Shownotes:

In this episode of the Social Lights Podcast, podcast host and Social Mediology founder Kate vanderVoort chats with Melissa Spilsted, Founder and Director of Hypnobirthing Australia and Hypnobubs.

ABOUT MELISSA, HYPNOBIRTHING AUSTRALIA, AND HYPNOBUBS

Melissa started out in the travel industry, and would travel to new places for days, weeks, and even months at a time, trying to find out her reason for being. Upon arriving in Australia, Melissa began to teach travel and tourism to others. She had finally found her passion—teaching. She completed an education degree and a drama degree, but realized that she wasn’t suited to teaching at schools.

Melissa then met her husband, and over the years, had three children. Hypnobirthing classes weren’t readily available back then, so she read books and created her own form of hypnobirthing for her children. She realized that all of her previous experiences and training pointed her towards the same direction. She used the knowledge acquired from her degrees to teach hypnobirthing.

It was kind of by accident and it wasn’t at all what she planned to do, but here she is. Today, Hypnobirthing Australia and Hypnobubs are the fastest growing childbirth education courses in Australia. Through them, Melissa is also able to teach hypnobirthing techniques to parents and practitioners from all over.

BIG IDEA 1

Hypnobirthing, is a fancy word for a positive birth. (7:20)

While the term hypnobirthing sounds a bit weird, it refers to the use of self-hypnosis—a state of deep relaxation tapping into your own subconscious. These skills are used to stay calm during birth. The time of giving birth, after all, is an intense collision of the physical, emotional, and spiritual. Hypnobirthing helps one to create and maintain a really positive mindset, remove fear leading up to birth, and also to be able to chill and to release and let go during birth.

Self-hypnosis is just a small part of hypnobirthing. Hypnobirthing is a comprehensive, evidence-based antenatal course that covers everything from tools and knowledge to support and preparation.

Women don’t have the same care during their actual labour as they have had through their pregnancy. (9:38) Hypnobirthing provides a certain continuity of care. Women in Australia and all over the world end up birthing with strangers—but the one thing that is constant is having one’s partner there.

BIG IDEA 2

They’re skills for life. (21:35)

Melissa knows how beneficial hypnobirthing is for babies, mothers, and families—and has always wanted to make hypnobirthing accessible to everyone. However, she realized that she has been limiting her big plan.

Their online course is very popular, and is actually the leading antenatal course in Australia. Hypnobirthing Australia gets so much interest internationally for their programs, and she receives weekly requests from countries who want to translate their online courses or teach their face-to-face courses. All Melissa needs to expand internationally is the right people in her realm to help and support her, and so she’s ready to expand this year.

BIG IDEA 3

Trust your instincts. (31:00)

Melissa was a trained teacher and had a fantastic job. Though she was happy and loved what she did, she knew that her instinct told her that she could make more of an impact by creating her new business. She took a leap of faith in many ways.

Her advice? Take the chance. Because if you really want to experience joy and joy beyond where you are now, sometimes you need to make some changes and take some risks (31:59).

Episode Links

You can find Melissa Spilsted and more about Hypnobirthing Australia and Hypnobubs at:

·        https://hypnobirthingaustralia.com.au/

·        https://www.hypnobubs.com/

·        https://www.facebook.com/hypnobirthingaustralia/

·        https://www.facebook.com/hypnobubs

·        https://www.instagram.com/hypnobubs/

·        https://www.youtube.com/c/Hypnobubs

Keep listening to the upcoming episodes of podcasts by joining in Social Lights Podcast produced by Social Mediology.

You can connect with us on Facebook at @SocialLightsPodcast and find future episodes at socialmediology.com.au/sociallights.

Thanks for your time and stay inspired,

Kate vanderVoort