The opening flower is a universal metaphor for birth. Imagine a flower… a flower special to you….one you love to admire…see the flower as a tightly closed bud…hold the image still…see the colour of the petals and how they are wrapped around each other...very gradually, like a slow-motion film, see the bud beginning to loosen, the petals are separating slightly…

A positive image of birth is the cornerstone of a safe, happy birth experience. If you believe your body is meant to give birth efficiently, naturally and without complications and that birth is a joyful event, you are more than halfway to a safe, natural birth.

Join us in our yoga classes to learn the art of relaxation! When the mind quiets down, the body follows suit and this is a particularly useful practice during pregnancy and at birth. It is thought that the the nervous system of an unborn child can be healed when the mother herself progressively relaxes her body and mind.

Active Birth is nothing new, and yet when Janet Balaskas founded the Active Birth Movement in the early 1980s, it began a revolution. A decade earlier, many hospitals around the world had adopted what was called ‘Active Management’ of labour—a highly technological approach, which favoured medical control over labour and birth.

Our beautiful, big, healthy girl, Banksia Rose, was born at home in the most amazing labour and birth. Banksia, thank you for the Active Birth workshop. I used breathing throughout my whole labour, and my husband did hip squeezes for each contraction towards the end.

I can honestly say that the workshop allowed Mike and I to make informed, evidence-based decisions about the birth. We felt confident to voice our concerns and decisions to the medical professionals which was such a gift.

We certainly used the breathing, massage and rocking techniques during labour. I was able to rely so much on Jake and his practice and confidence learned from classes are the reason.

I was in labour for about 20 intense hours and I strongly believe, that the skills learned in the Online Active Birth Skills course. enabled me to have a natural birth that was a thoroughly positive experience. The exercises, classes and information provided made me feel like I could approach my delivery with confidence and calm. I’m sure this attitude and preparation was so incredibly important for my positive birth experience. The course also really helped me understand what was happening to my body and my baby at all times during the process.

Things moved really quickly after the induction at 7pm and by 10pm my contractions had well and truly started. Our beautiful son, Frederick (Freddie) arrived at 2:50am without the need for my waters to be broken or an Oxytocin injection and by the time I thought the pain might be too much it was too late for an epidural. Everything happened quickly but naturally (other than the induction to kick things off). I'm so grateful and wouldn't have wanted it to go any other way.

I remembered something Suzanne said in active birth yoga class ‘lean on your supports’ and I think this big group of supporters was exactly what I needed for this birth.

I feel like this confidence definitely came from my yoga classes and listening to Suzanne’s yoga meditations during pregnancy. My midwife and the midwifery student stayed after their shift finished to be there for the birth of my baby Julie, so she arrived in a room full of people smiling and excited to see her (like her own personal cheer squad!)

Thanks for having us back at your Active Birth Workshop for baby #2. It was so wonderful to just breathe, surrender, and embrace the moment without panic or fear. Two hours of spontaneous drug-free labour, and just 9 minutes of pushing. We were in hospital all of 8 hours in total (the birth centre have such a wonderful discharge policy).

The benefits of being upright include a reduction in the length of pushing time as gravity can help bring the baby, there is better supply of oxygen to the baby, the baby can get in a better position and less pressure on the pelvic floor.  In the active birth classes we practice the positions that widen your pelvis.

We all have the capacity to visualise. Did you know that conjuring up an image of your baby during labour can help you remember what the powerful sensations your experiencing are all about. Try this visualisation practice during your pregnancy to help create a deeper bond with your baby.

Midwives know that when a labouring woman feels safe, private and unobserved she will move unrestrictedly, make sounds uninhibitedly and will more closely follow her instincts. Making sounds during labour helps you to shift your consciousness into a deeper, calmer state of mind thus optimising your birthing hormones helping you labour more efficiently. There is also a physiological connection between the vocal cords and cervix.

I would like to thank you for running the yogababy classes and for keeping on doing so during these strange times of self-isolation. It was very important for me to still be able to do it from home. I am sure the only reason why my pregnancy was so easy and delivery was fast (according to the midwife, my impression: it was way too long:) is due to yoga classes. I tried my best to use some of the yoga practices during labour and it helped to progress it. Our baby girl Emily arrived on term without any artificial stimulants.

I had my baby Eva on her due date! and the labour went great! I had a natural birth and used the vocalisation and breathing from your Active Birth yoga classes. I had no stitches and she was 3.5kgs (and she’s perfect!).

My water broke and my contractions started soon after, my partner came and picked me up and we went to the hospital (I expected to be sent back home). When we got there and I was checked out the midwife told me I was in active labour! As the contractions got stronger my partner would breathe with me through the pain and when the pain grew stronger I started to make low pitched sounds (like from class) which really helped me with the pain!

Your partner can play a vital role in helping you to focus on your breathing during labour & birth.  Your breath is your focus for assisting you to adapt to the sensations of labour.  Here are three exercises can practice in the lead up to your birth experience. 

1. Yogic breath: When you practice the yogic breath during contractions you will be signalling to your body that you accept the bodily sensations as healthy & safe! This will make all the difference between tension and relaxation. 

Tasting embodiment through a contraction was such a gift. I would be embodied one contraction but then not the next; it ebbed and flowed seemingly out of my control. And so a deeper layer of surrender was able to happen, as I realised that birth would happen regardless.  My experience was somehow out of my hands so to ride with the 'what is'. But no romanticism-- there were definitely times I wanted OUT or didn’t’ think I could be with it much longer. But knowing that the struggle and fight with what is happening is part of the birth spectrum- helped to get me thru.  This is one part of the intense yin/yang that happens. Ultimately I found surrendering to the lack of control of my own experience intensely healing for my previous birth too- as I had been holding on to self-judgment for not having 'done it better'. Somehow, I found the willingness to drop my expectation that it would be a certain way and felt resourced with tools. Birth is HUGE!

I completely recommend Suzanne’s private session wholeheartedly. It honestly is a must for anyone going into the birth experience. It is the biggest gift I could have given to myself for such a huge rite of passage.

We cannot control how birth unfolds and it can be overwhelming when trying to make sense of it, right in the middle of the unknown. How do you know what to do when unplanned things happen? The best thing you can do is educate yourself so you are aware of as many options as possible and then, trust your intuition. Ask yourself “How am I feeling?”, “do I need to do more?” or “do I need to rest?”. Listen, your own heart can never lead you astray. Your satisfaction with your birth has been demonstrated to be related to whether or not you listened to yourself, and importantly whither you were listened to and supported by those caring for you.

I am reading the book ‘Your medical mind, how to decide what is right for you’ by Groopman,MD & Hartzband, MD. They say that patients should be aware that doctors and other experts may frame information in a way that reflects their own preferences. What is recommended is that information should be presented in a neutral way and doctors work to understand their patient’s own thinking.