How rebirthing can prepare you for birth, with Catherine Holland

In today's show I chat to Catherine Holland who among many other things is a Rebirthing Breathwork Specialist who works with people using conscious connected breathing (this is the official name for rebirthing breathwork). Catherine is also the author Rebirthing Breathwork: Creating an independent adult.

I first approached Catherine to interview her for my Head Trash Show podcast (and you can hear that very fascinating chat where she describes her near death experience here), but during our first chat together when she was telling me all about her work, she described rebirthing breathwork to me and I knew instantly that I needed to have a separate chat with her solely for the purpose of this podcast. Some of the things she was sharing with was stuff that I wish I had heard when I was pregnant, if not before actually, hence me thinking that what she had to share was so perfect for this podcast.

What is Rebirthing Breathwork?

Conscious connected breathing, or rebirthing breathwork, is a practice that enables us to relive our birth experience and in doing so allows us to heal any emotional imbalances or upsets that may have imprinted themselves at the time of our birth. Rebirthing can be a very powerful healing technique that people choose to turn to for any number of life challenges however for the purposes of this podcast I was particularly interested in hearing more about how the moment of our birth can impact us throughout our lives and why this important for an expectant mum to know.

Some women end up spending so much time focusing on certain aspects of their pregnancy, things like their food or drink intake, their fitness or the things they must now avoid, because that's what we always hear about from our healthcare providers. And yet, it seems the healthcare professionals are missisng a huge piece of the jigsaw that is actually pretty crucial to the future mental state of our baby. There is now a significant body of research to support the idea that mum's emotional wellbeing leading up to the birth helps to set the baby's emotional blueprint for life, and from my conversation with Catherine, it seems that the baby's birth experience is also a huge contributing factor.

It's a fascinating conversation and I could've carried on speaking to her for hours, but we kept it short! During our chat, Catherine talks about;

what is conscious connected breathing aka rebirthing breathwork, and how you do it

how around 80% of people remember their own birth following a rebirthing session

the reason why our culture dictates we give birth on our backs

why a breech birth isn't a problem unless we're lying down

what the impact of cutting the cord is on baby before cord has stopped pulsating

the role of birth in setting our emotional blueprint for life

Why vaginal birth is such an advantage for baby when it comes to preparing baby to breathe healthily

Why the emotional state of mum during her pregnancy impacts on baby's health and wellbeing

why it's important to trust that your baby knows what he or she is doing when it comes to the act of being born

how we can predict the kind of birth we will give from our own birth experience

why we see and hear so many negative birth stories

why birthing professionals tend to be people who had traumatic birth experiences

You can find out more about Catherine at her website www.CatherineHolland.co.uk

Facebook Catherine Holland: Indestructible Health

Catherine's books are available on Kindle and via PDF from her site

You can also find Catherine on YouTube at her Facebook group The Reality of Breastfeeding

Do you remember your own birth experience? Have you experienced rebirthing? What do you think about what Catherine was saying about our birth experiences? Has hearing what she has said changed your view or your plan of your childbirth? Let me know in the comments!