“Ringar på Vattnet”
After our last Hypnobirthing session one of the couples stayed behind and chatted for a bit. They said that from the three sessions they had attended they could already feel a shift in themselves. There was less fear connected to birth, they felt more ready and empowered. I was so happy to hear that the course is making such an impact on them. I said that I really feel like my last birth (I will share this birth story in the future) really empowered me because I was supported by a midwife that listened to her instincts and didn’t just follow protocol. Her empowering me at my son’s birth showed me how things can be done. It changed how I see my role as a midwife and it made me more brave as a new midwife, because I knew there are several ways to do things.
I actually met Cecilia Magnusson who supported me at this birth at a Spinning Babies training about a year and a half ago and got to tell her that what she did for me was so important. That birth healed me, made me feel empowered and strong. I think I wouldn’t be the midwife I am today if I didn't get to experience that for myself. To my surprise she remembered me, and even details from that birth, five years later! By empowering me I can now empower others, it creates “ringar på vattnet” as you say in Swedish. This couple at my HB course told me that they talked to their friends about Hypnobirthing and birth in a positive way now. I have heard this before, how the couples that take the Hypnobirthing course start sharing the positive aspects of birth with those around them. To me that is beautiful and so powerful.
"When you change the way you perceive birth, the way you birth will change."
- Marie Mongan, creator of Hypnobirthing
I love the term “empowered birth experience,” because it describes what I wish for people. You may not have the birth you thought in terms of how it pans out, but even if the situation is the opposite to what you dreamed of you can still feel empowered coming out of it if the people supporting you at that birth empower you. For those of us that work with birth we have a huge responsibility, we can disempower someone or strip them of their power, or we can respect them and empower them.
I chose my leading words to be Educate - Support - Empower because those are the three things I have seen make a huge difference. I have seen it in my own life, I have seen it in the lives of the people I support. Writing this post reminded me of one of my favorite quotes that I used to have on my bathroom wall when I was a single mom of one, what feels like a lifetime ago. But it feels completely fitting still and always.
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
― Marianne Williamson, A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of "A Course in Miracles"
