A note for the Dads & birth partners

Until the 1970's, men were not allowed to be at the birth with their partners. Before birth was brought to hospitals, labour and birth were strictly women's business. When birth was introduced to hospitals, men were made to sit anxiously in waiting rooms while their partners gave birth!
I often see Dads feeling completely overwhelmed trying to work out how to support their partners during labour and birth. The Dad-to-be often enters the birth space with no idea about the birthing process and how his partner is perfectly designed to birth. The Dad becomes uneasy hearing her moaning and groaning, and at times roaring! Not knowing these are positive sounds, he watches her peak during a surge and is fearful she is hurting. He nervously sits in the corner of the room texting his mother, as he doesn't quite understand his purpose of supporting his partner during labour.
As the woman progresses in labour, the energy intensifies, she feels a crisis of confidence, she looks to her partner for reassurance and support. But he doesn't know what to say or do.

He doesn't understand she is transitioning into the second stage of her labour. He doesn't realise this is a very crucial moment in her labour, where she needs your grounding  and loving energy, so she can gather her own strength and knowledge and give birth to your baby!

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In the Positive Birth Program, I support the Dad to learn all about physiological birth. He gets familiar with birth by watching inspiring birth videos of others having a positive birth making all sorts of sounds and movements. He learns how the muscles of the uterus work in harmony together, allowing the baby to move down and how the mother's pelvis expands. The Dad learns how he can best support his partner in labour and birth and feel confidence in himself that he will know what to do. He also learns to release fears and doubts about birth, so he can trust the birth process. With Positive Birth preparation he has the tools to support his partner to have a calm, positive and pleasurable birth experience, however their baby chooses to enter the world.   

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Testimonial from a Dad's perspective:

"From a husbands point of view, I think this course was the most beneficial thing we did in the lead up to the birth. Anne made me feel confident throughout the course to handle any situation that occurred on the day, including and most importantly, speaking on behalf of my wife when needed. The entire experience was overwhelming (in a good way), the day of birth was a whirlwind and the greatest test you will ever go through in life. I’ve never felt so connected with my wife than the day that we brought our son into the world. Highly recommend this course to anyone who is wanting a load of tools to help your wife/partner - and yourself - through a calm and confident birth."

-Dean