Voyage Utah Magazine Article
It’s not just about a healthy mother and baby—it’s about a healthy mother and baby AND a mother that feels confident and capable of caring for her child. When women come to their births prepared through quality education and with the proper support, they are much more likely to feel prepared for motherhood.
Here is an excerpt from my interview with Voyage Utah Magazine.
What should we know about Peaceful Birth Choices?
My passion is education. There’s a lot that goes on when giving birth. My students are always surprised by the amount of knowledge they gain from my classes. Even families that work in the medical field or that have given birth before are amazed by how much they learn. What a gift you can give yourself and your baby to show up prepared for such an important life event.It’s not just about natural childbirth for me anymore. When I started on my journey my focus was helping women give birth without medication and while most of my clientele desires this, some do not and I teach them how they still have many choices, whether that be they want an epidural or even a cesarean birth. Birth looks different for everyone and that’s okay—I think we can celebrate choice.
My goal is to teach families about all their options for birth so they can make the best decisions for themselves and their babies. I also teach them how they can have a voice.
You can read the full article HERE and learn more about my philosophy on birth.
Image credits: Lori Engel Photography
Transformation - Going Beyond Your Physical Form
Transformation is an amazing time, an exciting time; a time of stretching and allowing not only physically, but also spiritually and emotionally. You are opening yourself up to becoming a mother to this baby. It is a thrilling, exciting, and challenging endeavor. Whenever we are learning, stretching and growing it takes patience and it calls for great strength and courage.
In Hypnobabies we use special words with positive connotations to talk about the different stages of birth. We use the word transformation for the sage of birth when a mom’s cervix is dilating from 7 to 10 centimeters. So much occurs in those three centimeters. A baby begins to move down deeper into the pelvis preparing to come out and enter this world.
Transformation is an amazing time, an exciting time; a time of stretching and allowing not only physically, but also spiritually and emotionally. You are opening yourself up to becoming a mother to this baby. It is a thrilling, exciting, and challenging endeavor. In life whenever we are learning, stretching and growing it takes patience and it calls for great strength and courage. Whenever I am going through a growth experience, I have found that it is easier when I am surrounding myself with supportive, loving people; people that remind me of my goals and remind me of my strength. And so it is with birth, as we go through the transformation process we call on those around us. We ask them for needed support. That may feel like a back rub, that may sound like words of encouragement, that maybe look like a plate of food or a drink of water.
The definition of transformation is, “a dramatic change in form or appearance” or “a metamorphosis during the life cycle.” My favorite definition is, “going beyond your physical form.” That's exactly what you are doing when you give birth. You are going beyond what you are now to become something stronger, wiser, more intuitive. You are in the process of becoming. You are becoming a mother.
Kelly Colvin, HCHI, HCHD
Thank you lindsaysharifiphotography.com for sharing your talent.
Birthy Thoughts
The room was full of hospital staff rushing around with the tasks of birth, but I felt like this dog, sensing these unseen spirits and just wanting to stand in awe and reverence too.
This painting by Brian Kerishisnik is one of my favorites. It's called "Nativity." As I sit here writing my 6 week old baby’s birth story, I am thinking of all the angels, seen and unseen, in attendance at his birth. Their presence was definitely felt.
How interesting it is how Joseph, Mary and the midwives in this painting are unaware of ALL the angels surrounding them and how only the dog in the far right corner can sense them. I wonder how very often I am unaware of the angels surrounding me. I recall a birth I attended, as a doula a few years back. There wasn't anything out of the ordinary about the birth, but after the baby was born I could suddenly sense that there were angels in the room and it was as if they were standing in reverence and awe of the beautiful event that just took place and the sacrifice of this mother to bring life into the world. The room was full of hospital staff rushing around with the tasks of birth, but I felt like this dog, sensing these unseen spirits and just wanting to stand in awe and reverence too.
Birth is such a sacred event and I believe that angels always attend the births of God's children. I image they are often our ancestors or close friends that have passed onto the otherside of the veil, lovingly guiding these spirits into our arms and through this journey of mortality we call life.
Kelly Colvin, HCHI, HCHD