Every week Doula Charlene and Midwife Karen come together to bring you this podcast as an offshoot of the Relax Into Birth PLUS course they created for pregnant and expectant couples. Relax Into Birth PLUS is a comprehensive, online antenatal course, focusing on labour, birth and beyond, featuring extensive hypnobirthing techniques as well as covering the medical aspects of the birthing process.

We always have so much to share and so this podcast was born – and here we share birth stories, birthing world updates, interview birth workers from near and far, and also, we take the time to answer your burning questions around pregnancy, birth and motherhood.

In this episode, Karen and Charlene answer a subscriber’s letter about pain relief and help her differentiate between natural forms of pain relief, as well as medical options available at a hospital birth.

Dear karen and Charlene,
I have just finished Relax Into Birth PLUS – and I loved it by the way, but I have a few questions about pain relief. I have been thinking about about how labour will be – and if i will cope. I have heard that epidurals are amazing for pain relief – but have also heard that they can have an adverse effect on the baby. Is this true? What options do i have for pain relief – and should i opt for an epidural? From the course I learnt about having a doula present to help with natural forms of pain relief. How do they compare to the big guns of epidural and pethedine? What other options do I have? I think i have a high pain threshhold, but my husband thinks I will be begging for an epidural from the get go. I am hoping to prove him wrong – but I also have no idea what to expect. Thanks for your help – and for the course, I learnt so much!
Elle in Cape Town.

If you would like to have your question answered on the podcast, send us an email relaxintobirthplus@gmail.com or charlene@relaxintobirth.co.za

Get the Relax into Birth PLUS Pregnancy Playbook and Journal (free download) here

About Karen here

About Charlene here

Preview the online antenatal Relax Into Birth PLUS course here

Please subscribe, rate and review our podcast!

PS: We are having a 50% off 24-hour flash sale of Relax Into Birth PLUS on Saturday morning from 7am. You do not want to miss out on this sale! ❤

This week Charlene and Karen answer questions about what it means to be a doula and a midwife and how the roles converge and differ. Here’s this week’s letter from a preggie mama working out her options for her birth: Dear Charlene and Karen, I actually found your podcast when I was doing a google search on the difference between a midwife and a doula, so it would be great if you could talk about that in one of your shows. I listened to your episode last week about which gyn to choose, but recently I have been considering working with a midwife. When I posted in the Facebook group I belong to, I had lots of recommendations but many of them were for doulas and now I am a bit confused. Is a doula able to do my prenatal care and deliver my baby? Can I hire a doula instead of a midwife? If I have a midwife will I automatically have a doula? And if I choose to have a hospital birth can I still have my midwife or maybe even my doula with me too? As you can see, I am totally confused and befuddled and hoping you can help me understand. Thanks so much, Annamarie. 18 weeks pregnant with my first baby.

If you would like to have your question answered on the podcast, send us an email relaxintobirthplus@gmail.com or charlene@relaxintobirth.co.za

Get the Relax into Birth PLUS Pregnancy Playbook and Journal (free download) here

About Karen here

About Charlene here

Please subscribe, rate and review our podcast!

Every week, we cover topics of pregnancy, birth and motherhood – and we read your letters and interview relevant folk to bring you the most up to date info in every podcast. We do our research – thoroughly… In this episode, we answer a letter from 20-week pregnant mama Jennifer, asking us for advice on how to best choose a doctor and hospital for her gynae-led birth. We offer advice and tips to cover all bases, including info on home birth vs hospital birth and midwife-lead vs ob-gyn-lead birth.

Charlene and Karen share their recommendations and some anecdotes – both funny and serious. If you love what you hear and you want more then drop by and download our FREE 40 page pregnancy playbook and journal packed with loads of fun stuff and tons of “must know prego info”. Grab it here

All about Karen here

All about Charlene here

Relax into Birth PLUS course here

Each week you are invited to send us your big birth question and we’ll give you every angle of the dangle.

This week a listener, Fran, shares her concerns about whether her midwife or OBGYN will know if she has had sex when she is examined – if sex was the activity that induced her labour? Also, she is feeling mighty frisky – and we assure her this is normal too – Frisky Fran!

Charlene and Karen share their recommendations and some anecdotes – both funny and serious.

If you love what you hear and you want more then drop by and download our FREE 40 page pregnancy playbook and journal packed with loads of fun stuff and tons of “must know prego info”. Grab it here

All about Karen here

All about Charlene here

Relax into Birth PLUS course here

Each week you are invited to send us your big birth question and we’ll give you every angle of the dangle.

This week a listener shares her concerns about how her partner might react during birth. Will he still find her desirable afterwards and will her body change?

Charlene and Karen share their recommendations and some anecdotes – both funny and serious.

If you love what you hear and you want more then drop by and download our FREE 40 page pregnancy playbook and journal packed with loads of fun stuff and tons of “must know prego info”. Grab it here

All about Karen here

All about Charlene here

Relax into Birth PLUS course here

A brief intro from Charlene and Karen as they share why they teamed up to create Relax into Birth PLUS and what it’s all about before launching into the latter of the week.

Each week you are invited to send us your big birth question and we’ll give you every angle of the dangle.

This week is the big poop question….

If you love what you hear and you want more, then drop by and download our FREE 40-page pregnancy playbook and journal packed with loads of fun stuff and tons of “must know prego info”. Grab it here

All about Karen here

All about Charlene here

Relax into Birth PLUS course here

Listen to Nicky tell her birth story of how she pivoted with the news that she had to have an emergency caesarean – and how Relax Into Birth had given her the tools for an easier transition to a new plan… “I’m Nicky and this is our first baby – Josephine Olivia. My husband, a doctor was hoping for a girl so he was ecstatic when she came out. Our delivery didn’t go as we had initially hoped and prepared for. I was so so looking forward to a vaginal birth (I was so excited!). I laboured for 7 hours at home and then they found meconium in my waters at the hospital so Josie was delivered by emergency Caesar. I do not like any kind of medical things – injections, giving blood, COVID tests – so I usually faint when I have to do those things, but Josie’s birth was incredibly peaceful and calm despite all the busyness that comes with an emergency caesar. I am so grateful that I was able to train my body to function out of my parasympathetic nervous system and really be so present and relaxed during my birth. Learning so much every day and we’re loving being parents.”

Relax into Birth is the first proudly South African Online Birth Preparation School, of international standard, 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 caeasarean births. DO THE COURSE IN YOUR OWN TIME, WHEN YOU WANT TO! Relax Into Birth is the most comprehensive online Hypnobirthing course available and features over 250 minutes of video course content, including a ‘doula in my pocket’ guide for dads / partners and mandy downloadable audio hypnobirthing tracks and downloadable e-Books.

Visit www.relaxintobirth.com for more info.

Carina and Ross were not expecting to have a breech vaginal birth for their first daughter, Holly, who was born four weeks early during the COVID-19 lockdown. Watch them tell their exciting birth story in this episode…

Relax into Birth is the first proudly South African Online Birth Preparation School, of international standard, 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 caeasarean births. DO THE COURSE IN YOUR OWN TIME, WHEN YOU WANT TO! Relax Into Birth is the most comprehensive online Hypnobirthing course available and features over 250 minutes of video course content, including a ‘doula in my pocket’ guide for dads / partners and mandy downloadable audio hypnobirthing tracks and downloadable e-Books.

Visit www.relaxintobirth.com for more info.

Kendall and Dean birthed their second baby Jackson, during the COVID-19 lockdown and found the experience to be calmer than their first birth with their firstborn son, Benjamin, who came earlier than his estimated due date. Watch them tell their birth stories in this episode…

Relax into Birth is the first proudly South African Online Birth Preparation School, of international standard, 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 caeasarean births. DO THE COURSE IN YOUR OWN TIME, WHEN YOU WANT TO! Relax Into Birth is the most comprehensive online Hypnobirthing course available and features over 250 minutes of video course content, including a ‘doula in my pocket’ guide for dads / partners and mandy downloadable audio hypnobirthing tracks and downloadable e-Books.

Visit www.relaxintobirth.com for more info.

Tertia and Mike share their home birth story of Siena, their second daughter. Their first daughter India was born in hospital. “Shortly after Susan’s arrival my waters broke on the kitchen floor – I said ‘oh shit’ & started crying again (I was not in a Zen mental space). The pool was taking forever to get ready. I waddled from the kitchen to the birth pool which was only about 5 steps. Another big push came just outside the pool. I really thought I wasn’t going to make it into the water! By the time I got in, I was very off my center, breathing like a crazy person, petrified that she was just going to shoot out and tear me from top to bottom, and while I was heaving and ho-ing I felt Susan putting her hand on my arm and saying with this beautiful smiling face in this serenely calm voice, “Tertia, this is your birth…. you are in control… slow down your breathing… put your hand between your legs and feel your baby’s head… can you feel her? …you are in control of when she comes out”. It was like a switch went off in me. The Relax into Birth affirmations and tracks I did in the lead up to my birth, day after day, just kicked in. I became so calm and totally used my breath to control the speed at which my baby came through the birth canal. Within the next minute, my baby just popped out; no tearing. The most wonderful moment was to catch her myself and bring her to my chest. India was born into a frenetic, hospital environment where, even though it was a text book natural birth, it seemed to have the emotional current of a medical emergency. My gynae/obstetrician was shouting at me to push, the nurse was shouting in my ear to push whilst pushing down on my stomach, my poor husband was completely traumatised because he was under the impression something must be going wrong or will go wrong because everyone seemed to be in a panic. I remember shouting and screaming during delivery and needing to push and push and push – the birthing environment was not mine. Siena’s birth on the other hand was such a happy event, my husband, mom, doula and midwife were there to support and be with me. I was in the comfort of my own home, feeling loved, safe, hearing people chat to each other in a happy way, excited about meeting Siena, and me in charge of my birth in a way that I never thought would be possible. The birth was mine. I am so grateful to Charlene, Gayle, Susan and the Birth Options team. The Relax into Birth course and these amazing women held me throughout my birthing experience. We all have the snake charming ability in us, it just needs to be awakened. The mental preparation through the course, combined with these ladies’ belief in my ability & their absolute faith in the woman’s ability to birth in an empowering way is what made this experience such a healing one for me. It is such a gift. I am eternally grateful.” Watch them tell their story in this episode…

Relax into Birth is the first proudly South African Online Birth Preparation School, of international standard, 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 caeasarean births.

DO THE COURSE IN YOUR OWN TIME, WHEN YOU WANT TO! Relax Into Birth is the most comprehensive online Hypnobirthing course available and features over 250 minutes of video course content, including a ‘doula in my pocket’ guide for dads / partners and mandy downloadable audio hypnobirthing tracks and downloadable e-Books. Visit www.relaxintobirth.com for more info.