Emotional health and wellbeing

Here at Reframing Birth, I understand that mental health conditions affect 1 in 4 of the general population and approximately 1 in 8 new parents. That is a lot of people. You may not necessarily have been diagnosed with a mental heath condition, yet you may still feel something is not quite right. This is where I can help. My gentle and compassionate approach towards improving your mental health really can make all the difference to your life. I know it takes some strength to take the first steps, so feel free to contact me when you are ready. We can take it slowly, in your own time. I am here for you. All my support services require a minimum of 3 sessions, at a cost of £180. Additional sessions are charged at a cost of £60 per hour. All my training has been undertaken with Traumatic Birth Recovery.

book now

contact now

Very often, after a difficult experience, you may feel the desire to talk about what happened. What you experienced cannot be changed, but it can be acknowledged and gently worked through. Lets talk. I will give you all the space you need to say as much or as little as you like about your experience. You will feel heard, validated and in control.

The first step to emotional wellness is to share your story, supporting you to understand what happened, how it effects your life and looking to the future. This can be a stand alone, reflective session, or the beginning of your journey to improving your mental wellbeing.

Going forward, we can create a plan for your upcoming birth if you are pregnant again and if you aren't, then a plan to support you in a positive way going forward into whatever life gives you next. These services aim to provide you with some relief, coping strategies and take the weight off your shoulders.

Reflections Session: £60 for 1 hour of personalised support

Reflections

finding freedom from perinatal depression

Perinatal depression is a condition which affects up to 30% of pregnant and new parents. It can cause symptoms such as loss of interest, hopelessness, not being able to cope, crying all the time, anger, excessive anxiety about the baby, panic attacks, sleeplessness, loss of appetite, low mood and these are just a few of the debilitating effects.

It can be difficult to recognise the signs or you may not want to reach out for support due to fear of judgement, guilt or you don't feel you are worthy of support.

I will provide space for your story to be heard and then use a self-compassionate approach to support you in understanding and reframing your thoughts. A self compassionate approach is one where you bring kindness to your thoughts, rather than meeting them with judgement and criticism.

supporting you to grieve and process your loss

Losing a pregnancy or baby is a traumatic event and it is very natural to feel an indescribable amount of grief. This can be made more difficult with loss being 'the unspoken' or 'the elephant in the room'. You may or may not feel supported at this time to process your emotions. I can support you in a number of ways:

Being a trauma informed listening ear
Helping you to understand your grief and the emotions you are feeling
Guiding you to support any anxiety you may be experiencing at this time, which is a natural part of loss
Introducing relaxation techniques to practically aid your high levels of anxiety
Supporting you in any future pregnancies which may be re-triggering

managing perinatal anxiety

Perinatal anxiety is a form of anxiety occuring during pregnancy and /or up to 1 year after birth. It can affect up to 20% of pregnant people and new parents. Anxiety is usually deep rooted in a fear of the future, whereas depression is associated with the past and you may experience symptoms such as panic attacks, increased heart rate, catastrophising thoughts, feeling on edge, excessive worry about the future and a want to control the environment or others.

We will look into the following:

Understanding anxiety itself as a normal response to difficult situations
The physical, behavioural and environmental contributors to anxiety
Challenging beliefs that keep your anxiety going
The anxiety toolkit: meditation, journaling, relaxation
Supporting calm and peace in your mind

Trauma resolution

Traumatic Birth Recovery (TBR) 3 Step Rewind allows you to stand down your natural response to trauma and remove the emotional load that comes with a traumatic event. You will still remember the event, nothing can take that away, but you will no longer feel the physical and psychological effects that you may carry so heavily and affect your day to day life. Through 3 personalised sessions, we will work on neutralising your automatic response to stress and fear, through using deep relaxation and visualisation, supporting you to heal in a natural way.

TBR 3 Step Rewind is not an alternative to seeking medical support or taking medication for your mental health. Both can be done alongside using rewind. Rewind is a therapeutic technique based on Neurolinguistic Programming.

The Steps

Step 1 – 60 minutes: your personalised reflections session as detailed above

Step 2 – 60 minutes: the rewind process. A deep relaxation, aiming to disconnect your memory from the symptoms of trauma, so the memory is no longer emotionally charged

Step 3 – 30 Minutes: checking in to see what changes you have experienced and if any further support is required going forward

recovery from physical birth injury

Experiencing a life changing physical injury during birth is likely to be soul destroying and traumatic, especially when the injury is to the most intimate parts of your body. This can be very upsetting, frustrating and change your relationships with your own body and others. These emotions can be complicated by a difficulty in accessing physical treatment or a lack of understanding from others. As a midwife, I understand medically the potential implications of a birth injury and as an emotional wellbeing practitioner I am experienced in supporting people through the psychological impact.

I can be a listening ear to your experience, whilst supporting you to understand the grief and emotions you may be experiencing as a result of this life changing injury. I can support you to explore how your life is being negatively impacted and we can work on ways to positively promote physical and emotional healing. This may involve the use of TBR 3 step rewind, guided relaxation and hypnosis exercises.