I joined because I had heard that massage might help my baby’s evening colic/wind, but wasn’t actually expecting it too… It did, and massage is now a part of our daily routine, which we all (including my husband) enjoy. My baby is much more settled and sleeps well in the evenings. Overall, a great bonding experience for us both and I didn’t feel anxious if my baby cried or needed feeding/changing during the massage session.

Clare, mother of Arthur

The atmosphere was always very welcoming and relaxed. Sophie was non judgemental, which was very helpful and supportive. I liked watching her interaction with other babies, calming us both.

Simone, mother of Holly

I was worried I’d hurt my baby by massaging wrongly, but now I’m confident, not only in the strokes, but also in my approach/mindset. I liked the holistic outlook – discussing babies and their care as a whole, which was invaluable. I love the one-on-one feeling when my baby looks right at me as I massage her. It’s amazing.

Neela, mother of Asha

A very thorough and clear explanation of the techniques, I feel I have learnt all I hoped to and more. The classes were very relaxed and baby-led in a lovely environment with great hand-outs showing all the techniques. There was never any pressure if the babies were not happy and Sophie was very open to questions and gave lots of good advice and encouragement.

Kate, mother of Annie

“I would recommend this to anyone who is up for the challenge and keen to give their babies a natural start in life.”

I wasn’t sure what I was looking for at the beginning of my pregnancy but as the birth came ever closer and I read more and talked to more people, I realised I was looking for a natural birth.

I realised I believe in the idea that childbirth is a natural thing and should not have to end up a medical fiasco, but as I read on, I could feel the worries and concerns building up as each book warned me of all the potential problems of childbirth. Any mother-to-be could be forgiven for becoming hysterical and panicky if she believes all she reads and the horror stories she hears.

I met Sophie through a mutual friend and after discussing our thoughts and ideas she initially gave us a book to read outlining the ideas behind HypnoBirthing®. A nose through the book confirmed that this was the method for us and we signed up with Sophie for the full course – probably the best move we made! The course consisted of 5 x 2.5 hour sessions held at our house in the evenings. We were expertly guided through the background of negativity and medical intervention in childbirth through the ages; the ideas behind HypnoBirthing®; visualizations, relaxation and breathing techniques, and preparing for the birth.

We experienced relaxation in the sessions, which I would have doubted I was capable of before, but Sophie’s fantastically relaxing tones even put my partner (and our dog) to sleep on occasion. She provided us with a selection of tools to use during labour and birth and as we approached our due date I felt confident and positive.

We opted for a home birth and were ready with a birthing pool, TENS machine, a selection of music, massage techniques etc. Of course when my membranes released at 11pm and everything started happening in a hurry, we didn’t have time for any of it except for some of the breathing and massage techniques and different positions Sophie had shown us during our sessions. I started visualising and breathing and we timed the surges: already about 4 minutes apart – no build up or anything. By the time we called the midwife a couple of hours later (just to be checked out and fully believing that she would tell us to go back to bed and call in the morning), she informed me after the first check that I was already 8cm dilated and she hurriedly started preparing the room and called for the second midwife to come immediately.

Things became more intense. We hadn’t had time to put the pool up and in the excitement of the moment we couldn’t get the TENS machine to work, but I found that some light touch massage and encouragement from my partner, his hand on my lower back and a deep focus on breathing was enough to see me through each surge.

My daughter had positioned herself correctly the week before but this week had decided to shift round a bit to a position where she could either go back a little and take the easy route, or do the full twist and go the long route… of course she chose the latter.

Somewhere near 5.30am, the midwives informed me that my blood pressure had gone up and that they would feel more comfortable transferring us just for security. In between surges, we had an amazingly lucid conversation about not having intervention, decided to wait a bit and see if things improved and then finally made the decision to follow their advice. They were extremely reassuring that this was just a precaution and things would continue the way we wanted them to: on a natural tip.

I walked to the ambulance and lay down. The journey was no more than 5 minutes but I could hear the ambulance team discussing how I was the calmest labouring mother they had picked up in a long time!

In the hospital, the midwives were true to their word, and set up everything just as it had been at home – they brought a birthing ball, suggested active positions to try and I hardly noticed the change in environment. All the changes and movements probably contributed to a natural birth 40 minutes later. I caught the baby and it looked up at me with wide eyes: what a greeting! The baby was put directly onto my stomach for skin to skin and all 3 of us huddled together on the bed for a timeless moment before someone asked whether it was a boy or girl – we hadn’t even looked.

We both feel totally in awe of the whole experience and really pleased to have given our daughter a natural, drug-free entrance into this world. Of the 7 couples in our antenatal class, we were the only ones not to have some kind of intervention. We are both proud of ourselves and our beautiful daughter and couldn’t have done it without Sophie’s help, reassurance and guidance along the way.

I would recommend this to anyone who is up for the challenge and keen to give their babies a natural start in life.

Tamara, mother to Nina,

We started the course at the rather advanced stage of my pregnancy of 37 weeks. I had heard of hypnobirthing but didn’t know much about it when we met Sophie and unfortunately did not realise that it was a technique that was most effective if practiced as often as possible and from as early as possible. However, the 4 weeks we had of doing the course and practicing the method with Sophie’s guidance was definitely worthwhile because Florence was born weighing 7lbs 12 oz at 41 weeks in what was my ideal birth, at home, without any pain relief and in water.