Wednesday 18 November 2009

Having worked in the arena of natural birth for almost 10 years and learnt from some amazing people along the way, it is humbling and honouring to have some of those people recognise and even praise the work I am doing.

The wonderful Sheila Kitzinger has sent me the following review of my book:-

'Here is a fascinating and impressive book that empowers a woman to prepare for birth drawing on her own inner resources. - She doesn't have to depend on others to discipline and train her, but through insight and understanding, and using skills of relaxation, rhythmic breathing, and the art of creative imagination, she can focus on the birth energy released in her body.


She learns to manage pain and face the challenge of labour, whether it is fast or slow, and she is under her own control, nobody else's. The material is well researched and vividly presented, and any woman who studies and rehearses the author's practical suggestions helps herself towards a positive - even exultant - birth experience.'

You can read more about Sheila's work at:-
http://www.sheilakitzinger.co.uk/

I hope to have the book ready for general release by mid December.

Monday 9 November 2009

Michel Odent's testimonial

I feel honoured and excited to have had Michel Odent read my book and send me the following endorsement:-


"The book by Maggie Howell is much more than a practical guide for birth preparation. It is a book about human nature. It includes several dominant themes. One of them is the negative effect, in certain situations, of the knowledge adults have acquired the human way, compared in particular with the knowledge transmitted from generation to generation among non human animals. It is significant that the book starts with a chapter entitled ‘mammalising birth’. Several of the selected quotations, presented as foot notes, are opportunities to reintroduce this dominant theme: ‘Aerodynamically the bumblebee shouldn’t be able to fly, but the bumblebee does not know that, so it goes on flying anyway’ and, some pages later, ‘a child should not be denied a balloon because an adult knows that sooner or later it will burst’.

Obviously, Maggie has digested the contents of the first pages of the bestseller written several thousand years ago. She has been able to interpret ‘the sin of consuming the fruit of the tree of knowledge’, and she has noticed the significant association, in the first pages of this famous ancient book, between knowing too much and being condemned to have difficult birth. In modern scientific language we can explain this association by introducing the concept of neocortical inhibition, and by claiming that the huge development of the neocortex – the brain of the intellect – is the main reason for difficult births in our species. The solution to cope with this human handicap is to put the neocortex at rest. This is why ‘natal hypnotherapy’ can be presented as a set of tools to overcome powerful neocortical inhibitions and the effects of thousands of years of cultural conditioning."


Warm regards

Michel

Fertility Show

This weekend I had a stand at hte fertility show in London.  The turn out was higher than I expected and I felt that the show was a real success.  My colleague Gina Cox Roberts came along to help on Friday which was a huge help and between us we managed to speak to in excess of 200 women / couples who were planning to concieve.  Spending 2 days with so many couples who were having difficulties brought it home to me how challenging it is for so many couples to achieve what should be the most natural thing in the world. 

Also looking around the event I was surprised to see how much the support for women and couples preparing to conceive is based around physical preparation.  We seemed to be the only ones providing "emotional" and "mental" support.

We did get some great feedback from several IVF clinics, therapists and counsellors who used / recommended the conception CDS  - for example Hammersmith IVF clinic said that many of their women listen to our CD in the theatre when they are undergoing IVF and it helps relax all of them!

Wednesday 4 November 2009

Swine flu jab

As I am 30 weeks pregnant with my 5th child I am accutely aware of the concerns over siwne flu.  as I have 4 young boys who are in constatnt contact with other kids the chances of getting the flu are fairly high - so mu dilema is do I go for the jab or trust in my bosy's natural defences?

I have not had a single antibiotic, vaccination, drug and barely a paracetamol in over 10 years so i am reultcant to take the jab without a great deal of throught.

My key concerns are:-
What effect will it have on the baby?
Will it really protect me from getting the flu?
Will it have an impact on my natural defences which are lower during pregnancy any way?

The jury is currently out.

Monday 2 November 2009

Fertility show - November 6 & 7, 2009

I will be running a stand at the fertility show at Olympia on the 6 & 7 November - http://www.fertilityshow.co.uk/

Opening entry

Well it is quite exciting to finally start a blog!

I have just come back from a wonderful holiday with my family on the red sea, to find 100 copies of my book waiting at home. The book has taken some time to bring together and it feels great to finally see it in print.

The journey towards completing this book started almost 10 years ago when I first discovered the concept of using hypnosis to hlep with birth. Little did I know back then that it would go on the change my life and the lives of many other women.

The book is due to be released on the 1st December as there are still tweaks that need to be made, however you can pre order your copy by contacting the natal hypnotherapy office or contacting me directly.