The Hypnobirthing Book is a complete antenatal preparation which guides you to achieve the birth you want. Childbirth can be an empowering and positive experience that you treasure for the rest of your life. Hypnobirthing teaches simple and gentle techniques that have a profound effect. By practising these techniques during pregnancy, you can release fear and anxiety, and build confidence in yourself and your body's ability to give birth naturally. Feeling calm and confident during labour helps your body work efficiently, releasing endorphins, your body's natural anaesthetic. Hypnobirthing can reduce the need for pain relief and shorten labour, and you are more likely to experience a natural, calm, comfortable birth. It actively involves the father. You will both learn skills to instill confidence about the birth and your role as parents. KATHARINE GRAVES has personally taught over 1,000 mothers and her methods are taught internationally. She is a qualified advanced hypnotherapist and a qualified doula, having trained with Michel Odent, the internationally renowned obstetrician. Katharine is a member of the International Advisory Board of the HypnoFertility Foundation of America, the Maternity and Newborn Forum of the Royal Society of Medicine, the Association for the Improvement of Maternity Services, and an associate member of the Royal College of Midwives. "This book lays out an approach to childbirth designed to give a calm, confident and joyful delivery. I strongly recommend it's practical approach using proven techniques." DR ZHIDAO XIA, School of Medicine, Swansea University "Katharine's personal qualities - unfailing positivity, humour, the deepest respect for birth, women, their partners and babies, and a deep faith in natural births - shine out of the pages of this splendid book." LIZ NIGHTINGALE, Independent Midwife