Calm Birth: The New Potential for Childbirth

The Calm Birth program is set up in two evening classes. Partners are encouraged to attend. The cost of the program is $185 for the mother and her partner ($160 for mother alone), which includes the Calm Birth book and audioguide CD. The Calm Mother CD, a postpartum version of the Calm Birth program, is available for $20. New Calm Birth mindfulness meditation classes are starting soon! For more information, visit www.calmbirth.org or call 972-679-2297 for dates and location. Your midwife or doula is invited to join for free! Call ahead to ensure availability and space. Please bring a pillow, something to lie down on (a yoga mat or blanket is ideal), and a bottle of water. Wear comfortable clothing, as we will be sitting and laying on the floor or on chairs.

What is Calm Birth? The Calm Birth method comprises three respected mindfulness-based practices from meditation science. The practices work together to offer a new vision of a pregnant woman’s body and potential. The three practices of Calm Birth are called Practice of Opening, Womb Breathing, and Giving and Receiving, centuries-old wisdom merged with current understandings of healing, the energy body, and quantum physics. The method is presented in the form of an audio guide CD so that women may listen daily and practice empowering childbirth meditation as they hear the words. Whether a woman has had previous meditation experience or not, she will do the practice with the audio guide and prepare for fearless childbirth. The “Calm” in Calm Birth does not mean silent or inexpressive; many Calm Births involve moving, sounding, and trusting what emerges from within. Calm Birth does mean labor characterized by inner strength, deep presence, and connection with our sacred nature of being. The Calm Birth method: • Helps heal the nervous systems of mother and child in preparation for birth; • Builds women’s ability to manage stress, anxiety, fear, and pain during pregnancy and labor; • Strengthens the immune systems of mother and child; • Helps women discover their inherent healing nature; and • Teaches women and their partners to distinguish pain from suffering. Benefits of Meditation There are myriad documented benefits of mindfulness meditation. Much research has been done on the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program (MBSR) created by Jon Kabat-Zinn at the University of Maryland Medical Center, on which the Calm Birth program is based. The benefits of meditation include reduced serum cortisol (a stress hormone) levels, decreased blood pressure and heart rate, decreased fear and anxiety. In addition to these beneficial decreases, studies have shown improved perceptual and cognitive abilities, increased energy, increased ability to manage pain, increased sense of well-being, increased self-awareness, and dramatic increases in major hormones such as DHEA, oxytocin, melatonin, serotonin, and endorphins (the body's own opiates). Mindfulness meditation has benefits specific to giving birth. One source (Benson, 1996) noted a 56% reduction in C-section rates and 85% reduction in epidural use among patients practicing meditation. Murphy and Donovan (1999) found significant reductions in present moment pain, negative body image, mood disturbances, anxiety, depression, and the need for pain-related drug utilization. Testimonials "Calm Birth is a sublime gift to all of us. It contains the blueprint for reconnecting with birth wisdom on all levels... doing the practices will transform the birth process and imprint a peaceful beginning in both mother and child. The positive impact of this on society can't be overestimated." -- Christiane Northrup, M.D., author, Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom and Mother Daughter Wisdom "Calm Birth is the childbirth method that society and I have waited for. It's been a long time in coming, a very long time. I am a midwife and an educator, with a steady devotion to childbirth. Calm Birth does what is so deeply needed. It heals the Earth by healing birth." --Jeannine Parvati Baker, LM, author of Conscious Conception and Prenatal Yoga and Natural Childbirth “I feel very excited to recommend the Calm Birth method for my patients. I am confident that this method will truly reduce anxiety for expectant parents. I encourage its use to improve the overall physical and emotional experience that comes with giving birth.” --Russell Hoffman, MD, FACOG, obstetrician in private practice in Summit, New Jersey, Clinical Chief of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Overlook Hospital “We recommend our pregnant patients take a Calm Birth class and develop a regular practice using the Calm Birth CD. Using the Calm Birth practices is an ideal way for pregnant women to reduce stress, fears and anxiety while improving their sense of well-being, energy levels and stamina.” -- Gary Kaye, MD, FACOG and Alissa Kaye, MD, FACOG, Obstetricians in private practice in Cranford, New Jersey and Overlook Hospital “Calm Birth…based on the best principals of psychosomatic medicine…encourages and supports natural childbirth and helps to heal the side effects of medications and invasive procedures…An empowering alternative to the ‘medicalization of birth,’ the techniques liberate women to channel their innate wisdom into welcoming their newborn child in a truly life affirming way.” --Thomas Verny, MD, DPsych, DHL, FRCPC, author of The Secret Life of Your Unborn Child and Tomorrow’s Baby, Founder and former president, Association of Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology and Health

 

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Last modified July 30, 2010.