Pregnancy & Birth Debrief
We expect pregnancy and birth to be times of great joy and celebration.
The truth is, however, this is not always the case.
So often women feel they cannot speak about the difficulties they faced during pregnancy or birth, particularly if ‘everything ended well’ there is a deep sense of expectation that you should just be grateful and get on with business of mothering. But what if your pregnancy was challenging or precarious? What if your birth didn’t just ‘not go to plan,’ but was terrifying, traumatic or reignited past trauma? Are you pregnant and anxious about a repeat of previous trauma
This is a space for you to untangle your thoughts and feelings about that time, regardless of if your birth was 3 months ago, 3 years ago or 30 years ago, you deserve to tell your story in an unhurried way. Research tells us that simply telling our stories and being heard in our pain, confusion, fear and anger is a healing process in and of itself.
We acknowledge and hold space for all the emotions, we offer a place of non-judgment to thoughts that might be difficult to verbalise, and we begin the work of embodiment - returning yourself to your body.
Services
Pregnancy & Birth Debrief
1 Session
90 minutes
£150
A single session for you to explore, uninterrupted, the experience of your conception, pregnancy, birth or postpartum experience.
You will not be hurried to the end of the story, plenty of time is offered to hold space for that which you find difficult.
Through gentle questioning and sensitive reframing we work together to honour your story and help you to see the context of how things unfolded.
If so desired at the end of the this session you may upgrade to the 3 session package for an additional £275
Pregnancy & Birth Debrief
3 Sessions
60 minutes
£375
Three sessions across 6-8 weeks. Each session lasts 60 minutes. This format affords more time to process your story, integrate your trauma and come to deeper understanding of how it has affected you.
Between sessions you are provided with journalling questions and light Whatsapp or email support (gentle nudges to see how you are getting on).
Optional add-on - therapeutic support via email - £50 per email exchange (client to counsellor, counsellor response, client response, counsellor response)
FAQs
Can I bring my baby/child?
No, this needs to be a protected space which allows you to explore. You need to know you can speak freely and engage fully with process. Babies and children, even pre-verbally, are acutely attuned to their mother’s moods, expressions, tone of voice, body language - because we will be exploring a painful and traumatic experience it is not appropriate to have children in the room.
Online or in-person?
This is your choice, I work by zoom or I have access to rooms across Greater London. I am available to see clients worldwide on zoom.
Can my partner attend?
An additional session can be added for your partner to attend with both packages. Additional sessions are pro-rated at £100/hour.
Is this counselling?
This is most akin to single session trauma therapy we will use a variety of counselling tools and techniques to engage with your experience of pregnancy and childbirth.
I am a fully qualified counsellor in the UK and I am bound by the Ethical code of the BACP.
These sessions will not necessarily lead to a longer therapeutic relationship.
What if I need more help?
If we determine that you would benefit from an extended experience of counselling I will offer you a referral to trusted colleagues, or place you on my waiting list, as is appropriate.