This week I met a lovely lady who is an experienced midwife and mother of twin boys. Joanna Fitzsimons has delivered hundreds of babies within the National Health Service and still works there part time. Her passion for empowering women and their partners has led her to teach a new technique called The Wise Hippo. It is essentially a Hypno Birthing technique focusing on the positivity of the birth experience. Rather than learning a ‘deep hypnotic state’ the technique teaches more of a ‘daydream’ feeling where fear and physical tension is diminished. We had a very interesting discussion about the whole ‘Birth Plan’ concept and whether it is perhaps unrealistic for women to imagine that they can choose every aspect of their labour. She feels it is important for women to feel that their birth was a positive experience even if it deviates from the ‘plan’. She describes it in more detail:
“The Wise Hippo is a new approach to birthing. We believe a ‘positive birth’ experience is a state of mind, it’s not defined by what happens during labour and birth but by how a woman feels about her baby’s birth. Because of this belief I am able to teach skills and knowledge that empowers women to trust their instincts and ensures that their baby (babies) has the right birth on the day.”
” I am passionate about supporting women and their partners with their birth preparations and I want to help others fulfill that passion too.”
It was a pleasure to meet with Jo to hear all about her new course – if I was having any more children I would definitely do the course. If you want to know more about the technique or course you can contact her through her facebook page https://www.facebook.
