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Showing episodes and shows of
Helen Bartrom
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The Positive Births NZ podcast
#126. Pip's home waterbirth to Wilbur
A brilliant episode for parents looking for hope and inspiration for a 2nd birth experience. Pip shares with us an excellent example of the differences between an induction plus subsequent intervention versus an informed, educated physiological homebirth.We chat about her first birth to Arthur in order to understand the context of how she enters into her pregnancy with Wilbur. I mention how Pip displayed classic signs of trauma, although the word ‘trauma’ wasn’t how she thought about her experience - until Wilbur’s pregnancy.Please note: there may be distressing information about her experien...
2025-03-17
1h 21
The Positive Births NZ podcast
#120. Eleni's 4 positive births (1 at home, 3 homebirths)
Eleni speaks about her journey of her 4 positive births (one in hospital and 3 at home) including a discussion around anxiety and depression she experienced around the time of her 3rd baby Felix. We chat about her healing through extreme anxiety, what helped her - with a short mention of looking into gut health and mineral deficiencies – which are very important factors! Eleni shares how she felt about the hypnotherapy we did for some fear / anxiety release around pregnancy & birth, how this made her feel and then her incredible journey through her 4th pregnancy with Bjorn – comp...
2024-12-23
1h 34
The Positive Births NZ podcast
#117. Alisha's hospital birth to August
Two difficult births – one traumatic making Alisha feel that she didn’t want to do it again and the other a positive experience – we speak 6 weeks after August’s birth and she says she’d happily give birth again. So what is the difference between a traumatic birth and a positive birth even when they are both difficult? This is what Alisha talks about. She shares about the difference between obstetrician care and midwifery care and especially how the hospital midwife made her feel in her first birth vs how her midwife made her feel in her sec...
2024-10-28
1h 07
The Positive Births NZ podcast
#109. Alex's home VBAC to Nellie
“The most positive thing is how in tune I am with my body and how it didn't just stop at birth. It's now, it's a lifelong thing.” Alex’s story is the epitome of the transformation that is possible at this stage of life. Dealing (or rather, not dealing) with grief through her first pregnancy, Alex had a difficult birth and postpartum with Lucy, and once pregnant again decided she needed to have a different experience. She worked through her challenges with help and support and within a few months became a changed woman...
2024-09-07
58 min
The Positive Births NZ podcast
#107. Grace & Jack's home waterbirth to Cleo
Grace was excited about birth, she saw it as a challenge, an initiation. Jack was impressed to see Grace in her element and so confident. You'll hear what Grace and Jack's initial thought of homebirth was and how that has changed. Grace had a great mindset, unlike many mums she was hoping to be overdue as they wanted to finish renovations on their home. This resulted in a last minute pool set up and birth altar creation in labour. Grace shares about power of the affirmations which she hadn’t really gelled with muc...
2024-09-01
1h 01
The Positive Births NZ podcast
#105. "Big Baby" series - Maree, Maddie and Chantelle's stories
How does your baby measuring "big" affect your ability to move through the labour and birth process? In this episode we hear Maree, Maddie and Chantelle's different experiences. Maree was told that she had a 10% chance of birthing naturally - and she DID, quickly and smoothly to 11 lbs 4 oz (5.1kg) Lily. Maddie was told she had to have a C Section, but chose induction instead and shares her experience of a positive birth to 10 lbs 5 oz (4.8kgs) Izak. Chantelle shares her experience of the shock at 40 weeks of discovering her 2nd...
2024-08-18
28 min
The Positive Births NZ podcast
#101. Alicia's breech baby and c-section to Raff
At 35 weeks Alicia discovered her baby was breech and this significantly changed her birth journey. She shares with us her thoughts and feelings and how she navigated what came next. Alicia shares her difficult decision to have an ECV and how that procedure was for her. When baby didn't turn Alicia needed to face more challenges and I love how she takes control of the few things she had control of - including standing her ground with the elective c-section date. And the ultimate result was of her baby choosing her birthday as Alicia went...
2024-08-05
1h 12
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Jess' births to Kyson and Arlee
For our 100th episode we chat to my daughter Jess about her two births. Please note this episode comes with a trigger warning as we discuss baby loss. In 2021 at her 20 week scan it was discovered their baby boy had a rare condition called HLHS where the left side of the heart didn't form. We chat about this experience, her positive birth (with induction at 39 weeks) and how the next 17 days of Kyson's life unfolded. While this is a tough topic, we discuss the circle of life and death matter of factly with...
2024-06-30
1h 07
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Raewyn's home waterbirth to Hartley
A straight forward smooth homebirth for a first baby – it doesn’t get any better. Raewyn shares with us the fact that she had started out in her pregnancy scared of birth, joined the hypnobirthing course and then did a 180 degree turn in terms of her mindset Having initially planned a hospital birth she later felt confident to proceed with a home birth option. The biggest message in this episode is the power of being open minded, Raewyn was essentially happy with going with the flow without being attached to a particular outcome. She was open...
2024-06-25
57 min
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Michelle's fast homebirth to Elliott
On baby's due date Michelle picked up her 20month old son Leith from daycare at 3pm and by 6.30pm was holding her new baby girl Elliott. In this very smooth home birth story we hear how Michelle felt prepared, she never felt she couldn't cope even though it was an intense and rapid experience However there was a moment of fear when she was alone for a time in her labour - she talks about how the fear impacted on how she felt and then what her midwife said to help her switch back into...
2024-06-11
41 min
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Laura's hospital induction to Freddie
At 28 weeks being told your baby is measuring at around the 3rd percentile isn't what anyone wants to hear..... and the size of her baby led Laura to being under the care of the SGA (small for gestational age) clinic. In this episode Laura shares with us her traumatic ectopic pregnancy in 2022 and then how she was very excited for birth when discovering she was pregnant again in 2023. Midway through her pregnancy the hypnobirthing course gave her and husband Matt some tools to use which proved useful for navigating the remainder of her pregnancy, birth...
2024-05-26
1h 02
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Britta's journey to meet Bette, hospital induction
"It was a constant battle every step of the way" says Britta about aspects of her pregnancy. All birth stories are special and all babies are miracles, but this one is that little bit extra special and is quite the positive birth story simply by the fact that Bette is here with Britta and Ritchie, healthy and happy. In this episode we talk about the rollercoaster ride of emotions to conception, the diagnosis of premature ovarian failure, how Britta was given just a 2-3% chance of conceiving through IUI. Then there is the pregnancy , which w...
2024-04-12
1h 13
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Ayla and Seb's birthcentre waterbirth to Kit
A fast and furious start to labour, with waters gushing everywhere is how Ayla's labour to Kit begins, the immediate intensity taking both Ayla and Seb by surprise. Today we have both of them on the podcast to talk through their labour and birth experience. It’s always great to have a partner's perspective and the extra info Seb is able to share about his experience of their 12 hour journey to meet their first baby Kit. Ayla and Seb came to this stage of life with quite different thoughts and beliefs about birth, and you'll hea...
2024-04-08
1h 00
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Ellen's hospital birth to Nuala
"I felt so supported and safe" says Ellen about the team around her for her labour and birth. While the plan was a homebirth, when she felt like it, Ellen decided to move to hospital and does not feel disappointment at all - in fact as you'll hear, this is basically a homebirth, with a room at the hospital used for some gas at the end. In this episode Ellen shares with us how her midwife said she never needed to make a decision about where she needed to be for birth, which meant she...
2024-04-02
41 min
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Georgia's home waterbirth to Ria
"I'm still so proud of my birthing journey. I look back and cry with how proud I am of myself" were the words in an email Georgia wrote to me shortly after the arrival of Ria. Georgia had cervical dysplasia which meant there was a risk of her miscarrying and meant there was a risk that she could miscarry or go into early premature labour which greatly affected the first half of her pregnancy. The extra monitoring required was understandably scary and she was constantly worried - she had to be strong and used mantras to help.
2024-03-24
55 min
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Becky's birthcentre waterbirth to Callie
"It was the most empowering experience of my life." Determination, mindset work, preparation and the practice of hypnobirthing tools led Becky to a redemptive birth. After a difficult first birth Becky shares with us how it made her feel and the darkness she experiences in the first 6 months post birth with baby Sienna. She opens up about the mental game, the challenges and her tendency to catastrophize. Becky realised mid way through her second pregnancy she wanted to let go of the trauma and fear from Sienna’s birth and spent time doing pri...
2024-03-16
1h 13
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Caroline's hospital birth to Gabriel
"I felt strong and it was an unbelievably good experience" Caroline discovered that the strength she had was so much deeper than she could imagine in her first birth to Gabriel. Caroline used this podcast along with other hypnobirthing and active birth education to prepare herself. She shares with us her long conception journey, the discovery of endometriosis and how this led to surgeries and a miscarriage along the way. During her pregnancy she did a variety of mindset and physical preparation. At some point there was a concern about her large sized b...
2024-03-11
57 min
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Hannah's waterbirth to Jasper at Birthcare
Hannah’s birth to Jasper is what I would describe as an excellent example of a textbook, normal, positive first birth. Yes, Hannah says it was challenging, it was hard mentally and physically, but it was "manageable, calm and it was amazing". No curveballs, nothing unexpected, just a straightforward example of birth. Hannah had some fears, some worries and a some mental challenges as she moved past 40 weeks, but she did the mindset work. Her and husband Kris did the hypnobirthing course and she practiced and used the tools in her pregnancy. They pa...
2024-03-03
41 min
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Sophie's birthcentre waterbirth to Blakely
A "seismic" mindset shift is what Sophie experienced between one half of her pregnancy and another. It set her off on a course of feeling calm and excited for her first birth. This is a fabulous story for everyone to listen to, Sophie explains what she used and how she used it, her supportive 'A' team, catching Blakely as she arrived in the water. Husband Chris was right on board and you'll hear how they beautifully worked together through labour and birth - wordlessly communicating while Sophie was totally inward, staying in the zone, headphones on and...
2024-02-26
59 min
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Lu's planned homebirth becomes a C Section to Alara
“I had no idea I had that amount of strength” So much strength, acceptance, and absolutely no regrets. Lu has the incredible ability to face challenges with grace and calm and this is why you’ll find this a very inspiring episode. Labouring from Thursday to Monday at home, eventually she made the decision to have a C Section to meet baby Alara. This story is an account of a pregnancy and birth experience that was unpredictable – as Lu tells us absolutely nothing went as planned right from the very conception of their baby girl. On...
2024-02-12
1h 06
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Aimee's home VBAC to Hugo
“Probably all logic would have said do not have this baby at home” says Aimee about her successful home VBAC. It turns out that it was stepping outside of the norm, trusting her instincts, being informed, educated and choosing a caregiver to support her that enabled Aimee to bring Hugo into the world within the peace and calm of home. If you’re pregnant and/or planning on a VBAC THIS is a MUST listen episode! Between first birth to Jett and her second pregnancy a number of life changes gave Aimee the growth...
2024-02-05
50 min
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Jess' two positive hospital births
Proud to have overcome her fears and worked on her mindset, Jess shares with us her two birth experiences. Osteopath Jess jumped onto this podcast to share both of her stories because in her line of work she’s heard a lot of difficult stories and she understands the importance of sharing good experiences. We hear about her experiences of pelvic girdle pain, sacroiliac joint pain and vulva varicose veins (vulva varicosities). Her first labour and birth with Lara occurred at 37 weeks and in this story Jess gives some very good explanations on the...
2024-02-03
58 min
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Sarah's home VBAC to Lottie
Sarah shares her full spectrum of birth experiences from a very rare crash C Section with her first baby, to a induction and a hospital VBAC for her second baby, through to her dream home birth to third baby Lottie. It was in her second pregnancy was when Sarah discovered some hypnobirthing techniques, she shares how her practice went and how she visualised the birth she wanted and the pushback she had to make in order to achieve a hospital vbac. You’ll hear what worked in her favor and how she felt meeting 2nd ba...
2024-01-15
1h 09
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Kirsty's birthcentre birth to Archie
"If you want a different experience you have to do something different" says Kirsty about preparing for her 2nd birth. In this episode we talk through both of Kirsty's births as there is so much contrast between first baby Ollie's arrival and just a year later Archie's birth. Kirsty is a farmer and in her first pregnancy wasn't worried about birth, she felt she'd be able to just go with the flow; therefore she didn't do any preparation. She shares with us how fear and panic suddenly kicked in at the beginning of...
2024-01-06
51 min
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Matty's three straight forward homebirths
When Matilda Green heard a positive homebirth story in her pregnancy it created a spark within her which lead to her researching, information gathering and learning skills to help her prepare for a homebirth for her first baby Milo. Matty shares with us the details of her first and second births to Milo and Autumn which were fairly similar in the fact they were straightforward and of a similar (long) duration. But you'll hear about how she felt so different between the first birth and the second one – which she attributes to the difference between doing a lot of wo...
2023-12-21
57 min
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Nicola's homebirth to Luca
Nicola compares her homebirth with Luca to her previous hospital birth to first baby Skye and all the differences between her first and second births. This is definitely a story for mums in their second pregnancies looking for some inspiration about how different things can be from one birth to another. Nicola was very intentional about her preparation and practice and she knows this paid off. She mentions the type of research she did, the work she did, what she found helpful and how this impacted on her whole mindset and journey. We s...
2023-12-15
1h 23
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Megan's positive homebirth following trauma
This episode needs to come with a warning of traumatic content as Megan shares with us the details of her first birth in order to provide relevant context for her positive birth story. To be completely honest with you, the details of Megan's first birth to Mia has been playing on my mind, and I'm someone who has heard a lot of difficult stories. And I'm not even pregnant, nor will ever be birthing again - - therefore I warn you to proceed with caution. If it will not be beneficial to you to listen...
2023-12-10
1h 01
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Mitra's two homebirths to Arlia and Marlow
Mitra shares with us the details of her two homebirths in 2021 and 2023 speaking with us when baby Marlow is just 5 weeks old. She found hypnobirthing in her first pregnancy just before escaping Auckland's long lockdown and moving to Gisborne to meet a new midwife in her 3rd trimester. But as it turns out this midwife didn't make it to her birth, and Mitra shares with us how a different midwife impacted on the birth, but regardless it was a positive, smooth birth with Arlia born at 3:30pm after the early signs of labour had started around 4:00am...
2023-11-27
55 min
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Sarah and Johnny's VBAC to Sophora
Sarah and Johnny share with us their positive birth journey to meet second baby, Sephora as a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean). We firstly understand how her first birth journey ended up as quite a classic cascade of interventions with induction, epidural and eventual c-section. Sarah shares about the work she did in her second pregnancy to feel strong and empowered and ready for a potential Home birth / VBAC including a change of midwife at 30 weeks to find someone more aligned to her and Johnny’s plans. Sarah had been binge listening to all...
2023-11-18
58 min
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Dani's birth to Matilda at Queenstown birthing unit
Dani was so happy to be pregnant but would cry when she had to think about birthing as she was so afraid of birth. She had a lot of fear about fear about the unknown pain – whether she would be able to handle it or not. Located in Queenstown it’s not always straightforward as to where to decide to birth - Dani wanted to birth at a hospital with doctors but this meant a 3-4 hour trip to Invercargill or Dunedin hospital. But if she stayed in Queenstown at the birthing unit and then needed any inte...
2023-11-14
51 min
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Aiya's long labour and birth to Ezra
Doula, childbirth educator and single mum by choice, Aiya takes us on her incredible journey of conception, pregnancy, labour and birth to her baby boy Ezra. There are so many topics covered in this episode including: her donor and conception journey; why hypnobirthing was a must for her despite feeling so very confident and calm about birth; the tumultuous end to her pregnancy and moving house in her 3rd trimester; plans of a freebirth; her support team; the long labour of 99 hours at home; baby in a posterior position; the tools she used to cope...
2023-11-04
1h 15
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Claire's homebirth to Asher
Claire shares her very straightforward home birth of her second baby Asher 6 weeks after his arrival. We hear briefly about her first birth and why Claire reached out to release fear and reset her mind during her 2nd pregnancy and how that helped her moving forward. It wasn't long after our work together that I received an email from Claire to say "we had an incredible, empowering home birth. It was one of the best nights of my life." Listen to Claire talk us through her pregnancy, labour and subsequent smooth birth at home.
2023-10-13
36 min
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Erin's long labour and c-section to Nixon
Erin shares with us a planned homebirth that went 'sideways' and included a long labour, induction, epidural, baby not in a great position and eventually a c-section. We talk about what the positive aspects are, but we also talk about trauma, the interventions, keeping post partum depression at bay. If you're not feeling up to listening to an experience where the plans 'turned to custard' then this is not a story for you today. However, this is valuable if you'd like to hear Erin explain what she wished she'd known, what she learnt, her advice and how...
2023-10-10
1h 18
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Emma's fast homebirth to Gordon
Emma shares her fast and furious, less than 2.5 hour arrival of baby Gordon at home at 42 weeks and 5 days - and technically a freebirth as the midwife arrived to her home after baby was born. Emma also suffered from a 4th degree tear which she matter of factly talks us through – this meant a trip in an ambulance straight after birth and a very positive hospital experience - she speaks to the caring compassionate staff she encountered in her time there. We talk about her slow postpartum, recovery from the tear (including how hypnobirthing techniques have helped after birth) an...
2023-09-22
54 min
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Waimarie's home waterbirth to Aria
A special story where Wai's preparation resulted in her having just the birth that she had visualised. In our chat Wai explains how she focused on nourishing mind, body and soul through her pregnancy as well as speaking into existence and manifesting her perfect birth. She shares with us how her deep knowing and her prep combined with her awareness of energy, her focus on turning inwards, being grounded and avoiding all distractions in her pregnancy impacted on her very being and ability to connect with baby in pregnancy. Then at 41 weeks and 5 days her baby girl arrives in...
2023-09-05
51 min
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Kasey's 4 births - hospital induction, birthcentre and 2 home waterbirths
It wasn’t until she gave birth at home in the water to her 3rd baby that Kasey actually understood how amazing birth can be. Kasey takes us on a journey of learning, growth and mindset change that started with her first hospital birth (an induction because her obstetrician was going on holiday and thought it would be safer for her to birth before her due date) and transformed to her 2 empowered home water births. She shares her stories to inspire other mothers to prepare and consider all their options, choices, rights and decisions for their birth....
2023-08-19
1h 07
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Traceys two births - hospital induction & birthcentre waterbirth
Tracey shares her two births in the past two years to Xavier and Ryder. As a cross fit competitor, athlete and farmer we hear about how Tracey found the hypnobirthing breathing techniques to be a great skill transfer, how the relaxation tracks helped her cope with pregnancy insomnia and how the cows were some of her best inspiration in her first pregnancy. She shares with us what happened when with first baby her membranes released around her due date but nothing happenend, how she was very open to whatever needed to happen would happen and...
2023-08-13
1h 05
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Alycia's hospital induction to Arthur
At 42 weeks and 1 day pregnant Alycia opted for an induction, largely due to the fact that the sonographer had denied them the opportunity to have a scan......how frustrating. They were able to wait a few days until Monday for their induction which proceeded very smoothly. Alycia shares with us her experience of induction, labour and birth (and a post partum hemorage), and most importantly why she felt this was a positive birth and how her preparation paid off.
2023-08-04
49 min
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Faith's home VBAC to Hera - with her midwife Helena
"It was more amazing that I imagined.... it felt so good, it was the greatest day of my life, no amount of money can buy that for you." Imagine planning a home birth and then having to see the land you’re building on (and intending to birth on) slide away down a bank on your due date..... In this episode we chat to Faith and her midwife Helena about a wonderful birth outcome and Faith and Fraser's determination to do everything they needed to prepare for a positive birth and achieve a successful home VB...
2023-07-26
1h 23
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Tamzin's hospital waterbirth to Aria
When Tamzin was in the middle of her chiropractic studies her pregnancy came as a total surprise, as despite her using the usually very reliable copper IUD baby Aria decided she’d like to join the family…now….. In this episode we end up touching on topics like epigenetics, as baby Aria had to be tested for a gene she could have received from her father who had cancerous tumours on his eyes when born. Tamzin shares about avoiding an induction and her relatively smooth and positive birth to her baby girl. And naturally I wanted to ask he...
2023-07-21
1h 05
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Miscarriage chat - with Amanda
In our special episodes about miscarriage we chat to Amanda who openly shares with us the grief, loneliness and heartbreak of her two miscarriages. She also shares with us her advice and tips from what she has learnt along the way on her journey to becoming pregnant, at the point in time that we speak she is in her 3rd trimester with a healthy baby girl. If you too have experienced a miscarriage, a loss, a traumatic event, and like to start a healing process, please feel free to reach out to me to find out more...
2023-07-12
1h 07
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Emma's induction and VBAC to Rae
Emma looked into hypnobirthing in her 2nd pregnancy to learn more ‘tricks’ and tools, to feel calm and take more control and to achieve a successful VBAC (vaginal birth after c-section). While her waters released around her due date, labour didn't start naturally, so her and husband Euan made an informed decision to proceed with an induction. We hear how Emma and Euan worked together as an amazing team, using their favourite tools, how her body progessed beautifully through labour, the awe and amazement of meeting baby Rae. If you'd like to learn the techniques Emma d...
2023-07-06
47 min
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Miscarriage chat - with Alex
In our different episodes about miscarriage we chat to Alex who shares with us her two different types of miscarriage that she has recently experienced; how she emotionally copes, what’s been helpful and her thoughts on moving forward. If you too have experienced a miscarriage, a loss, a traumatic event, and like to start a healing process, please feel free to reach out to me to find out more about how I work and what I do with trauma informed hypnotherapy techniques. You can also find my free miscarriage healing relaxation track on www.positivebirths.co.nz...
2023-06-22
38 min
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Miscarriage chat - with Gaia
"When I started opening up about my story a lot of people put their hands up to say it had happened to them as well. There's not much information out there and I never thought I'd ever have a miscarriage, so when it happened it was a shock." Gaia shares with us her difficult miscarriage and how it impacted on her physically, mentally, emotionally and how she wishes she'd done some more research about it. She shares with us how the language and words used in the hospital system made her feel. Plus we briefly chat about...
2023-06-14
57 min
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Miscarriage Chat - with Ness
In this episode we are not talking about a positive birth - but we are talking about a very relevant and relative topic that is familiar to so many women. Miscarriage. After chatting to so many mums on this podcast and hearing many of them share the fact they’d had a miscarriage I wanted to reach out and ask, who would be open to sharing their miscarriage experience.? What if mothers could share their stories to be heard and to share their stories with the view of assisting others to not feel so alone? In...
2023-06-06
42 min
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Tammy's 3 waterbirths (1 at hospital, 2 at home)
“It’s an indescribable feeling” says Tammy about the achievement of being able to catch all three of her babies, all three born in the water. We hear about Sophie's quick and smooth waterbirth at the hospital 10 days past her due date. For Bodhi’s arrival Tammy was out an about doing important things and making a speech when she started labour, this time she had a water birth at home. Then we chat about her most recent pregnancy and birth experience in 2022 to her third baby Max. There was so much that was different about th...
2023-05-28
57 min
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Danielle's Birthcare birth to Gianna
As someone who'd always been fearful of birth and worried about the pain, Danielle made the decision to do some positive preparation which helped her to get into a better mindset. She did a lot of mental, emotion and physical preparation which resulted in feeling 95% excited by the end of her pregnancy. Her labour she describes as "hot and heavy" as it started strong, and progressing in a relatively short time. With a transfer to Birthcare in rush hour traffic and midwives who were unable to make it there for her, she was blown away...
2023-05-22
50 min
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Sarah's breech experience and emergency c-section to Ari
Strength, courage, teamwork, a beautiful labour at home and a baby in a very unusual position – breech posterior with a twist trying to come out thy first. This is a huge story and obviously there’s a trigger warning as this is not a straight forward birth experience for Sarah and Al. But this story definitely has some most incredibly positive aspects to it which is what we are shining our light on here. Sarah did an amazing job at home working through her labour and it wasn’t until her body started pushing that they called the mi...
2023-05-15
1h 11
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Emma's home waterbirth at 43 weeks to Poppy
A big baby, a pregnancy that went until 43 weeks and shoulder dystocia. Sounds like a nightmare, but oh noooo this was very much a positive birth experience that Emma wants to inspire other mothers with. "Every baby comes in their own time, some are ready earlier, some are ready later" are the words that Emma's midwife reassured her with as she crept past that 42 week mark. Poppy was also a very healthy size and Emma talks us through her experience of Shoulder Dystoica and how this was quietly and efficiently managed by her midwives and...
2023-05-08
58 min
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Jaimie's hospital waterbirth to Harper
Jaimie connected with me in her 3rd trimester of her 2nd pregnancy after recognizing there were some emotional challenges and anxieties she wanted to work through which stemmed from her first birth experience – a birth where she felt she wasn’t really in the drivers seat. She shares briefly the details of that first birth and then how her and partner Lincoln practiced and used the tools they now had in order to have a different experience this time around. Jaimie found it relaly helpful to have Lincoln on board to support her and she wanted to feel...
2023-05-01
1h 07
Homeopathy Hangout with Eugénie Krüger
Ep 189: Hypnotherapy to support your homeopathy journey - with Helen Bartrom
Helen Bartrom is a certified hypnotherapist, hypnobirthing facilitator, and founder of Positive Births NZ. Her day job is a variety of hypnotherapy and in the evenings and weekends, she can be found teaching hypnobirthing courses and working with parents to prepare for a positive birth experience. She is the author of Positive Births in NZ the comprehensive guide for all pregnant couples and the host of The Positive Births NZ podcast Helen is passionate about the mind-body connection and is here today to talk to us about hypnotherapy. She finds hypnotherapy to be an amazing a...
2023-05-01
40 min
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Katherine's hospital waterbirth to Emme
Katherine shares her two birth experiences to Poppy and Emme. Please note that her first birth is not a positive birth and if you do NOT feel it would be helpful to listen to a disempowering birth experience please skip to around 25 minutes. We discuss briefly the details around Poppy’s birth, followed by a miscarriage, then move into Katherine’s pregnancy to Emme. After coping with a difficult pregnancy Katherine reached out to me at 40 weeks to improve her mindset and feel more confident. A week later I received an email from her...
2023-04-23
1h 08
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Pearl's healing hospital birth to Ariabella
Pearl generously shares so much juicy detail about her pregnancy and birth - there's a lot to share about the early stages of her pregnancy, the surprise of it, some funny moments, the rollercoaster ride of emotions as they received conflicting information about baby's safety, the potential impact of the IUD that was in place. Pearl was exceptionally well informed and wanted to do everything in her power to achieve her best birth experience. She chose a doula for her support team, she made special time for nesting. She shares with us about her PTSD, the concerns...
2023-04-17
1h 28
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Jorgia's c-section at 33 weeks and stay in NICU with Odin
Jorgia shares with us her unexpected labour at 33 weeks and subsequent challenges and the journey that followed. Throughout her birth she asked lots of questions, stood up for herself and said no when she needed to - even though she was alone for a lot of it. Our chat together covers a range of topics around the whole birth and time in NICU. Trigger warning: topics that are included are: lockdown restrictions, labouring alone, a diagnosis of cholestasis, then breech baby, c-section, navigating life in NICU and living in survival mode. This episode...
2023-04-09
1h 20
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Jess' experience of PUPPPS, positive induction and hospital birth to Will
"I enjoyed the induction process" is what Jess says in this episode. This is quite possibly the most amazing induction story I've heard so far, this is a wonderful story to listen to if you are worried about requiring an induction. Following an incredible story of conception and a few mental and emotional hurdles in her pregnancy Jess found herself in an exceptionally challenging position trying to cope with PUPPPS in the third trimester. (PUPPP: Pruritic urticarial papules and plaques of pregnancy.) She shares with us how the unbearable itch from this rare condition caused...
2023-04-02
47 min
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Jane's redemptive, healing hospital birth to Lily
After a challenging first birth Jane decided it would be best to get her head in the right space for her second baby. She used the Positive Birth in NZ book (with tools and audio tracks) and listened to this podcast to feel more like she could surrender and flow with her birth. She believes that letting go of resistance towards the sensations in labour made a huge difference to her and at NO time she would describe her birth as painful. Powerful and intense - yes. But she really enjoyed the birth, enjoys an incredible hormonal high and...
2023-03-26
51 min
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Grace's hospital birth to Millie
Grace admits there was some anxiety for her around birth which led her midwife to recommending the hypnobirthing course in her pregnancy to help. She enjoyed a smooth pregnancy until 41 weeks when there was a bit of a 'hiccup' which resulted in a learning curve for Grace as to how other people can affect the way she feels. After declining an induction she trusted her gut, went with the flow and enjoyed wonderful support from her midwife for the remainder of her pregnancy and throughout her birth. "Pick your birth team well" is Grace's #1 piece...
2023-03-20
1h 01
The Positive Births NZ podcast
My mum's birth to me in 1973
To celebrate 50 episodes of the podcast at the same time as I turn 50 who better than to have on the podcast than my mum talking about her pregnancy and birth experience to me! We travel back to 1973 where things are quite different! Different attitudes, thoughts, feelings, beliefs. Different ideas, systems, support and very different baby gear! Mum shares her memories of my arrival, her thoughts and feelings about birth and how and why she had them, and she also shares her opinions on the things that she sees as being quite different now.
2023-03-13
53 min
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Sara's hospital births to Caleb and Jacob
Mindset coach Sara always knew she would be a mum, and when she found herself mid-30's without a partner took matters into her own hands and found an incredible donor to provide her with her baby boys. She shares with us her conception journey, thoughts about birth, her plans and how her first birth did not go to plan. Our chat includes induction, epidural and tongue-tie experiences. In her second pregnancy she sought out hypnobirthing (and has also trained to teach the Positive Births program too) and used the tools she learned to help...
2023-03-06
1h 04
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Gaia's unassisted homebirth to Atley
Gaia made a decision to decline routine testing and scanning in her pregnancy and received midwifery care only until 28 weeks. After this point in time she did not have an LMC, but continued her journey in trusting pregnancy, birth, her body and her intuition. Gaia talks about her previous miscarriage experience, how she made her decisions for this pregnancy; what was it that inspired her to freebirth, the lessons she’s learnt along the way, and her spontaneous and fast labour at 39 weeks. Supported by her doula and partner, baby Atley arrived smoothly at home – face up (in a...
2023-02-26
58 min
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Candice's hospital birth to Mildred and the importance of informed consent
Midwife Candice shares the birth of her first baby Mildred. Please note: this story does differ from all other episodes on the podcast in the fact that Candice didn’t do any type of hypnobirthing work with me. Candice had listened to all the podcast episodes in her pregnancy and reached out to me when baby Mildred was born to ask to share her story. She said she’d had a positive birth, and I believe she shares with you some valuable information here. While she knew a little bit about some hypnobirthing "stuff", that’s not what w...
2023-02-19
1h 10
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Rosalyn's straightforward birthcentre birth to Greyson
If you're looking for a pregnancy and birth story that is very straight forward with absolutely no complications and no curveballs this is one to listen to!! Rosalyn had come to her pregnancy with a positive mindset already - she had NOT been previously exposed to a huge amount negative stories. She came to hypnobirthing to find a set of extra tools to be able to use increase her confidence and mindset. Despite thinking hypnobirthing might be a bit "hippy dippy" both her and partner Jordan found it practical and useful and Rosalyn gives us a great...
2023-02-12
44 min
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Taylor's homebirth to Elle
Our second chat with Taylor is about her recent home birth to baby Elle. If you haven't already heard her first birth story you can find it as 'Taylor's hospital birth to Isla' Taylor shares with us the differences in this pregnancy, about her getting to 42 weeks and still no baby and what it was that got labour started for her. She explains what hypnobirthing tools worked for her, and why she had invited some friends and her sister along with her mum to be present in the birth space with her and husband M...
2023-02-06
1h 00
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Ganna's journey of overcoming fear; hospital induction and birth to Alisa
Ganna's journey to pregnancy was affected by tokophobia - a fear of pregnancy (and for some women, birth too). Her birth also involved changing all her plans as she developed pre-eclampsia and needed to be induced. However, she shares how she navigated her way through the pregnancy and birth with the use of a variety of tools. I love how she used her mindfulness, and the affirmations – she tells us how she and her partner worked together with the affirmations. She talks about tapping into her cave woman self, tapping into the collective fem...
2023-01-29
1h 13
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Rachael's homebirth to Piper
Following a traumatic time of her first birth, Rachael decided to get some help with her mindset in preparation of the arrival of her second baby. She reached out to me for some hypnobirthing and hypnotherapy to help release aspects of her past birth and to prepare for a more positive experience. As she says it helped her break through a mental block and feel better about a "fresh start" and "new experience" of her next arrival. The birth ended up being a fast homebirth, one that enabled her to feel empowered and j...
2023-01-22
44 min
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Eugenie's two homebirths and homeopathy chat
Homeopath Eugenie shares her two birth experiences with us - and how her initial fear of birth led her to doing the Hypnobirthing course. After the second hypnobirthing session she decided she wouldn't have a fully medicated birth anymore, but went on to plan and successfully achieve a straightforward home, waterbirth. A birth where she felt complete bliss in meeting baby Josh and the feeling that "if I can do this I can do anything". We chat about how homeopathy helped Eugenie on her pregnancy and birth journeys, she shares with us some of her wisdom about...
2023-01-16
48 min
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Rebecca's two hospital births
Birth is "the most rewarding challenge you'll ever have" is what Rebecca expresses when thinking back to her two children's birth journeys. In her first pregnancy journey with Harvey she shares her experience with not being able to find the right midwife and then the feeling of having to fight the system (and saying no to induction) to get what she wanted. She talks about how she felt hypnobirthing gave her the tools to use in any and every situation and how husband Glenn was reluctant to come to the course initially but now is the biggest a...
2023-01-09
35 min
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Abby's textbook hospital birth to Sadie
Abby says it was planning, preparation and practise that got her through her birth and what gave her a positive experience. So she shares with us what type of preparation she did in her pregnancy – she practised with her favourite tools a lot and you’ll hear how this worked and how it paid off for her in her birth. She believes the time and energy she put in allowed the affirmations to be “there” for her in her birth without her having to think about them. You’ll hear what helped her ingrain the words and...
2023-01-01
43 min
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Elizabeth's positive C Section to Arcadia
This episode came about because Elizabeth (who lives in the US) had found this podcast during her pregnancy. After her baby girl was born she contacted me to say it had been so helpful for her to prepare for her birth and would I be willing to share her birth story? Yes of course I was.Despite the fact she really desired a totally natural birth you’ll hear Elizabeth ended up having a heap of intervention. Topics discussed in our chat are: advanced maternal age, an obstetrician rupturing membranes with a stretch and sweep, pethidine, epidural, po...
2022-12-26
1h 06
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Terese's hospital and home births to Zac and Toby
"I'm so proud I enjoyed birth so much" is what Terese shares with us on this episode. She enjoyed a smooth fast hospital birth to first baby Zac and a very quick homebirth in the bath to second baby Toby. Through her enjoyable pregnancy she came to hypnobirthing because she felt birth was such an unknown journey and learnt about the control we have within the mind-body connection. As she states "I don't have strong opinions about many things, but I felt strongly the hypnobirthing was working for me." Terese provides us with a great...
2022-12-18
1h 09
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Alex's hospital birth to Oakley
Midwife Alex had a huge amount of experience of supporting couples on their hypnobirthing journey. She felt she was inspired by what she’d seen with her couples experiencing the course, so as soon as she was pregnant she was like “ok it’s my turn”. Alex generously shares her fertility journey with IVF, her scares in early pregnancy. Plus other topics that get featured in this episode are, pregnancy bleeds, vomiting phobia, group strep B, baby’s position, a scar from a surgery, epidural, ventouse delivery. So what makes a positive birth? Alex feels that a big...
2022-12-12
50 min
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Cara's miracle conception and birth journeys
An episode about more than just birth - Cara shares with us her massive fertility journey in order to conceive her two miracle baby boys. Cara was told she would have a 1% chance of conceiving naturally with her own eggs and only a 10% chance of conceiving with reproductive technology and at one stage she was told there was about a 1 in a million chance of her being pregnant. Those are slim numbers.... She shares with us the work she did, how she focussed on mindset, stress management, settling her nervous system and working t...
2022-12-05
58 min
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Hannah's epic birthcentre birth to Mateo and fast homebirth to River
"If you had asked me prior to being pregnant did I have any fears, I probably would've said childbirth" is what Hannah says early on in our chat. Fast forward to meeting her first baby Mateo, she says her first thoughts were "I can totally do this again, it was such a beautiful experience, it was doable, manageable". After witnessing an amazing video of a friend's birth she learned about hypnobirthing, so early on in her pregnancy Hannah signed up for the course. She believes it gave her the knowledge (and therefore power) of skills and tools...
2022-11-27
1h 07
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Eugenie's positive birth with pre-eclampsia, induction, epidural and c-section
Despite all that occurred in her birth journey that could have been perceived as traumatic, Eugenie reached out to me to ask to share her birth story while it was still fresh in her mind, because she says: "it was a positive birth and if I had to do it all again I would". We chat when baby Miles is just a week old, and you can find out just WHY she feels it was a positive birth. She shares her journey of high blood pressure which resulted in on and off diagnosis of pre eclampsia, her...
2022-11-21
57 min
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Katerina's orgasmic home birth
It's not every day that you hear a mother describing her birth as "soooo good" and parts of it feeling orgasmic, but this is what Katerina feels she experienced during her birth. Katerina came to pregnancy having already been surrounded by positive stories and positive experiences of birth. She had also spent plenty of time learning to tune into her body, energy and her intuition. She shares with us some previous experiences she'd had in life which gives us an insight into the transformation she had undertaken before she came to her pregnancy journey. In...
2022-11-14
59 min
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Hayley's hospital and breech homebirth stories
Hayley shares her two boys' births and her breech baby experiences. First baby Toby was breech in pregnancy but managed to turn near the end of pregnancy and his birth was fairly straight forward. In her second pregnancy (during of 2021 ) things were different for her and she mentions how the pandemic created anxiety. Her mantra became “if it’s not something I can control, don’t worry about it”. Hayley plans for a homebirth, and labour started while out at a picnic with toddler Toby climbing trees. Hayley was cool calm and collected, later that evening th...
2022-11-07
37 min
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Ziska's birth centre arrival of Auri - a life changing experience
As long as she can remember Ziska was really scared of birth. She talks about her visceral reactions whenever anyone would mention anything birth related. She had never previously associated birth with being a positive and powerful experience. So it’s so wonderful to know that now, (we speak to her when baby Auri is just 18 days old), she describes her birth as healing, affirming and a life changing experience. She says birth is now something she realises she CAN do because it was something that she never previously thought was possible for her. (Trigger war...
2022-10-31
1h 02
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Cindy's peaceful birthcare birth and fast hospital birth
Cindy was in Iraq when pregnant and felt she needed to birth in NZ so she could be in a hospital and have an epidural. We chat about her ideas of birth, how she had never heard a positive birth story, and how her mindset completely changed after arriving in NZ and stumbling upon hypnobirthing. After starting the course, she committed herself 100% to practising her relaxation techniques. She developed an unshakeable belief in herself in being able to birth naturally and calmly. The result was a very calm and peaceful labour – spent mostly in bed on h...
2022-10-23
1h 04
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Kate's two polar opposite journeys
Kate's first birth involved a very long 5 day labour, where she admits she felt she wasn't ready to birth baby Oli and the circumstances that could have caused her to hold off with allowing the birth to progress. I'm also grateful that she is open to sharing about her significant post natal depression that occurred after - that it pushed her over the limit and what helped her. Her second pregnancy was a very different pregnancy experience, with a different mindset and renewed enthusiasm to have the birth she had wanted all along. We talk a...
2022-10-16
59 min
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Holly's birth to George at Birthcare - the privilege of experiencing birth
Holly says she was terrified of birth before becoming pregnant, but with education and learning about how it could be, she planned for a straightforward birth and that is literally what she got. We talk to her only 8 days after George was born and she says it was a privilege to have been able to experience and feel the sensations of what her body could do. This is a pretty straightforward birth story, Holly goes into labour just before her due date, the only hiccup in their journey being that they turned up at Birthcare a little...
2022-10-10
34 min
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Dione's two homebirths
Midwife Dione was super excited for her births and both of her labours were similar. In both situations her membranes released as her first sign of labour and then there was a bit of stop start stop start before things really got going. Dione tells us about how she chose the ‘dream team’ midwives to support her, she and husband Nick had total faith in them and how easy it was for her to switch off her analytical midwife mind and just be a birthing mum, tune into her body, get into the zone and to know that...
2022-10-03
41 min
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Alana's 3 births - (birthcentre and home) - the calm despite the drama
In this episode Alana literally entertains us with the powerful stories of her 3 babies. There are tears, loads of laughs, goosebumps, some F bombs and.........lots of drama. Despite the drama around Alana she was able to stay in the zone, stay calm and use her hypnobirthing stuff to enjoy birth, be in the moment and do her thing. First baby Duncan came early so that Alana went into labour at work, and he came early to meet Alana's grandma who passed away shortly afterwards. In labour Alana spent lots of time in the car, moving in...
2022-09-25
1h 01
The Positive Births NZ podcast
**Little Snippet** Kate's experience of the Breech Baby Track
This is a little 4 minute "little snippet" of a chat taken from a longer conversation that I wanted to share separately. Kate chats about her experience of listening to my hypnosis track to help encourage a Breech baby to turn. At the time she is 37 weeks pregnant and her baby has been sitting breech for a long time. She's not keen to use any other techniques to help him move, she wants to give him every opportunity to move on his own. So she listens to the track, falls asleep and then 30 minutes later he turns.
2022-09-20
04 min
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Ash's home, water, lotus births to Roman and Aysha
An incredible episode packed full of inspiration and information. Ash was very well prepared, researched and educated in her first pregnancy and describes herself as “headstrong and untouchable”. She knew what she wanted and she was pretty direct in telling her midwife exactly how it was going to be. And from listening to her story it sounds like it paid off! Ash shares with us her textbook home, water, hypno lotus birth of Roman – and how she just completely let go and breathed him into the world in just a few surges. Pretty incredible! We then c...
2022-09-19
1h 28
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Julia's unplanned homebirth to Remy in their 'cave' environment
“We love our birth story” says Julia as she describes her feelings about her first birth to Remy. This is one of those special stories, a birth that was planned to be somewhere else, but ended up progressing so quickly that it became an unplanned homebirth, with a midwife they had never met before. But this midwife brought with her the perfect energy that fitted perfectly with Julia and Ryan and Julia shares how she was like an angel and so encouraging with empowering words of affirmation that was just right for her at the time. Ju...
2022-09-11
1h 13
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Jemma's two Birthcare births
Jemma shares the similarities and differences between her two girls, Harriet and Adeline's births. Both started with her sitting bolt upright in bed and both involved arriving at Birthcare almost fully dilated. However Harriet's birth involved a bit of help to get her out, where Jemma shares that she was able to keep calm during a potentially scary part of her birth, and that she was able to trust that all was going to be ok. At her second birth, the midwife took one look at her and said we're going to have this baby...
2022-09-05
43 min
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Kali's two hospital births
Kali talks us through the two births of her boys. She was excited in her first pregnancy about becoming a mum and the course enabled her to establish boundaries around hearing other peoples stories as well as being valuable for her husband to understand how to support her. She mentions how the affirmations worked well, plus she feels the perineal massage she used at the end of her pregnancies helped her to have both babies without any tearing. In her first labour with Hudson her membranes released, labour started slowly and she ended up having an induction...
2022-08-29
34 min
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Tash's two home waterbirths
So many titbits of information and learning to gain from this episode with Tash especially when it comes to moving through emotions. Her first baby Nahlia arrived after a long early stage of labour where she felt called to being in nature and at the beach, and she shares how family support was so helpful to her. In her second pregnancy as part of planning for another home birth Tash tells us how she prepped 3 year old Nahlia for her baby brothers arrival. In case of Nahlia being there for the birth, Tash needed to make sure...
2022-08-21
1h 04
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Amanda's beach labour and hospital birth to Clarke
Amanda and Joe's first baby was due around Christmas and you'll hear Amanda explain how that timing had an impact on her finding a midwife initially and also how it impacted on baby getting some help with a tongue tie. However, it turned out that it was a great time to have a baby especially when it was a beautiful sunny day in labour and Amanda spent quite a bit of time swimming in the waves while experiencing her surges on Boxing Day. It was also beneficial due to less traffic on the roads when they needed to move...
2022-08-14
1h 03
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Anna's 3 births feeling proud, in awe and an amazing sense of love
Anna describes the feelings of meeting her babies as 'proud, in awe and an amazing sense of love' in all three birth experiences. Her first birth to Sol occurred when he was pre term as her membranes released at 33 weeks and it was a highly monitored birth which could have almost been a C-Section, but wasn't. Second baby Rosie also came early, due to, once again membranes releasing early and this time Anna chose to be induced when baby was exactly 37 weeks. You'll hear Anna tell us about her powerful mind as she "chose" to have a quick birth, de...
2022-08-08
48 min
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Tash and Kyle's intentional preparation and fast birth to Jake
So many nuggets of gold, insights, and wisdom from first time parents Tash and Kyle about their intentional creation of their birth experience which makes this episode such an incredibly valuable one to listen to. Tash and Kyle came to this stage of their life with the principles and practises of the law of attraction, frequency and energy well embedded. Kyle works with energy clearing and balancing modalities. Put simply; he finds and releases trapped emotions and we hear how his work was of benefit to Tash all the way through her pregnancy and also after birth.
2022-07-31
1h 00
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Janelle's VBAC, Home, Waterbirth to Kyla
Janelle was 45 years old when she gave birth and had previously, less than 2 years prior had her first baby by C-Section. She generously shares her time with us when her baby is only 19 days old, and says that she was inspired by other positive birth stories and wanted to share hers too. In this episode she shares her experience of attempting a natural birth with her son Ezra, born in Level 3 lockdown in 2020. The plans she had for this birth went out the window and she found herself in exactly the situation she...
2022-07-24
47 min
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Leanne's powerful mind in an induction and posterior birth to Ayla
Leanne always believed in the power of her mind and her mental state combined with some practical tools helped her through a very long and gruelling labour. Baby Ayla was positioned posterior and Leeanne had to bravely accept a change in birth plans to proceed with an induction and episiotomy in hospital.
2022-07-17
42 min
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Jess' hospital birth to Louis and homebirth to Rose
Jess' compares her two very birth experiences and what made them so different. Fighting against what was happening in her first birth, husband Carl feeling powerless she knew when pregnant second time around she didn't want to repeat this. Her birth to Rose was a complete contrast, circumstances lead her to have baby at home, she was sleeping inbetween surges and she waited until her body was ready to push. Pure joy was what she experienced when Rose was born. She shares her insights and learnings of her two babies births.
2022-07-10
40 min
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Jess' euphoric birthcentre birth to Indi
Super fascinated about birth, excited with no fear, Jess knew that breathing would be a big part of helping her through the birth and it was her number one tool to help her get through the surges. Lucky to have a relatively smooth pregnancy she went into labour a day after her due date, and the hardest thing for her at the start was trying not to get too excited. She experienced a strong start to labour and shares with us what helped her though. She shares with us how happy she was in the...
2022-07-03
41 min
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Taylors hospital birth to Isla
"I could do that all again tomorrow", was what Taylor commented on just after birthing Isla - she clearly felt the benefits of the wonderful hormones flowing through her! Before Taylor even got pregnant she had listened to and learnt a huge amount about birth, it was (and still is) a topic that she is passionate about and fascinates her. She was excited about giving birth. In this episode she provides great detail into her experience which involves finally getting pregnant, getting fed up with being pregnant (and pressure from others) after 40 weeks, how labour started, unfolded, how she...
2022-06-26
1h 17
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Miranda's four very different births
Miranda shares with us her four very different birth experiences, ranging from traumatic hospital birth to a magical birthcentre waterbirth, to a home waterbirth and then a pregnancy and birth with lots of challenges. She discovered hypnobirthing way back in 2007 when I had just started teaching the course, and when it was a little known concept - to help her overcome the trauma of her first birth. She shares how the tools shaped her experience through the subsequent 3 next births over the next 14 years.
2022-06-20
54 min
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Hope and Jared's beautiful "boring" homebirth
Hope describes her birth to Aura as "beautiful and boring", but this episode is NOT boring. Hope talks us through her healing journey of the beliefs and experiences she was programmed with and how she released some unhelpful emotions. She previously had a difficult first birth 9 years prior and knew that for her second experience she wanted a very different experience. And it was totally different, in every way - from the way that she planned and approached the birth then what she used to keep herself calm and relaxed, and the support she received from Jared. We hear...
2022-06-12
47 min
The Positive Births NZ podcast
Dayna's positive birthcentre birth to chilled out Jasper
Dayna prepared for her birth mentally emotionally and physically to prevent and minimise any potential trauma which is why she sought out the hypnobirthing course to do. She talks us through her straightforward pregnancy and her birth at Warkworth Birth Centre. At no point in time did she feel the need for any pain relief, although there was some for her episiotomy just as Jasper cruised into the world, as a very calm and chilled out baby.
2022-06-05
30 min
Laundry with Lala
What is hypnobirthing FT The one and only Helen Bartrom!
Helen Bartrom has been teaching hypno birthing for over 20 years and has meet with thousands of couples all around New Zealand. I had the privilege of having Helen as my hypnobirthing teacher and found her absolutely incredible. She has such a large range of knowledge when it comes to this topic. Helen is also a mum too 3 children and a published author of the book "positive births in NZ" her website is https://www.positivebirths.co.nz/ or follow her on instrgram on: https://instagram.com/positive_births_nz?utm_medium=copy_link
2022-03-23
42 min