Meet the Essex HypnoBirthing® Practitioners

For details of how to contact the Essex HypnoBirthing® practitioners please see our "Contact" page.

                                                    Sarah Ockwell-Smith                                   

• Certified HypnoBirthing® Practitioner       
• BSc(hons) Psychology Degree
• Registered Homeopath 
• Trainee Doula
• Waterbirth Pool Agent
• NCT Homebirth Support Group Leader
• Happiest Baby® Educator
• HypnoBirthing® Mum!                                                                                      

www.birthfriendly.co.uk

I live in Saffron Walden with my husband, 4 children, 6 chickens, 3 cats and 3 goldfish (yes I am quite mad!). I have been a HypnoBirthing® practitioner since 2005 and have trained over 80 couples locally in that time. My group HypnoBirthing® classes are taught in my home in Saffron Walden as well as the Royston Centre for Complementary Health in neighbouring Hertfordshire, I am also happy to travel to client’s own homes, for private classes, along the Harlow to Cambridge M11 corridor including Stansted & Dunmow.

After studying for an honours degree in Psychology I worked in the Pharmaceutical  Industry for 5 years. I became a mother in 2002 and turned my back on conventional medicine to train to become a Homeopath. During my four year long studies I had two  more children and motherhood fuelled my desire to work with women and children.

In 2005 my third child was born at home in a birthing pool, weighing an astounding 11lbs 3oz, yet he was born gently, without pain relief, in four hours using HypnoBirthing. Later in 2005 I trained as a HypnoBirthing® teacher myself and founded “BirthFriendly” to bring natural pregnancy, empowering birth and gentle parenting to as many families in the Essex region as possible. I am also an agent for Splashdown birthing pools, run the Saffron Walden NCT Homebirth Support Group and am a member of the maternity Services Liaison Committee at the Rosie Maternity Hospital. I am a trainee birth doula (training with the inspiring Michel Odent) and hope to provide a supportive doula service across Essex (specialising in natural homebirths using HypnoBirthing® and Homeopathy). Finally, in the spring of 2007 I gave birth to my fourth child, another big 11lber, again at home in water using HypnoBirthing, with no pain relief. This time my labour lasted less than an hour!

I am incredibly passionate about pregnancy and birth, I adore women and children, I love babies & giving birth and I'm very into attachment parenting (as evidenced in my profile picture above!).

Geraldine Vinall    

• Certified HypnoBirthing® Practitioner     
• Clinical Hypnotherapist
• NLP Practitioner
• Trauma Cognisant Therapist
• Hypnosis for Infertility and IVF support Therapist

www.birthknowhow.co.uk

I am a Clinical Hypnotherapist, NLP Practitioner, HypnoBirthing® Practitioner and Trauma Cognisant Therapist predominantly covering the Danbury and Witham area and from January 2008 I will also be running classes from Springlands Nursery, Shrub End Road in Colchester.

These days I share my home in a north Essex village with a bossy and elegant Tonkinese cat and an excitable rescue greyhound.

I was lucky enough to spend 15 years as a full-time wife and mum. Both children are now married themselves, geographically distant but emotionally close. After years of working in a people-centred environment, dealing with all levels of human stress and distress, I swapped my day job for the life of a clinical hypnotherapist and now work full time in my own practice, in association with complementary centres in Witham, Braintree and Danbury, in addition to home visits almost anywhere in the county.

My two births were very different – the first a prolonged, high-intervention medical procedure, the second 5 hours of joyful and natural yoga-based relaxation and visualisation; both in hospital, but very different experiences for me and for my babies. Having spent my second pregnancy trying not to think about giving birth again, when the time came I loved every minute and was able to put my negative feelings about childbirth – and my ability to do it! - behind me forever.

Whilst studying for my hypnotherapy diploma, I learned about using hypnosis for childbirth – which led me to seek out the best specialised training in this area. For me this is HypnoBirthing® - with its informed, comprehensive approach and personal teaching to ensure the best possible birthing outcome for mums, dads and babies. I run small classes in Witham and Danbury and am also happy to teach one to one in your own home if you prefer it – especially if a homebirth is planned – when I go the extra mile to tailor HypnoBirthing® to your individual needs. Your doula, or other friends or family member(s) who are likely to be present at the birth are welcome to attend your classes, ensuring optimum support.

Marilyn Griffin

• Certified HypnoBirthing® Practitioner
• Clinical Hypnotherapist                                      
• Psychotherapist
• NLP Practitioner

www.mghypnobirthing.co.uk

Marilyn holds individual and group sessions in the Braintree/Dunmow area.

She runs a busy hypno/psychotherapy practice but her passion is for HypnoBirthing®. Her children were born before the advent of HypnoBirthing but she developed a similar awareness for her births and is keen to ensure that all parents have the opportunity to experience birth as it should be, natural, joyous and calm.

Karen Tootill

• Certified HypnoBirthing® Practitioner
• HypnoBirthing® mum!

www.calmbirthing.co.uk

A secondary school teacher by profession I now run an established HypnoBirthing® practice in Chelmsford and Rayleigh, as well as being a full time Mum to my sons Callum  and Matthew.

When I was 6 months pregnant with Callum I discovered HypnoBirthing® and decided it would be worth a go even if it only helped a little. I found the course amazing and my attitude to birth totally changed. I began to look forward to the birth and felt confident enough to have Callum at home. The experience of birthing Callum was so wonderful that I decided to train as a practitioner so I can pass on the positive birth message and help other couples to have the birth they want.

I now enjoy running courses, which are fun and relaxed in a home environment. I work closely with the local hospitals and community midwives and because of my drive to make birth better I have been invited to speak at several local NHS study days as well at the Natural Birth conference for the Royal College of Midwives (Broomfield Hospital 2007). I also regularly contribute to Basildon Hospital relaxation antenatal classes.

My classes are fun and informative and I have worked with many different couples from those who are set on a home water birth to those who face medical complications and will need to be closely monitored in hospital during birth. I really enjoy being a practitioner, I am, able to hear about amazing births, meet wonderful families and make a positive impact on the most amazing day of a family’s life.

Cathy Salmon

• Certified HypnoBirthing® Practitioner
• Clinical Hypnotherapist
• EFT Practitioner
• HypnoFertility® Practitioner

 
I live in the Epping area and have been a healer for 18 years, but after the death of my husband 6 years ago I decided to make some real changes in my life, so I trained as a Clinical Hypnotherapist. After I qualified I took further training in HypnoBirthing®, HypnoFertility® and EFT. I provide individual classes in the client's own home and will travel to Epping, Theydon Bois, Loughton, Buckhurst Hill, Chingford, Ilford and Redbridge and I am happy to hold classes at weekends.


I am a mother of 3 and the proud grandmother of one year old twins. It was my daughter in laws difficult labour with the twins that coincided with a talk by one of our supervisors on my hypnotherapy training course that started me on the HypnoBirthing road. The class attendees were asked if we thought pain was inevitable in labour and I was one of the first to raise my hand as I’d had 3 unpleasant birth experiences and I had been brought up on my mother’s stories that “there was no pain like”. After listening to the talk I was hooked and am now a passionate believer in the right of mums and babies to have a wonderful birth experience. I truly believe that babies born by this method have a distinct advantage as they do not have to start life trying to overcome trauma. Birth should be looked forward to with joy and anticipation.

I also took the HypnoBirthing Fertility course as well. It is tailored to each individual and couple to increase the likelihood of conception and many mental and emotional blocks can be removed to allow nature to take its course. I find that EFT when used in conjunction with the other therapies enhances their effectiveness.

Giving up my London job as an events and courses organiser in my 50s and stepping out into the unknown was a big step, but I haven’t regretted a moment of it.

Debs King

• Certified HypnoBirthing® Practitioner
• HypnoBirthing® mum!

www.naturalhypnobirthing.co.uk

I am the new kid on the block. A graphic designer based in Stansted
Mountfitchet with no experience of midwifery, working as a Doula, nursing or
anything else in that realm. I am however a HypnoBirthing® mum, and
experience speaks for itself. When I found out I was pregnant, I was
petrified, I never wanted children purely because I didn't think
I'd be able to survive childbirth. Its a long story, and I only have
a paragraph or two, but then I came across HypnoBirthing® and the
experience not only got me through the birth, but kept me calm
throughout the pregnancy too, not allowing fear to consume me and
give me too many sleepless nights!

Well, I survived the birth, and live to tell the tale and how I love
telling it. My passion for so long was design, but this is in a
league of its own. When I talk of Roni's birth I get so excited, it
was something I had feared my whole life, then at 32, could have
done it again the next day!

I wanted to learn to become a practitioner, so that hopefully I can
help other mums to be, as scared as I was, have a wonderful pregnancy
and birth. All I can say is.... it works.

Jackie Fletcher

• Certified HypnoBirthing® Practitioner
• Clinical Hypnotherapist
• EFT Practitioner

www.hypnobirthing4u.co.uk

Based in Epping, I am a clinical Hypnotherapist, HypnoBirthing® practitioner and EFT practitioner.

After a mid life career change from a very stressful job to Hypnotherapist, I eventually conceived twins and it was during my pregnancy that I decided that it would be lovely to specialise in birth. I used hypnotherapy all through my pregnancy and I always maintain that it is because of this that my boys have been happy, contended babies and boys who have always slept well and eaten well. So in 2003 I trained as a HypnoBirthing® practitioner and was one of the first practitioners in the UK.

I love teaching HypnoBirthing® and I am still as passionate about it now as I was when I first trained.

Georgina Warwick

• Certified HypnoBirthing® Practitioner
• Registered Midwife
• Clinical Hypnotherapist

Georgina is based in Wickford.

Georgina's profile & photo will be added shortly - check back soon for updates!

Cath Anderson