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Marie Mongan, was world famous birth educator who, founded the internationally acclaimed HypnoBirthing course for pregnant mothers.

Hypnobirthing has been used by women all over the world with amazing, scientifically based results for an easy, more natural birth, free from pain and fear.

After having her first child in the 1950’s, Marie realised that the archaic birthing system in place at the time, was broken.

She had declined pain anaesthesia during her first two pregnancies, but the nurses had held her down with leather straps and forced an ether cone onto her face.

 

After this traumatic experience, Marie spent a lot of time preparing for a drug free birth.  She intuitively sought to develop a calmer birth experience.

She developed the ideas for HypnoBirthing from an Obstetritian Grantly Dick-Reads and Dr. Jonathan Dye, of Buffalo, New York who had studied and written comprehensively about natural birthing.

When Marie was pregnant with her 3rd child, in late 50’s, she specifically sought out a doctor who allowed a drug free birth experience, and also allowed her husband to be by her side in both labour and the delivery – something that was unheard of at the time. 

Marie finally experienced her drug free birth with her husband by her side, she said it was “the most beautiful birth that I could have imagined.”  This was essentially the first example of HypnoBirthing being used in practice.

She delivered her fourth child the exact same way and said this experience was ‘spectacular’.

Since then, it was Marie’s dream to share her knowledge in birthing.   After all, she had a notion that women been birthing for thousands of years.

 

It can’t have always been so traumatic can it?

 

Ms. Mongan, having been a longtime educator in New Hampshire, went on to become a certified hypnotherapist.  Although hypnosis had been used in obstetrics for a long time, but, it had not been widely studied as a tool for labour and birth. 

 

The start of HypnoBirthing

birthing classes

But it it wasn’t really until 1989, when Maura, her third daughter became pregnant, that Ms. Mongan started holding classes in the course she had developed called ‘Hypnobirthing’.

She taught techniques to Maura and her pregnant friends using hypnosis, positive affirmations, visualizations and meditation to ease the pain of childbirth naturally.

Maura used HypnoBirthing to have a perfect drug-free-birth.

As word began spreading in the early 90’s, Ms. Mongan soon began receiving requests to train not only parents but also nurses, doulas and hypnotherapists.

 

Ms. Mongan’s word of mouth gained popularity and hypnobirthing became mainstream when a TV segment on dateline in 1999 talked of a brand-new pain-free birthing method.

Her book sold out and she received thousands of calls and emails from around the globe of people wanting to know all about her methods and the benefits of HypnoBirthing.

Since then, Royals Kate Middleton and film-actress Jessica Alba have used HypnoBirthing techniques to birth their children with amazing results.

It is is as much philosophy as it is a technique.  HypnoBirthing classes support the whole person model of care,Her book sold out and she received thousands of calls and emails from around the globe of people wanting to know all about HypnoBirthing methods.

 

A natural way to birth

Sadly in 2019, Marie died at age 86. Surrounded by her family after complications with an autoimmune condition.

While we have come a long way in women birthing, thanks in-part to Marie Mongan and her quest for a
more natural and calm birth, we as a population generally still have a strong preconceived idea that birth is supposed to be a traumatic life event for women and that drug free births are the exception, not the norm.

36% of births in Australia end in caesarean section, the highest % in history and so much of that is revolved around the fear of giving birth and preconceived idea of experiencing pain.

And while we know there are medical exceptions where caesarean sections are the only way to birth. They shouldn’t be the suggested “out”, nor the norm.

 

Charlotte at Benefiting Birth and Beyond teaches HypnoBirthing because she knows there is a better way.

 

As a Doula, Midwife, Birth educator, she is immersed in birth every single day, and knows there is a better way.  We hope to pave the way so that all women can be educated in birth and their journey into parenthood and beyond.

 

 

My dream is that every woman, everywhere, will know the joy of a truly safe, comfortable and satisfying birthing for herself and her baby.

HypnoBirthing classes are taught by Charlotte, a registered midwife, a mum of 3 children, a birth educator, and a certified HypnoBirthing Instructor.

Childbirth education is her passion, and working in the Australian hospital system, she herself knows Birth Classes are one of the most important decisions you can make for yourself and your baby.

Labour is not the time of lengthy discussions or questions about what will happen: benefits/risks.

Feel calm and confident in your birth.  The decisions you make in birth can impact how you recover and how you feel afterwards.

Our classes are taught in-person in the Brisbane West and Ipswich area. But we can also accommodate classes online. 

 

 

antenatal class