An Obstetrician explains childbirth hypnosis...
Hypnosis explained, by Toronto Doctor Nancy Durand, 5 minutes in length
What a Registered Midwife says...As a midwife, I’ve had numerous clients take Shawn’s course over the years. Those clients had the births that most stand out in my mind as calm, peaceful, quiet and short. They were the primips [first time mothers] who would call me at 9 cm, ready to start pushing. I can’t thank Shawn enough for preparing them so well. I decided to take Shawn’s course because I wanted a calm, peaceful and short birth. Before even attending the class, I received the textbook and CDs in the mail. I started to read right away and made it a practice to listen to the CDs once a day. The peace that came over me was almost instantaneous. Finding that calm in myself helped to diminish my anxieties. Taking Shawn’s course reinforced the normalcy of birth in a way that no amount of reading or talking has been able to do. It reminded me of the fact that labour doesn’t have to hurt and that it can be a short and spiritual experience. Shawn taught my partner and I very practical tools to cope with the experience, but above all, she taught me to believe that birth is normal and beautiful. I taught prenatal classes for many years so I understand the importance of mental preparedness for birth. Shawn takes it beyond mental preparedness to a level of physical preparedness that I have never experienced before taking her class. Not only do I feel calm mentally, but I believe that my body is prepared for the journey that awaits. I don’t think that that feeling can be conveyed without the hypnosis component of the prenatal class. After hearing so many testimonies about how much Shawn has helped pregnant women to prepare for their labours over the years, I feel tremendously fortunate to have had the opportunity to take her course. Both my partner and I have learned very practical skills that we will use in our lives beyond labour and birth. The course far exceeded my expectations and I would highly recommend it to anyone. Thank-you Shawn. Patrice Latka, R.M.
What a Chiropractic Doctor says...I visited with Shawn Gallagher last week to try out some new therapies she has been studying. This is the same woman who taught us hypnosis for childbirth, a class I really enjoyed and will report on after I've had the chance to put her lessons to use. She is a wonderful practitioner, intuitive and calming, and we worked on releasing any blockages or fears that I may be holding onto surrounding this upcoming birth. I felt remarkably lighter after the session with her, no small feat for a person carrying around so much weight! I can't recommend her enough. Dr. Michelle Fagen January 11, 2009 blog
The Birth of Magnus...Mary and Bengt welcome their son. Mary found the hypnosis she learned in the course very helpful in her births. See if you can spot Shawn in the birth! (Hint: look for a fisherman knit sweater...) Watch the video:
Client BlogsClick on the following to read about Julia's homebirth in Toronto. Beautiful photos (ok for kids!) showing very happy family members.
Hypnosis relieves menstrual pain...Hi Shawn, I am very pleased to be able to tell you that what we did during those 2 sessions has made an enormous improvement for me. My period started last Thursday and right away I noticed that I felt very little abdominal discomfort. However, I realized I forgot to tell you that I get terrible back pain with my period as well, so on that first day of my period I was feeling the back pain. The next morning I had a little time to sit down and I disconnected the back pain circuits, and since then my back has been fine. I’ve only taken a couple of Advils (as opposed to 3 every 4-6 hours) and even the ones I took were largely because I didn’t trust that the pain wasn’t going to get worse. The last few days I haven’t taken anything and I feel fine. It is still shocking to me that I can have my period and feel like this. I feel totally normal. So…thank you, thank you, thank you!!! I started the pill on the first day of my period, and that seems to be going fine. I haven’t really noticed any side effects. I was worried about it changing my milk supply/flow rate because I’ve heard that it can do that, and my son is still breastfeeding and I’d like him to continue if he still wants to. I haven’t noticed any problems with breastfeeding due to the pill and he hasn’t changed his nursing habits at all. So good news on that front too. Thanks again, P. B-C, Toronto December 2008
A big change in birth plans and still very pleased...Thank you again for the session before Joaquim's birth. His birth did not go as hoped and ended with a caesarean BUT it was a surprisingly lovely experience and I had a great recovery. You helped us enormously. I ended up having contractions that didn't "uncontract", which was something our midwife hadn't seen before. I felt contractions but no relief in between and I remembered you saying that this could be a warning sign in a VBAC [Vaginal Birth After Caesarian) situation. I only had about 4 hours of labour before we made the decision to have a caesarean and everything went incredibly smoothly after that. The caesarean was a disappointment initially, but I have no feeling of regret about Joaquim's birth. We have been enjoying our amazing boy immensely. So far he is the perfect baby - eats extremely well, sleeps beautifully and has just begun blessing us with smiles. Such a joy. Thank you so much for all of your help. I've found sessions with you to be so incredibly helpful in terms of my emotional preparation for mothering. I really can't thank you enough. All the very best, Andrea Breen January 2010
What clients of ChildbirthJoy Hypnosis say...My partner and I want to thank you again for such a precious experience attending your hypnobirthing weekend. We have both expressed a very changed feeling and approach towards the labour experience and towards each other. We feel deepened together and with our baby. We want to maintain this wonderful feeling and will continue to practice our newly found abilities to relax deeply. I feel this experience was such a pivotal part of this pregnancy journey with my partner and with myself and baby, a very cherished memory. It has helped us see each other and learn more about each other. We thank you deeply. Trish, Toronto November 2008
Thanks again! Looking forward to attending your relaxation sessions in September (hopefully, it'll be before my due date so I can take advantage of it.) Monette, Pickering
Joanna, Toronto
Juliette, London
Autumn, Cambridge
Nerissa, Toronto
Jennifer, Toronto
Natascha, Toronto
What a mom says...I cannot thank you enough for the work you did with my teenaged daughter the other day. Initially, she was quite nervous but you worked your charm and warm energy to totally relax her. She had nothing but positive things to say about her experience. She's under a lot of stress right now with school, and she's only bitten her nails once, but for the first time, she didn't beat herself up about it. Thanks again, ED, Toronto March 2009
more about ChildbirthJoy Hypnosis prenatal classes... return to Home...
|
