Tracey Anderson Askew has been helping Canberra’s pregnant women get excited about giving birth for 16 years. In that time, Tracey has worked with over 3,000 couples preparing them for birth and transforming their fear into more useful feelings like excitement, confidence and calmness.
“If you were to ask 100 people what they think of, when hearing the word childbirth – they would say PAIN. That says a lot about how we think about birth, and how we think about birth, influences how we give birth,” she says.
“When we approach birth mindfully, understanding the process and what we need to do to work with it, not against it – then birth becomes a very different experience.”
Tracey brought a program called calmbirth to Canberra 14 years ago, and has evolved her work to include more current research and evidence around the mind/body sciences and continues to refine her methodology. Her course is now called ‘Transform Your Birth.’
“We have great support from health professionals – as they see the difference in the couples when they come in to have their baby,” she says.
“What we are doing is unique, in that it isn’t just good information, but a training process that changes the way they respond in labour. By learning to work with their stress response, and train themselves to move into deeper states of relaxation – they don’t resist birth.”
Tracey’s aim for Transform Parenting has been to unlock the potential of parents in both the birthing process and the early stages of raising their children.
“Knowledge is power, but it is the knowledge around how our bodies and minds work that empowers couples for birth and beyond.”
Tracey now runs an Education Centre called Transform Parenting, which encapsulates mind/body sciences in relation to birth and parenting through a variety of programs including Transform Your Birth courses, Parenting Young Children courses, Rapid Transformational Therapy, Tuning Into Kids courses, Parent Groups, and courses for health professionals.
Most recently, Tracey has developed a number of campaigns to help parents through the COVID-19 crisis which includes free zoom sessions every Tuesday, free parent mentoring and free relaxation audios. She also offers a variety of payment options so she can provide services to families from all circumstances.
One of the biggest themes of feedback Tracey gets from both health professionals and new mothers alike is “this just makes sense.” The teachings aren’t based around any one opinion of the best way to give birth but rather how the body functions and what a labouring mother can do to optimise that response. The message is clear, succinct and incredibly powerful.
Testimonial
We spoke with one happy new mum who has completed ‘Transform Your Birth’, Gabrielle Lawrence:
“I had a really wonderful birth, and a really wonderful experience and I put a lot of that down to what I learnt in the course.
“My husband and I found it amazing; so I think for him it was really great because he knew what his role was and then he knew what he could do. He now tells every expecting dad ‘you’ve got to do Tracey’s course!’
“I have just now completed a ‘new mums’ course. What was really great about that group is that it was more focused on the mum and about the transition you go through and what you learn about yourself. Other parenting courses seem to be about the baby, whereas you as a woman are going through this huge change and the identity shift that happens with that.
“[Transform Parenting] is just really wonderful and [Tracey] is a wonderful woman to have in your life as you go through this crazy process.”
To find out more about Transform Parenting, email Tracey via [email protected] or call 0414 267 791.
This editorial was created in partnership with Transform Parenting. For more information on sponsored partnerships, click here.
