Bloom and Flow

Alex came to my weekly pregnancy yoga classes in Darenth as she prepared for the birth of her second baby – a vbac at Medway maternity unit.

Want to work with me to prepare for birth? I offer hypnobirthing classes in Dartford, Kent as well as weekly pregnancy yoga classes. Full schedule and booking link are on my website, or dm me for a link 💕

My first birth was a planned home birth. I laboured at home until 7cm, but Joseph’s heart rate kept dipping a bit too much after contractions so they recommend transferring in. At the hospital they advised a hormone drip to speed things up as I was progressing slowly, which I agreed to after weighing up the benefits and risks, and based on what I knew at the time. Joseph’s heart rate then went quite low and I didn’t progress past 8 cms after quite a few hours, so we had an unplanned C-section at 42 weeks.

For my second pregnancy I had No complications so wanted to plan a VBAC at Darent Valley birth centre. My named community midwife and the consultant midwife were very supportive when planning my VBAC (vaginal birth after caesarean), and I faced no pressure on induction or sweeps etc.

Very early on, one of the community midwives who covered my first appointment when my named midwife was on holiday wasn’t as good and was more “they will want you to follow guidelines” when I asked about birth centre and monitoring. This made me a bit anxious so I still think it depends on who you get, and not many people realise they can ask to see another community midwife or have someone else looking after you even in labour.

I had a birth reflections meeting about my first birth and did quite a bit of research which helped me understand what I wanted ahead of the birth preferences meeting with the consultant midwife. The consultant midwife was brilliant and very supportive when we went through it and answered any questions I had really well.

My second labour started with very faint tightenings late on Wednesday night when I went to bed. I slept for a couple of hours before I couldn’t settle any more, then spent some time downstairs on my own watching a TV program and then listening to the Bloom and Flow hypnobirthing tracks.

At about 1.30am I woke my husband to help me get the tens machine on and call our doula to give her the heads up as things were ramping up quickly.

Once my sister in law had arrived to look after our son and 3 dogs, we made our way to the birth place at Medway (midwife led unit) at 5.30 and met our backup doula who arrived at the same time to help us walk in.

(Side note, my mum was on holiday this week and she was the main person to look after my son and our 3 dogs when in labour. My doula also found out last minute that her house move was going ahead on Thursday 2nd so I was sure I wouldn’t start until the weekend at least when they would all be around. A little bad timing but it all worked out in the end.)

I laboured through the day using the breathing techniques, changing up positions, listening to the hypnobirthing tracks in the background and using gas and air. I also used the birthing pool intermittently through labour and during the pushing stage. Baby girl was born at 7.19pm with her hand against her face! Gestation was 40+6.

The midwives were great at following my birth preferences and respecting my decisions. And I’m so please I achieved my VBAC in a midwife led setting and had another positive birth.

The pregnancy yoga classes were great and so glad I went to them ☺️

From this week my pricing structure is changing. All yoga classes will be £12, or £40 when booking a block of four.

My classes have remained the same price since 2020! But since then, all of my costs have gone up a lot. Not just hall hire, but also booking systems, website hosting, insurance, even my fuel to get to classes.

I have been reluctant to put prices up, as I know the cost of living has gone up for everyone, but I can’t absorb the costs of running a business forever. I also know that I am underpriced compared to other local services, and hope that clients can see the value in my specialist offerings alongside my years of experience.

Thank you for understanding. Colleen

Both my kids sleep through the night, and they still exhaust me! Can I get a refund 😅

If you’re looking for solidarity during pregnancy and motherhood, you’re in the right place. Hi, I’m Colleen - Mum of two, business owner and community builder. I offer pregnancy yoga and post natal yoga in Dartford, plus hypnobirthing courses and free meet ups for new mums. 💕

Shannon came along to my pregnancy yoga class in Dartford the whole way through her pregnancy. She then went on to complete my hypnobirthing course to prepare for the birth of her first baby.

Hi Colleen,

I hope you’re doing well!

Firstly, I just wanted to say a huge thank you for your pregnancy yoga classes. Plus everything we learned during your hypnobirthing course was invaluable during birth, and I’d recommend it to anyone!

Here’s my birth story 😊

Due to baby being predicted to be quite big, I requested that a C-section be booked as a backup in case natural labour didn’t happen before 41 weeks. From everything we learned during hypnobirthing, I knew I didn’t want any form of induction. I felt that if my body was ready, it would go into labour naturally. Also, with baby being predicted to be just under the 97th centile, I wanted to avoid the risk of an emergency c-section and instead have a calm, planned one if needed.

As I approached 41 weeks, there were still no signs of labour. At my final growth scan, there were some concerns about blood flow through the cord, so I was sent tambootie for a CTG. After reviewing everything, the doctor explained how inaccurate scans can be late in pregnancy, but said they still had to follow the guidance from the scan. They began suggesting induction “to be on the safe side.”

At this point, Adam stepped in and asked about other options, as he knew how strongly I felt about avoiding induction. Together, we agreed on having an hour-long CTG every day until my elective C-section at Darent Valley, just to monitor baby and make sure she was okay.

On the morning of 2nd April, we went to the hospital to be admitted to the delivery suite. Knowing it might be a long wait, I used the techniques we learned on the hypnobirthing course to stay calm. As the day went on, it became clear my planned c-section wouldn’t happen due to emergencies taking priority. We were sent home late afternoon and asked to return the next morning.

By Friday morning, with the extra build-up, I was feeling quite nervous. On the way to the hospital and throughout the morning, I listened to the hypnobirthing tracks, which really helped. At 10:30, we found out we’d be first to go down.

In theatre, the atmosphere was calm and reassuring. We played our labour playlist, and I focused on my hypnobirthing breathing with Adam’s help to control the nerves and anticipation of knowing after a long wait we were about to meet our daughter. After what felt like forever—but was probably only 10–15 minutes—we heard baby cry. Forceps were needed to assist in delivering her, as she was quite snug as predicted.

Baby Harper arrived safely via elective C-section on Friday 3rd April, weighing 8lbs 9oz. We are now soaking it all in and enjoying our little baby bubble 🫧.

If you’re at DVH today 👀
All elective c sections are being rescheduled due to water problems

Last weeks mum and baby yoga graduates, Charlotte has been in class since Feb 2025 🥰

“What if I panic during labour?”

This is one of the most common fears I hear from mums 🤍
Not because they’re not strong enough—
but because they haven’t been shown how to stay calm yet.

Birth isn’t about “just coping”
It’s about understanding what’s happening in your body
and having simple tools to support yourself through it ✨

That’s exactly what we focus on in my hypnobirthing classes
🌿 You’ll learn how to stay calm
🌿 You’ll understand your body
🌿 You’ll feel more in control of your birth

My next course starts Saturday and there are a few spaces left
If you’ve been thinking about it, now is the time 🤍

Book via my website (link in bio) or dm me for more info 💕

This story is from Izzie, who completed my hypnobirhting course in Darenth with her partner Eddie. Izzie also attended pregnancy yoga in Dartford from 16 weeks until the week of giving birth. At her last pregnancy yoga class Izzie was very fed up! And told everyone that she was going to book a c-section as she was uncomfortable. I advised that a c-section was a good option if that’s what she really wanted, but to maybe wait a few more days to see if anything changed, and a few days later she had a very straight forward birth.

Even though Izzie gave birth at the delivery suite, instead of birth centre as planned, she had the tools and knowledge to adapt. If you would like support through your pregnancy and birth I offer pregnancy yoga in Dartford on Mondays at 7pm or Saturdays at 10am. I also have another group hypnobirthing course starting on Saturday 25th (next week). This is a four week course (9.30-11.30am) and will take you from scared to prepared for birth. All classes can be booked on my website or dm me for more info 💞

Birth: 39+ 6 days

I’d joined Bloom and Flow Monday yoga sessions from 16 weeks of pregnancy and found them so helpful – especially the birth stories Colleen shared at the end of class and the useful tips on postures for birth. My partner and I also decided to do the hypnobirthing course in Darenth with Colleen, which was super helpful in understanding what actually happens during birth, the different techniques we could use to support me through it, and the relaxing MP3s.

Based on the course I’d decided I did not want to be induced, and would like to aim for a water birth at the birth centre. One key lesson I took from the course was that there are only certain things I can control, and that part of birth is embracing what is within /without of my control and being OK with going with whatever happens.

On the days leading up to the birth I’d been feeling very hormonal and impatient for the birth to happen! Now looking back the hormones were my body preparing me for labour, but at the time I felt super frustrated and decided to book in a c-section at 42 weeks if nothing had happened.

The day after I did that, I woke up with some period like pains, Eddie and I discussed whether he should go in to the office – we decided he should as it could be Braxton Hicks, and the pains stopped after he left. I had a relaxing day cooking and seeing a friend and then decided to have a nap around 5 after a raspberry leaf tea and some time on my exercise ball.

I woke from my nap to period like pains again and decided to open the app I’d chosen to use to time them. They were abut 15 mins apart. Knowing from the hypnobirthing course that labour can sometimes last for days, and the key was to ignore things for as long as possible. When Eddie came home I sent him off to boxing and started to get my Aromatherapy oils/fairy lights/cards/snacks out, all the while using the posture of leaning over the exercise ball to open up my pelvis every time I felt a contraction and the breathing techniques i’d learnt through the course. I also found i needed to poo a lot and knew from the course this was also a sign things were happening.!

Once Eddie got back from boxing, the contractions had started to get a bit stronger, and closer together so we brought out the tens machine. Eddie massaged my back every time I felt one and I used the breathing techniques learnt in the course, plus the app to count me through them. We also lit candles and put on some relaxing music. We continued like this for a couple of hours until they were 4 mins apart and then rang the maternity unit at darent valley hospital – they said to wait until it got to 3 mins apart. We had another hour of breathing through them and they were continually getting stronger, but the tens machine/leaning over and exercise ball/breathing helped me get through them. Suddenly, with one contraction, my waters broke and we realised we needed to go in now – it was a bit of a mad rush to get everything together, in the meantime my mucus plug also went and I was a bit concerned as thought there could be blood in my labour waters.

We rang the maternity unit and they said to come in now and put a pad on so they could check my waters. We left the flat and I had two really powerful contractions before I got into the car – once in the car I felt again like I needed to poo and the contractions were a lot stronger. A friend had given birth in an uber a few months ago (!) And I was keen that didn’t happen to me!, I focused on breathing/tens machine to get me through and the time in between them to rest.

We eventually made it to the birth centre (there were roadworks at main entrance to hosp so we ended up going to ambulance entrance and I was wheeled up by 5x paramedics up to the birth centre and they offered me gas and air). By this time I felt like I was entering a transition like stage and I kept feeling the need to poo (looking back this was defnan urge to push)!

I got to birth centre and they asked to examine me – I said yes (remembering from the hypnobirthing course it ‘ matter how dilated you were- as it wasn’t an indicator of how long the rest of labour would take) but the midwife was quite shocked when she examined me – as I was fully dilated!

All the work I’d done at home using hypnobirthing techniques had really paid off! However, after examining the pad they said there was meconimum in my waters so we would need to go to delivery suite. I asked if the two midwives could come with me which they agreed to. I knew that part of having a positive birth was accepting change/things you can’t control and happily went to the labour ward – we used BRAIN to ask about risks/benefits etc to this situation and agreed together that due to the risks we want him out as soon as possible so agreed to a ventouse and epsiiotomy. I felt calm and very present in the decision making throughout, continuing to use the breathing to get me through the contractions. There were quite a lot of people in the room, and once I had pushed the head out I even had the time to say my contractions had probably slowed because there were so many in there.

He cried as soon as he came out and the other Dr’s left the room (they’d been there in case there had been complications). We had skin to skin time, and tea and toast and a shower and then were taken for observation and left at 6pm that evening. The midwives and Drs were amazing – I was blown away by their kindness and pofessionalism and I’m so glad i was at Darenth for the birth! They were sorry I hadn’t had the water birth I’d wanted, but they hoped I understood why.

It felt like the perfect birth because even though it ‘ go exactly to plan I had the tools to help me with that and I had the majority of the labour at home – it was around 7 hours start to finish. I doubt I would have had this birth if it hadn’t been for pregnancy yoga and hypnobirthing. Thank you so much Colleen!

Turns out you can just go to yoga to feel good! Because yoga is so much more than getting into awkward positions, or being able to touch your toes. There is no right or wrong way to do yoga (as long as you are not causing harm to your body) because yoga is not simply a physical practice. Yoga is also about calming the mind, living your life with purpose and integrity and so much more. Feeling good after is the bonus!

Join me on the mat every week in Dartford. My schedule is;

Mondays at 7pm - pregnancy yoga in Dartford
Wednesdays at 10am - post natal yoga in Dartford
Fridays at 11.30am - pregnancy yoga in Gravesend
Saturdays at 8.45am - yoga flow in Darenth
Saturdays at 10am - Pregnancy yoga in Darenth

All dates are on my website until February