Together with your partner you live in Spain and enjoy the Spanish lifestyle to the max. Going out for dinner, yoga on the beach, always a nice sunny place to discover at the weekends. Life is good! Thanks to your work and that of your partner you can live in sunny Spain and you love it! On top of that you choose to expand your little family of two and are now expecting new life! Being pregnant is amazing and frightening at the same time, because how does this all work and especially here in Spain?!
Do you recognize yourself in this;
1. You have no clue what is normal or desirable during pregnancy and birth, let alone here in Spain where you don´t fully speak the language and don´t know how the maternity system works or what your rights are in pregnancy and birth!
2. Ever since you became pregnant, horror birth stories have been flying around your ears. As if it is suddenly written on your forehead; dump your birth trauma here. You are sure you want birth to be different. ¨It must be possible to have a positive birth experience, right?!?¨ You think to yourself, ¨But how? Where to start?¨
3. Hanging up on your friend, panic breaks out! She said very sweetly that she thinks it's so brave of you to go for a natural birth without pain relieve. During the conversation, you still felt very determined about it, but now doubts strike! ¨Help, I actually have no idea how to obtain a natural birth and certainly not here in Spain! What can I expect? Does the hospitals support natural birth? Does my doctor support natural birth? Can I change doctors? Is there a hospital with birth pool? Am I allowed to birth at home? What are the possibilities?¨ You have so many questions!
4. After a long day, you finally lie in bed, happy to rest your feet for a while. Now that you have time to unwind, the staring contest with your ceiling begins... ¨Can I handle this? I do say I want a natural birth, but actually I don't know if I can handle it at all! What if I can't relax at all? What if my pain becomes too much for me anyway? I don't have such a high pain threshold. What if I can't handle it? Do I agree to pain relieve anyway? What can I do if I don't want medication? What if I go over time? Are there natural ways to induce birth?¨ And then you're 2 hours on and still staring at your ceiling. While you so desperately need your sleep right now. Off to the toilet again.…
5. Your midwife/gynaecologist appointment is today. Your heart sinks to your boots. You want a natural birth without interventions or medication, but you find it hard to talk to your midwife/gynaecologist. They already assume so much that you will opt for pain medication that it doesn't even really come up as a question. When you said you want a natural birth they just stared at you. You are worried; ¨How do I go into the conversation about this? How do I make clear what I want? And how do I make sure I am taken seriously?¨
6. You love living in Spain, but you don´t have so many friends here yet. Especially no one you can openly talk to that is in more or less the same stage of life or already went through birth here. Honestly you feel alone in this part of your life. You would love a bit more support.
The worst thing that could happen?
Here in Spain birth is approached as a medical process, which is managed by your doctor or midwife. What does that mean for you? Your doctor decides for you what is best. You lose control over your pregnancy and birth. You are being lived in your pregnancy and everything keeps happening. If this continues, the whole birthing process will be taken out of your hands too. You will feel helpless and powerless and the good start and beautiful birth experience you so much wanted for your baby and yourself drifts away. You don’t get a trial run, you will not have a do-over for the birth of this baby, this is a one time thing for this child! Make sure you don´t waist your chance!
What do other moms say?
Marcella N. - In person HypnoBirthing course
When I was pregnant with our third child, I started researching and I quickly found Titia. And wow, I can say it was the best investment of my life!! The course with her was great. It was easy, fun, super interesting - I learned so much about my body! - and I really had a great time. I practiced everything I had learned with her, focusing mostly on the breathing exercises, listening to the audios that she gave me, and through that, I was training my mind to focus and to relax. And the birth was AMAZING!! I can really say that I enjoyed it A LOT and I even found it a bit too quick - and I know many people would not believe this. So, if you’re pregnant, don’t think twice. Take a course with Titia, you will not regret it! Thank you Titia, for teaching me all this amazing knowledge.
Luo Jia – In Person HypnoBirthing Course
We did the in person course with Titia and we enjoyed the personal attention. Titia has a wonderfully calming presence and we enjoyed her style of delivery. I found the course really positive, it helped me begin to unlearn a lot of negative associations I had with childbirth due to media and the birth stories of family and friends. It really helped me feel informed and it was easy to follow. It was very helpful for the conversations between me and my partner and it helped us to prepare for my first birth as a team. It also made it much easier for my partner to get involved. After every class we had new things to think and discuss about. It really opened the conversation about our expectations for the birth of our son.
Inge – Online Hypnosis sessions
At the end of the pregnancy I was approached by Titia for a hypnobirthing. How nice this was and how much it helped me! Titia is a very nice woman with a pleasant voice to listen to. She takes all the time you need and asks the right questions. Despite the fact that my delivery went totally differently than expected, the sessions were very helpful. Thank you dear Titia!
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