Gracious Birth™ Programme
A four to six week programme preparing you for a relaxed pregnancy, labour and birth.
(Read more here)

Or individual sessions for:

Infertility
For a woman, or couple, experiencing infertility issues, there is no argument that stress can become a large factor in your life. Recent research on the relationship between psychological distress and IVF success indicates that pre-cycle distress is associated with lower pregnancy rates (Fertility & Sterility. Journal of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Feb 04). The impact of relaxation and positive belief has yielded excellent results for many women but it is often very difficult to break the cycle of negativity and stress without support.

By using a combination of modalities, Mindful Matters can assist you to break the cycle of stress and negativity and actively promote your relaxation response to dramatically improve the quality of your life and chance of conception.

Pregnancy after Miscarriage
Pregnancy after miscarriage can be a very stressful experience as often, fear of a repeat occurrence can dominate your thoughts. What should be a relaxed and joyous time can become fraught with anxiety.

Mindful Matters can help you to alleviate your fears, allowing you to enjoy your pregnancy in a relaxed and confident state of mind, a state that will, in turn, actively promote the health of your pregnancy.

Needle Phobia
An irrational fear of needles is often learnt in childhood and can usually be unlearned very easily by using a simple NLP technique or hypnosis. One session is usually all that is required to overcome this fear.

Smoking and Nutrition
With so much clear evidence now available as to the negative effects on your baby from maternal smoking and poor nutrition, most women make a very determined effort to address these issues prior to or during early pregnancy, but it's not always easy to make these changes on your own.

A combination of NLP techniques and hypnosis has proven to be very effective in changing these ingrained habits. Depending on the situation, it is often possible to make permanent changes with just one or two sessions.

Morning Sickness
Morning sickness is a reasonably common experience for many pregnant women and is caused by a variety of factors such as changing hormone levels, physical changes, an increased sensitivity to odours and psychological factors. Advice such as: eating small frequent meals, don't lie down too soon after eating, avoiding standing up from seated or lying positions too quickly and avoiding strong odours can be helpful.

Sometimes however, it is a linked association between your mind and something in your environment that causes you to feel nauseous. It could be sights, sounds, smells, tastes or even thoughts. In these instances hypnosis can be very helpful in assisting you to break these associations and alleviate nausea.

High Blood Pressure
Pregnancy and high blood pressure are not great companions and all high blood pressure issues must be addressed by your health care professional. For stress induced high blood pressure, relaxation and stress reduction techniques may prove very helpful. A 2004 study by the Institute of Neurological Sciences, South Glasgow University Hospital, determined that Reiki does indeed have a positive effect in lowering blood pressure (Autonomic Nervous System Changes During Reiki Treatment: A Preliminary Study. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 2004 Vol 10:6).

Mindful Matters will help you to address any stressors in your life and offers wonderful relaxation therapy to help lower your blood pressure.

Adjusting to Pregnancy
Are you having trouble adjusting to the thought of your changing body or what your pregnancy means to you? Mindful Matters can help you identify your issues and address the underlying causes to help you move through your pregnancy in a more positive state.

Prenatal Bonding with your Baby
Enjoy a wonderful guided relaxation as you connect with your unborn child - a very powerful way to prepare for labour, birth and for motherhood.

Relaxation for Labour and Birth
Relaxed women tend to have much easier labour and births than anxious women, due to the physiological effects of the chemicals and hormones turned on by the woman's relaxed state. Powerful neuropeptides, such as endorphins, the woman's natural pain relief, course through the body and well oxygenated, unrestricted blood flow allows the woman's muscles to work easily and in harmony, causing the cervix to open gently and easily. The baby's heart rate stays healthy and strong and the baby is born in a relaxed and healthy state. By contrast, anxious women turn on different chemical reactions that lead to a state where the body does not function optimally for an easy labour and birth, pain levels are much higher and the woman's natural coping mechanisms are severely limited. Furthermore, the baby of a highly anxious woman in labour can become distressed when there is a hindrance to the normal oxygen flow to the uterus and when labour progresses at an abnormal rate.

While it is clear that it is of fundamental importance not to hinder the natural process of childbirth, our birth culture has become one of fear, and this has led to fewer women, each generation, experiencing natural childbirth. The antidote to fear is relaxation.

Mindful Matters offers a number of therapies and tools to allow you to experience, maintain and return to a relaxed state of being. Self- managed relaxation techniques are also taught. You may also like to consider the Gracious Birth™ Programme for a fully integrated approach to a relaxed pregnancy, labour and birth.