When people think of women who are natural birth advocates, you instantly think of some woo woo hippy woman, brandishing incense and the promise of a pain-free orgasmic experience. I can tell you now I am not that woman. My name is Holly Gilbert and I am the very proud founder of The Natural Birth Club. I am a self-confessed ‘Mother Lover’. I didn’t know this about myself until I became a Mama. Rewind to almost 3 years ago and I was living in Australia, having a pretty awesome time of it, I fell pregnant at 25 with a total miracle baby that the medical profession told me I would never have (I mean if that isn’t advocacy of nature, I don’t know what is!) and so this path and purpose began to unfold before me. That is how I discovered Hypnobirthing, and the foundations of my business were laid! I started my business when looking to return to work, I wasn’t willing to spend time away from my small boy for something that didn’t set my soul on fire. And what did set my soul on fire was talking with women CAN transition into Motherhood feeling totally badass about their birth. And so I took the leap.
I trained as a Hypnobirthing Practitioner and that was the start of it all, 1 year on and since then we have moved across the country, started another business with my partner and have been raising the small human. As they say the juggle is real. I am extraordinarily privileged as my other half also has the flexibility of working on his own passion project too, and have In laws on the doorstep. But I have had to shed the belief that I am not an organised person because, well I kinda have to be pretty organised these days! Like many women who venture into this realm of career ownership and business starting, my motivation is that having it all dream we are told is unachievable. We are told as women it is either or, family or career. I believe vehemently that you can raise your kids AND have a fulfilling, meaningful working life too. I also am motivated by the work that I do. I, by no means had a perfect birth, I am in no way the perfect mother, or partner or businesswoman for that matter. BUT I know absolutely that the way I prepared for my birth allowed me to step into an amazing version of myself I didn’t know existed. I need to share that with other women.
My business ethos is simple really: You can have a birth that is fearless not frightening. You have the opportunity to own it. You have the chance to arm yourself with knowledge. You are capable and innately able to have a birth that leaves you feeling absolutely empowered and strong and proud. I am there to guide your way and shine a light down a dark path that often isn’t spoken about. Giving birth is not something that happens to you, it is not passive and yet we are conditioned as a society to meekly accept our painful, bloody fate with the hope we will make it out with as few battle scars as possible. At The Natural Birth Club we are about offering an alternative mindset that is positive, proven, safe and most importantly, really trans formative. Natural birthing, for me is about honouring your own body. Honouring your space, your intuition, your connection with your baby. Once you can trust and understand the natural processes labour takes, your body knows what it is doing. More than that though, it is about raising women up, acknowledging their amazing feminine power and arming them with tools, knowledge and support that gives them choices and ownership over how they want to give birth. I know birth will be changing over the next few years, the dialogue is already changing, the perception is already changing. The time to step up into your most empowered birthing self is now. And being a part of this growing tribe of amazing women is very exciting! So that is me, if you want to know more you can catch me at holly@thenaturalbirthclub.co.uk
How cool is Holly???? You can find The Natural Birthing Club on the following Social media links:
https://www.facebook.com/thenaturalbirthclub/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/themotherhub/
https://www.instagram.com/thenaturalbirthclub/
Website thenaturalbirthclub.co.uk