Films
View the original Active Birth Film Janet made in 1980.
This documents the earliest Active Births in London and was viewed all over the world, inspiring mothers and sparking a revolution in maternity practices.
View the Water Birth Film Janet made in 1983.
This documents the earliest Water Births in London – today almost all birth centres and hospitals in the UK provide a birth pool and Water Birth is an international phenomenonl!
View the BBC News Interview with Janet in 2012
Read the accompanying BBC News Article Here
What people say about the Active Birth Centre
Yoga classes, birth preparation, postnatal groups, professional training … here are some responses from the people we have met and got to know through our work.
Pregnancy Yoga Classes & Birth Preparation Workshops & Trainings
Our beautiful little girl finally arrived,12 days late, yesterday. Waters broke on Wednesday morning, and contractions started around 7.30pm. By 9.45pm we were at the birth center, I was in the pool and using gas and air at 11.00, pushing by 12, it was a really positive, empowering experience, helped hugely by all the yoga practice, thanks Lynn. She is 8lbs 4oz of calm, contented delight. Now looking forward to baby massage!
The best thing of all was all the months of preparation I’d had from your yoga classes! The breathing, leaning against the wall and & all fours all came really instinctively during birth & totally helped me to go with the contractions. I just wanted to thank you for helping me to be as prepared & open to the whole experience as I was. I feel really lucky that my birth went so smoothly & was such an empowering & enjoyable experience.
I just wanted to thank you for your yoga classes – they proved absolutely and I mean absolutely invaluable. I really don’t know how I would have coped without them. The breathing just kicked in – my midwife was very impressed.
I used everything I learned in class, breathing, upright positions and sounds.
I stayed in my ‘yoga zone’ and it happened really quickly, it seemed.
Your classes were an inseparable part of our life changing experience – a big thank you for all that you are!
I learned to breathe properly and to listen to my body.
I went into labour on Monday night, once again the yoga I did with you was a HUGE part of my labour, it really helped that I had been that day. My labour was very calm and I felt in control the whole time and ended up having a water birth which was amazing. I really can’t thank you enough for for the amazing job you do in your class, not just the yoga your advice is spot on and you voice was with me the whole time!! Thank you for being such a helpful and supportive part of a very important time in my life. Please keep up the good work, birth really doesn’t have to be so stressful just taking the fear out of it has let me have two positive births.
Your words were with me all the way.
You inspired me to manage a long labour . I felt so resourceful.
Even though I had a caesarean, your class was a wonderful place to be pregnant in.
You were a true inspiration, I could have never had the incredible birth I did without your guidance.
When I joined your classes I was petrified of giving birth and wouldn’t have imagined in a million years going through it without an epidural. Your classes inspired me, gave me strength, helped me to bond with my baby, kept me fit and made me believe that I could do it. Not only that, with your help I turned her around from breech to head down and then from back to front and had a really quick labour for a first time mum.
Your class was invaluable. the positions and unashamed noisemaking got me through a very fast intense labour”
I was lucky enough to have a waterbirth with no pain relief. I could not have done it without what I learned in the class.
You have a wonderful presence, a calming, beautiful sense about you. I am so happy I found your classes – they gave me the tools for a birth experience I did not imagine to be possible.
Our Postnatal Classes & Workshops
As ever, thank you for a lovely session today. Ratna and I were bonding afterwards on how wonderful and empowering our experiences at the Active Birth Centre have been – I always come away so grateful for the space and encouragement, and it’s great to connect with other Mums who have a similar outlook. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
For anyone thinking about attending this – go for it! I can’t recommend it enough. Lovely class lead with Lynn’s usual thoughtful sensitive style. My partner said this was the best class we did before Roh was born (and I dragged him to lots of different things). We’re 8 weeks into parenthood and I’ve called on what we learnt in this workshop a lot so far, helped by great material Lynn sent by email afterwards. – Claire
We have both really enjoyed all your classes that we have attended and really appreciated your support as well – coming to one of your classes always uplifted me and put any worries about caring for a small baby in perspective . You have been fantastic and made a real difference to us particularly in those early days. A HUGE THANK YOU.
I remember my first postnatal yoga class at 8 weeks after the birth and how amazing it felt just to stretch! Lynn has an amazingly calming voice and influence on the babies and they all just enjoy watching the mums in strange positions!
What is so special about you and your classes, is that your have a great skill to completely relax everyone – babies and mums. You create a calm and very special environment.
Thank you for providing such a useful, informative and fun new baby and me course. I am very sad they have now finished but look forward to the baby massage class.
I just wanted to say a very big thank you for your wonderful baby and me course. I learnt so much, not only the obvious massage and relaxation techniques, but lots of other nuggets of advice on holding my baby and practical issues, but perhaps more importantly on relating to him as a little person.
I would like to thank you for Saturday – I would recommend it to any father, primarily for the great opportunity to bond with their baby. I think that’s what I enjoyed the most – doing something that I could physically see Charlie was enjoying from start to finish.
I came away from your workshop last week knowing I now understood my toddler more, but what has really surprised me is the impact this has had on my daughter. Her tantrums are a quarter of the length they were before. I can see now how I was adding to the situation. I feel in control now and this seems to help Rose to not lose control in the same way.
