Beyond The Birth Plan

Praise for Beyond the Birth Plan
For those who long to heal from a traumatic birthing experience, or for those who hope to avoid one in the first place, this book is an excellent place to begin your birth education.
Beautifully written and so bloody useful.
Clare Bowditch

Rhea has so much wisdom to offer women, she is the wise woman the world needs right now, the mother and grandmother some of us missed, and the friend who whispers the right words at just the right moment.
Everyone should get their hands on this book and get real with Rhea!
Milli Hill, author of The Positive Birth Book and Give Birth Like a Feminist


Beyond the Birth Plan: Getting real about pain and power is the next delightful arrow in Rhea Dempsey’s quiver. I can’t count the number of women I have urged to read Birth with Confidence who have told me it was what unlocked their belief in themselves and let them trust in their bodies. At the heart of most fear around birth is the issue of pain. In eight simple easy-to-access chapters full of stories and scenarios, Rhea brings decades of experience to life on the page. Preparing for birth is key and to prepare you must understand and be willing to do the work. We all bring baggage to birth as women; this book gently unpacks that baggage and shows you how you can work with and beyond that baggage to ROAR.
Hannah Dahlen, professor of midwifery, Western Sydney University

Rhea’s warmth and wisdom are a sure guide for birthing families.
Dr Sarah Buckley, author of Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering

I love this book, in it Rhea shares her wisdom gathered over many years of working with parents and supporting birth. The book goes beyond the birth and into the often hidden realm of childbirth as a rite of passage. Women’s birth stories are included throughout, providing a deep exploration of the reality of pain and power in the modern birth context. The book offers a holistic approach for parents preparing for their birth journey.
Rachel Reed, midwifery academic and author of Why Induction Matters
You are making the invisible world visible in this book. It requires so much care and conscious focused attention to walk the edge of what is invisible and then summon those deeper knowings, insights and patterns and put them into words.
Lola Howard, artist and doula

Since the birth of my first daughter more than thirty years ago, I have trained as a childbirth educator and counsellor and have been privileged to attend more than one thousand births in hospitals and home settings as a birth attendant.
I have also been honoured to work with many, many more women and their partners and support people during my birth preparation workshops, pre-natal classes, personal birth counselling sessions and in presentations and seminars around Australia and internationally.

Sadly, in more than thirty years of birth support work, I have also witnessed an unprecedented rise in unnecessary medical interventions during birth—and the development of a culture that, rather than supporting women to birth naturally, is actually undermining them.

No wonder, then, that many women are fearful as they approach their labour. Will their body cope? Are they physically and emotionally prepared?
Feedback during my regular presentations to midwives and medical practitioners tells me that my understanding of our birth system is ‘on the money’ but—more importantly—that women who have undertaken my birth preparation classes are better prepared to navigate the many challenges they face when trying to birth naturally.

My passion is to educate women about the impact of our birth culture on the outcome of our births. Instead of fear, I want you to go into your labour with confidence in your body and your support people, and the knowledge that will give you the best possibility of natural birth.

QUALIFICATIONS
Independent Childbirth Educator, Trainer, Birth Attendant and Counsellor.
T.P.T.C. (Trained Primary Teacher’s Certificate)
Dip. C.B.E. (Child Birth Education)
N.A.C.E. Trainer (National Association of Childbirth Educators)
Grad. Dip. Counselling & Human Services (La Trobe University)
Certificate of Gestalt Therapy

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