What are the benefits of attending YBYB,
for you, your birth partner and your baby?

For you:

• you will gain an in-depth knowledge of birth physiology.
• you will learn how to enhance this process by enabling your body to work optimally within the parasympathetic system and learning how to redress the balance if you enter ‘fight or flight’.
• you are less likely to need to use more advanced forms of pain relief if this is something that matters to you. You can feel more comfortable for longer and improve your chances of progressing well at home in early labour due to increased oxytocin release and the resulting increase in beta-endorphin production.
• you will develop a deeper connection with your birthing body and a deeper shared understanding with your birth partner.
• you will appreciate the importance of actively seeking out positive stories about all types/places of birth and learn where to find evidence-based information to inform your choices.
• you will learn how to ask empowering questions of your caregivers.
• you will learn why relaxation is key for birth and which hormones enhance birth and which hormones antagonise it.
• learning the practice of deep relaxation is a life skill – for pregnancy, for birth, for the fourth trimester and beyond.
• you will learn breathing techniques for use during surges/in theatre/in latent phase/in moments of self doubt/during a change of midwife/if your environment changes/whilst having an epidural sited and so on.
• you will learn how to navigate the system by increasing your awareness of interventions that may or may not be necessary or individualised, and understanding about informed consent and decision making.
• you will learn to differentiate between absolute and relative risk/chance statistics and know to ask for the risks and benefits of both accepting or declining an offer of care or intervention eg membrane sweep.
• you will learn about the golden hour and how to give your baby a gentle, nurturing start considering the benefits of skin-to-skin, optimal cord clamping and an undisturbed 3rd stage and infant feeding – how to get off to a good start.

For your birthing partner:

• you will learn how to use hypnobirthing tools and techniques together, in pregnancy, birth and beyond.
• you will have a deeper shared understanding of each other and your shared preferences for birth.
• you will feel more confident in the support that your partner may need and how to be both by their side and on their side.
• you will know not only how to set the environment but how to maintain this optimally as time goes on or location changes.
• you will be a valued part of the birth team rather than feeling like a spare part and will understand how/when the birthing person may appreciate your advocacy skills to increase their feelings of choice and control.
• you will protect the birth space helping to avoid ‘fear, tension, pain’ leading to adrenaline release, whilst also knowing how to support the birthing person to revert back to the parasympathetic system quickly and effectively.
• you will be a huge source of oxytocin wherever and however birth unfolds.
• you will feel more informed and aware of how you can best support birth physiology through attending the course, but also by researching and developing birth preferences together and regular practice of relaxations.
• you will become aware (and raise awareness in others) of the importance of the language used around birth.

For your baby:

• your baby will benefit from being born in a more physiologically respectful environment.
• your baby’s passage through your pelvis will be aided by gravity and space thanks to your awareness of both optimal and instinctive positioning in labour and birth.
• your baby is more likely to benefit from immediate skin-to-skin which will regulate their temperature, heart rate and breathing, reduce sensory overload and stimulate their brain to adopt breast seeking behaviours.
• your baby is more likely to receive their full complement of blood volume via the cord at birth due to awareness of optimal cord clamping.
• your baby will benefit from a gentle golden hour and a calmer environment.
• your feelings of increased satisfaction as you prepare for birth will impact positively upon both you and your baby during pregnancy and the early parenting experience.