 |
My husband Richard and I did the
calm birth class with you in
February of this year and I just
wanted to let you know that
we've had our baby!! "it" turned
out to be a little girl, who
came five days early on Good
Friday and she's just beautiful
(and we're not biased at all ;-)
)! I woke up with some
mild cramps about 7.30am,
thought it might be some Braxton
Hicks, went back to sleep. Got
up about half eight, had some
breakfast.....noticed the cramps
were getting a bit more intense
about 9.15am.
[read more] |
|
 |
Hi Sue,
I am pleased to tell you that
our beautiful baby daughter
arrived on Sunday (19th), 12
days overdue! I am even more
pleased to tell you that I went
into spontaneous labour on
Sunday and was able to achieve a
successful VBAC with no drugs -
okay, I had a panadol!!!
[read more] |
|
 |
May Margaret was born at 1:10am
on Saturday the 31st July, only
one hour past her due date.
My first labour with my
daughter, Tabitha, who is now 5,
was long and difficult as she
was posterior and despite my
determination, her delivery was
assisted. My labour with May was
a complete contrast. I was so
keen to deliver this baby on my
own, without assistance or drugs
and that is what attracted me to
Calmbirthing as I saw it as a
way of achieving this…..if all
else went according to plan, of
course!
Approaching May’s birth there were
some questions around her size
and low levels of amniotic
fluid. We had an ultrasound that
confirmed this and some
discussions were had around a
need to induce the baby if it
wasn’t here by the due date.
[read more] |
|
 |
Eva’s due date was 28 July.
There was a bit of stuff to do
around the house and I think I
was a bit of nag to Phillip to
get it all done (the stuff I
could not do). I had labelled
every cupboard and shelf within
an inch of its life to the point
that “I was not sure what I
would do when the nesting kicked
in...” and on Saturday 17 July –
I plonked myself on the couch
and said to Phil...the baby can
come now – we’re done;
[read more] |
|
‘What do you mean there’s no
sour cream??!’
The place was Wagga Wagga the
date was the 27th of December
and I surprised myself by my
absolute horror at the
information that the restaurant
we were eating at had run out of
sour-cream…
My husband Lorenzo, my 2 year
old daughter Leila and I arrived
back in Melbourne 2 days later
and the ‘sour’ incident in Wagga
Wagga had me wondering…so I
bought a home pregnancy test…and
a perfect set of matching lines
came up! Baking a Baby had
begun!
[read more] |
|
 |
When I discovered I was
pregnant, I knew I wanted to
fully prepare myself for labour
by learning about the process
and exploring options which
would enable me to keep calm and
relaxed, reducing my anxiety
about what was to come. I came
across Sue's website and felt
certain that she would be able
to assist me to feel calm and in
control. After attending a
weekend class at Sue's, I
listened to the CDs religiously
every night - although it was a
bit harder to convince my
husband to give me those regular
massages which I rightly
deserved!
[read more] |
|
Although my labour wasn't a
completely "calmbirth" I am so
thankful that I did the course
with you. It gave me so much
more confidence in my own
abilities, and i was able to
really focus on breathing during
those crazy fast contractions.
But more importantly than the
breathing techniques etc, was
the way Nicole and I came
together over those 2 weekends,
and how much we went into my
labour as a strong team. Your
course really helped us focus on
the fact that no matter what
sort of delivery you have, it
can still be "yours" and it can
still be special. For example,
after the epidural, we really
remembered to focus on what we
were there to do (bring our
beautiful baby into the world)
and used that calm, pain-free
time, to enjoy the things we had
brought with us but hadn't made
use of due to the strength and
frequency of contractions - we
listened to music, looked at
photos, talked about our special
places etc.
Tandiwe and Nicole |
|
|
Hi Sue,
My baby girl Alessia
was born on the 23rd of November
6.4 pounds.
I cant tell you how much the
calm birth helped me and Ruwan
with the birth, even though I
was induced I managed to get
through the birth with the
breathing and focus. The
information you gave me enabled
me to feel in control of the
labour because I understood at
every stage what I should be
feeling and why I was feeling
that way, this took away any
fear I had.
Thank-you so much for all your
help and I will recommend you to
everyone I know.
Vanessa and Ruwan. |
|
Our gorgeous boy arrived on his
due date.... but not the way we
had expected or had been
preparing for. But the calmbirth
practice I'd been doing
definitely helped me.
Decreased fetal movement and his
heart rate dropping during early
contractions meant that a
caesarean became the safest
option. And while I was
disappointed and a bit scared, I
think the calmbirth practice I'd
been doing allowed me to accept
that things could change and
stay as calm as possible if they
did. I was still able to
envisage having and holding our
little boy at the end and the
joy that would come with his
birth. I don't think anyone
believes me, but it was an
absolutely wonderful experience.
Thank you!
Danielle |
|
 |
When I became pregnant with Will
I searched for calmbirth®
practitioners in our area and
from the first friendly email
exchange with Sue, I knew she
was the one for us! The classes
reflected the calm, warm
atmosphere of Sue and Kerry’s
home and Sue’s gentle
instruction inspired confidence
from the start. calmbirth®
reassured us that our belief in
my body’s ability to birth
without intervention was well
founded. We were taught methods
for allowing my body to birth
without resistance from me and
how to trust my body’s inherent
knowledge or “inner wisdom” of
how to birth. I was 41
weeks pregnant when my waters
broke at 1.30am on 4 March 2010
and we were quietly excited as
we packed my things and headed
into the hospital, leaving Ruby
with my sister. By 3.30am, my
surges were 5 minutes apart but
not strong. We set up the music
and oil burner and for the next
3 hours I breathed through each
surge and dozed in between.
[read more] |
|
 |
George and I owe a lot to your
classes so THANK YOU! In the
weeks leading up to Vincent's
arrival (he was a week over) I
listened to the CD meditations
daily and it was a great help -
it really did keep me relaxed
and happy even though I was
bloody uncomfortable! As it
turned out I laboured for 12hrs
without progressing so ended up
having nitrous, sub-cut water
injections in my back, an
epidural, a drip and fluids, a
catheter, syntocinon and a
caesarean!! To top it off I had
to have 3 units of blood the
next day because of bleeding
after the birth. So much for a
natural birth LOL! But despite
the intervention I had a
wonderful experience, drawing on
my calmbirth®
techniques even as I was on the
operating table – the deep
breathing really helped. I was
most nervous during this time
but George kept me focused on my
breathing and we talked about
our 'happy place'! It was great
- we were so soooo excited to
meet our baby!
[read more] |
|
 |
I met Sue for the first time
when my husband, Steve, and I
arrived at Abbotsford for our
calmbirth®
class, I was pregnant with my
third child, Charlie.
Just before we walked through
the front gate my ever patient
and supportive husband asked
'what are we doing here again?'
At this point I wasn't exactly
sure myself, so I just said it
was a calmbirthing class which
would help me stay relaxed
during my labour and if nothing
else it would be a nice time for
the two of us to spend together
as well as doing a little
bonding with bub.
[read more] |
|
 |
calmbirth®
was recommended to me by a good
friend. She was an absolute
stand out of people I knew who
talked about having an amazing
and positive birth experience. I
had a number of objectives by
completing the calmbirth®
course. First and foremost, I
wanted to enjoy giving birth and
wanted to walk away from the
event with great memories…not
just a feeling of ‘the pain was
all worth it in the end’. I
didn’t want that story, I knew I
could get more out of it.
[read more] |
|
 |
After the wonderful calmbirth®
training from Sue I went into
labour at 5.30pm on my birthday.
At first I wasn't really sure I
was in labour as previously (1st
baby) I had had regular surges
12 to 15min apart for up to 4
hours so I wanted to wait for
regular surges before doing
anything.
Surges were 6 minutes apart as I
blew out my birthday cake
candles with my 3.5yr old. An
hour later we had them at 5
minutes apart. At 7.30pm we
moved to 4.5 minutes apart - I
rocked on my fit ball during the
surges and was really enjoying
the fact that our new baby would
soon be with us.
[read more] |
|
 |
Our path to having a child has
not been the smoothest. In July
2007 we had our first baby, a
beautiful boy called Hamish, who
came very unexpectedly at 28
weeks. Very sadly he died 4 days
later from a bleed in his brain.
Hamish was our third pregnancy
the first 2 ending in
miscarriage.
To find ourselves 32 weeks
pregnant after a very nerve
racking few months (terrifying)
was quite overwhelming.
[read
more] |
|
 |
I
was initially interested in
learning calmbirth® after reading
about it in a magazine and
thinking - I need more
information in order to be
mentally and physically prepared
for this big event. Being
pregnant, people often tell you
about the birth of their
children and often how it was
such a negative experience for
them and that they would only go
back for second child 'once they
forgot about the first'.
[read more] |
|
 |
From even before I fell pregnant
I was all set on taking
‘calmbirth®’
classes. I had read some very
positive stories in newspapers
about women who had used
‘calmbirth®’
techniques during birth and were
able to stay calm and avoid
using drugs for pain relief.
It was about 5.30 am on 26 Feb
and I awoke to mild period-type
aches. I dozed for a while then
stood up to go to the bathroom.
I noticed I felt a little sticky
and sure enough upon closer
examination the mucous plug was
coming out. I put in a pad and
went back to sleep. Michael got
up to get ready for work around
7 am and as usual asked if I was
in labour. This time I was able
to say 'I'm not sure'. He looked
excited.
[read more] |
|
 |
We
enrolled in calmbirth®
after friends raved about it,
and also because the classes
provided by the hospital didn't
really focus on techniques for
labour, particularly a drug free
labour. At 41wks and 2days we
were induced as my amniotic
fluid had started to drop and
there didn't seem to be any
indications that our baby would
make his own way.
It was nerve racking... Our
visualisation had always been a
calm, spontaneous process at
home, perhaps even time to soak
in a warm bath - not hooked to a
drip and monitor in hospital and
beginning the process with a
scary looking hook (to rupture
the membranes)... Followed by a
lot of scampering to the loo...
Machines and all.
Luckily we had listened to the
'be flexible' advice, and some
calming breaths and thoughts
meant that together, we could
adjust to the change in plans.
[read more] |
|
 |
My
husband Jarrad and I attended
your classes last year. We loved
your classes. The technique
definitely helped.
We have a beautiful baby boy
named Max. He arrived 2 weeks
late on the 22nd Aug 2008.
Reluctantly, I had to be
induced. Max didn’t want to come
out and my obstetrician didn’t
want me to go beyond 14 days. He
was very kind and knew my wishes
for a natural birth with no
interference. He let me go as
long as I could. I laboured
naturally for 15 hours using the
calmbirth techniques. I listened
to the CD’s every night pretty
much leading up to the birth.
[read more] |
|
 |
I
was due on the 8th June but
there was no sign of our baby
wanting to come out into the
world and eventually two weeks
later we were booked into the
hospital for induction.
Thankfully 2 doses of gel and a
long day at the hospital got
things started enough and my
waters were able to be broken
around 11pm on the 22nd June and
from that point on, there was no
stopping our little baby coming
out and coming quickly. 3hr
44min later at 2.38am on the
23rd June our baby girl, Mia
McArthur Russell was born
naturally and without any pain
relief needed (for either Mal or
myself!).
[read more] |
|
