Healing Birth, Tauranga (2026)

20/02/2026

It is often said that fear causes the labouring body to stop or slow down so as to protect the baby from being born into an unsafe environment - our labouring bodies read our fear as meaning 'this is an unsafe time to give birth to a very dependent newborn'. Indeed, this is information I share with others I work with. However, this only really applies when the fear is excessive, such as during a disempowering or scary birth experience.
This is an important piece of information for those who, despite their best efforts at healing, are still left feeling some fear going into their next birth. When we have done the work to process and heal from our traumatic birth, more often than not we still hold onto a degree of fear surrounding how our next birth will play out.
This is COMPLETELY NORMAL. This is the body's way of trying to protect us from experiencing a repeat traumatic birth. I talk with my clients about 'befriending their fear'. I encourage them to imagine their fear as a slightly overprotective friend, and to picture their fear sitting on their shoulder rather than consuming their mind or body. When that fear, doubt or anxiety starts talking to them, I suggest they say, "I hear you fear, thank you for trying to protect me but it's okay, I've got this." Feel the fear and give birth anyway. Your body is made for this!

If you want help to unpack your birth trauma, and support to plan for a positive and healing next birth, please send me a DM or head to my website. Or if it's training you're after, don't delay... Learn the art & science of holistic birth trauma support... the Healing Birth Practitioner Training course starts next week! Reach out now!
https://www.healingbirth.co.nz/hb-practitioner-training

18/02/2026

Learn the Art and Science of holistic birth trauma support.
The next course starts in just 5 days on February 23rd. There are only a few spots left!
To join, send us a message or head straight to the website - https://www.healingbirth.co.nz/hb-practitioner-training

16/02/2026

At a birth I attended a few years ago, one of the other ‘birth support team’ people was distressed that the labouring woman wasn’t having any vaginal exams to check progress. When the labouring woman was in the thick of transition, though of course we didn’t know with any certainty that she was at ‘that stage’ at the time, her Mother in Law said to her, “Love, we need to get you checked. We need to know that everything is progressing as it should.” The birthing woman turned to her midwife and asked if she did need an examination. The midwife responded “No, I don’t need to examine you, but if you want one, we can talk about it.” Perfect. That reassurance was enough for the birthing woman to ignore her MIL’s pleas. I took the MIL aside and explained some of the things that I shared in this post with her. It was either that or tell her that she needed to go and be elsewhere for the rest of the birth, as I was requested to do by the birthing woman during the birth planning process. The MIL was much better after that, though she replaced her please with “You’re doing great. Baby will be here soon.” Hmm… might need another post on unhelpful birth/time predictions in labour. I’ve given birth 3 times. I haven’t had one vaginal exam in labour.
How about you? What was your experience of VE’s in labour?
If you want help to unpack your birth trauma, and support to plan for a positive and healing next birth, or if you're someone who is interested in learning the art and science of holistic birth trauma support so you can assist others to find healing, please send me a DM or head to my website. If it's training you're after, don't delay... the Healing Birth Practitioner Training course starts next week!
Reach out now!

https://www.healingbirth.co.nz/hb-practitioner-training

16/02/2026

“I started pushing with contractions, but I wasn’t fully dilated so I was told to stop pushing”
“They examined me and said I was 10cm so they told me to start pushing with contractions. I didn’t have any real urge to though.”
“They were telling me to take a deep breath, put my chin to my chest and push with all my might. I had to do this through the whole contraction. It was really hard and exhausting.”
…these are the sorts of things that I hear repeatedly in my work. Such actions and instructions often completely disrupt an otherwise perfectly normal birth. Pushing before we are physiologically ready (which a 10cm dilated cervix does NOT necessarily tell us) is a recipe for exhaustion and the consequent need for other interventions – forceps/ventouse, CS. It can also lead to a higher chance of fetal distress, baby getting stuck and PPH, not to mention the fallout from any ensuing trauma.
I worked with a woman a few years ago who shared the following…
She was labouring well. Her midwife did a VE and discovered she was 10cm dilated. She told the woman to start pushing even though she had no urge to push whatsoever. This woman pushed in vain for 2 hours because, despite feeling that she was pushing against a brick wall and feeling that the baby was stuck, she trusted her midwife was telling her to push for good reason. At this point the Dr was asked to come and access things and found she was only 3cm dilated. That completely ‘undid’ this poor woman. She gave up, exhausted, as you would and caved to the epidural that she desperately had wanted to avoid. Her birth went from good to traumatic, and it was completely unnecessary.
Just as our bodies almost invariably know how to grow a healthy baby without the need for instruction or interference, so they know how to birth the baby. Other mammals don’t need to be told when and how to push during birth. We are mammals, too. As women, we are designed for birth. We innately know how to do this very normal, healthy thing.
It is, quite honestly, ridiculous to assume otherwise.

Learn more about Healing sessions and Practitioner training at www.healingbirth.co.nz

Sign up to train with me if my work and teachings inspire you. My next Healing Birth Practitioner Training course begins February 23rd.

14/02/2026

Ready to start your Healing Birth Practitioner Training with Carla?

The next course starts February 23rd.
Only a few spots left!
Apply now.

Simply send us a message or head to - https://www.healingbirth.co.nz/hb-practitioner-training

13/02/2026

There is such power in telling your birth story.

For many parents, being able to speak their experience out loud, in a space that feels safe and free from judgement, can be a meaningful step towards healing and peace. Story sharing can bring clarity, reduce self-blame, and help untangle emotions that may have been carried quietly for months or even years.

At Healing Birth, supporting women and their partners to unpack and understand their birth experiences is central to the work they do.
Healing Birth offers:
• 1:1 birth trauma healing sessions
• Havening techniques to gently reduce distress linked to traumatic birth memories
• Support when preparing for a future healing birth
• Practitioner training for those wanting to hold space for others in a trauma-informed way

Your story matters.

And you don’t have to process it alone.

Learn more at www.healingbirth.co.nz
Or feel free to send me a message.

12/02/2026

Birth trauma is often misunderstood.

Many people believe trauma only happens when there is a medical emergency or physical injury. But birth trauma is also about how a woman experiences their birth and early parenting journey - emotionally, mentally, physically and spiritually - something that is not always so obvious to others who are present.

A birth can be traumatic even when a mother and her baby are physically healthy.
Feeling unheard, unsupported, overwhelmed, powerless, or disconnected can leave lasting impacts.

These feelings are valid.

You are not alone.

And there is no “right” way to feel about your birth experience.

At Healing Birth, we acknowledge that birth experiences matter. They matter a great deal because they can have lasting negative consequences, not just for the mother, but for her wider family and society as a whole! Understanding and unpacking traumatic birth experiences can be an important step toward healing, confidence, and empowerment.

If this resonates with you, whether for your own healing or to help others in their own healing journey, support and education opportunities are available.

Our next Healing Birth Practitioner Training course begins February 23rd and there are only a few places left so please get in touch!

And as always, there are 1:1 support options to work with Carla on your healing journey.

To learn more head to healingbirth.co.nz - follow .birth – or send us a direct message.

https://www.healingbirth.co.nz/hb-practitioner-training
https://www.healingbirth.co.nz/healing

10/02/2026

Meet Carla- the heart behind Healing Birth. With decades in birth work and trauma-healing, she’s redefining how we support families after challenging births. Join her movement toward a more compassionate, trauma-informed birth culture.

Carla has turned her experience of midwifery and birth trauma support into a powerful training for birth workers ready to make a deeper impact. There is so much more to gain in this course than becoming a certified Healing Birth practitioner- this is a movement toward true emotional healing in birth.

Our founder Carla blends midwifery knowledge with trauma-healing wisdom to train a new generation of compassionate birth workers. This is your invitation to be part of the vital birthing revolution that is underway, one that will see women reclaiming birth, and all of society benefitting from that.

To reach out to Carla or to find out more information about the Healing Birth Practitioner Training course, or any of Carla’s other offerings, please feel free to send a message or head the website-

https://www.healingbirth.co.nz/hb-practitioner-training
https://www.healingbirth.co.nz/healing
https://www.healingbirth.co.nz/

08/02/2026

Learn the Art & Science of holistic birth trauma support.

Next course starts February 23rd and there are only a few spots left!

To join, send us a message or head straight to the link in bio - https://www.healingbirth.co.nz/hb-practitioner-training

07/02/2026

Birth isn’t just a physiological event; it is the foundation of our collective well-being. But to change the world, we must also change how we protect and honour the birth experience.

Healing birth isn’t just about picking up the pieces afterward—it’s about prevention. When we support women to have births where they feel deeply respected, heard and autonomous, we create a shield against trauma becoming a part of the birth process. By shifting the birth culture now, we can ensure fewer families ever have to walk the path of recovery.

Our Healing Birth Practitioner Training gives you the tools to do both. Whether you want to specialize in trauma support or integrate holistic care into your current role, this course teaches you how to advocate for the empowered experiences that prevent birth trauma from taking root.

Join a passionate community of practitioners dedicated to honouring birth and healing our world, one birth at a time.

Ready to be part of the change?

Join the Healing Birth Practitioner Training course to begin your journey. DM us now for the webpage link for further information, and to apply - https://www.healingbirth.co.nz/hb-practitioner-training

06/02/2026

Despite other's judgements that women who choose to birth outside of mainstream practises are knowingly endangering their baby's or their own life, the fact of the matter is that NO ONE wants a safe birth outcome more so than the person giving birth. Full stop.

Our conditioning has led many of us to indiscriminately trust authority figures and to unquestioningly comply with their 'requests'. When an OB says, "It's unsafe to continue this pregnancy because your baby is getting too big and may get stuck during birth, so let's book you in for an induction", there are many within the birthing population who would go ahead with that recommendation without a second thought.

But there is no evidence that says induction of labour improves safety outcomes for 'big' babies (the scan which determined the baby to be big was, in itself, a largely unreliable source of information!)... and in my decade of having worked with people who experience birth trauma, I have learnt that inductions are incredibly UNSAFE for many women and their babies (and yet, are rarely warned of this).

In the book, The Roar Behind the Silence: Why kindness, compassion and respect matter in maternity care, Amali Lokugamage and Theresa Bourne (p162) state that an evaluation of ACOG clinical guidelines revealed that only one third of obstetric recommendations are based on good and consistent scientific evidence. A similar analysis of UK RCOG guidelines showed that only 9-12% of the recommendations are from grade A evidence.

Do your research, people! And undo that conditioning that has taught you not to trust your innate birthing wisdom. Listen to your body, communicate with your baby, trust the messages that your gut is giving you, and know that YOU are the person who knows what is SAFEST for you and your baby.

The next Healing Birth Practitioner Training course starts in less than 3 weeks and there are only 4 spots left! Send me a message for more info or head straight to my website to apply - https://www.healingbirth.co.nz/hb-practitioner-training

04/02/2026

These quotes are taken from women who experienced birth trauma in Aotearoa, NZ, a place where maternity ‘care’ is free, including for those who choose to birth at home, and where continuity of care from a known midwife is the norm. The is still So Much preventable trauma, and what’s more, the leading cause of maternal deaths in NZ is su***de. This speaks volumes about the lack of support many of our new mothers/whānau are given... for many, there simply is no support.

For those of us who have the opportunity to experience a really positive birth, the struggles associated with navigating new parenthood are still VERY real for many of us - lack of sleep, self doubt, overwhelm, birth recovery, breastfeeding struggles, financial concerns, societal pressures, isolation, lack of community/village/family support. To add recovery from a traumatic birth to those struggles, is hard to fathom. And yet so many of the women I see in my work have not been offered any support or guidance surrounding their experience. In fact, they are often led to believe that, ‘that’s just how birth is’ and that focusing on the positives and being grateful are the most appropriate ways of managing their feelings.

That narrative needs to change. We need to stop undermining the very real impacts of a traumatic birth experience and we need to start offering some effective support for struggling new parents.

🌿Learn the art and science of holistic birth trauma support… from me, someone who has been helping hundreds of women and families to experience healing after a traumatic birth for over a decade now.🌿

✨Join my Healing Birth Practitioner Training course today. Starts 23rd February. Only 4 spots left. DM me now or head here: https://www.healingbirth.co.nz/hb-practitioner-training ✨

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Healing Birth

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