Hypnobirthing in Dorset - an interview with Dr Michelle Irving

We are very proud at Calm Births to have a teacher as experienced in the birth world as Dr Michelle Irving. She is a Mum of 2, an experienced practising Midwife with a PhD in Midwifery, and lectures at Bournemouth University. Michelle offers one to one or group Calm Births hypnobirthing courses in and around Poole, Dorset. I recently caught up with Michelle to chat about her journey to hypnobirthing:

All of our teachers have different journeys that bring them to hypnobirthing, what was yours?

My journey into hypnobirthing started as a midwife working with women who were using hypnobirthing and having incredible births, they were transformed and empowered and therefore equipped to be effective parents.

What's your favourite thing about being a hypnobirthing teacher?

I love being able to teach women/couples and help them become empowered - teaching about how their bodies work, what they can do to achieve calm and understand the process of birth, birth hormones and biomechanics and the birth environment.

How do you think Covid has affected pregnant people?

I think for many people the pandemic has made them feel vulnerable and isolated. I have spoken to people who felt somewhat abandoned by the maternity services and anxious about not having their partners present for scans, appointments or early labour. People tell me they are cautious about face to face contact, but also miss real world interactions.

What would your top tips be for preparing for birth for parents to be?

Join a childbirth education/hypnobirthing class

Fix your fears

Achieve and maintain health through nutrition, activity and mindfulness

Make informed decisions about your care - know about the medical interventions, their pros, cons and alternatives

Find your support

Stay active and relaxed in labour

Use water and massage

Those are great tips! What would your top tips for preparing for parenthood be?

Keep it simple - eat, sleep, relax, repeat

Plan a babymoon - stay home and rest and recuperate with your baby

Keep your baby close

Ask for support

Thank you so much Michelle, and how can people find out more about you and your courses?

I have a website www.bestbirths.co.uk where people can find out more about me as well as being on Instagram and Facebook.

You can also find Michelle’s profile on our ‘Find your teacher’ page.

Hypnobirthing teacher training in Covid times.

Well, the world has certainly changed a bit since the arrival of Covid 19. But the world is still turning, women are still pregnant and babies are still being born.

So we have been continuing to train new Calm Births teachers throughout this rocky time, in fact more than ever have joined the team since January 2020. Being able to teach online has opened us up to teachers who previously couldn’t have made it, we’ve had breastfeeding Mums on maternity leave who can easily join us online, we’ve had teachers far and wide geographically with young families - and we’ve been blessed with so many more teachers than we could have taught before.

“I really enjoyed the Calm Birth's Teachers course. Hannah was a great teacher, taking us through the content at a pace that allowed us to digest and discuss the information thoroughly whilst keeping momentum on all the content to cover. Hannah made me feel at ease and excited about putting all my learning into action in my own business.”

So what does the course look like now?

Should you choose to become a Calm Births teacher, your materials will all be sent to you with in the post and access to your pre-course learning module given. And then we simply meet on Zoom instead of face to face! Groups are working really well this way, we still have fun and connect in a really great way.

If you are not a Midwife, you’ll be invited to take the pre-course module designed to give you lots of information and suggested reading about pregnancy and birth, in order that you feel confident in working with pregnant women.

Over our two days together, you’ll learn:

• Hypnotherapy basics

• Hypnotherapy and it’s affect on birth

• The Calm Births syllabus and how it works

• Business building - how to set up and run your business

The course is relaxed, informal and jam packed full of information. I always aim to make the learning fun!

“The course was very enjoyable, relaxing, collaborative and time flew. I can’t wait to get started!”

Once trained you are invited to teach a case study client to consolidate your knowledge, and work closely with me to build up your business for as long as you need support doing so.

Our team are a wonderful bunch of passionate, positive women who’s main goal is to empower women in their communities in having positive, calm births. We have a thriving online community of teachers and meet (virtually) once per month for an informal get together.

“I really enjoyed the teacher training! A relaxed and friendly environment and a strong, well rounded course content that I’m excited to start teaching!”

And don’t forget - our course is fully accredited by the Royal College of Midwives so it is high quality, evidence based information that we are teaching.

Courses usually run monthly and are available to all, no matter what your professional background.

Click here to learn more and to see dates and prices!

Become a Hypnobirthing Teacher!

Are you a Midwife, former Midwife or experienced Doula? Or perhaps you are simply passionate about normal birth and empowering women? Are you looking for a way to make a living from teaching families how to achieve positive, calm births and see them get amazing results? 

Then join our team!!! 

I am so excited to share my Calm Births Course with new instructors, I have been teaching Hypnobirthing full time since leaving my role as a Midwife in the NHS in 2014. I have taught hundreds of families and have been utterly overwhelmed by the consistent positive births that are being achieved by them.  The Calm Births Course is a combination of essential practical tips and techniques for positive birth and Hypnotherapy techniques - think NCT meets Hypnobirthing and you'll have an idea.

If you would like to share this message and teach this practical, no nonsense course to families in your area and make a GOOD living from doing so then I will provide you with:

*Face to face training*

*Course Materials*

*Help & guidance in setting up and running your own business*

*Support designing & setting up your own website*

*A family of like-minded teachers like you*

*Regular meet-ups to help & support each other *

The great news is that you can earn £3k + per month teaching something that you love. YOU decide when you teach. YOU decide where you teach. YOU decide how you teach. YOU are your own boss, with the Calm Births family here to support you. 

Your course will include: 

An introduction to Hypnotherapy

Hypnobirthing origins and how it works

The Calm Births Course content

How to teach Hypnobirthing

An introduction on how to set up and market your business

You will leave your course with everything you need to feel like a Mum boss who can run her own Hypnobirthing business and be part of something amazing, changing the lives of families all around you. 

The investment for your training course is:

Midwives / Doulas / NCT Teachers : 3 day course from 9.30am to 1.30pm, £899

Existing Hypnobirthing Teachers: 1 day course from 9.30am to 1.30pm, £499

If you are new to birth education, an extra online course will be required before the full 3 day training - the cost in total will be £1350.

If you would like to find out more or bagsy yourself a place on a teacher training course have a look here for more info, or please email: hannah@calmbirths.uk.

I can't WAIT to work with you! 

xx