What clients are saying
My healing Birth
Firstly, I wanted to start by thanking you from the bottom of my heart for arming me with a wealth of knowledge that allowed me to have my healing birth. Like with all plans, they don’t always go the way you envisage but with your sessions we were able to constantly reevaluate our plan based on the information we were being given in the lead up to Nelly’s birth. I won’t go through the list of obstacles we kept coming up against but what I will say is that at no point did I feel like I was being pushed down a road I didn’t want to go down. We both felt empowered enough to ask questions, challenge suggestions and stand our ground. Whilst we didn’t get the home birth we so desperately wanted it became very apparent that it wasn’t necessarily a home birth that we wanted, it was a healing birth that I needed and as it turned out birthing in hospital does not mean that you won’t have the labour you desire. I ended up being induced a week before Nelly’s due date due to reduced movements, something I really wanted to avoid, but armed with hypnobirthing techniques I was able to self manage the contractions for 17 hours before being moved to the labour ward. Once on the labour ward I requested to use the ball, move about and have dim lighting all of which my midwife was very happy to support with. Tim was also incredible, he knew exactly what to do, made sure I was moving as much as I could and reminded me of my breathing techniques when needed. Nelly was born at 2:43am on Monday 11th July with zero medical intervention aside from the induction. With your support and the support of my wonderful midwife I was able to have my healing, positive birth. So much so, I was able to get straight up, feed and enjoy the precious first few days cuddling my beautiful daughter completely pain and trauma free. I genuinely don’t think I could have done it without your help and guidance and I now look back on my labour with Nelly in a very positive way which is all I ever hoped for.
Thank you Ellen
(Breanne and Tim)
"I felt totally unprepared for my first birth and it did not go the way that I had hoped. I ended up feeling really disappointed with my birth experience for a number of reasons and so when I got pregnant again, I knew I wanted a different, more positive experience. Thankfully I found Ellen's courses and honestly it was the best thing that we did! Even though there were challenges I felt in control of all of my decisions and knew what to expect each step of the way, plus when I felt shaky I called Ellen for some reassurance. I would definitely recommend hypnobirthing to everyone I meet!
Emily and Chris
"Hypnobirthing classes have completely changed my pregnancy and how I feel about birth for the better. I am so much more confident and prepared than I ever thought I could be and am happy that I now have the skills to progress through pregnancy and birth no matter what choices and changes may come my way.My husband and I decided to give hypnobirthing a try after doing some reading and watching some online videos. Even then we were not in a positive mindset about pregnancy or the upcoming birth of our first baby. We started our journey pretty scared of what birth would be like and I had absolutely no confidence in my ability to move forward. My mind was pretty much being dragged along kicking by my body! Ellen was amazing from day one. She listened to our fears and concerns and throughout our hypnobirthing sessions gave us both an opportunity to talk about what we were excited for, what we were apprehensive about, what we knew, and importantly what we didn’t. Ellen then spent time making sure we were informed and confident in our options. We also practiced traditional hypnobirthing techniques which have allowed me to feel calm and relaxed where before I was anxious. We know that our birth journey could take many turns but the most valuable thing that hypnobirthing sessions with Ellen gave us is the ability to feel calm in ourselves and our choices no matter what happens. We can’t thank Ellen enough and are singing her praises to all our friends and family in the hopes that when they next have a baby they consider whether hypnobirthing could be useful for them too!"
Beth and Sam
"Ellen is absolutely wonderful at what she does. She created a comfortable and friendly environment in which we felt relaxed and ready to learn. In her 1 - 1 hypnobirthing course, Ellen taught us in sessions across 4 weeks which really gave us time to let things sink in and chat about what we had learned after each meeting.We feel so much more confident about the upcoming birth of our first baby. We know what we want and what we can do if plans change. Ellen really put our mind at rest and reinforced our desire to ask questions and follow our instincts when it comes to birth. She also went through our birth plan with us, which has made us feel so much more prepared.I feel confident that my husband knows enough to support me through labour and birth, is informed of my wishes and ready to advocate for me in the event that I can’t. His role is now crystal clear in his mind and he is more excited than ever.Ellen’s approach is very open-minded and allows for you to feel confident in expressing your thoughts and feelings as you go along, asking any question without fear of judgement and helping you to get the best possible outcome for yourself and the baby.I'm so incredibly grateful that we found both Hypnobirthing itself and Ellen to teach us. It has been the most valuable part of our antenatal preparation and I would encourage everyone to invest in a course if they can."
Grace and Ryan
A wonderful hypnobirthing experience!My partner and I have just completed an 8 hour hypnobirthing course with Ellen and we could not recommend Ellen or hypnobirthing enough! We actually stumbled across Ellen by accident having seen that she was offering a free taster workshop at a venue around 30 minutes from our house. I signed us up and off we went one Sunday morning knowing very little about hypnobirthing and perhaps, if I'm honest, being a little sceptical having assumed 'hypno' was something completely different to what it actually is. Two hours alter we left the session knowing 2 things: we definitely wanted to explore hypnobirthing and we wanted to do it with Ellen. During our 8 hours with Ellen we have learned so muchAs a practitioner Ellen is kind, compassionate, encouraging and extremely knowledgeable. During our 8 hours with Ellen we have learned so much; not only about the body and birth, but we have learned an incredible amount about processes, guidelines and that above everything I have choices in my birth and that I can be a strong advocate for myself and how I want to birth my baby. Thanks to Ellen we are now so much more informed and educated (way more than we have been from any of the NHS services) about what is likely to happen in labour and birth and are armed with a wealth of techniques an practices to help when in labour and - most importantly - go in to labour with fear and anxiety and actually enjoy it! We now feel clued up on how we can make birth positive, regardless of how our baby makes his entry into the world and are educated on the physiology of the process, been guided to different areas of science and research and have a plethora of alternative words, phrases and affirmations which encourage positive thinking. One think hypnobirthing encourages is the active involvement of your birth partner. Ellen was amazing at making sure my partner was as involved as me and she ahs actually made a huge impact on him in the process. He has a daughter from a previous relationship and her birth was extremely traumatic leaving him with his own fears and anxieties around the birth of our child. With Ellen's help and guidance, and practising of hypno techniques at home his mindset has completely shifted as he is a huge advocate for hypnobirthing, probably talking to people about it more than me! We are both confident in his ability to be y voice if I am unable to speak for myself during labour and at the birth. I would not hesitate to recommend hypnobirthng but above all I would highly recommend signing up with Ellen. She has been amazing and I honestly believe she is one of the reasons why I have felt so calm and relaxed about the impending labour and birth. I know that between now and having our baby I could pick up the phone and contact Ellen if there was anything I needed and I cat wait to be able to send her my birth story .
Victoria and Jamie
Myself and my husband were keen to explore Hypnobirthing after a rocky start to our pregnancy.We hoped that hypnobirthing would allow us to have a positive birthing experience after what had been an uncertain time. We were also really keen to do something together as a couple so we could share this journey. I signed up to the taster zoom session with Ellen and was hooked!Each of our sessions with Ellen was informative and most of all fun. The information she gave us was invaluable and we both now feel more informed and empowered ready for the birth of our baby in a few weeks time. Thank you so much Ellen, you're amazing, we will treasure this experience forever!"
Sian and Jonny
FAQS
What is hypnobirthing?
Let's start with the name because I know for some it can be misleading. Although it may sound a bit 'woo woo', rest assured the practise is based in evidence and science and my clients have many 'light bulb' moments throughout the course.
But what about the 'hypno' part?
Don't worry, hypnobirthing is nothing like stage hypnosis you may have seen on television or in a show. At no point will you be under anyone's control or quacking madly around the birth room!
The hypnosis used in hypnobirthing is self hypnosis. Which means you are ALWAYS fully in control. Hypnobirthing is a beautiful form of deep relaxation for your mind and body that uses specialised breathing techniques, visualisations and a range of audio MP3s. It provides you with a toolbox that you can pick and choose from during birth.
When you are in this deeply relaxed state, you can fully access your subconscious mind and root out those fears or misconceptions you may have around birth in order to build a very positive, empowering and more helpful birth mindset. This can have a huge impact on how your birth unfolds.
Who is hypnobirthing suitable for?
Hypnobirthing is a full birth preparation course suitable for anyone who is ideally between 20 - 36 weeks pregnant. Of course you can do the course on your own depending on your situation but if you do have a birth partner then ideally you will do it together. Birth partners have a huge role to play during your labour and birth and hypnobirthing will get them fully clued up, excited and ready to be your advocate and rock during your birth.
Together you will learn all about the birthing process, including a full understanding of physiological birth, what helps a birth to go more smoothly and what hinders the process. You will build a sound knowledge of when interventions may be necessary and when they are not, and how to make decisions that are best for you and your baby throughout your pregnancy, labour and birth.
You will learn ALL of your options because it's so true that if you don't know your options then you don't have any. Hypnobirthing is for EVERY birth, whether you are planning a homebirth or an elective caesarean and for all births in between, the skills and knowledge you will gather will be invaluable.
Are you wondering if it will make your birth pain free?
The simple answer is no because I would never promise you that (although it certainly is possible), but what I will promise you is that your whole understanding of the pain in labour will change and this will change your experience of it.
I will also equip you with breathing and massage techniques. I will give you an understanding of how movement and positions can provide great comfort measures, as well as making your birth go more smoothly.
Such a huge part of hypnobirthing is about creating a positive and confident mindset so that you will feel like you can handle anything that comes your way. This in itself will transform your experience of labour pain.
