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Maggie Howell - Media Experience

TV – This Morning, London Tonight and The Baby Channel

Radio– BBC Radio 2, Woman’s Hour, BBC London, BBC Solent, County Sound, Radio Leeds, Radio Belfast, Radio Dublin

National newspapers – The Guardian, Daily Mail, Daily Express, Daily Mirror, Daily Telegraph, Sunday Express

Articles/comments written for magazines – Prima Baby, Mother & Baby, I’m Pregnant, NCT New Generation, Flying Start, ABC, The Mother Magazine, Doula UK Newsletter, Boots Parent , Pregnancy & birth

Speaking appearances – Birth Professional Training at Royal Surrey Hospital, Hull Regional Midwives Conference, National Childminding Association Conference, Parent Craft workshops at Basingstoke Hospital, ARM student conference, ARM annual retreat, attachment parenting groups and home birth groups.

Maggie is also currently writing a book ‘Calmer Birth, Calmer Baby’ which will cover key areas including: Hypnotherapy (clinical and natal); birth preparation; doula; breastfeeding; baby sign language; communication skills; attachment parenting; co sleeping and instinctive parenting.

I used Self Hypnosis for a free pain birth

WHEN Toby was born I had no medical pain relief at all. Yet in my notes, Ria, the midwife, has written: ‘This is quite a difficult labour to assess as Maggie appears to be sleeping during most of her contractions.’

I wasn’t sleeping, I was in a very deep state of relaxation, and when you’re relaxed you can’t feel fear, tension and pain — all the things usually associated with childbirth.

As the contractions came, I was having a wonderful time. In my mind, I was off to all the fantastic places I have seen on my travels around the world. My husband said he could tell when I was having a contrac¬tion only because my breathing would change slightly. Even when Toby was being born, I felt only a slight stretch¬ing sensation and there was no tearing or cutting. Toby’s head came out around five hours after my contractions started, and I was so composed that I managed to reach down and stroke him as he was lying half in and half out of my body. I never dreamed that giving birth could be as easy as this.

UNTIL I had the chil¬dren, I was a career woman. I worked for an international event manage¬ment company and thought nothing at flying off at a minute’s notice to America or Asia. I lived in Australia and Japan and speak several languages. I was about as far removed from an alternative lifestyle as you can imagine.

I married Phil in 1998 and we started trying for a baby. In 2000, we conceived Joseph. I was determined that my preg¬nancy and birth would be as good as I could make them. Phil told me about something he used at work called neuro linguistic programming, which was all about the power of words and suggestions.

Then ~ friend explained how she got through the birth process by getting her husband to talk to her about their holi¬days when the contractions started — and her baby was a lovely, calm little boy.

Finally, I organised an event featuring a business hypno¬therapist, who talked about writing your personal script and making it happen. I watched him on stage with people who had work or emotional issues and thought he was terrific. All this contributed to my curiosity about the power of the mind. So in June 2000,1 went on a two-day basic self-hypnosis course. It was all very busi¬nesslike — not a hippie or a bead shaker in sight.

We learned how to get into such a deep form of relaxation that our conscious mind switches off and our subcon¬scious opens up to suggestions. Then you can put all sorts of triggers into your subconscious, which lead your mind to deal with situations in certain ways.

One of our first exercises was to self~ anaesthetize our left forearms. We went into a deep state and told our mind that our arms would feel no pain and would not suffer from bleeding, infection, swelling or soreness. The programme leader came around with a big nappy pin, stuck it through the flesh of our arms and clipped it into place. I remember looking down

with utter incredulity. Not only did I not feel pain, but when the pin came out there was no bleeding or swelling, and within a few days the holes had completely healed up.

From then on I started practising on myself. I managed to self-heal oven burns, and if I cut myself I would will myself to heal quickly.

The next step was to work on a programme of self- hypnosis as a form of pain relief when I gave birth.

To begin with, I wrote a hypnosis birthing programme, putting all the triggers in place to help deal with pain. For example, the programme said: ‘When Phil touches your shoulder, you feel more and more relaxed and calm.’ I recorded the 30-minute programme on to a CD, and every day for the last four or five weeks of pregnancy, I would lie on my bed, go into deep relax¬ation, then listen to it.
Joseph was born on Septem¬ber 2, 2000, and although it was a lovely home labour, there were still some times when I felt quite uncomfortable. When I fell pregnant with Toby, I rewrote my hypnosis birth programme, adding in triggers to help with the inten¬sity of the contractions and, most importantly, to cope with the pain of the final stages. I visualised a dial with numbers from one to ten. When the pain increased, the dial went up towards ten, but the programme gave my mind the power to turn the dial down. That worked absolutely brilliantly in the end stage of the labour, when the dial was zooming upwards.

Most women look back on giving birth as a pain filled experience which they try to get through as quickly as possible and dread doing again

Me— well, I can’t wait to give birth again.



Hypnotism gave the baby I longed for

by MICHAEL PESTAGE, Daily Mail

Debbie Bundock, 37, spent four years trying for a baby.

In desperation, she and her husband, Mark, 41, both teachers from Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, decided they would try IVF, a procedure they had deep reservations about.

But fate intervened when Debbie heard hypnotist Paul McKenna on the radio being interviewed about the power of hypnosis.

It was a conversation she will, happily, never forget, she tells us.

Holding my baby Owain is a dream come true. For four years, I had tried to get pregnant, by almost every method imaginable, and now I have my longedfor son.

But Owain is not a triumph for science. He was not created in a laboratory.

Last December, I was at rock-bottom emotionally. Doctors said in-vitro fertilisation was the only option left. It didn't seem the right way to make a baby and neither of us were happy about it. It is invasive, unpleasant and the odds of success are not good. But we were desperate to start a family.

We made our appointment to see a consultant at the hospital in January. By chance, I was listening to a local radio station when I heard the voice of celebrity hypnotist Paul McKenna.

He was talking about a New York career woman whose problem was the same as mine. When she tried for a baby, nothing happened, though medical tests found no problems.

Paul said that the mind has a powerful control over the body. If you tell yourself long enough and often enough that you don't want a baby - as many women do when they have to earn a living - your body listens.

It is a process that is hard to reverse, but hypnotism could help. After working with the woman, she fell pregnant with twins.

For most of my adult life, babies were not on my agenda. When I was a teenager and my girlfriends were dreaming of their future lives, they invariably hoped for a family, but not me. I love children. I have nieces and nephews I adore, but I lacked a strong maternal instinct.

I met Mark at a swimming gala, which we were both attending as teachers, in 1990. We fell in love and married a couple of years later.

Even then I had no desire for a baby and Mark knew this, and felt the same. We were enjoying our lives too much. I had a horse and enjoyed riding. We both love skiing. We had an active social life and loved our work.

But five years ago, something changed. I felt within myself that I wanted a child. There wasn't any great turning point, more a growing realisation. I brought the subject up with Mark. Until we discussed it, we hadn't realised we both felt the same way.

I assumed it would happen easily and I wasn't worried. I was only 32 and there was no reason to doubt my fertility. A baby would mean a huge change to our lives, but I was ready for it.

For the first two years, it was obvious nothing was happening, but it wasn't a problem - I knew of other people who had taken a long time to get pregnant.

But it was time to see a doctor. Waiting every month - only to be disappointed - was becoming frustrating. On the NHS - it would have taken four months just to see a consultant - so we had tests done privately.

We nervously waited for the results and were told there was nothing medically wrong with either of us. That was a huge relief, but also raised the question of why had I not been able to conceive.

On the advice of my consultant, I gave up alcohol. Keeping fit wasn't a problem as I was a PE teacher.

We also watched our diet - eating more fruit and vegetables and less processed food. I took note of my cycle and we had sex when I was most fertile. We also began to consider the idea of adopting a baby if we couldn't have our own.

One of the worst aspects was not knowing why I wasn't conceiving.

We were being pointed towards IVF without anyone being able to tell us why when the tests said there was nothing wrong. That was the most frustrating and upsetting aspect.

After two years we began to resign ourselves to the fact that we weren't going to have a family. It had become an unspoken subject between us. We had tried everything short of IVF.

I am a level-headed, sensible person and this was totally out of character, but I wrote a letter, which I left at the box office for Paul, asking for advice or if he knew anybody who could help. I didn't think he would get it - let alone respond. And I had not told Mark.

A few days later I got a call from Paul. I was astonished. He asked me if there was any medical reason why I couldn't conceive.

He said that he didn't claim to cure medical problems, but was keen to work with women who couldn't have a baby for no obvious reason.

He said there was often a mental block which could be fear of the change to lifestyle a baby would bring, the pain of childbirth or a feeling that as a mother the woman would not be able to cope.

Subconsciously the brain was sending out messages saying a baby wasn't wanted and the body was responding. Hypnotism could break down that mental barrier.

Because I had not wanted a family for such a long time he thought he might be able to help me. Mark was shocked that I had contacted him. But, when I explained he was hopeful, too.

Friends joked about the swinging watch beloved of stage hypnotists and me being in a deep trance. But it was nothing like you'd imagine.

Paul has a wonderful melodic voice that is very soothing. He talked about what our lives were like and how I felt about children. He was very positive.

He wanted me to visualise the whole process from the egg, to it being fertilised, the foetus growing and the final mental picture was always me holding my baby.

After two sessions I was more positive. I think I had decided that having a baby was not going to happen and after seeing Paul those doubts disappeared.

I used the visualisation exercises he recommended and we both tried his tapes aimed at overcoming stress. We still use them now. Always my last mental image was of me holding my new baby.

Within three weeks of the sessions with Paul I was pregnant. I couldn't believe it when the pregnancy test turned blue. Just to be sure though we dashed out and bought another testing kit and the result was the same.

Many doctors who work in conventional medicine are dismissive about alternative treatments.

I know it's something that can never be proved 100 per cent, but as far as I am concerned the results speak for themselves. You have to believe the mind is powerful and able to control the body.

Overjoyed, I rang Paul to tell him I was pregnant at last, and he was as pleased as I was. My pregnancy went fine and the baby was born a few days early.

Originally Owain had been due on September 11, but I gave birth naturally to a 7lb baby boy on September 6 at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, the very place where I would have had my IVF treatment.

Looking back, I think people can end up going for IVF because there seems no other choice. IVF should be a last resort. Its costs - both financially and emotionally - can be enormous. If there is an alternative, surely it is worth considering?

I'm delighted with my baby. That he arrived just when I was giving up hope makes him all the more special. It's early days yet, but it's not beyond the realms of possibility that we will try for a second child in the future.

A happy postscript is that when my friends discovered I was pregnant, one contacted Paul. She had struggled to conceive for several years and had tried IVF once, which had failed.

She was embarking on her second try when she contacted Paul. She is now expecting twins.

Was it hypnotism or the IVF? Who knows. She's just delighted to be expecting.





Daily Mail 14/11/2001

How to fight your fear of birth


by ROSALIND RYAN, femail.co.uk

Giving birth is a life-changing experience so it is no surprise that many women are apprehensive about having their first baby.

But according to the Association for Improvements in Maternity Services women are more concerned about giving birth than ever before.

Medics claim this is due to a number of factors, from the increasingly dramatic images of birth on television, to a rise in the number of women wanting total control over every aspect of their lives.


It's thought this rise in anxiety is partly to blame for the increasing number of women opting for Caesarean births. Nearly twice as many women are now opting for this method of childbirth as ten years ago.

Dr Tehri Saisto, from the British Journal of Obstetrics, says 'Women who are afraid of childbirth need psychological support, obstetric guidance and education more than pregnant women in general.' So how can women get hold of this information?

Fortunately there are a number of ways mums-to-be can get the support and advice they need. Here is the femail.co.uk guide to facing your childbirth fears.

Hire a doula

A doula, from the ancient Greek word meaning handmaiden, is the name given to a woman - usually a mother herself - who is trained to provide support and assistance during childbirth. Because of the relatively small numbers of midwives in Britain there are now growing numbers of doulas in this country. The service is recognised by the National Childbirth Trust as a useful aid for many mothers-to-be.

'A doula mothers the mother,' says Jean Birtles, director of the British Doula Association (BDA). Studies over the last 15 years in America have looked at the effect of having another woman as a helper during labour. They show there has been a major reduction in the length of labour, a greater than 50 per cent drop in Caesareans and a drop in the need for medication.

As a doula is usually a mother herself she is likely to understand the fear and excitement you will be feeling during childbirth. You will meet your doula about three to six times before the birth and around three times after the birth. During labour she will be in the room with you and do whatever you want her to - hold your hand, give you a massage or just be there for you.

'She is like a surrogate mum or sister for you,' explains Jean. 'The post-birth doula will look after the mother so she has time to concentrate on her new-born baby. She could do some cooking or cleaning, a bit of shopping or take the baby for a walk so you can get some sleep.'

Doulas have no medical qualifications but must have attended the training course run by the BDA. Doulas cost £10 an hour in London and £200 to £350 for the entire birth process in the rest of the country. To find a doula contact the BDA on 020 7565 2640. They will send you about three doulas so you can find one you feel comfortable working with.

'More women are now choosing a doula during the birth and find that it can be very useful,' said a spokesman from the NCT.



Arm yourself with empowering information

Beverly Beech, chairwoman of the Association for Improvements in Maternity Services (AIM), says the general levels of anxiety among first-time mothers has risen steadily over the past 20 years. She believes the images we receive of childbirth do nothing to ease women's fears.

'Don't watch hospital television programmes,' warns Beverly. 'The focus on the birth is never a calm and normal affair. It is always high drama where the doctor comes in at the last minute to save the baby.'

Beverly advises arming yourself with as much information about the birthing process as possible. 'The leaflets handed out in hospitals do not empower women to ask the questions they need to know,' she says. 'Women need to ask why they need drugs in childbirth, why their waters may be broken in hospitals and why there is a need for medical intervention at all.'

AIM campaigns to improve the birthing process for everyone involved from the mothers to the midwives. The organisation believes that women are not aware that they have the choice to have their baby how they would like because they are simply not aware of the different options available to them.

Beverly recommends a couple of books that will help you understand the birthing process; Every Woman's Birth Right by Pat Thomas and Safer Child Birth by Margery Tew. Both books are available to order through the AIMS website www.aims.org.uk

Learn some relaxation techniques

 Relaxation techniques during childbirth have moved on from the traditional huffing and puffing of breathing classes. Expectant mothers can now indulge in aromatherapy or even self-hypnosis.

These can all be taught at your antenatal classes. Some antenatal classes will also teach you visualisation techniques for coping with life as a new mum. 'First time mothers have great difficulty visualising themselves with a baby,' says Melanie Every, a midwife from the Royal College of Midwives. 'It is almost a mental block.'

Belinda Phipps, chief executive of the National Childbirth Trust (NCT) advises imagining yourself holding your new baby after the birth for a few minutes each evening. By imagining that everything has gone well and that your baby is fine, your anxiety over the birth will gradually disappear.

You may also be taught self-hypnosis to cope with the pain during pregnancy. This is a technique, like meditation, that helps you relax during childbirth and makes it less painfull. Your midwife or NCT antenatal teacher will give you more information about the relaxation techniques you will learn during your classes

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