Active Birth Workshops

With Alice Charlwood

The best way to cope with labour is to go with the flow and surrender to what is a totally involuntary process. This involves unthinking behaviour - trusting your body and being guided by your instincts.

This empowering and practical half-day weekend workshop covers aspects of labour that are often overlooked in hospital and other birth preparation classes, as it focusses on the ways women can use their bodies during the birth process to make it as easy and safe as possible.

We will explore ways of responding spontaneously to the body's urges, using a variety of positions, movement and breathing and other strategies for coping with contractions with less reliance on drugs. You will also learn about the part the baby plays in its own birth, how to optimise the cocktail of hormones that orchestrates the whole process and how to avoid the things that can be a hindrance. Your birth partner will gain a greater insight into how the woman's body works in labour, and be a lot more effectve in the ways they can help you, including massage.