The Difference Havening Touch Makes

Years ago, long before I trained to become a Havening Practitioner, I had a client whose labor I KNOW would have been hours shorter if I’d had Havening Touch as a tool.

Here’s the scene. My client is at the hospital. Her labor is just starting to gain momentum after several hours of early labor. Her contractions were now coming 3 minutes apart. She’s sitting on the toilet, in a total groove. Her partner is supporting her body and spirit. My words of encouragement were landing just so. 

Suddenly, the nurse comes in and says my client’s mother is in the hall. Shit, damn, f**k. I wish she would have pulled me aside first. My client had specifically asked her mother not to come. And now she was pissed. Furious. Brain on fire.

Of course her beautiful contraction pattern came to a screeching halt. Threat. She doesn’t feel safe anymore. (Side note; while some mother’s may be very supportive for some people, this is not so for many many people and should be included with all thoughtful and careful consideration regarding who you want and don’t want in your birth space.) The volume on her stress hormones goes up, birth hormones/oxytocin goes down, and with that contractions stopped. 

Of course we supported her emotionally. We talked through her upset. We got her mother to leave. But it took many many hours for her labor contractions to start up again. I know that if I’d had Havening Touch in my toolbox, we would have been able to turn that train around so much faster. 

Thankfully all turned out well. But what if that stall had lasted longer, and her water had been broken, or her care providers would have started putting pressure on her? Thankfully her entire birth team was very supportive and patient, but still. 

The point of this story though isn’t only about understanding how helpful Havening Touch can be in navigating moments like these during labor. But also generally holding a psycho-sensory approach to birth support as a way of making us more mindful of the birthing person’s nervous system, hormones, their brain, survival and safety instincts, and preventing moments like this from even occurring! 

I invite you to join me for one of our upcoming Havening Touch for Childbirth trainings, for all birth professionals, including midwives, doulas, doctors and nurses to learn the skills and awareness to bring the gift of Havening Touch into your practice. 

See you at the workshop!