On Sunday 25th March, I was blessed to deliver my third baby, a beautiful boy, into this world. I'm delighted to let you know that I had, once again, an active, short and kick a*s rockstar birth! It was fast and intense at times...so let me share my experience with you:)

On the days leading up to Nico's labour, I had been keeping myself really calm, happy and active. On the Saturday, I went for a lovely long walk, getting myself up a few gentle hills! That night, I went to bed after my nightly bath, super relaxed, and at 2am I woke up with a start! I jumped out of bed as my waters had started to release...but only a little bit. After a quick trip to the loo, pretty much immediately, some very mild contractions started, along with a bit of a 'show'. 

Excitedly, I knew that the journey was starting, so I popped back into bed to get as much rest as I could. The surges were there, but were really mild and I nodded off every now and then. I...

As I approach my own third birth, my mind drifts back to the amazing interview I did with the incredible Dr. Sarah Buckley, during the Pregnancy Wellness & Empowering Birth Online Summit.

If you haven't heard of her before, Dr. Sarah Buckley is a world-renowned author of the internationally best-selling book Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering, and in the summit, she discusses how our hormones are programmed to enable us to have an empowering birth but also to instinctively care for and love our new little baby...among many other amazing benefits.

Sarah wrote an ebook (which I'd highly recommend you all read), and the opening line is: "Giving birth in ecstasy: this is our birthright and our body's intent". I asked her to explain what she meant by this. She started off by talking about how an ecstatic birth is 'Mother Nature's superb design' - it's hardwired into all mammals. Really, what follows is mindblowing. Sarah talks about how the orchestration of hormones during birth...

Good question! It's one I get a lot :)

So I would break this into 4 areas - Physical, Mental, Breath and Community.

Physical:

I'm not a believer in doing very little exercise just because you are pregnant. In fact, if you exercise for about 30 minutes a day, it is proven to help you have a more comfortable pregnancy, a shorter and therefore easier labour, and a faster recovery. So a 'shorter and therefore easier labour' should bring music to your ears mamas-to-be! Focusing specifically on labour and birth, prenatal yoga will help you stay strong, toned and open, therefore making your labour easier and more manageable, and helping you have the strength and stamina required to keep you upright for as long as possible. Sometimes, and of course not all the time, labour can be a long process particularly for first-time mamas, whose bodies haven't gone through the experience of childbirth before. The majority of first-time mamas who come to my classes in Dublin, can be quite surprised...

After the 30-week mark of your pregnancy, ask your doctor or midwife to check which position your baby is lying in. Most of the time, they'll be able to give you a very good indication of how your little one is positioned. Why is it important? Well, the quick answer is that once a baby is lying in a 'good' position, you will have a shorter and easier labour, as the narrowest part (smallest diameter) of baby's head is coming down through the pelvic rim, and is in great alignment.

What you are looking for ideally, is for baby to be lying with their back towards the front of mama's abdomen, and slightly to the left. The position where baby's body is lying with their back pointing forwards is called OA - Occiput Anterior. The occiput is the lowest bone in the back of the skull. It's important to also note that the cervix is positioned towards the back of the uterus - it's not just a straight chute to the exit ;) So when baby is lying in the OA position, particularly to the left,...

I'm so fascinated by the holistic world of herbal medicine and alternative therapy. When I got the chance to interview Marina Kesso, Herbalist and Naturopath, I was so excited! She's an incredible lady and helps so many Pregnant women, and new mamas cope with their ailments, and improves the quality of their lifestyle, all through the wonders of Herbal Medicine and Naturopathy. 

HP: Marina, thanks so much for your time today. Can I ask how you got into the Herbal Medicine world?

MK: Thanks so much Helen, I'm thrilled to chat to you. I was living on a small farm in Leitrim, growing lots of different herbs and plants for years. Living on the farm, we tried to live sustainably and ate only what was in season. Even though my background is Fine Arts, herbs and plants were a big passion. Living in the countryside, lots of locals knew I grew them on the farm, so they kept coming to me to get different plants for them. It came to a point where I wanted to know more about...

We were chatting in class the other day and the subject of following your gut instinct came up. The one thing that has served me in life has always been my gut instinct. I always go by it. I try never to make a decision if it just doesn’t feel right…but what do I mean by that? How can you go with your gut instincts when you really aren't sure about what is happening...particularly in labour and birth? How can you really get 'in-tune' with your gut and really, really trust it?

Let me give you a relevant example… I’ll set the scene…I was in labour with my 2nd little boy. It was early morning. My waters had started to break the day before but my contractions weren’t doing the business yet. My husband wasn’t allowed stay with me that night as I wasn’t in established labour…so couldn’t go to the delivery suite. I spent several hours that night walking up and down stairs, combined with a little rest,...