Founded by Kerry Tuschhoff, at Hypnobabies they are on a mission to help parents prepare for their baby’s birth in a way that allows them to fully enjoy their pregnancy in health and peace, so they can eagerly look forward to their birthing day. They want to help women have the easiest, safest and most comfortable childbirth experience they can, so they can enjoy the birth and pass that legacy on to their children, friends and family. At the same time, they educate and support birth partners, so they too can look forward to and enjoy the birth of their child with confidence. Here Kerry talks to The Natural Parent Magazine about the wonderful services they offer, the passion behind what she does, and her hopes and dreams for the future.
The passion: What inspired you to set up your business?
My journey began when I gave birth to my two babies, four years apart, and it was so painful that I knew I had to find a way that people could give birth much more easily! I was already a childbirth educator but what I was teaching – deep breathing and relaxation exercises – had not helped me much at all when I gave birth myself. I saw a TV show about hypnosis for childbirth and realised that might be what I was looking for, so I became trained at a regular hypnobirthing organisation. There wasn’t much “hypno” in the birthing, so I set out on a quest to learn as much about hypnosis for childbirth as I could. I became a hypnotherapist and took specialty trainings in hypno-anesthesia (used by people who need surgery but are allergic to medical anesthetics). That was what I was looking for, so I then created Hypnobabies Hypnobirthing, which is also a complete childbirth education course, and the rest is history!
The launch: How did you start out in the beginning?
I began teaching Hypnobabies Hypnobirthing classes to the families in my own city, and they began telling their friends about it, and pretty soon I was booked solid for a year. I decided to create a self-study course of Hypnobabies for people to order online and complete on their own, and this “Home Study Course” became hugely popular. As soon as birth professionals learned about it, I was approached to hold a Hypnobabies Instructor Training so I could train doulas to teach Hypnobabies in local classes as well. I also began teaching traditionally trained doulas to birth assist our hypno-students and they have become our team of Hypno-Doulas.
The innovation: What was the biggest breakthrough for you with your business?
I wasn’t sure just how amazing Hypnobabies Hypnobirthing techniques were until (many years ago now) I showed up as a doula at the birth of one of my Hypno-students who was a first-time mom. I walked into the hospital birthing room and she was sitting in a comfy chair, having a contraction but looking like she was sleeping. Then I looked over and saw that her obstetrician was sitting on her labour bed with his mouth hanging open, watching her incredulously. When her contraction ended, she opened her eyes and smiled at me and the doctor asked the nurse, “How far dilated did you say she is???” and the nurse answered, “9 cm”. That’s when I knew Hypnobabies was going to help many people have a much easier birth, and it has!
Yin and Yang: How do you balance work and family?
I work a lot because I love to help everyone, but I do watch fun TV shows with my family and our three dogs, and I love to go to stand-up comedy shows with friends!
