123 Wide Awake

Gord and Norm are both trained in and practice Hypnosis-Aided Birthing (HB).
HB is a wonderful way for expectant mothers to manage and control every
aspect of their birth experience. It is effective and appropriate for home births
or hospital births.

With HB, the hypnotherapist meets with the expectant mother and her birthing
assistant (and sometime midwife or doula) throughout the pregnancy to help
them develop the skills and awareness that result in the ideal birthing
experience - whatever that means to the mother. Some specific benefits of HB
include:

q Reduced pain during labour and delivery
q Reduced need for medical interventions
q Faster labour and delivery
q Gentler birth experience for the baby
q Mother able to influence when labour starts

To best achieve these benefits the hypnotherapist should meet with the
expectant mother and her birthing assistant early in the pregnancy and then
usually once a month to start, with increasingly frequent meetings as the due
date approaches. The ideal total number of sessions is usually in the range of 6
to 10, depending on the circumstances, but even 2 or 3 sessions can have a
wonderfully empowering impact on the mother. Each HB session usually last
about an hour or less.

Gord and Norm's approach to Hypnosis-Aided Birthing is consistent with the
well-known HypnoBirthing® method developed by Marie F. Mongan (also known
as The Mongan Method).

The fee for the Francis & Shaw HB service depends on the number, duration and
location of the meetings. The total fee usually falls in the $1,000 - $1,500 range.