About Jane
I am a professional childbirth educator and a Chartered Physiotherapist specialising in Women's Health. But my first passion is birth and childbirth education.
I started teaching in 1975 when pregnant with my first child and have continued teaching ever since. I went on to have four children, all born in California, including a home birth when at the time there were no licenced midwives attending home births. We found a wonderful woman who had attended all three of my friends' home births and so it was that my youngest was born at home. I view it as every woman's right to give birth in the appropriate setting for herself and her birth partner.
Over the years I have taught classes at The Portland Hospital in London and at The Active Birth Centre founded by Janet Balaskas. I am also familiar with Gowri Motha and her philosophy of "Gentle Birth".
My classes are both informative and very practical. I begin with the anatomy and physiology of labour and birth emphasising the remarkable hormonal orchestration that each woman has "within". Each of us has to learn how to "tap in" to that balance using a variety of "tools", the primary objective being the reduction of fear and the gaining of confidence in our bodies.
The partner is very much involved, going through each stage of labour, and I hope will feel confident in assisting their partner cope with each contraction as it comes. In the classes I cover breathing and relaxation, visualisation, positioning, massage, TENS and acupressure points, and an emphasis on proactive care of the pelvic floor muscle before, during and after pregnancy.
Birth may not go according to plan but the eventual outcome is the birth of a healthy baby and a couple who feel they had input, and some element of control in the decision making.
Birth may well be a "natural and normal event" but as a physiotherapist specialising in Women's Health, your ongoing wellbeing is my concern. Sound abdominal muscle strength together with a strong pelvic floor can minimise potential future problems such as chronic back pain and incontinence. I believe the health of the mother doesn't stop with the birth of her baby but continues long after this most amazing and special event.