San Diego HypnoBirthing

After having an epidural to help me through the delivery of my first baby, I decided I wanted to take the next step to try to deliver my second baby unmedicated. I had a couple friends recommend Hypnobirthing to me, so after looking into it a little more I decided «what the hell» and signed my husband and myself up for the 5 week class. I really enjoyed the class (there was a lot of laughing, crying, but mostly, a TON of birthing videos) and over the weeks I started to feel more and more calm and confident in my ability to deliver without medication the 2^nd time around (it’s completely natural, right?).
My birth experience was AMAZING, as Christal would say in the class. My 2^nd son was 9lbs, 10oz, and delivered completely naturally. In fact, I actually was standing up when he was delivered and the UCSD resident «caught» him and handed him to me seconds after he was born. My entire labor lasted just over 3.5 hours so things were a little crazy and the surges were pretty intense and came on really quick. I would say one of the best outcomes of the class was that my husband knew exactly what to do to support me through the delivery (and getting me to the hospital in time), and executed his role as my birthing partner in a calm, confident, and relaxed fashion… exactly what I needed to get through the delivery!
I would definitely recommend taking this class, I am certain I was able to get through it naturally because of the things I learned in the class. I also learned a lot about how to handle hospitals, pressure from the doctors and nurses to do things I was not comfortable with, and was well informed of the pros and cons of different situations that could have, or did come up. Thank you for helping me give my son an awesome birth day!

I was skeptical at first just because the name «HypnoBirthing» sounded a bit more new-​agey than I usually am on board with. Our class taught by Care ended up being perfect! I looked forward to coming to class every week because the information Care presented was so practical and empowering. I feel like we are aware of so many more choices, and have so many more tools to work with for laboring and delivery.
There were only 7 expecting couples in the class, which made the environment feel intimate. We ended up sharing a lot about each other in the class and making some great friends.
I’d highly recommend this class to anyone expecting a baby.

**ATTENTION FROM A MALE POINT OF VIEW!**
Before you think that this is going to be a powerpoint boring class about birthing, let me tell you that you are in for a surprise. This is class is a mix between fun, crude, emotional and educational. Your journey woman is Care. Yes Care is her name and she will take you on a journey you never knew was possible.
First and foremost, you will find a new found love of your partner. You will see her strengths, what she is capable of and your role in it. This class will bring you closer in a way that I didn’t know existed. Secondly, you will bond after class because of all that you have discovered.
Yes Birthing can be sexy, Yes birthing doesn’t have to be scary or done blind sighted. You can be a BIG part of the process and for the love of god, you should be, it’s your baby we’re talking about!
I hate to say this but the HypnoBirthing is only a small part of it. The «hypno» part is just the part where you and your partner learn how to relax in a new and chaotic environment. And the good news is, the more relaxed you are, the less chaotic it will be. What does that leave you with; the opportunity to enjoy the complete birthing experience with your significant other.
I really believe this class with Care should be mandatory. I know this sounds crazy, but you really don’t know what you don’t know until you go to a class such as this.
If you are the significant other, go to every class. After the first class, I promise you, you won’t want to miss the other ones.
By the last class, I actually started to miss our evenings together. We bonded with the other soon to be parents and we bonded with our partners and ourselves.
This class will stay with you long after the class is done.
Don’t be fooled, this is not about HypnoBirthing… this is about discovering what the female body is capable when bringing another person into this world; and this class slows down time enough for you to experience all of it until the little one arrives.

I always knew that I wanted to take a natural approach when it came to birth, but had no idea what classes were available or what to expect. Words cannot express how amazing Care Messer’s Hypnobirthing class is! I almost feel like hypnobirth isn’t the right word for it, more like a «Birth Empowerment» class. Care is incredibly skilled and knowledgeable, with the most amazing sense of humor and wit to go with it! My husband and I are so glad we took her class, and I feel incredibly confident moving closer to my due date.

No idea if this is the place is good, but I was born under Hypnosis and I recommend doing it.

Care is sweet, knowledgeable, entertaining, and fun! Each class we feel more prepared about our upcoming birth. Care has a tremendous amount of experience that she brings to class. She listens and engages with each person in the class. Would highly recommend both partners to attend these classes. Thank you!
Jonathan

So thankful to find Care and hypnobirthing. Worth the time and the money. Hypnobirthing empowers couples together to not fear birth but trust their bodies and each other. My husband is a paramedic and says he’s learned more about labor and delivery from hypnobirthing and care than in school. Highly recommend!

I couldn’t dream of a better birth experience. My pregnancy was a surprise and I didn’t exactly know where to go for resources and information. I attended the hypnobirthing «sneak-​peak» & instantly knew I was in the right place. Care and my Doula Ali helped me work through major milestones to allow my son the birth he deserved. Our lives are forever changed & we are extremely grateful :)
Bridget S.

My Fiancé and I had the most amazing experience taking a 5 week hypnobirthing course. It being out first child, we never felt more prepared for the birth/​labor of our baby girl! The information and support that we received for our first birth was priceless. Especially since we wanted to have a natural birth as well. Strongly recommended for all couples, even if its not your first child.
Thank you for all of your love and support!
Melissa & Mike

Keep in mind this review is coming from the HUSBAND aka birthing partner!
Gents, when your wife tells you you are going to a HypnoBirthing class… JUST GO! I, like most husbands, am willing to do what my wife wants, including going to hypnobirthing. I was not excited, I did not see any value in it, and I did not feel it necessary.
Well, Care very quickly made me realize how much value there is in these classes for both the Mom and the Husband. Care is one of the coolest people I know and she is so extremely passionate about what she does, which in turn makes her an amazing instructor. I am so happy that we went to these classes and feel SO much more confident about our child birth. We learned how each birth is different and your birth is your birth and being prepared for it will make all the difference in the world. We learned that child birth is not some crazy scary out of control thing but rather a very special gift to our child and HypnoBirthing allows you to provide your child with the best possible entrance into this world that you can!
I actually enjoyed going to the classes and learning more. Care keeps the classes entertaining and moving fast all while making you feel very comfortable. It allowed my wife and I to talk about the birth we want for our daughter and ultimately has created a solid mom/​dad team for her birth. It feels so much better having an understanding of the process of child birth and ways to help make it as good as you can.
I highly suggest this to all our friends now as it focuses you on the birth you want and envision, and also helps get the mother and father on the same page and even more excited about their birth. Care is simply an amazing human being with great talent. Thanks Care!

We attended a hypnobirthing class with Care in preparation for the birth of our first child and I couldn’t be happier that we did! My husband and I both felt so much more prepared and relaxed and fearless after taking this class. Care is an amazing instructor — she is hilarious and kept us entertained while also helping us overcome our fears, answering our questions, giving such helpful advice on EVERYTHING you can (and can’t) think of when it comes to birth. Thanks to her I was so much more prepared, and so was my husband. We used many of the techniques taught in class during my labor/​birth and felt that they really helped us both. I really can’t say enough about this class and about Care. The hypnobirthing method in and of itself is great IMO, exactly what I needed to help me overcome the crippling fears I felt about childbirth. But what Care offers during the class goes far above and beyond the method and truly provides and all encompassing birth education and preparation experience that empowers parents to bring their babies into the world in a peaceful and beautiful way. I am so grateful for her and for this class!
I also did placenta encapsulation with Care and it was awesome! I got my capsules so quickly and started taking them right away. My milk came in really well and was more than abundant, my recovery was pretty quick and bleeding didn’t last long at all and was very light and I totally had more energy. I would totally recommend doing placenta encapsulation with Care!

How do you take someone who is absolutely terrified of labor and turn them into someone who is confident and even excited about the big day? Send them to San Diego HypnoBirthing! Care is AMAZING! Not only does she know what she’s talking about, but she’s funny as heck! My labor did not go at all as expected and ended in an emergency c-​section. Before hypnobirthing, I probably would’ve panicked and had an anxiety attack when my «worst fear» had come true. Instead, I entered the operating room in complete peace and came out feeling more proud of myself than I ever have. My actual labor was intense and long, but I used some of the techniques I had learned in hypnobirthing to labor at home and drug-​free for a great majority of my LONG labor. In fact, when I would really focus on those techniques the pain would almost melt away. It sounds crazy, but it’s true!
I’m nearly two months postpartum and I am still having San Diego HypnoBirthing withdrawals, no joke! Those Release and Relax classes almost have me considering getting pregnant again… almost. ;) I was reluctant to spend the money on the classes at first but it was worth every penny! I now have a habit of telling every pregnant lady I know (stranger or not) about San Diego HypnoBirthing because it was that life changing for me! Yes, the name hypnobirthing might sound a little crazy, trust me I felt the same way at first, but you’ll feel comfortable the second you arrive! Don’t question it, just go! You’ll love it, I promise.

This is a review of Care’s encapsulation services. I chose her because her reviews were strong, indicated that she was very timely, and she was knowledgable, warm and friendly. I am so grateful I did! Care’s turnaround time was incredible and I found her to be a great support. I found taking the placenta capsules to be extremely beneficial. I didn’t suffer from baby blues and months after my baby’s birth if I felt a bit down, I found relief from taking a capsule a day for a few days. I highly recommend Care and her encapsulation services.

This class is worth every penny and more. I knew going in that I wanted a natural drug free birth for our baby and I but no matter what kind of birth you want, the information and tools you learn are priceless. My husband really enjoyed the classes and they empowered him to have an important role in the birth of our son. I loved gaining all the knowledge and tools to create a peaceful and relaxed labor and birth, I am more confident than ever now for the day our son decides to join our family.
Care is supportive, entertaining and such an amazing resource. We decided on a Doula with her help and couldn’t be happier to have the extra support these last few months and for labor.
Many woman are not aware of all the options they have when it comes to birthing their baby. Hypnobirthing is a change in mindset and language regarding labor and delivery, it gives you the strength, knowledge and confidence to create the best birth experience for both you and your baby. If you have questions, Care has answers!!! There are even free introduction nights so that you can discover what it can do for you.

After brutal recovery processes with my first 2 children, I decided to have my placenta encapsulated with my 3^rd because I heard it can help balance hormones and stabilize iron levels after delivery. Care provided me with everything I needed to know ahead of time (including what to say when Palomar Downtown was hesitant to release my placenta to me immediately). She arranged pickup at the hospital within hours and returned the pills the very same day! My son is now three days old and I feel incredible, filled with energy and joy. All of my friends keep remarking over how healthy I look, nothing like the shell of a person I seemed to be with severe postpartum depression the times before. I am so thankful that I found Care, and if I have any more kids I’ll be taking advantage of all her classes and every ounce of her guidance that I can get!

Is this worth the time, energy? Hell yes.
Will I lose most, if not all my fear, surrounding child birth? Hell yes.
Will I feel empowered, informed, educated, and supported in having my/​our baby the way I/​we want? Hell yes.
First, Care is a wonderful, frank, and entertaining instructor. From the first few minutes of class we realized that we had someone who was knowledgeable about how birthing typically works in the US, and how we can achieve a birth the way we want it to be: natural and with limited intervention.
We’re still gestating and aren’t due yet, but the information shared, techniques taught, and keys given to us to help unlock the unnecessary mystery of birth have made me feel like a more confident partner, and an educated first-​time father.
I wish all parents heard about HypnoBirthing, had Care as an instructor/​mentor, and started the class the moment they found out they were pregnant.

Care is an absolutely AMAZING childbirth educator/​doula and I encourage all expectant parents to take her Hypnobirthing series. She makes the experience incredibly fun and informative and you’d be hard pressed to find more prepared and excited parents than the ones who come out of her classes. She also does a great job with placenta encapsulation and runs the Birth Education Center in Mira Mesa which is an invaluable resource to the San Diego community. I truly can’t say enough good things about this woman!!!

This class was awesome! It gave me and my partner serious insight into the needs of an expectant mother and newborn. It also educated us so we will not have to deal with unnecessary procedures at the hospital when it’s time for birthing. I can’t say enough good things about this class!

I don’t know where to start, so here goes. Forgive me if I sound like a shill.
A little about us first: our first two children were delivered via the typically prescribed ‘hospital method’. My wife had an epidural for our first born, however was unable to get one administered in time for our second child. Both experiences were positive from the standpoint that we were extremely grateful to have had two healthy young boys without any major complications. Beyond that I guess you could say that both experiences were also very typical of hospital births — i.e. an ascending-​only emotional roller coaster replete with exponentially increasing levels of anxiety, pain, panic, fear, bewilderment etc., followed by an ecstatic release of joyful exuberance once we finally saw our little guys delivered successfully. I will also add that round one featured a painful episiotomy and use of a ventouse suction device that left our oldest with a rather large hematoma on the side of his noggin for nearly a month. Round two left my poor wife with a broken tailbone. Again, relatively small consequences I suppose, considering Mom and boys came out safe and healthy in the end. But after our third little wonder arrived just last week, we can unequivocally profess our overwhelming preference for Care’s hypnobirthing method over ‘modern medicine’s’ method. To say it was like night and day would be a gargantuan understatement.
I will spare you all the details and just say that after roughly two hours of fairly intense labor and two ‘pushes’, I was able to move into position behind my wife and actually catch our 6 lb, 15 oz baby girl! Of course, this took place much to the surprise of the entire hospital staff, all of whom were turned around scurrying about, not expecting such a quick delivery (our doctor wasn’t even in the room yet). With the assistance of our wonderful doula (whom Care recommended), we were able to put into play virtually every single nugget of wisdom with which Care had armed us. To quote a real OB/​GYN that attended our same class, «It was flawless.» (in reference to his own experience with delivering ‘hypnobirthed’ babies). I can’t help but grin from ear to ear right now as I relive the entire experience — from the moment we stepped into Care’s inviting classroom four months ago, up until the first time we gazed into our beautiful daughter’s eyes just last week. I repeat: WE DIDN’T KNOW IT COULD BE LIKE THIS!!! Care is an incredibly talented instructor and a beautiful soul. What she teaches is pure gold, plain and simple. From the very first moment, she will capture your attention. She will make you laugh until your sides hurt. She will have even the male partners secretly wiping away tears upon hearing her stories. But most importantly, she will empower you, easing your anxiety so that you can freely experience your child’s birth the way it was meant to be.
THANK YOU CARE. WE ARE SO TRULY GRATEFUL TO HAVE MET YOU!
P. s. I am happy to report that aside from some post-​birth contractions, my awesome and beautiful wife is relatively pain free (not so much as a single capsule of Tylenol has been needed). In fact, many of our friends have commented at how amazing she looks in the pictures taken of her immediately following the birth. And of course, our lovely new daughter is doing just fine!

If the words labor/​delivery stir up fear or anxiety in you, or you think labor/​delivery has to be a horrible experience you just have to get through, you MUST take these classes. Do yourself the favor, let your birth experience and story be one of the greatest highlights of your life!
Hypnobirthing was one of the best preparations we took in preparing for the birth of our son. I was skeptical at first, but knew I wanted to be as educated as possible with my birth options and since we wanted to approach it «all naturally» this seemed like the best route.
Care was more than incredible! Her teaching was tangible, memorable, helpful and full of encouragement. With every class our concerns & doubts faded, as our confidence in having a wonderful birth experience grew. I knew it would be hard, but I had all the tools I needed to make it through without one regret.
We had an incredibly memorable labor and delivery and every single thing we learned in Hypnobirthing, including «I can do anything for 1 minute» and «be willing to throw your plan out the window if things change» were life-​savers! Our little guy had different plans on how he wanted to enter this world, but the education, training and tools we learned in class made it the best experience ever!
—-
Placenta Encapsulation Review
After hearing about all the possibly great benefits of placenta encapsulation, we decided to go for it. I have nothing to compare my experience to (this is my first child) except what I observed of my friends who had newborns, and I can tell you I feel amazing!
— I haven’t had any «baby blues».
— Other than being overwhelmed with love for my new little one and crying with joy over him on occasion, my hormones have been stellar! No extreme highs or lows.
— My milk came in around day 3 and has been going strong since!
— The energy I feel is surreal! Even after the initial surge of adrenaline wore off, I still had a ton of joy, excitement and energy.
Care came to the hospital and picked up my placenta, got to meet our new little one, and returned the next morning with the pills. I’ve reached the «take 1 a day as you desire» stage, and am still taking 2 a day because I know they are helping. I have no doubt the placenta pills have made a tremendous impact and would highly recommend placenta encapsulation to everyone! Even if you don’t do hypnobirthing, hire Care for encapsulation, it is worth every single penny!