Dr Harvey Karp is the Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at UCLA and has worked within this field for nearly 30 years. He has written many books and produced DVDs regarding child development and I want to focus on the one product of his which is relevant for the period immediately after the baby has arrived into your family.

Happiest Baby on the Block DVD is a practical guide as to how to calm a newborn baby. The reason I particularly like it is because it focuses on the idea that the baby has a fourth trimester and that in order to calm them, the environment they have just come from should be considered and replicated. Interestingly, this technique uses the same psychological approach as the one I talk about in the Relax During Birthing download, available free when you sign up to the newsletter. This process in the brain (although Dr Karp does does specifically refer to it) is called "Pattern Matching". Whether a newborn baby, a pregnant lady, or a birth companion, if there is a need to relax, by bringing into the environment things which your brain recognises have relaxed you in the past, it will automatically trigger a relaxation response.

In the case of a newborn baby, Dr Karp talks about the 5 S's - Swaddling, Shushing, Suckling, Swinging, Side/Stomach. He shows the viewer how to effectively swaddle as well as each of the other S's step by step. You will see babys going from screeming the house down, to calmly being jiggled and gently shushed. Dr Karp calls this the calming reflex. The DVD shows a group of parents in a class being taught the techniques, as well as individual one to ones with parents. The other useful addition to the DVD is the extra features - here he has included shushing noises which you can actually utilise with your baby (yes, I did actually sit down with my baby with this DVD on to calm him down!).

If you are interested in purchasing this DVD, it's a good idea to do it before the baby arrives, so you can learn the techniques and feel calm in yourself that you will know how to deal with your baby when they arrive (have an appropriately sized teddy bear/doll and blanket to hand).

You can see Dr Harvey Karp put his 5 S's into practice in this short interview with Richard and Judy from the UK. It really is quite amazing to see.

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Buy this DVD on Amazon.com

Buy this DVD on Amazon.co.uk

Here is a radio interview I did about what is HypnoBirthing and how it can help you. I have edited the interview down to just the relevant parts in the hope that it will be helpful to you.

It contains so great information about HypnoBirthing as well as information about my own birth and top tips for becoming pregnant, during you birth and after your baby is born.

The interview is just under 20 minutes and all you have to do is click the play button above to listen to it right now. If you have any questions or comments then please do leave a comment for this post.

As always, take care,

Juliet

You may not know it, but today is a major Indian holiday. Deepavali, or Diwali is a significant festival celebrated across the entire country, as the "Festival of Lights", where the lights or lamps signify victory of good over the evil within every human being. "Deepavali" (also translated as "diipaavalii") literally means a row of lamps (Sanskrit
"deep" = lamp and "avalii" = row, line).

Diwali is celebrated using festive fireworks, lights, flowers, sharing of sweets, and worship.

So why I hear you ask am I blogging about it on a birth download website? Well, while the stories behind Deepavali vary from place to place, the essence is the same - the celebration of the Inner Light in all of us. Regardless of faith, celebrating that inner light seems more poignant than ever whilst you are pregnant, both considering your baby
as that inner light as well as your amazing body.

So why not light a candle tonight and celebrate the inner light in all of us.

As always, take care,

Juliet

This Birth DVD is very easy for me review as it was something I watched whilst I was pregnant and still today remember the impact it had on me. I have also played it in every antenatal class and one to one session I have run since.

Rather than lots of footage of individual births, this DVD shows the full journey of a pregnant mum going from experiencing light surges/contractions to delivering the baby. You will see how labor progresses and as there is also a running commentary from the mum, so you will know how it feels for her too. You will see how visualizations made a real difference to how she was feeling and the wonderful impact her husband had on her birth experience.

As mum is a midwife she also recognizes the impact she has on peoples birth experiences and this comes across well in the DVD. She explains well how a woman already knows how to give birth, that it is within her. She also beautifully describes how it feels to be a midwife “seeing mothers being born as mothers and fathers born as fathers”.

If there is only one Birth DVD you watch before your birth, I would absolutely recommend this one (and have a box of tissues handy if your hormones are haywire).

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Buy Birth Day DVD from Amazon.com

I was just checking out antenatal classes for gentle births and there are so many out there now using hypnosis that it must be really confusing to know which one to go for and what it involves. Some of the more recognised names include HypnoBirthing, Natal Hypnotherapy, Hypnobabies, Leclaire Hypnobirthing Method and many more. But what is hypnosis in childbirth? What's it like? How does it work?

Sometimes the perception of hypnosis in childbirth is that it's a special state which not everyone can achieve, or that it's something new, created as a 20th/21st century tool to mask the "pain" of childbirth, some people even consider it to be like "3..2...1..your back in the room and here's your baby". So to help clear things up for the reader, here's my own view on this (as a hypnotherapy trainer and an ex HypnoBirthing practitioner).

Hypnosis is among the oldest phenomena known to man and is found, in one form or another, in virtually every culture throughout the world. Many people believe they would be out of control whilst experiencing hypnosis, largely due to watching stage hypnosis, however it is actually a state where we are completely in control, with complete focus on one particular thing. In the case of childbirth, it's the complete inward focus on birth which is the natural trance ("hypnotic") state. This trance state, which can only happen when a woman is completely relaxed and feels safe during her birth has been happening since the beginning of birth itself.

If you haven't already experienced childbirth and wonder what this trance state feels like, you have probably actually experienced it before without knowing. Think of a time when you were so focused on something, that you had no perception of time, of people around you or of other noises wherever you were. Sometimes this can be through listening to music, reading a good book or being mesmerized by a great movie. It's also the state we go into just before we nod off and fall asleep. It's this ability which you already have which is called on for giving birth.

By practicing this existing skill before you give birth, you can help increase your confidence about your ability to birth gently and calmly, in complete control. A great way to practice this calm inward focus is to do so whilst listening to relaxing music you may have chosen to be played at your birth, so you automatically link the two together, plus visualize your birth unfolding just as you would like it too. Remember, if you would like a helping hand, you can get my free relax during birth guided visualization (aka hypnosis download!) just by entering your name and e-mail address into the top right hand box.

I hope this has helped clarify what hypnosis in childbirth is, if you have any questions, please do place a comment and I will happily respond.

As always, take care,

Juliet