| Heather offers this
to us about the Expectant Moms Club Brunch that she offers to the
women she teaches. This has become quite a hit in the Austin area, and
obviously is meeting a need. She tells me Jan is also very
active with the group, and some of the moms regularly help with the
preparations. Here is what Jan had to say about this: |
| We had women asking
about pregnancy support groups in the Austin area. We researched
and found out that there wasn’t anything that just any mom could go
to. In February of 2004 we started the Expectant Mom's Club Brunch.
|
| Originally, we did
a lot of advertising for free on baby website calendars of events, in
grocery stores, and with midwives. Now we don’t do any
advertising, it’s all word of mouth. In any case, we meet at my
parents house because they have a huge living room/kitchen area that’s
great for entertaining. We meet once a month and we have a yahoo
email group as well. Every month we have new topics and they
rotate, such as: baby slings and carriers, diapering options, comfort
measures in labor, belly casting, infant CPR, and belly henna.
We have also had midwives come and sing birthing songs to the moms and
let them feel the vibration moving through their bodies.
|
| These are FREE to
the new moms and even though we have speakers come out, they aren’t
allowed to sell anything. We have a bagel place that donates 3
dozen bagels every month as long as we buy the cream cheese from them
and a produce company that donates all the fruits and veggies we could
ever want. I spend about $20 a month on cold cuts to make a cold
cut platter and that’s it! I found some beautiful plates and
napkins with a big rose on them (opening blossom) for half price at a
party store and bought all of them, so I don’t have that expense every
month because we haven’t run out yet. |
| These are not only
HypnoBirthing moms, but for ALL moms. Luckily, a good share of
our HB moms do come and in their conversations with the other moms we
have picked up quite a few new clients from this. But, we stick
to our own rule and we don’t sell HypnoBirthing….we let our moms do
that for us. =) My best friend is a Doula and she helps with all
of the planning and arranging and so forth. She’s also a
HypnoBirthing mom and spreading our word like wildfire. |
| After the moms have
had their babies, they are invited to join our New Moms Club and those
moms are currently meeting 3 times a week to walk around the lake with
their babies. Or they’ll meet at a coffee shop and talk the morning
away. They also have a yahoo email list and can ask each other
questions and draw on experiences. |
| One of my favorite
moms that started coming when we first started this whole thing is
Lacey. Lacey called me terrified, saying she was “attempting a
VBAC” and thought her doc was supportive, etc. Well, we talked
for a long time about her options and I told her just to come to the
brunch, get involved in the birthing community, and said we would
discuss HypnoBirthing later (she was only a couple of months along).
She came to every brunch, switched to homebirth, took the HB class,
and had one hour and 15 minutes of labor and birthed her son in her
bedroom in peace. She enjoyed the meetings so much that she
still comes back every month! |
| I think this is a
great idea for HB pracs to do in ANY area!! It gets you involved
in the birth community, which is super important, and gives moms a
safe place to come with questions and receive real support with no
strings attached. I have to say that it is so spiritually
rewarding as well that I could never give it up. |
| Heather Hilton:
heather@hypnofamily.com |
| Have some ideas for
our publication ? Please contact Mickey Mongan at
hypnobirthing@hypnobirthing.com or Pat Sonnenstuhl at
Hypnosisforbirth@comcast.net Sending something to both of us is
always helpful. |
