Prenatal counselling on the basis of haptonomy
Pregnancy
Great news: you're pregnant!
You and your partner may need some time to get used to the idea... Or perhaps you can't wait to shout it from the rooftops! The pregnancy and the delivery are major events; experiences that will drastically change your lives.
A pregnancy brings about all sorts of impressions and emotions. Moreover, you and your partner will need to make a number of important decisions in a short period of time. For one, you will have to decide whether or not you want prenatal counselling.
What is haptonomy?
But first, let's talk about haptonomy. The aim of haptonomy is to help you become aware of what you feel. Aware of the things you experience within your body and the feelings associated with those experiences; feelings towards yourself and others.
In our busy everyday lives, we tend to handle and plan everything practically and efficiently, allowing our lives to be wholly determined by our thoughts. It seems that we'd rather rely on them than on the things our feelings and bodies tell us.
You may think that feeling is not that important, but remember: it is something you do all day long, even though you may not always be aware of it!
Experience tells us that it is very important to consciously integrate our feelings into our everyday lives - and thus also into our pregnancies. By doing so, we can rely on the things our bodies tell us and act accordingly, which enables us to interact with our environment in a more natural way.
You may think this sounds pretty straightforward, but upon trying you will probably find it far more easily said than done. This is where haptonomy comes in: it can help you gain the awareness you need to lead a more balanced life.
Haptonomic prenatal counselling
Haptonomic prenatal counselling is meant for you and your partner. During the sessions, you will learn how you can use your feelings to interact with your baby. The baby in your womb can feel, which means that you can let it know you love it even before it is born. As the one carrying the baby, you are naturally in touch with your child. Your partner can learn to interact with the child via your belly.
Furthermore, we will address the contact between you and your partner. We will focus on your respective roles in relation to your pregnancy and the things you can offer each other. Not only in terms of emotional support, but also in a practical sense. How can your partner support you during the pregnancy? How can he or she help you to feel comfortable within your body? How can he or she help you to handle the pain during childbirth? Of course we will also address the question how your partner can familiarize him or herself with the new situation.
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Subjects covered during the sessions
- Interacting with your baby before it is born.
- Trusting your feelings and body.
- Playing with and rocking the baby in your womb.
- Carrying your child to term.
- Handling the dilatation contractions and techniques for the expulsion pains.
- Possible roles your partner can play.
- Various positions during childbirth.
- Reviewing the pregnancy and your experiences in relation to the birth of your baby.
- The often rather hectic period after the baby is born.
- Tips and ideas on how to carry, stimulate and support your baby.
In our practice, you can choose one of two haptonomic prenatal counselling methods:
- Individual counselling - six sessions, approximately every three weeks. One of the sessions will take place after the baby is born, with the baby.
- Group counselling - seven sessions, every other week. One of the sessions will take place after the baby is born.
You may start both types of counselling from the 20th week of your pregnancy, after you have felt the first movements of your baby.
Our practice is run by physiotherapist and haptonomist Jan Tigges.
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Baby massage on the basis of haptonomy
The aim of our baby massage course is to teach you to give your baby a massage based on feeling. Of course you always touch your baby with feeling, but we focus on the question how you can use your hands to convey your love to your child.
To this end, we will do a number of exercises derived from haptonomy. We will use various massage techniques, with an emphasis on Shantala massage.
In addition, we will focus on the interaction between you and your child.
Baby massage is a way to focus on your baby and yourself: to have fun or a quiet moment together. Furthermore, the massage will help your baby become more comfortable with its body; you can let your baby feel that it is loved for what it is.
In short, baby massage on the basis of haptonomy can help you to intensify your contact with your baby and also to get in touch with yourself. During the course, we will also address a number of other subjects, such as crying and bowel cramps, and discuss various ways to carry your baby.
Haptonomy focuses on our feelings towards ourselves and others. It addresses questions relating to our experience of our bodies and the feelings associated with that experience.
Interested? You can register for the course by calling 0650 655180. You can also call this number if you have any questions about the course.
Even before the start of the course, you can introduce your baby to the massage ritual.
In the first weeks, there is no need to give your baby a real massage. Just make sure that it feels the warmth and physical proximity of its mother and father. The touch of your hands may evoke a feeling of safety in your baby, as if it were still in the womb.
Preferably massage your baby right before you give it a feed or a bath. Try to make sure however that your baby is not hungry.
Make sure that you give the massage in a room that is nice and warm and that isn't draughty.
Place your baby in front of you, between or on top of your legs. Make sure that you are also sitting in a relaxed and comfortable position.
Warm the oil in your hands. Start with the feet and hands. Then, use the whole of your hand to gently stroke the baby from the centre of its body to the arms and legs.
If the baby is lying on its side, stroke across the back and down via the buttocks. A massage of 5 to 10 minutes is sufficient.
It may take some time to find out what your baby likes. Our advice is to just follow your intuition. Remember: everyone can learn to massage!