t the same as having a cup of tea and a chat!)

It’s dedicated time away from everything just to focus on you, your baby and your birth. Sitting in front of your laptop for hours after work just isn’t quite the same. And I’ll hold you accountable to practice your visualisations and yoga.

You get a teacher all to yourself to focus on specific concerns and areas, like if you’re planning a C-section, or if you have a particular anxiety you’d like to address.

No! Definitely not. You get very relaxed and focussed on your internal thoughts, but you are always totally in control and can come out of your visualisation at any time.

I promise it won’t be weird! I completely get that there’s a general perception that hypnobirthing (and yoga to a point) is a bit ‘woo-woo’. And some courses are - and that’s great for people who are into that! Mother Your Way isn’t though. I focus on evidence based, well researched methods with no chanting, womb energy or burning sage (!) There will be a lot of upfront chat about birth and female anatomy, but that’s it!

Between 20 and 30 weeks is perfect - but it’s never too late! If you are 34 weeks or more I would recommend a 1:1 session.

Absolutely not! Lots of women do yoga for the first time during pregnancy, as there’s so many benefits to it (see ‘Find out more’).

In Mother Your Way classes, we don’t use any complex yoga terminology, and we will fully explain and adapt all the poses. It’s relaxed and low pressure. And like everything we do, it’s focussed on evidence based, down to earth content.

Absolutely! The tools you learn in a hypnobirthing class can definitely be used in a planned or unplanned C-section birth. And prenatal yoga can help to alleviate aches and pains and keep you mobile. We welcome all types of birth at Mother Your Way.

There’s evidence to show that doing prenatal yoga can reduce the length of labour, increase likelihood of vaginal birth, increase self confidence and reduce anxiety.

It’s never too late to start hypnobirthing! I would recommend a 1:1 session if you are coming to the game a little late. That means we can focus solely on you and any of your concerns.

As part of your hypnobirthing sessions, you will receive MP3 audio tracks to listen to at home. These tracks will get you into a state of deep relaxation.