Exhibitors Join us at the Pregnancy, Birth and Postpartum Expo 2024 Are you committed to supporting expectant parents and young families? We invite you to be a part of our Pregnancy, Birth and Postpartum Expo 2024, an exciting event designed to connect experts, businesses and organisations with the community. This is your chance to showcase...
Hi Vicki, I just wanted to share with you our amazing VBAC experience we had at SJOG Subiaco. We were open about having a VBAC birth at a private hospital and knew some things we may not achieve, but others we could be confident in asking for. I had prepared our birth plan based on what...
As we continue to brace ourselves for the changes that are occurring on a daily basis, we are all faced with fears, concerns and uncertainty. These circumstances are rare and unusual here in Australia, and we now more than ever have to show solidarity and work together to get through this as best we can....
Our birth story was one that did not go to plan AT ALL. I know I will miss some information out as it was a very long day and I was running on very limited sleep but here is what I remember… Both Adam and I had our hearts set on a natural birth, to...
This birth story is the perfect example of how hypnobirthing classes encourage mums to trust their body and their innate wisdom. I am so proud of Sharna and Scott and how they used all their hypnobirthing knowledge and techniques to create that perfect birthing environment and drew on the experience and midwifery skills of their...
Hypnobirthing in Perth is becoming more popular, and we love sharing our positive birth stories – whether that is home birth, water birth, land birth, hospital birth and even caesarean birth. My hypnobirthing classes are not about natural birth at all costs. This comprehensive childbirth education program is about preparing women and their partners for...
The curse of the due date and the eviction notice for your baby is clearly etched in every woman’s mind after she has confirmation of her pregnancy. She marks that date on the calendar with excitement and shares this with all her family and friends. This is when her baby will come. Then as the...
When I got pregnant, everyone said “you must find an Obstetrician immediately! All the good ones book up quickly.” I was in a panic. I had no idea what I was doing so I went out and dutifully found an Obstetrician ASAP. At my first appointment, something didn’t feel right. I don’t think our Obstetrician...
My hypnobirthing journey is so special because within 18 months I birthed two absolutely beautiful little boys. Each birth was completely unique, but both were guided by the hypnobirthing philosophies so here is my journey. It really began a good 6 years before I even became pregnant; whilst I was watching the show ‘One Born...
One of the main concerns women have about their labour and birth will be whether or not they will be able to cope with the intensity of pain. Here are some medical pain relief options for labouring women to give you a starting point of what is available, but also what you need to do...
The clitoris and the perineum – the holy grail of womanhood. We know episiotomy can impact the function and healing of these two sacred parts of the female anatomy, so it is important for women to be educated on what you can do during labour and birth to reduce or eliminate the risk of tearing...
Knowing what your choices are and making informed decisions is the best start to any labour. Adrianna shares her birth story, where she was initially booked in for an induction, yet after looking at all her options and evidence-based resources and confirming that she was well and her baby was doing well, she then used...
Introduction by Vicki…. I have waited a year to get this birth story from a woman I admire so much, and when I read this it brought tears to my eyes yet warmed my heart. Yes, it’s a long birth story but it is one that needed to be written that helped a woman heal...
Sheryl shares her birth story after completing my Hypnobirthing classes and highlights how she only just made it to the hospital in time as she started to get the urge to bear down on arrival at the hospital. Sometimes mums can second guess themselves because they are handling their surges so well, breathing and moving through...
On the 28th of April at almost 35 weeks pregnant we had a wonderful surprise when we welcomed our baby girl into the world. It certainly wasn’t in the way we expected and yet given the chance I wouldn’t change a thing. I had just finished up work and was enjoying my first week on...
Women do not need to be told “all that matters is a healthy baby” because she is the one growing and nurturing her baby. You can be sure that she is thinking and feeling that her first priority is a healthy baby – nobody needs to tell her this and she will forever be grateful...
I didn’t realise I needed a doula until I didn’t have one at the birth of my first child. Although my first birth was ‘successful’ I deeply missed having an advocate and was left feeling bullied, disempowered and like I had been robbed of the beautiful experience I had heard about. Going into my second...
Your birth choices will have a huge impact on the way you give birth and may also affect your postpartum experience so you have to be prepared. Anastasia shares her birth story and how important it was for her to do independent childbirth classes and have an independent midwife so that her and her husband felt...
Thank you to Deb and Pete for sharing Oliver’s birth story, which didn’t quite go to plan but with the tools and techniques they had learnt from my Hypnobirthing classes they were able to adapt to their change in circumstances, so they still had a positive birth experience and were able to avoid having drugs and interventions....
I was 38+6 on Tuesday the 7th November 2017 when our wonderful midwife Linda visited in the afternoon. The previous weekend we had held a birthday party for our not-quite four-year-old, I’d had my last day of work on Monday and I had joked that once I’d sorted out the house on Tuesday baby could...
It’s interesting to see the responses from women to women who share what they are planning for their birth or their experience of having a “good birth” on social media. Natural birth – what are you trying to prove? You won’t get a medal. These are just some of the responses women are subjected to....
After quite a few weeks off work, I was getting impatient for my baby to arrive. As a first time mum, I was quite anxious and excited. Regularly listening to my Hypnobirthing tracks and preparing my affirmations helped keep me calm. I was booked in for a scan at 41 weeks but the night before,...
Every woman should write a birth plan, but for a VBAC mother it is even more important! This is because many women who are having a VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Caesarean) are now more educated and have identified that there may have been alternatives or different options they could have chosen instead of the interventions...
Bit of a ranty blog this one about understanding that your cervix should not be on a timer – what we need is for women to go back to basics birthing. That Friedman’s Curve from the 1950’s has a lot to answer for and is outdated and inappropriate to be used in this day and...
There is something about a royal baby that has the whole world excited. I know…. not everyone gets excited, and if you are not that interested, well just go on by, but I think you will agree that there really is a lot of excitement once we know that a Royal Princess is in labour,...
The cervix (from the Latin cervix uteri, meaning “neck of the womb”) is the lower, narrow part of the uterus where it joins with the top end of the vagina. The cervix is cylindrical in shape and during most of your pregnancy your cervix is long and thick and is generally between 2cm and 4cm...
Are you a doula, midwife, childbirth educator, body worker or other health care professional that would like to learn more practical and evidence based tools and techniques to teach or prepare women during their pregnancy for an easier labour and birth? Spinning Babies integrates the art and science of giving birth to give the mother...
Sometimes it can be really hard for your partner or birth support person who is a friend or family member to see you in pain during labour. Having the right people there can really make a difference with the outcome of your birth. Let’s be clear here – the most important person in that birthing...
I was 36 weeks and 5 days pregnant. I’d finished work 5 days earlier and was finishing off all my “jobs” so I could have a few weeks to relax at home. On this day I was finishing painting the nursery. I was taking it slow but at 4.30pm I felt a little twinge in...
In sharing my experience, hindsight is a wonderful thing. Sebastian was born at 9.03am on the 8th September weighing 8-pound 3.5 oz. Even with the knowledge you gave us, I suppose you don’t truly know how it will be until you go through it. Next time I don’t think I’ll go private. As you warned...
There are so many things to consider when you are planning your vaginal birth after caesarean (VBAC) and these are just the ones I wanted to put together quickly to get you started, but you have to do your own mind-mapping to work out where you need more information, where you feel strong and confident...
No two women are the same; therefore, no two births will be the same even with your own subsequent pregnancies. There is no text book that can tell you when you will go into labour, what you will experience and what the outcome will be. Independent childbirth education is about preparing you for your labour...
Introducing our little man Lennox Jack Brodie, born at home Friday 28th July 2017. The birth of Lennox was completely different to that of our little girl Jorja, who graced us with her presence at 35 weeks. The private hospital pressured me into an induction with my FIFO partner only just making it home in...
Are you having trouble convincing your partner on the benefits of having a Doula at your birth? One of the main reasons a couple may not hire a Doula is because the partner thinks the Doula may take over their role, but it important to know that the Doula will be very inclusive of the...
Updated 03/06/24 We are so lucky to have so many awesome Privately Practising Midwives available in Western Australia, and I am so relieved that the list has grown extensively since I first started this Directory and continues to grow, which is exciting for women of Perth and Western Australia. A Privately Practising Midwife (PPM) is...
In 2013, I got a referral to a well known OB/GYN, and during the 3 month wait for my appointment, I fell pregnant. Being my first pregnancy, I was relieved that I was already in the hands of an Obstetrician and I didn’t feel the need to look any further into care providers or birthing...
Amniotomy also known as “artificial rupture of membranes” is where the membranes are ruptured / released by the midwife using a gloved finger that has a hook on the end (amnicot) or a little device called an amnihook. This allows the amniotic fluid to be released. The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends that in normal...
A synthetic version of prostaglandin hormones is inserted into your vagina either as tablets, gels, suppositories or pessaries. You will need to remain in hospital for this and once inserted it is recommended that you lie down for at least 30 minutes so the gel can stimulate the cervix. The dose, number of doses and...
The aim of using the balloon catheter is to try and avoid a pharmaceutical induction and is recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO). The Foley’s catheter is a single balloon inserted inside the cervix and the Cook’s device is a double balloon, one inserted inside the cervix and one left on the outside of...
Your medical caregivers will tell you that a stretch and sweep is not considered an “intervention” because it doesn’t involve drugs, so it is natural. This is not true and anyone putting their fingers up inside your vagina and pulling, poking, stretching and sweeping around the inside of the cervix is not natural and more...
Don’t be fooled – Hypnobirthing is nothing new! With a lot more exposure and media around hypnobirthing, there’s a lot more awareness of this amazing program, but something has been bothering me, and this has bothered me ever since I started teaching hypnobirthing, so let me share my thoughts with you about hypnobirthing. Hypnobirthing is...
Thanks to Vicki and her amazing hypnobirthing classes I was able to birth my first baby naturally. We cannot thank her enough for all the knowledge both my partner Mark and I gained from hypnobirthing. On the 16th September 2016 (one week after my estimated due date) I went into labour with my first baby....
Our son Elijah was born in a public hospital in Perth on the 11/12/16 at 9:46pm. Actually, Elijah was born in the carpark at the front entrance to the hospital on the front seat of Vicki Hobbs’ car and I am so grateful for everything that she taught my husband and I in her hypnobirthing...
Thank you to Rory for sharing his experience and it is brilliant to hear how he viewed the effectiveness of hypnobirthing and his role leading up to and during the birth of his son. My wife Katie was diagnosed with gestational diabetes early in the pregnancy. Due to meticulous diet control, she lost a heap of...
There is a lot of confusion around the safe diffusing of essential oils and the use of traditional oil “burners” (vaporisers) and diffusers during labour and birth. It is not just about the smell. Essential oils are made up of chemicals – even chemicals found in nature can have adverse effects on the mind and...
The perineum is the area between the vagina and anus, made up of skin, tissue and muscle and stretches incredibly as the head emerges. Many women become fearful about the perineum tearing or needing an episiotomy and wonder how their baby is going to fit through their vagina. An episiotomy is where the Obstetrician or midwife...
Being a neonatal nurse in a high risk maternity hospital, I had seen my fair share of medicalised births, so when I found out I was pregnant; I always knew I would never have a birth plan. I would accept whatever needed to be done to ensure the safety of my baby and myself. I...
I am so proud of myself and beyond grateful for everything I learnt at hypnobirthing!! I was diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes and my Obstetrician wanted to induce me and had even set a date for the 4th December, which would’ve made me 41 weeks. Originally he’d spoken about inducing at 38/39 weeks and thanks to...
We heard all the horror experiences of childbirth from our friends, which gave us a shiver in the spine. I am a person who is scared of needles, and I felt childbirth was way beyond my capacity. In February 2016, we had the positive results of our pregnancy but along with the happiness; there was...
The best advice I can give you for your labour and birth is to enjoy it. You are only going to get the opportunity to birth this baby once. How you prepare and educate yourself and practice your knowledge will make a world of difference to the way you birth – regardless of how your...
I have been busy creating my online childbirth education program called “Back to Basics Birthing” and as part of my research I posted a request in a Facebook group asking the women in the group what were things that they wish they had known about “the first few hours after birth.” We have so many...
Decreased foetal movement, deceased, three days of being in hospital waiting for baby to come, induction, health complications, breech baby, stillbirth. Massage, laughter, relaxation, meditation, movement, music, dancing and love. All these experiences, actions and feelings I would never have imagined to occur in the same week as each other, but approaching birth with these...
“I wish I had done some classes or prepared myself for what to expect when I went into labour, and maybe my birth would have been very different.” This is what so many women say to me when they are trying to have a more positive experience with their next birth or VBAC (vaginal birth...
I went into labour at 4am on 25th Of March 2016. I was in bed fast asleep and suddenly felt like I was peeing myself so I tried to hold it in, which just didn’t work. I slowly moved out of bed and it trickled down my legs. I was too embarrassed to wake my partner Adam at this...
My birth was truly amazing! It was all thanks to the amazing support I received from my husband, my Hypnobirthing practitioner Vicki Hobbs and two amazing midwives, hypnobirthing and believing in myself, my body and my baby! I wanted to share my (very loooooong) birth story with you, in the hope that it will help/encourage...
My husband Stewart and I were encouraged to learn hypnobirthing by my mum who has a background in nursing and is currently a counsellor who uses hypnosis in her practice. My sister also had two successful natural births using relaxation and self-hypnosis techniques. I decided to post on Facebook asking friends for recommendations of local...
This myth that vaginal exams is beneficial has become conditioned into the minds of pregnant women so they think it is a necessary part of their labour. Because of this myth, most hospitals will have a policy that women are to have vaginal exams every 4 hours in a risk-free birth and more frequently in...
During your labour and birth, it is important that you feel comfortable, safe and calm in your birthing space. Music plays an important part in this. Everyone is different of course, and during labour and birth what you think you might like to hear during your labour and birth may be totally different when you...
I just have to share my beautiful birth experience with you all! I took hypnobirthing classes with Vicki and these classes totally changed my perception around birthing! Not only did they educate me and my partner, but they gave me so much confidence and empowered me to trust my instincts and to trust that my...
Just wanted to share my successful VBAC story. I ended up being induced because my waters started leaking on Tuesday morning, but I wasn’t getting any surges so spoke to my midwife and she had said to stay at home as long as possible because they would keep me in once I got to hospital. So I went...
I am so happy that I found and hired Vicki to be my Doula. My husband was unable to attend, making it very important that I had the support of someone, who I felt confident in, to help me through labour. Vicki was amazing, calming, confident and supportive throughout the whole journey of pregnancy, labour...
Greetings fellow hypnobirthing virgins. I am offering you my thoughts via Vicki on the classes that you may be about to attend. Firstly, a little on myself – I am halfway between a sceptic and a believer in processes that may fall under the umbrella of new age. A sceptic, for I do not like...
I was over my estimated due date, and we were at times quite stressed about when this baby was going to come and were feeling the pressure from people around us. I found going back to the hypnobirthing principles, especially listening to the affirmations, really helped me with this and I kept reminding myself “he’ll...
Hey mummy, please be patient….. Please mummy, let me stay for a little while longer, I feel safe and calm and loved. I know you are tired, I know you are sore. I’m sorry I am putting all this pressure on your body. But I’m not ready to be born just yet. Please be patient…..it...
So, you have just been for your 20-week scan and your sonographer has told you that you have a low-lying placenta, and you will be monitored to see if you can birth vaginally, or you may have even been told to prepare for a caesarean. It is important NOT TO STRESS! A low-lying placenta can...
There is so much to write about Aromatherapy; however this is just a very basic overview of aromatherapy in pregnancy, labour, birth and the postnatal period highlighting the important things to help mums and their birth partners understand how they can use essential oils confidently and safely Aromatherapy is the use of 100% pure essential...
I love the smell of Clary Sage, and prior to menopause I would use clary sage when I was feeling irritable and in pain during my menstrual cycle and it would provide a lot of comfort and relief. In saying this, I always suggest women use it cautiously because it is very powerful and can...
Your baby has just been born and you look down to see what you have created and to your surprise you notice your baby looks like it is covered in white zinc cream and ready for a day out at the cricket. Vernix Caseosa (vernix) is the white, cheesy substance found on the skin of...
There is no such thing as a “natural induction” of labour. Anything that is trying to make your baby come before it is ready is a risk. So, you think it is time to evict your baby? You have had enough. You are tired, uncomfortable and just want to meet your little one…..NOW! However, have...
Every pregnant woman deserves some pampering. Pregnancy Massage can provide that much needed pampering in addition to reducing stress and anxiety, promoting relaxation and preparing muscles and joints for childbirth. It is a much needed therapy to ease some of the aches and pains experienced during pregnancy and labour, and should be regarded as a...
There are many natural induction methods that may help to trigger the start of labour, but these too can also create stress and frustration when they don’t work. It is also important to remember that you’re not designed to be pregnant forever, so you can trust your body to do what it is meant to...
Nearly 75% of pregnant women experience swelling during the last trimester of their pregnancy and most of the time it is relieved by good posture, massage, staying cool, elevation of legs and rest. However, when something like pre-eclampsia develops, severe swelling or” pitting oedema” is merely one symptom of sometimes a more serious condition known...
In our medically advanced society, massage can often be over-looked as an important part of pregnancy health care. However, this tried and tested tradition is one of the oldest forms of the healing arts and has been used for thousands of years in almost every culture. Every pregnant woman deserves some pampering and massage is...
Introducing our hypnobirthing baby girl Roxy. I had the most amazing birth at King Eddies in Perth under the care of a fabulous obstetrician. He had no experience of hypnobirthing, but willingly tried to keep it as close to my birth plan as possible, with me having a heart condition. My baby and I were...
Preparing for birth is like preparing for a marathon. You need to prepare both your mind and your body. In your mind, you need to release fear, which creates tension, producing more pain, creating more fear, which starts a whole vicious cycle in the mind and body as described by British Obstetrician and leading advocate...
First of all I would like to thank Vicki Hobbs from the Hypnobirthing Centre WA for helping me release my fear of birthing and to also help me think positive all the way about everything – my pregnancy, my labour, the surges I would experience and moving my baby down. I was one person who...
The Hypnobirthing class helped me from the first session and weeks before my labour started. I have always had a huge fear of needles but I knew that it was all in my mind. The classes helped me to deal with that and my first blood test after starting the course was a whole new...
On the morning of the 15th April 2014, I went into natural labour with my first baby at 5 days past his guess date. At 5.00am I woke to go to the loo, and had my show. I knew this could happen days before labour so tried not to get too excited! However at 7.00am...
I had a very good pregnancy and stayed very healthy and fit throughout it. I listened to my affirmations on a daily basis and focused on having a positive birth. When people asked me if I was nervous or dreading it, I could say with honesty that I wasn’t. Instead, I felt positive that I...
Although I originally wrote this article in March 2014, I regularly update it with new information as it arises. The popularity and education of prenatal massage has increased significantly over the past few decades. In tribal cultures, prenatal and labour support massage was common. Anthropologist George Engelmann documented these techniques in the mid 1880’s; however...
“Hypnobirthing” is just a fancy name for “hypnosis for birth” and the hypnosis part of this course is only one small component of the program. It is a full childbirth education program that covers so much in only 12 hours of session time. When I chat to women about hypnobirthing some of them have said...