Why Hypnobirthing Isn't Enough Anymore

Julia • September 25, 2024

It's More than Just Hypnobirthing at Happy Day Hypnobirthing

I chose hypnobirthing as the foundation of my work at Happy Day because I know how powerful and effective it is. Hypnobirthing gives you a deep, embodied practice of how to calm your mind, work with your body, and navigate the natural, physiological process of birth.


However, it is clear to me, and has been for quite some time, that hypnobirthing alone isn’t enough. 

While hypnobirthing is a transformative tool for managing pain, reducing fear, and empowering parents, it doesn’t fully prepare you for the reality of giving birth within the modern medical system and lacks nuance in many vital areas. Birthing is a natural, physiological process, and, in many cases, the body knows exactly what to do without intervention.


Yet, we don’t give birth in a vacuum. Yes, even in Switzerland, a country where we often shun the medical establishment when treating minor health issues, the environment in which most of us give birth is medicalized, risk-centered, and governed by protocols that often view birth through a lens of potential litigation.


Navigating this medicalized space requires more than just understanding how birth works. It requires knowing how to communicate effectively, make informed decisions, and to advocate for yourself and your baby with confidence. 


Dr. Rachel Reed, a leading voice in midwifery and birth education, emphasizes that birth should be treated as a normal physiological process, but she also acknowledges the importance of understanding the medical system you’re entering. I agree with her and my courses set you upon this path.



The Power of Informed Choice 


When you enter the medical system without the knowledge of how to ask questions, how to interpret advice, and how to say both no and yes with confidence, you become more vulnerable to a birth that feels out of your control.


While it’s important and vital to be uninhibited in birth, it’s the feeling of loss of control, or rather, things being done to you without your consent, which is the most indicative of a negative birth experience. It's important to remember that you absolutely can have an empowering birth in a hospital or medicalized setting, and using interventions if that's right for you. But preparing yourself not just for your desired birth, but for the dynamics of the environment in which you'll be giving birth is a vital part of the process.


Part of what I offer at Happy Day Hypnobirthing is teaching parents how to critically engage with the information they're given, how to advocate for their choices, and how to make empowered decisions in any birth setting.


Hypnobirthing techniques help create the mental space for calm and focus, but beyond that, the mentoring I provide teaches practical tools for navigating the healthcare system in Switzerland.


Nuance


Nuance has become my new favourite word. We live in a time where we are so polarized- there is no grey, there is only black and white thinking. That one type of birth is "positive" and another type of birth is "negative". Or one type of birth is "natural" and another type of birth is "risky". That an entire birth can be categorized in one moralistic or value-driven word. That's not real life, real life is rarely black and white, real life is nuanced.


We need to challenge polarized thinking when we are planning for our birth and adding to our family. We can believe in the very popular hypnobirthing phrase: "baby knows best", but we can still also ask questions like: "what can I do to work together with my baby to encourage them to get in the most optimal position for birth?", "how can I prepare for possible alternatives with a positive mindset, while still planning for the birth experience I desire", "I think this intervention is the best choice for me and my baby, how can I work with this intervention, not against it?", or "how can I make this birth the best birth for me and my baby?" and so on.


Take Charge of Your Birth Experience 


Birth is one of the most significant and powerful experiences of your life, and you deserve to feel confident, empowered, and prepared. Hypnobirthing gives you the foundation of calm and confidence, but at Happy Day Hypnobirthing, we take it further by giving you the tools to navigate the system and make decisions from a place of strength and knowledge. 


If you’re ready to take charge of your birth experience, I invite you to explore Happy Day Hypnobirthing's hypnobirthing (though it's not just hypnobirthing!) and our postpartum courses. Whether you’re giving birth at home, in a birth center, or in a hospital, I'm here to help empower you to make the right choices for the birth which is right for you and your baby. 


maternity service, maternity leave switzerland

Maternity Service?

By Julia • May 6, 2025
Maternity Leave: it's Time for a Re-Brand and a Re-Frame
PYP and birth, Primary years program birth, inquiry cycle birth, teacher birth worker

The story of how a question reshaped my career, my identity, and my understanding of learning itself...

By Julia • May 6, 2025
Bear with me—this is going to get pretty niche. And pretty personal, which isn't how I normally like to write my blog posts, but here we go. Before I became a birth worker, I was a teacher—primarily working within the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program (PYP). After I had my first child, I enjoyed a long maternity service and year later, I experienced the tragic loss of my second son at six months of pregnancy. Amidst the traumatic circumstances and grief, my second birth experience was one of love, humanity, and an unexpected sense of beauty and gratitude. My first birth, on the other hand, was far more painful, impersonal and traumatic. I don’t use the word trauma lightly in either case, but the contrast between the two experiences stirred something in me. So, I did what any PYP teacher would do. I noticed the tension between these experiences, I began investigating and eventually, I had a question. "Why are some births traumatic?". I followed this question into a years long self-directed inquiry. Inquiry, we are taught as PYP teachers, is a cycle provoked when we are engaged and want to discover more. It is a truly motivating and remarkable stance on learning, when we approach learning as inquiry. Different authors and thinkers have created their own cycles, which make great posters for classroom walls, but even they will not teach it in rigid terms. In all models of inquiry, some core components remain pretty much the same: there’s a provocation, a period of time spent investigating, there’s reflection, and finally, action. My own inquiry into birth experiences led me through a rich and messy journey—just like learning often is. It didn't follow the tidy stations of an inquiry cycle poster on a classroom wall (gosh the hours spent agonising over rigid frameworks is something I don’t miss). Instead, it kind of spiralled. I found that I was re-visiting elements of this cycle again and again and again. It is fun, it is exhilarating, it is frustrating and it is reflective. The action elements have been profound and unexpected, like: Giving birth to my third son in 2022 (in case you're wondering: it was wonderful, not a lick of trauma anywhere in sight) Beginning my training as a birth worker, first with KG Hypnopbirthing, then with Birthing from Within and many more amazing institutions and mentors Launching my own website and leading in-person courses (especially that first one back in 2023, first day of school jitters are REAL in all contexts!) Creating the Swiss Birth Stories Podcast This work—rooted in research, connection, experience, reflection, and inquiry—has become one of the most meaningful chapters of my professional and personal life, and I am really loving this journey.
recalls switzerland, recall swiss, recall baby items switzerland

How to Find Recall Information in Switzerland

By Julia • February 27, 2025
Recently, a recall of widely used Vitamin D drops due to the risk of glass pieces in the liquid caused quite an (understandable) outpouring of concern and anger in parent groups. There is a lot about this recall to talk about, I want to specifically make sure that parents are aware of Recall Swiss , a government-run website and app which is easy to use and to receive updates from them. This is where you can find information on the recalls on consumer goods and food in the country. There is also an app. I recommend that all parents sign up for emails from Recall Swiss, as then you know right away if there is a recall due to safety, hygiene or other concerns. When there is a recall, you can print out the recall from the website and return the item to where you bought it or directly with the manufacturer. You do not necessarily need a receipt, but do check on the details before you go in-person. I have personally had a toy, a baby monitor and one item of food (my favourite granola bars, sigh) recalled since I started getting Recall Swiss updates and I've returned the items each time either in shop or directly with the manufacturer and got my money back or a new product.  Want to know more about navigating the Swiss system during your pregnancy and postpartum? Looking for empowering, balanced and informative birth, prenatal and postnatal education? Check out what I offer for parents in Switzerland here