BirthWell Hypnobirthing Specialist in St Albans, Harpenden & Hertfordshire with Joan Mills

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Reviews

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  Karen Le Leu

  I can't recommend Joan's hypnobirthing course enough. I actually did her course nearly 7 years ago now before the birth of my daughter. She prepared and empowered both myself and my husband to feel confident and ready for birth. I had the water birth I wanted with my daughter, and another calm and relaxed birth with my son. Everyone who is expecting a baby should be doing this course. Thank you Joan.

  26-05-2023
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  Laura Roche

  My husband and I did hypnobirthing with Joan and it has helped us both feel prepared for labour and birth process. We now feel we have all the information we need to make informed decisions around the birth of our baby. Joan is so knowledgeable and made the classes informative while also creating a calming environment. Joan always answered any questions/concerns and provided advice to our group. The practical skills like breathing techniques and tips on how to create a calming environment are invaluable not only for labour and birth but any stressful situations in life. These skills have already helped me in so many ways and continue to keep me calm during my pregnancy. Highly recommend Joan at birthwell.

  22-05-2023
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  Bethan Ashton

  I highly recommend Joan for anyone who is pregnant. I was really anxious about my first birth and found her hypnobirthing course incredibly helpful in creating a different perspective - I felt much calmer, better prepared and confident, with a toolbox of things to try which were really useful during labour. I had a more 1-1 engagement with Joan for my second birth and again she brought a huge amount of calm, reassurance and kindness which really eased my anxieties and made me feel much more confident and in control. Joan made such a huge difference to my peace of mind for both of my pregnancies, going above and beyond to help. I wouldn't hesitate at all in recommending her hypnobirthing courses, 1-1 support and reflexology to anyone with an upcoming birth. Thank you Joan!

  21-05-2023
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  Erica Lawless

  Both my husband and I found Joan’s hypnobirthing course to be invaluable in preparing us for the birth of our twins who are due this summer. I had been quite nervous/apprehensive about the unknowns of labour and birth, but with all of the knowledge and skills that Joan has shared with us, she has enabled me to feel empowered and excited for the upcoming birth of our babies. I feel I am in a very positive mindset about birth as a result of Joan’s guidance. She has equipped me with the tools needed for a positive birth experience. We live in Ireland so we did our sessions via Zoom. Joan’s warm and kind nature enabled us to feel supported and listened to at all times. We highly recommend Joan’s hypnobirthing course for anybody preparing to give birth. Thank you Joan. We look forward to filling you in on our birth experience this summer. X

  14-05-2023
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  K Dacey

  Myself and my wife chose Joan as our hypnobirthing partner and mentor due to the outstanding reviews and depth of experience she has. I can hand on heart say both me and my wife think it's the best money we have spent on helping our little girl into the world! We discussed our options and made an informed choice to have a home birth - something we probably wouldn't have had the confidence to do without Joan's guidance and education. When the day arrived, like so many things it arrived a little quicker than anticipated, and using Joan's simple techniques, we had a beautiful home birth. Because of the speed of delivery, there was no pain mitigation available besides the breathing techniques and mindset tips and tools we learned from Joan, and my wife was calm and comfortable as can be throughout the whole process - even considering she was suffering a bruised rib and chest infection at the time of labour. As a husband and birth partner, learning from Joan enabled me to have an active role in labour and to keep a calm head when needed - I felt as if I understood what was happening and how to help support and coach my wife through the labour. I simply can't imagine how I'd have dealt with the situation without the tools I had learned from Joan. It takes real teamwork to help deliver a baby and Joan was one of the most valuable members of our team - knowledgeable, supportive and empathetic throughout. We are so grateful - thank you.

  07-05-2023
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  Ka'ja Charlotte

  We can't recommend Joan more highly; her wisdom and expertise have already been invaluable along our pregnancy journey! Arming us with a sense of empowerment and positivity, we are approaching the birth of our first child entirely differently than before our Hypnobirthing sessions with her (and entirely for the better!). A more informed understanding of what is to come has removed a huge amount of the fear of the unknown and is making the experience of pregnancy far happier. Joan also made us feel like part of the family, welcoming us into her home (her dog Dolly is gorgeous!) and with baked treats always at the ready, each session didn't feel like a classroom but an engaged conversation. Joan really cares, and is both enthusiastically and genuinely passionate about creating a positive birth experience - going above and beyond to help and advise. Thank you Joan! Katia & Kev x

  28-03-2023
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  Liam Healey

  Joan supported Nikki and I with Hypnobirthing and was our Doula. The education, reassurance and partnership was invaluable. Joan’s warm, personable and considered approach was just what we needed. With Joan’s help I was able to support Nikki much more effectively. I highly recommend Joan, and we fully intend to work together again as our family grows : )

  28-02-2023
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  Nikki

  Where do I even start? What a truly wonderful experience having Joan as a part of my pregnancy and birth story. Joan was our doula, we also did the hypnobirthing course with her and I had reflexology with Joan. We truly couldn’t have wished for a more supportive, nurturing and well informed person to be part of our journey. Having Joan present at the birth was a HUGE support not just for me but also for my partner. She helped guide us, support us and offer a voice of reassurance and immense knowledge whenever we needed. We’d have been lost without her! By offering the range of services that Joan does, it really gave us the choice over whether we wanted to just do hypnobirthing, just the doula or just reflexology. For us, we’re so glad we did all three as it enabled us to have the holistic experience we wanted and the relationship we built with Joan is one we’ll forever hold so dearly. Thank you Joan x

  28-02-2023
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  Hannah Smith

  If I could give Joan more stars then I would! We’ve known Joan for about 6 yrs now and have been so lucky to have had her involved in each of our births of our 3 beautiful children. Each one has had a different involvement and her input has been invaluable for all of them. For the first we did the full hypno birthing course for couples which fully prepared BOTH of us for what was to come. The 3 most important things we gained from it were: 1. Me to learn the scientific proof that our bodies know what they are doing, which enabled me to trust my body during labour. 2. Gave my husband an idea of what to expect, with understanding and physical practical jobs and checklists for his involvement. 3. Meeting other like minded new parents. For our second child, we did a 1:1 couples refresher course which was a perfect opportunity to debrief on the first and get in the correct mindset for this new baby and birth. It helped us to refocus our practice in hypnobirthing preparation and put in place all that was needed. For our third, i knew how to prepare for the hypnobirthing in advance and it all came flooding back to me as Joan had helped us anchor so much of it down so well for the last 2. Therefore, I just visited her on my own, for reflexology towards the end of my pregnancy. It was truly amazing to be able to take some space and time out for me and be able to get myself back into the correct mindset for what was to come which I was finding hard to do on my own whilst chasing 2 little ones! The treatment was so relaxing and also gave me an opportunity to chat with Joan and refocus in preparation for the birth. It was reassuring that I had been doing the practice correctly. The biggest thing was spending time talking with Joan. She is inspirational, kind, caring, supportive and experienced. I trusted her advice, teaching and practise implicitly. At each differing level of involvement, it empowered me to have my best birth on the day, each time. None of them went according to ‘plan’ but I was fully prepared to take on each journey, knew how to handle medical advice and my own body and had my husband fully supporting me in a positive way behind the scenes. Joan really went above and beyond for this third birth and I truly couldn’t have done it without her. I cannot recommend her highly enough and am so grateful to have had her in my life for these intimate milestones.

  28-11-2022
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  Laurie Paton

  We signed up for Joan’s hypnobirthing course after friends had recommended hynobirthing. After looking online I felt that I wanted some more personal guidance rather than just watching generic videos online. Before the course I was very nervous about the unknowns of labour and I hadn’t considered a home birth as an option. After our zoom sessions with Joan my confidence to have a positive birth experience grew and my partner and I decided to have a home birth with Joan as our doula. The tools Joan gave us meant the build up to my birth was very relaxed and I felt mentally and physically prepared. I saw Joan for reflexology in the afternoon and went into labour that evening. My contractions started at 10pm and our baby boy was born at home at 8.30am in the morning. I can’t imagine my pregnancy and labour without Joan- I told her that I couldn’t have done it without her to which Joan tells me I could have but I have no doubt that my positive birth experience may have been a very different story if it wasn’t for Joan. One of the first things that Joan will tell you is that you wouldn’t run a marathon without any preparation so why would you labour without any preparation. Thank you Joan for being you. We will be eternally grateful for everything you have done for us. Hynobirthing with Joan is a must!

  28-11-2022