Antenatal Workshop Liverpool: Understanding fear and recognising what it does to your body and mind is useful for any unfamiliar or challenging experience in life. The teaching and strategies of Give Birth Without Fear offers you the opportunity to feel in control and excited about birth.

From the first few tightening’s to advanced labour, or even preparing your home or leaving for the hospital, there are ways to help make these moments easier. Hypnobirthing can be very effective if you practice during pregnancy. However, if complications occur and you are involved in discussions and decisions, it can be difficult to stay focused and mindful. Give Birth Without Fear method offers physiologically evidenced strategies that can be used in every scenario.

Our bodies and brains are very clever and built to help us to survive. Fear is useful when there is a threat and can prevent harm by alerting us to the danger. Even in advanced labour, the brain can say ‘stop, it’s not safe’, and therefore prolong the birth until it is safe. If the perceived threat is something that will not be transient, such as pain or the birth process itself, then the danger doesn’t pass. The tools and guidance taught during the workshop will show you and your birth partner how to guide your body back to feeling safe and allow birth to happen.

You will learn how to recognise fear is influencing your labour progress, and have better control over the nervous system to prevent fear prolonging or delaying birth. The biggest impact on your labour and birth experience when you can control fear, is the progress of labour. During the final stages of labour, there is an episode of transition where you can begin to feel overwhelmed and its very common to feel fearful. This is normal, and can be useful for you and your partner to recognise that labour is nearing the end and you will be meeting your baby soon.

Fear is an important and helpful emotion that keeps us safe. There is no need to fear ‘fear’. An emotionally safe birth requires confidence and faith in the process. However, the challenges and uncertainty of labour can make confidence difficult to maintain. Confidence will come from knowledge. The strategies taught in this workshop include a clear explanation of the contraction rhythm, and how to work with your body and your baby to maintain stamina and improve coping and progress. The tools are simple enough that it will be easy to recognise fear and guide back to safety. You will practice using the tools during the workshop to aid body memory.

Some of the topics discussed include:

• How this method works for all types of births or challenges
• The 4 tools
• The involvement of hormones in labour and birth
• The function of fear on the nervous system
• How fear can impact the length of labour
• How interventions are linked to unmanaged fear
• How the birthing partner can support every step of the way
• Practice the tools with your partner
• Contraction rhythm and how to work with the rhythm
• Overcoming obstacles including induction of labour, opiates and epidural

You will receive a useful and comprehensive information pack to take home and refer back to. This is  a highly interactive workshop. You will also be be provided with notebooks and pens to take your own notes during the workshop. Our support doesn’t stop after your session!. Once you attend any of our classes and workshops, you will always be welcomed to ask questions and visit us throughout pregnancy and beyond.

For complete preparation for labour and birth, please read about our Positive Labour and Birth workshop. The two workshops together are the ultimate preparation package. There is no crossover of information within these two workshops.