Charlene Yared West
Relax Into Birth Online School
* Journalist (Bachelor of Journalism Degree, Rhodes University, 2003) *
* HypnoBirthing Childbirth Educator (Marie Mongan Method, 2012) *
*Birth Doula (WOMBS, 2012) *
* Pregnancy and Postnatal Massage Therapy (Sunshine Colour Academy, 2013) *
* Professional Clinical Hypnotherapist *
(Diploma in Hypnotherapy with Psychotherapy, Essex Institute, 2016)
* Postpartum Doula (WOMBS, 2019)*
* Placenta Encapsulation Specialist *
(Organic Birth, Placenta Encapsulation South Africa, 2019)
Charlene has been a doula for a decade since the birth of her son, which launched her passion into birth work. Since her own transformational birth experience, she has supported over 300 women on their birth journeys, walking with them every step of the way. “Each birth is a gift. Each birth is a story in its own right and I strive to empower women to have a better birth, no matter what turn it takes,” she says.
“I have learnt that every single birth is different, that there is no such thing as an unnatural birth, even when your baby is born abdominally – and that mothers need good mothering when they birth their babies.
When she fell pregnant with her son, she could not envision any other birth besides a caesarean birth, but through literal signs along the way, education and encouragement, she changed from planning an elective caesarean in hospital, to having a homebirth with an independent midwife and doula in attendance. A complete 180!
“Enter Leonardo: Literally! At 02:26 on a cool Spring morning , he swam into my arms with a lot of effort and strength, a power which I didn’t know my body was capable of. My birth story was a good one and I had an unmedicated home water birth and I can say wholeheartedly that it was the single, most life-changing and transforming event of my life.”
Charlene went on to become a HypnoBirthing practitioner, birth doula and Professional Clinical Hypnotherapist.
Her experience in these fields gave her the tools she needed to create the Relax Into Birth Online School. It is the first proudly South African Online Birth Preparation School teaching women and their partners Hypnobirthing techniques and deep relaxation methods for a more comfortable and manageable birth experience at home or at hospital, for natural or caesarean birth.
Her aim at every birth is to inform parents of their options, educate, empower and mirror exactly what the mother needs so that the experience she has is a positive one.
I am the founder of the Relax Into Birth Online School, a virtual space comprising a range of prenatal education courses, including a fully comprehensive antenatal course with the Virtual Midwife, Karen Wilmot, covering the medical and physiological aspects of birth, as well as the Hypnobirthing technique for a calm birth. It is the first proudly South African Online Birth Preparation School teaching women and their partners Hypnobirthing techniques and deep relaxation methods for a more comfortable and manageable birth experience at home or at hospital, for natural or caesarean birth.
Charlene Yared West 