Antenatal Services, Classes and Care

Yoga for the journey: supporting mothers, body and soul, from conception, through pregnancy and birth to parenthood beyond. Pregnancy, mother and baby, parent and child, partner and general yoga one-to-ones, classes and workshops in Brighton & Hove. I practice and teach yoga as a holistic form: the relationship between asana (body work), mantra (sound), pranayama (breath work) and meditation (deep relaxation) practise on the mat and developing a deeper sense of connection, centre and space. Pregnancy and motherhood is such a transformative time, both physically and emotionally, and yoga can help strengthen, tone and relax the changing body as well as develop self awareness, acceptance and trust. Yoga informs the way I try to lead my life, parent my children and respond to the world; with open awareness, acceptance and non-judgement.

Hypnobirthing is a wonderfully empowering and effective method for childbirth. It is deeply relaxing and will allow your mind and body to work together as nature intended, significantly increasing the chances of you and your baby experiencing a natural, calm and rewarding birth. In taking responsibility and giving yourself an informed choice you will be in control and be able to make the decisions that are right for you. Vitally, you will learn how to release negative birth programming and/or experiences, also how to trigger your body’s natural relaxant chemicals during labour. Childbirth is an important experience that usually leaves a strong imprint in your mind, so prepare yourself to make it a positive one. We are passionate about supporting you on your journey through pregnancy and beyond. Our postnatal services include Post Natal 1-2-1, Mum's Concierge, Weight Management, Relationship Program, Return to Work, Embracing Maturity and Children's Issues.

I am a fully qualified hypnotherapist who combines this with my other skills in counselling, which I have used in both a formal and informal basis almost daily for many years. As I also spent over twenty years in a medically associated profession, I have a good grounding in medical conditions and terminology. I have since added to the basic hypnotherapy qualification by taking a further qualification in HypnoBirthing®, as developed and taught by Marie Mongan and have helped women after the event with weight management. Additionally, I am a Fellow of the Institute of Personnel and Development, FCIPD with an in depth knowledge of Training and Human Resources. This helps me understand the practical aspects of the fear of, for example, public speaking or appraisal meetings. I can empathise, and offer practical scenarios in both hypnotherapy interventions and exercises for clients to do themselves. In short, a wealth of experience is being offered to you – to enable and support you to achieve your goals, whatever they may be, in the most comfortable and enjoyable way possible.

Yoga is extremely beneficial to pregnant women and anytime after 13 weeks is a great time to start. Active Birth Yoga for Pregnancy is the best possible way to prepare for labour, birth and motherhood, whilst enhancing health, self-confidence and a sense of well being. The weekly class includes gentle yoga postures, breathing, baby awareness, exploring labour/birth, optimal foetal positions and relaxation.

I am a qualified Hypnotherapist, HypnoFertility® therapist, HypnoBirthing® practitioner, and yoga teacher. My areas of interest are fertility, pregnancy and birth. I teach regular weekly yoga classes for pregnancy, and hold monthly workshops for fertility yoga, birth preparation and HypnoBirthing courses. Private sessons are also available.

I have been a midwife for over twenty five years teaching and practicing natural childbirth both here in the UK and the USA. Since 2007 I have been teaching hypnobirthing and to date have taught over 140 couples in the Merseyside area with amazing results, some of their birth stories can be read on my website. Empowering women and their partners to a happy birth memory, giving them the information to make real choices and decisions about their birthing process, taking away the fear of birth so you will 'just birth' is what I do. After all my years of being with women there is nothing I don't know about how to achieve the most beautiful birth possible. Whatever turn birthing takes women and their partner attending my Hypnobirthing course will experience a powerful fulfilling experience that will be with them for the rest of their lives.

I am a well established practitioner of reflexology for fertility, pregnancy and birth. Before becoming a mama myself, I ran a successful practice in London, both privately and from the world famous Hale Clinic, offering support, love and care to many women and couples seeking to conceive, nurture and birth their babies in as respectful and natural a way as possible. I am a reflexologist, a birth doula, a healer and a baby massage instructor and have been privileged to study and work with many leading lights of the birthing world, including Ina May Gaskin, Michel Odent, Janet Balaskas and Dr. Gowri Motha. In March 2010 I relocated my business to West Sussex and I'm excited to bring the breadth of my experience - including the two wonderful births of my own children - to the area, to meet and engage with its women and unborn souls. I work from my home in Cuckfield and am also available for home visits. Please contact me direct at ali@alinorell.com or on 07802 589630 or 01444 473331.

Alison Bird, DHP, MAPHP (Acc), HBCE is a full-time clinical hypnotherapist / hypnoanalyst based in Colchster, established for 8 years. Colchester's first HypnoBirthing practitioner, Alison also specialises in weight management and eating disorders and is a licenced Hypno-Band practitioner (virtual gastric band). As a clinical hypnotherapist, she can also help with fears, phobias, habits and virtually any mind-based or emotional problems.

I trained with Janet Balaskas in 1997 and went on to teach yoga for pregnancy classes and birth preparation classes for couples. I was also hiring out birthing pools from the Active Birth centre and attending births as a doula. I myself have had two water births. My first daughter was born at the Garden hospital with Yehudi Gordon and my second at home with an independent midwife. In 2006 I was ordained as an Interfaith minister and wanted to bring in the spiritual awareness of birth, so in 2010 I developed a practical and spiritual approach to birth preparation called Co-Birthing ©. This is a 6 week course spread over 6 evenings and is both practical and philosophical, looking at postures that are helpful during labour, breathing techniques, acupressure points ( I have been practising Acupuncture since 1992) visualisations, meditations and exploring the spiritual unfolding during pregnancy and birth and how to honour this. For further information please visit my website www.love2birth.com

I have been a practising midwife for twenty seven years working in various areas in a NHS Maternity Hospital. Within the last five years I have become a reflexologist, indian head massage therapist and most recently a HypnoBirthing practioner. I love helping others to become and stay relaxed and positive. I feel all of the above skills help people to do that especially when the daily stresses of parenthood become challenging. I use yoga and self hypnosis myself and am particularly proud of both of my birthing experiences. I calmly, quietly and safely birthed both my children my first born in 1988 and my second in 1991. Both were happy, relaxed babies and have gone on to be happy, relaxed and intelligent adults of whom I continue to be very proud of.

I am a Clinical Hypnotherapist and an easibirthing® practitioner based in York. I feel that a woman should be in control of how and where she chooses to give birth, where she will fell most comfortable and relaxed as one can be during labour and childbirth. By teaching women (and their partners if they wish to attend) the relaxation, breathing and visualisation techniques, it gives them the opportunity to take control of their pregnancy and labour enabling them to see that childbirth doesn't have to be all pain and trauma. Childbirth is one of the most natural processes for the female body to go through, our bodies know instinctively what it needs to do and we should be allowed to follow those instincts by choice.

My name is Ashley MacDonald; I'm a mother, a multi-tasker, a wannabe chef and a true a believer in empowered birth. And I'm a doula (postnatal and birth). Doula (dou·la /'dulə/ -noun): originally a Greek word that technically means "servant", in this case one who is in the service of women. It now refers to an experienced woman who offers emotional and practical support to a woman (and family) before, during and after childbirth. I know that the way you have your baby and the way you care for your child are very important to you. My goal as a doula is to protect your space and your desires for your birth and for your family thus creating room for calmer more aware birthing and mothering. I believe that every birth is a monumental event in a woman's life - one, hopefully, she can look back upon with a sense of pride. Ashley Doula Care is centred around the unconditional support of all families throughout their unique birth journeys and beyond.

Based in North London and Central London I can help with all manner of pregnancy-related issues from the 1st trimester onwards. I use gentle but effective touch, yoga-based movement and relaxation techniques to ease aches and pains and leave you feeling calmer and more relaxed. Cranial treatment for newborns upwards too. I am also a birth doula.

Hello, I'm Andrea and I'm a parent educator and coach. I run regular group classes teaching HypnoBirthing, Active Birth, Baby Massage, Baby Yoga, Rhythm Kids and a Baby Coach postnatal group. I'm also available for individual consultations in person or via my advice line. I've got two children myself who were both born using natural birthing methods such as HypnoBirthing and water. I've been fortunate to support hundreds of parents over the years to achieve the birth and parenting experiences that they want for themselves. Relocating to Woodbridge, Suffolk in June 2012.

BabyCalm is a unique concept, presented through classes and literature, that aims to empower new parents to raise their baby with confidence. BabyCalm® helps new parents understand how to calm their baby's crying, avoid colic and aid restful sleep whilst also trusting in their ability to be their own expert; we turn crying babies and stressed parents into calmer babies and happier parents! 1) The BabyCalm® baby calming parenting course. A unique 4 week (8 hour) course, designed for new mothers and babies, incorporating baby calming and communication skills, interactive class discussion of many topics that new mums commonly face (such as birth debriefing, baby feeding worries, bonding with your baby, baby colic, baby reflux, constipation and wind in babies, lack of sleep and concerns about the health and wellbeing of their new baby) and baby touch therapy - a light baby massage routine developed by BabyCalm®. The classes will help you to bond with your new baby, help him or her to be a calm and happy baby, free of colic, and help you to experience a stress free relationship of trust, confidence and calm. Led by experienced BabyCalmers, our classes also provide an invaluable opportunity for you to make new friends with other local mums. If you would like to learn to trust your own maternal instinct rather than follow rules and routines set out by experts such as Gina Ford, Tizzie Hall and Jo Tantum this is the course for you! "Just a little note to say thank you, Samuel and I have really enjoyed the BabyCalm® classes over the last few weeks and I feel it has made a real difference to us both - we're much more calm and happier and colic free - thank you!" - Kerry and baby Samuel (12 weeks) This course is most suited to newborn babies from birth to 20 weeks of age 2) The BabyCalm® colic and crying workshop This workshop is intended as an emergency "one off" class to help new parents whose babies are suffering from prolonged crying and/or baby colic and fretful sleep. Your teacher will firstly help you to understand why your baby is so unsettled and then demonstrate many techniques and tools to help your baby settle, calm colic and sleep better! BabyCalm® are experts at helping parents to understand why their baby is unhappy and giving them the tools to have a calm and happy baby as well as confidence in their own instincts and abilities. This baby class is often a lightbulb moment for new parents with many commenting that they wish they had known about us before their baby was born or they had read a stream of baby books all giving different advice! For our BabyCalmers this is perhaps the most rewarding class to teach as the results are so astoundingly quick, parents literally walk out with a different calm baby and a smile on their face! This workshop can also be taught privately in your own home as we understand how difficult it can be to get out with a new baby - we are very used to seeing new mums in their pyjamas! Please contact your nearest teacher for more details. "Thank you so much for your help yesterday, it was absolutely invaluable - I'm pleased to report she stayed calm all afternoon, no more colic! and we got 6 hours straight sleep for the first time ever, I couldn't believe it!" - Ellie and baby Jessica (4 weeks) This workshop is most suited to newborn babies from birth to 10 weeks of age 3) The BabyCalm® antenatal workshop This workshop is designed to introduce new parents to reasons that babies are commonly unsettled, including an explanation of baby colic and common reasons babies cry, helping them to understand their baby before they are even born! You will learn how to be a confident mum or dad able to welcome your baby into a world where they are calmer and more settled and be armed with many techniques to make your baby's transition from womb to world as smooth and comfortable as possible, avoid colic and aid sleep for the whole family. You will learn how to calm a crying baby and soothe colic as well as the secrets of how to get more sleep at night and how to get your baby to nap easily during the day. Dads are actively encouraged to attend this workshop, we focus heavily on the importance of fathers and roles that dads may play to support the mother and bond with their baby. "Just a quick note to say thanks so much for the BabyCalm workshop, we feel so much more prepared now. We even managed to calm my niece's crying when she visited on Sunday, my family couldn't believe it - they wanted to know where we had learnt all of the techniques! we can't wait for our baby to arrive now, we feel sure she will be a happy and calm baby!" - Becky and James (38 weeks pregnant) This workshop is most suited to couples between 30 weeks and 38 weeks of pregnancy.

BabyCalmTM is a unique concept, presented through classes and literature, that aims to empower new parents to raise their baby with confidence. BabyCalmTM helps new parents understand how to calm their baby's crying, avoid colic and aid restful sleep whilst also trusting in their ability to be their own expert; we turn crying babies and stressed parents into calmer babies and happier parents!