How to choose an antenatal course that’s right for you. An important read for all parents to be…

Pregnancy, hypnobirthingSusan BradleyMarch 29, 2024antenatal class, antenatal course, birth preparation, hypnobirthing, maternity care, hypnobirthing york, matrescence, pregnancy class, NCT

What if we nurtured mothers?

How so many things could be different if we nurtured mothers…

Pregnancy, matrescenceSusan BradleyMarch 1, 2024antenatal class, antenatal course, birth preparation, hypnobirthing, maternity care, hypnobirthing york, matrescence, motherhood, pregnancy class, pregnancy yoga, real motherhood

Q is for Questioning

Why asking questions of your health care professionals could be the most important thing you do…

Birth, labour, hypnobirthing, PregnancySusan BradleyFebruary 9, 2024induction of labour, induction, antenatal class, antenatal course, birth preparation, hypnobirthing, maternity care, hypnobirthing york

K is for Vitamin K

Did you know that it’s standard practice to give babies a dose of vitamin K just after birth? Do you know why it’s offered? Do you know why you might accept or decline vitamin K for your baby? Well here’s some info all about it.

BirthSusan BradleyJuly 17, 2023hypnobirthing class, birth choices, empowered birth, antenatal class york, hypnobirthing york, vitamin K, vitamin K injection, vitamin K drops, vitamin K choices

D is for Delayed Cord Clamping

When your baby is born, around a third of babys volume blood is still in the placenta and umbilical cord. But it will quickly make it's way to baby via the umbilical cord. Unless of course the cord is cut before the transfer is complete. So delaying the clamping and cutting of the umbilical cord is so important.

Birth, labourSusan BradleyJuly 1, 2023hypnobirthing class, birth choices, empowered birth, antenatal class york, hypnobirthing york, birth knowledge, umbilical cord, delayed cord clamping, optimal cord claming, wait for white

The taboo of poo

Lets talk about something that everyone wants to know - but often does not actually get spoken about even by midwives. The taboo of poo in labour.

Birth, hypnobirthingSusan BradleyJune 14, 2023hypnobirthing class, birth choices, empowered birth, antenatal class york, hypnobirthing york, birth raality, birth plans, birth preferences, poo in birthComment

C is for Cervical Recoil

Did you know that the cervix can also close down (recoil) , as well as open (dilate) in labour? Well it can, and this article is all about why it may do that and also how you can help it move in the right direction.

BirthSusan BradleyMay 10, 2023hypnobirthing class, birth choices, empowered birth, antenatal class york, hypnobirthing york, cervical recoil, cervical dilation, first stage of labour, up stage of labour, birth knowledge

Cardinal Movements of baby in labour

A fascinating look at how the baby moves down through the pelvis in labour, through what’s called the ‘cardinal movements’. It’s not all about downward movement - there’s so much more of a dance that baby does than that! Take a look here.

Birth, hypnobirthingSusan BradleyApril 29, 2023hypnobirthing class, birth choices, empowered birth, antenatal class york, hypnobirthing york

N is for Nuchal Cord

Some information for you about baby’s born with their umbilical cords around there necks, and how this is not something to fear and why not. Myth busting pregnancy and birth untruths is something that’s so important! So read on.

Pregnancy What If?Susan BradleyApril 5, 2023nuchal cords, hypnobirthing class, birth choices, empowered birth, antenatal class york, hypnobirthing york

Tell Me About... the Transition phase of labour

So next in my series, this is all about the next stage of labour known as Transition. Which is the stage that follows on from Active Labour and is before the Birthing stage when you’ll meet your baby. Let me explain more…

Pregnancy, Pregnancy What If?Susan BradleyFebruary 13, 2021pregnancy, birth knowledge, hypnobirthing york, hypnobirthing class, positive pregnancy, pregnancy mindset, birth, labour, transition, stages of labour

Tell Me About... the latent phase of labour

The latent phase of labour, is when the cervix - the opening to the uterus or womb - first starts to soften and thin, and then begins to open or ‘dilate’. The cervix needs to open to give baby an exit to be born. What’s this got to do with a banana?? Well if you’ve seen my video Tell Me About the Uterus you’ll know I LOVE a fruit analogy! Let me explain more…

Pregnancy, Pregnancy What If?Susan BradleyOctober 15, 2020pregnancy, birth knowledge, hypnobirthing york, hypnobirthing class, positive pregnancy, pregnancy mindset

Hypnobirthing Myth #4 - It's All About The Birth

I wanted to ‘bust’ another hypnobirthing myth with you today. Because I know that people can think that ‘all’ that you are going to learn on a Hypnobirthing course is about the birth of your baby, and while is absolutely SO important, you will learn so much more on my unique course - this is Hypnobirthing and so much more too. Let me tell you a bit more….

hypnobirthingSusan BradleyJune 30, 2020hypnobirthing york, hypnobirthing course, for modern mothers hypnobirhting, antenatal class york, antenatal york, nct york, empoweredbirth, positivebirth

Quick Guide For A Positive Birth

In all my years of teaching pregnant women and couples, if there’s one thing I’ve learnt, it’s that knowledge is power. If you are pregnant, you ARE going to give birth. There’s no getting out of it. So learn all you can, not just about the physical and mental experience of pregnancy and labour (because it's as much a mind game as a body one - due to your birth hormones which control everything in labour), but also about your choices, options and rights in the birth room. Here are my five top tips to maximise your chances of a positive birth

Birth, PregnancySusan BradleyMay 12, 2020positive birth, hypnobirthing york, hypnobirthing course, nct york, antenatal class york, birth tips, birth environment, active birth, birth rights, birth choicesComment

Optimal Cord Clamping - How it benefits your baby

After baby is born we might think of the placenta and umbilical cord as now defunct. Of course they were part of the amazing life support system that grew and nourished your baby for all these months, but that is now no longer needed. But hang on a minute, the reality is that the umbilical cord has one last job to do - and it’s an important one.

BirthSusan BradleyFebruary 29, 2020optimal cord claming, delayed cord clamping, wait for white, third stage labour, placenta, positive birth, birth preferences, birth plans, hypnobirthing yorkComment

Will this Baby Ever Arrive?? 15 Tips For An 'overdue' Baby

Babies have not read the book about due dates, and simply turn up when they feel like it. But waiting for baby can be a tricky time, especially mothers to be. With calls from friends and family, and pressure for an induction will very likely mount from health care professionals. This can really undermine a woman’s much-needed confidence in her body before she’s even started the challenging journey of labour and birth. So here are some ‘natural nudges’ that women often try.

hypnobirthingSusan BradleyOctober 8, 2019induction, labour, positive affirmations, overdue baby, hypnobirthing york, hypnobirthing course

EAT your placenta? 8 Options For Your Placenta Post Birth

Your placenta is a pretty damn amazing thing. A whole new organ that grows to support your baby through pregnancy providing the nourishment and oxygen for your baby to grow. Without the placenta there would be no baby. In itself it’s pretty WOW. But once baby arrives earthside, the placentas job is done. So what happen to your placenta, should you keep it, and if you do what can you do with it now? Eight things (including eating it) you can do with this unique pregnancy organ.

Birth, Post Natal, Pregnant BodySusan BradleyAugust 15, 2019placenta, placenta eat, placenta encapsulation, birth choices, hypnobirthing yorkComment

Partners & Breastfeeding - 5 Ways They Can Be Part Of It

The first few months after the birth of your baby (the Fourth Trimester) can be a real emotional rollercoaster ride. New mums, and new families, need lots of support to help them as they settle into the new rhythms of their new life with a newborn. This is particularly true during the early days, weeks and months of breastfeeding. And often partners can feel that breastfeeding is an area where they aren’t able to be involved - but actually the opposite is true.

So read on and learn a number of simple yet brilliant ways that partners can be a valuable part of the breastfeeding journey…..

Breast Feeding, Fourth TrimesterSusan BradleyJune 5, 2019For Modern Mothersbreastfeeding, breast feeding support, breastfeeding peer supporter, breastfeeding support, fourth trimester, motherhood york, hypnobirthing york, motherhood, positive motherhood, treasure chest york

Pain in labour - 7 things that can make it WORSE!

At some point in your pregnancy you start to think of the inevitability of the baby coming out, and how that might feel. To many women that causes a little worry, or maybe quite a lot of worry, and often some fear, or a lot of fear. I get it. There are many things that can make labour feel more intense, more uncomfortable, more painful. And I don’t know anyone who wants a more painful labour! So learning what those things are, and how you can avoid them is so valuable in pregnancy - and that’s what this blog post is all about. 7 things I would really recommend you AVOID to help you have a more comfortable labour and birth:

hypnobirthing, BirthSusan BradleyMay 2, 2019labour comfort measures, birth, hypnobirthing york, antenatal class york, hypnobirthing course, birth preparation, birth classComment

Rethinking Pain in Labour & Birth

I wrote a blog post last month all about the Fear-Tension-Pain cycle in labour, and how it’s really important not to fear birth - as that can make your labour more painful and potentially longer too. So I wanted to do a short blog post to follow up to that, and to explain how ‘pain’ in labour is completely different than other types of pain. And how if you can think about it in a different way this can really help you to manage the sensations of labour and birth. So read on:

Birth, Pregnancy, Pregnant BodySusan BradleyApril 19, 2019hypnobirthing course, hypnobirthing york, pain in labour, birth without fear, nct york, antenatal class york, pregnancy york Comments

Comfort Measures For Labour - TENS

A TENS machine is a small handheld device that can help to alleviate the discomfort of labour. TENS stands for ‘Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation’ - so I’ll just call it TENS from now on, its frankly a bit of a mouthful! Some women swear by it, others find it annoying or too fiddly. But it’s something that you can use to ease discomfort that YOU have control over, it has no risks to baby, and if you don’t like it - then you can stop it effects immediately. Here’s an explanation of how it works, how to use it, and what it does.

hypnobirthing, PregnancySusan BradleyMarch 24, 2019comfort measures, labour pain relief, hypnobirthing, hypnobirthing york, antenatal york, labour comfort measures, TENS machine labour birth

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