Austin Hypnobirthing

I wish I could give Katherine Grosshaupt zero stars. I live in New York City and heard about hypnobirthing through my OBGYN when I asked about methods to have a natural, unmedicated birth. I was lucky to find an AWESOME hypnobirthing class and instructor in Brooklyn. And because of this great experience, I recommended hypnobirthing to my sister who lives in Austin, TX. We were blessed to be pregnant at the same time and due within a month of each other. Since she was due before me, we got recommendations from my instructor and she chose Katherine in the spring of 2016 with a lot of confidence that she would also have a great experience. I’m completely shredded with guilt that my hand ever led her to this business, because it was the worst disaster of customer service I have ever witnessed. It introduced a level of stress and angst that was very dangerous for my sister, who had been having extreme difficulty getting pregnant for many years before she carried this sweet little baby to full term. She and her husband attended the first class and told me that the instructor spent most of the class talking about herself and the unfortunate circumstances she had been going through. She also neglected to get the book for the students (included and very necessary) and was very disorganized. I encouraged her to stick with it, even though she was in her third trimester and didn’t have much time to practice the method before her due date. I was floored to hear that the instructor changed the location of their SECOND class to a home with animals, to which my sister has severe allergies (hospital level allergic reactions and asthma). And when my sister talked to her about it, the instructor offered a full refund of $ 300, an offer she did NOT HONOR when my sister requested it. It got more and more awful as my sister’s due date approached. There was no time to start a new class and the instructor would not refund her for that class. Moreover, the instructor also didn’t respond to candid conversation or legal action. She is terribly unprofessional and from what I can tell, an awful person — putting a pregnant woman who trusted her, in such a dangerous position. I’m writing this review to encourage you to do your research on this business before you give her your money. The purpose of hypnobirthing is to ALLEVIATE stress, NOT create stress. I’m so grateful the baby is strong and my sister gave birth with minimal issue. She did need medication and a surgical procedure and I’m convinced it’s due to the negligence of teaching by this hypnobirthing instructor. Do not consider this business as an option. What a terrible thing to witness as a family member and someone who loves the hypnobirthing techniques and used them successfully.

Kathryn must really not care about her career in this field anymore. I registered for her hypnobirthing class online on April 23^rd at 8pm. I paid $ 100 deposit via PayPal for a class that was scheduled to be held at 630 pm at Austin Born the following Tuesday (April 26^th).
She didn’t show up. There was another couple standing there with us, completely shocked that the instructor wasn’t returning our calls or emails.
I’ve left 2 voicemails, several emails and created a dispute for the charge on my PayPal account. NO RESPONSE.
I called Austin Born and talked with the owner. Apparently Kathryn called her that Friday to say she wasn’t going to teach the class and would be refunding people’s money. She still took my money, took my time and has yet to give me just a little bit of human respect by returning my attempts to communicate.
Do not go to this person, she doesn’t care about pregnant mothers trying to take advanced prenatal classes. She will take your money and good luck trying to get it back. Disgusting.

Going to this Hypnobirthing class was the best thing I could have done for myself, my honey and our baby. I really enjoyed Kat, she was easy to talk to and I appreciated that she made us each folders with information, such as the affirmation and areas we could list our needs from books to read to what to bring to the hospital.
I took the class as a guide and that we as a couple, and as parents can use this guide to give our baby the most calm, natural birth possible.
This was my first child and as he grew in me I wanted only to provide him with the best I could from my food intake to my energy I felt inside. I concentrated very hard to never feel overwhelmed by anger, worry, being scared or stressed… I knew he could feel that.
I found this by accident and read what the classes offered and asked my honey if we could go to them together. Right away he was in and it was so much fun being there with him by my side.
I will admit, once I was actually in labor dilated to only 6 my practices went out the window but I truly feel that it was my subconscious that took control. I knew I wanted my baby to have a natural birth if my body allowed it. And I followed the affirmations till the moment I gave birth. This was «my body» and «my baby was the perfect size» and I asked my body to please give a natural birth even when I was about to have the nurse call the doctor to break my water it happened on it’s own! I feel that if you believe in yourself and what you want to do you CAN DO IT!
I surprised myself and after 36 hours in labor I had my baby Max completely natural and my recovery was so quick I didn’t know what was normal or not but my nurses and doctor couldn’t believe I was walking as soon as I was.
One of the biggest things I think I took from the class was that you need to not take in what others say about their birth. As a woman YOUR baby is in YOUR body and this is YOUR story not anyone else. It doesn’t matter what your Mother told you about your birth or your brother/​sisters birth… it doesn’t matter what the woman at work tells you its how YOU feel and how YOU take care of yourself. I don’t ever want to be one of those woman who tells you «what you need to do» or «should do» while your pregnant BUT I have to say if you have beliefs in energy, beliefs in auras if you will… Hypnobirthing was such a great learning experience I feel as though it is beneficial.
All I’m saying really is that if we hadn’t taken the steps to even go to the classes I don’t think I would have had all the encouragement and confidence I had to give my baby what he deserved during his birth into this World.

Agree with Michelle K. I found the class disorganized and left me wondering what I had spent $ 300 on. There was a «syllabus» but not followed at all — important info glossed over, some skipped entirely, which made the course hard to follow. Homework was supposed to be assigned 4 days before class, but wasn’t until late afternoon the day before (hardly enough time to properly prepare).
Biggest complaint was that the «hypnobirthing» techniques aren’t even practiced in class for the most part (and only briefly discussed). Even then we were told repeatedly that there is no «real hypnobirthing technique» and «no right or wrong way to do it.» So, what did I pay to learn? Essentially, there are breathing and relaxation techniques, but these (and everything else) you could learn from the book «Hypnobirthing — The Mongon Method.» The class is more of a general childbirth education class.
Regarding the scheduling, the classes are held even on holidays (?!), and if you have to make up a class, it’s $ 40. Or you can opt for a rushed, condensed version just before the next class.
Also, the instructor has a very nervous Chihuahua that barks at every movement (and the behavior is allowed). It was distracting and nerve-​wracking and did not create a relaxing atmosphere at all.
Hindsight is ²⁰⁄₂₀ (that’s what Unilocal is for!) and had I known all this I would have just done the home study course for $ 25.
*After googling that I see that there are 8 hypnobirthing MP3 tracks in the home study course… we were given ONE (Rainbow Relaxation)!!

Kat is awesome! I really am so glad my husband and I decided to take this class series. We had already taken a birth prep class through our doula and I wasn’t sure if it was necessary to take another but was interested in hypnobirthing. I contacted Kat initially to go over my thoughts and to see if I felt it would be worth doing. She was very easy to talk to and very relaxed and talked to me about what we would learn in the class, etc. I decided to sign up and really am so glad I did. It was a wonderful experience! It was great to get together in a series over a 5 week period and really dedicate each session to not only hypnobirthing methodology (relaxation and meditation techniques), but learning more about the birth process and getting to discuss with others. Was a really great experience! I highly recommend this class for anyone that is wanting a natural birth, and even for people who aren’t sure. Lots of great info and helpful discussion!

Katherine’s classes were extremely helpful, thoughtful and well-​organized. We got exactly what we wanted from the sessions. I gained much more confidence, knowledge, and agency going in to the birth of my son. The classes are also a great way to meet new parents.

I don’t often post negative reviews but I found this class on Unilocal and feel I should share our experience. There were some positives: We liked the hypnobirthing philosophy, and the course was a decent introduction to it. The instructor has a lot of experience as a doula to draw from. We also met a lot of other couples like us and enjoyed sharing our questions, fears, and knowledge with each other.
That said, the instructor was difficult and didn’t seem to care very much. There were a few smaller, administrative snafus (difficulty contacting her and confusion about the books) that we were willing to overlook, but a bigger issue that can’t really be excused: The instructor had to cancel a class and instead of offering a makeup class, kept trying to cram the material into only 4 sessions which seemed unfair after paying $ 300 for 5 classes. It took weeks and multiple students requesting a makeup before one was finally discussed in the last class. During the discussion, the instructor exploded in an angry tantrum about how hard she works and how she can’t please everyone. This eruption ruined the safe, supportive environment that birthing class should be and left us shocked, confused and uninterested in ever going back.
Regarding the instruction, we wished the course had been better organized (some topics repeated, some entirely left out or sped through). Also, the content was mostly information and instructor’s personal opinions and not much technique. The core breathing technique of hypnobirthing, for example, was covered in about 10 minutes and wasn’t revisited for practice. Overall, while we gained some useful information, we didn’t feel like we had learned the technique.

Please stay away from this woman and her classes. An expectant mother should not have to go through the rudeness and hostility that our class experienced. As a couple with a very modest income, we really wish we had not wasted our money on this course. Most of the information covered was basic and introductory, though I like that it helped get us in the mind frame of birth preparation. I also really enjoyed being in a community of expectant mothers. That said, you can gain the preparation easily online or from the books (or another course), and you can seek out other, less negative, environments for mommas-​to-​be. I don’t feel we really learned the hypnobirthing philosophy, and what’s worse, we were completely disrespected in the process.
When one of the classes was canceled, we were expecting to have it rescheduled. The instructor went on about being in a good place for the curriculum and not needing a fifth class. I didn’t say anything since there were still a couple of classes left, but I knew that I wanted the five classes we had paid for. She then said we would have a fifth class (woo!), then went back and said she could get it all in during an extra hour of the fourth class (boo). At this point I chimed in with my thoughts on having (and deserving) a full fifth class; other mothers I had talked to felt the same way. The instructor did not like that I voiced my concern. Her e-​mail response was short. Her attitude during the following class was hostile, rude, and completely unprofessional. I felt attacked and could sense her negativity the whole class. She even put us on the spot for a very stressful, hypothetical birth scenario regarding interventions. What?! I thought that the course was to learn relaxation, breathing, and visualizations of hypnobirthing? As she rolled her eyes and looked annoyed about rescheduling at the end of class, she totally lost it and went on, angrily, about not being a corporation, not being able to handle the demands of kids, clients, etc. She silenced me when I tried to address my concern for how upset she seemed. Another mother even said «Umm, we’re not angry with you. We just want a fifth class.» It was uncalled for, all we wanted was a class rescheduled. I left feeling shocked, hurt, and disrespected. Another mother asked to call me since she was also left a little traumatized by this woman.
Although the instructor may be going through some difficult times, it is never an excuse to be so mean, unprofessional, and act so hateful towards another individual, especially an expectant mother! I let the group know in a short e-​mail that I wasn’t going to attend the last class so as not to put myself or the baby in such a negative environment. She emailed me in a very rude, passive aggressive tone. I responded that she had no right to treat us the way she did and that I hope she finds her path again. If she is not in a good place to teach this course, she really should not be teaching it.
Please do yourself a favor and find another birth preparation class, we really wish we had. I don’t usually write these, but I felt the need to, so that other mommas don’t experience what we experienced. Take care of yourselves and surround yourselves with love and light… not this course and instructor.

I highly recommend Katherine as a hypnobirthing instructor.
Long before I ever became pregnant I knew I wanted to take Katherine’s hypnobirthing class, not even because I even understood anything about hypnobirthing, but because I attended her crossfit classes and she helped train me through my 2^nd triathlon and marathon. She’s an all around incredible person, inspiration and on that thought alone– on her down to earth spirit and constant search for knowledge in her field– when I did become pregnant she was the only one who I wanted to teach me how to birth my baby. I just jived with her! My husband and I finished her class this afternoon and true to my initial thought, it was as amazing as I had hoped. I wanted to have a natural birth and through her classes (even though we’re having it at the birthing center) we learned how to change our perspective on fear, how to breathe through the pain and the tools we need to get this baby girl out withOUT interventions! My husband wasn’t too keen on going to these birthing classes initially but by the end was happy we went with Katherine and we both learned so much. I have come away with the knowledge that my body WAS made to do this!
Thanks so much Katherine for empowering women and being a source of encouragement and hope!

Katherine is an amazing teacher! I always leave her class feeling worlds better than I did when I arrived. She has totally changed my view on so many «scary» birthing situations. I am no longer frightened of giving birth. That is a gift with a much higher value than the little I paid for her class.