Having been present at 6 births and experiencing the power and support in the room, Margot Busby was inspired to complete a hypnobirthing course prior to the birth of her first child. She was able to surrender to nature and experience the amazing birth of her son, prompting her to want to help others as a hypnobirthing educator and doula. Here she talks about starting her business, Bee Birthing, and the challenges she has faced along the way.
The passion: What inspired you to set up your business?
I was 12 years old when I attended my first birth. We (five sisters and our mother) all took turns holding my sister’s hand, putting a little pressure on her lower back, attending to her “I need” desires and explaining to the medical professionals (while they were efficiently looking out for our yet unborn nephew) the small but essential emotional and physical needs and wishes of our sister.
That was what childbirth was to me. Where you have a room full of people, working, with all the love and excitement in their hearts, for the woman so powerfully and femininely bringing a child into the world.
By the time I became pregnant with my first, I had already been a part of this devine process six times, the last being the most serene hypno-birth.
And so I entered pregnancy, and later labour, with all the natural anticipation of the unknown, but with six sets of ears to patiently listen to me, six sets of hands to cook food when I was tired and six soothing voices to talk me through any fears and reinstate my natural confidence as a mother.
I signed up for hypnobirthing classes and had the most powerful, sensational experience giving birth to my son, by relinquishing all control and surrendering to the ways of nature.
You could imagine my heartache when I realised that there are women out there, paralysed with fear of rare complications or even just the natural process of birth, who don’t even have ONE woman advocating for them during this special time. As well as midwives being hard to find in your area, and the few choices you have to connect with those available, midwives have such an extreme work load. The amount of paperwork, things for them to watch for, and jobs for them to do while at a birth often means that when they are not directly ensuring the physical safety of the the baby; they are focused on ensuring that of the mums. How can they be expected to support all members of the family in every way all at the same time? Supporting a family during pregnancy, birth and postpartum should not be a one-person job, yet midwives are expected to do it all, sacrificing themselves and their families, working crazy hours and being severely underpaid at the end of it all. We have a problem with the system in New Zealand.
I first researched how to become a hypnobirthing educator because I was passionate about women learning about the intricacies of the body during birth in the absence of special circumstances. During this I stumbled across the word ‘doula’ and the two just married up. A doula does NOT replace anything that a midwife does. A doula only contributes to the amount of support the mother and family receive. How can you put a limit on that?! When doulas stay within their scope, they not only increase the amount of support, but they can lessen the load for the midwife.
I decided with certified titles behind me I could make a difference. I could educate, advocate, and support families during the entire process, and ensure more women had fully supported and empowering birth experiences!
And that’s still the mission!
The Launch: How did you start out in the beginning?
I started small. Once I completed the training for both, I began offering my services as a doula for free to build my own confidence and experience in a professional capacity, and I started with a private hypnobirthing class instead of launching myself with little confidence at a group.
