THE CLASSIC PREPARATION
...To reassure yourself and better control all the stages.
The philosophy: led by a midwife, this preparation aims to demystify all the last stages of pregnancy in order to reassure you about your natural abilities to give birth to your child.
The protocol: the 8 sessions, collective or individual (with a private midwife), and to which the dad is always welcome, begin around the 7th month of pregnancy and are structured around two parts.
A theoretical part to offer you as much information as possible on the progress of pregnancy, childbirth, but also the first days with baby.
A practical part to teach you to better perceive your body, listen to your sensations and relax. You will also discover the postures that provide relief during childbirth and promote the progress of labor. You will then know how to use the different breaths at the right time which will help you during dilation and expulsion.
Specific benefits: during group sessions, you will also be able to share your questions with other future mothers and even sometimes visit the birthing room because this preparation is often done at the maternity ward where you are registered. Feeling like you're on familiar ground is also very reassuring.
HAPTONOMY
...To communicate with baby and beautify his arrival.
The philosophy: also called "the science of affectivity", perinatal haptonomy allows you to communicate in utero with your baby and develop a strong feeling of security, both for him and for the future parents. Because the method offers the dad a preponderant place.
The protocol: the sessions, which always take place as a couple with a midwife or a specialized doctor, can begin as soon as you start to feel the baby moving, around the 4th or 5th month of pregnancy.
The sessions are based on love, voice, touch. You will thus learn to let yourself be overcome by the feeling of tenderness that you feel for your baby, so that he will feel it and respond to you. With the dad, you will discover how, through hand pressure, to attract and play with baby. While talking to him, because he will be soothed by the vibration of your voices which he memorizes very quickly. You will also discover the gestures and postures which, by acting on muscle tone and the secretion of endorphins, will make birth a moment of gentleness and harmony.
The specific benefits: on the day of delivery, you and the father will be able to actively participate in the birth of your child; you by gradually guiding him towards the open air, the dad by relieving you with precise gestures and helping you to stay in contact with baby. And after giving birth, you will have all the keys to continue this reassuring dialogue.
YOGA
...To relax the body and mind.
The philosophy: yoga aims to harmonize the body and mind, so that one does not block the other. Based on relaxing postures and breathing techniques, it allows you to better relax to relieve contractions and better oxygenate your baby.
The protocol: prenatal yoga sessions are offered from the 4th month. Provided by a professional specializing in supporting pregnant women, the postures are always adapted to your condition. Even if you have never practiced yoga, the method is open to you. You will learn to control and relax your diaphragm (main respiratory muscle) using breathing techniques designed to calm contractions and facilitate expansion and thrusts. You also discovered work postures that provide relief.
The particular benefits: by starting prenatal yoga as early as possible, you will learn how to gently strengthen your perineum, relieve or even avoid nausea, back pain, anxiety, through different postures and types of breathing. And by learning to stretch your spine properly, you will feel lighter in the last months of your pregnancy.
SOPHROLOGY
...To better anticipate this beautiful moment.
The philosophy: the physiological and psychological approach of sophrology allows you to overcome your fears and control your body through breathing and positive visualization.
The protocol: third trimester prenatal sessions always begin with a dialogue with the sophrologist in order to better identify both the fears and the positive levers specific to each future mother.
At each session, in a state of semi-awakeness and under the voice of the practitioner, you will learn better and better to relax thanks to abdominal breathing, so that, little by little, it becomes natural to you. You will also discover what type of breathing to use to better experience the birth process. And you will learn how to implement positive visualization schemes to approach childbirth with complete peace of mind. Each step will thus be anticipated in a positive way so that on the big day, you can focus on these feelings to relieve fear and pain.
The particular benefits: the technique being extremely personalized, its effects are all the more important. Anxious natures will also find the necessary keys to soothe the little worries always linked to baby's first weeks.
THE BONAPACE METHOD
...To encourage naturalness and dad's participation.
The philosophy: born in Quebec, this method (pronounced Bonapatché) aims to limit medical interventions by developing perfect pain control through different massages and control of breathing as well as visualization. The presence of a guide is essential because it is mainly on him that the application of the technique rests.
The protocol: the sessions provided from the 6th month of pregnancy by midwives or doctors trained in the method, reveal the mechanisms of pain in order to better understand it. Then, two types of massages are taught. Acupressure, practiced with the pads of the fingers on acupuncture points distant from the uterus, helps relieve contractions and pushes the body to secrete more pain-relieving endorphins. Between each contraction, massages of the lumbar region induce essential relaxation. Learning to activate positive visualization of the course of childbirth as well as breathing techniques complete the method.
Specific benefits: the method is also useful before an epidural. And the active presence of a loved one gives childbirth an extremely human dimension.
PRENATAL SINGING
...To relieve mom with joy and rock baby.
The philosophy: there's no point singing in tune, that's not what counts! The originality of this method is simply based on the use of voice vibrations. Both to rock baby in utero and to relieve the different stages of childbirth.
The protocol: the sessions, supervised by specialized midwives, can begin from the 3rd month of pregnancy. Their progress depends on each professional. It is above all a matter of learning to use sounds which have an analgesic effect on contractions (vocalizations of low frequencies) and of better controlling one's breathing (which is essential for holding a note, even a false one) in order to better accompany childbirth.
The particular benefits: childbirth takes on an even more joyful tone. And the person who will be present in the birth room with you will also be able (by having taken the courses) to comfort you with their songs.
POOL PREPARATION
...To surround yourself with a bubble of well-being.
The philosophy: this is about taking advantage of the weightlessness induced by water (which relaxes and facilitates movements) and the need to adapt your breathing mode to this element (which allows you to control your breathing , therefore its stress and relieve pain).
The protocol: sessions can start around the 5th month of pregnancy, always on medical advice because in certain cases, the method may be contraindicated. Relaxed, light, you will then practice different exercises aimed at working on the opening of the pelvis but also at relieving lower back and ligament pain. You will also learn to control your breathing through apnea training, very useful at the time of opening of the cervix and expulsion.
The particular benefits: the method is ideal and even strongly recommended for future mothers wishing to give birth in water. But for all, by gently toning the abdominal belt, it also helps reduce the time spent pushing.