Hello!

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I’m Zana (rhymes with banana, if you’re not sure how to pronounce it!) and I’m the person behind Birthing with Confidence. I specialise in working with people who have had a difficult, upsetting or traumatic pregnancy and/or birth experience, or who are scared of pregnancy/birth. My aim is to help people feel better about birth, as well as to feel more skilled and capable to deal with it. I do this by providing bespoke private antenatal classes (whether or not including hypnobirthing), focused breathing & relaxation workshops, audio hypnobirthing downloads and specialist counselling. I can offer a blend of all the above as appropriate, taking into account your wishes and where you are in your pregnancy, birth or parenting journey.

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I'm a qualified and accredited Counsellor/Psychotherapist, a retired NCT teacher and qualified hypnobirthing instructor. I hold a level 5 qualification in Education: Antenatal Education. I have additional certificates in EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique, otherwise known as "tapping") and Rewind Technique, both of which I use alongside counselling (for ethical, therapeutic safety) to help relieve the effects of difficult or traumatic experiences.

 

I provide hypnobirthing courses alongside my colleague, Barbara Wyant (hypnotherapist, retired midwife, retired NCT teacher). We offer our own independent WOW! Hypnobirthing course that we developed together.

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If you'd like to know more about me (Zana) and my story, please read on...

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My own birth experiences have included two early pregnancy losses (one of which was traumatising) followed by two further pregnancies, which means I've given birth to two (large-ish) full-term healthy babies. Due to how I felt during and after my first baby’s birth, I made very different choices when pregnant with my second baby. Having experienced first-hand how finding out more, doing things differently and building my confidence, could have such a positive impact, I decided to train as an antenatal teacher to help others have better births.  

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My original training was with NCT. The training was the most comprehensive available. It took about 3 years and later became university-validated at Level 5/Foundation Degree. This training equipped me to design and provide responsive, bespoke antenatal classes for groups and individuals, rather than to follow a fixed agenda. I am qualified to teach about all types of births, choices/decisions you might make and the skills that will help you and your birth partner through the whole experience. I can include feeding basics, early days baby care, and even an exploration of the kind of parent you want to be and what you might need to help you achieve that. 

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I added my hypnobirthing certificate in 2012, attained from an RCM (Royal College of Midwives) accredited course. Barbara and I undertook that training together and we have now combined all our skills and expertise from more than 20 years each in antenatal education, to bring you our very own independent hypnobirthing course that we've called 'WOW! Hypnobirthing' (and do feel free to ask us, "Why WOW?!"). 

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Some years ago, I became intrigued about counselling and decided it would be useful to gain a certificate to support my antenatal work. I decided to continue with professional training to qualify, which I did in 2010. I’m now an Accredited Counsellor and have run my private practice since qualifying. I've also had two years' experience working within the NHS and a local University Counselling Service. Whilst I work with adults who bring a wide variety of concerns to the counselling room, I specialise in all things related to pregnancy, birth and parenting. I have also trained in Rewind Technique and EFT to help release difficult feelings connected to challenging or traumatic experiences. For emotional safety and for ethical practice, I incorporate these approaches within a counselling setting, rather than as a stand-alone technique.

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I've self-published a short e-booklet about understanding and managing anxiety, in a non-medical, no jargon way, incorporating some coping/grounding techniques. It's called "How Anxiety is like a Smoke Alarm (and how to reduce the volume)". The link above takes you to Amazon where you can buy the booklet and download a free e-reader if you don't have a Kindle.

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I have attended numerous update days, study days, conferences and training in addition to all the above during the last 25+ years.

 

I have also provided professional training to student midwives, student hypnobirthing teachers and qualified counsellors. (Please enquire for more information)

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If you want to know anything about my training, qualifications or experience you are very welcome to ask.

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During any spare time, I enjoy pottering in the garden, walking in the forest, live music, socialising, creativity, cooking and eating good food and sampling the odd glass of robust red wine or real ale! I’m also getting used to being owned by a cat that adopted my partner and I during the pandemic lockdown.