When massage therapist Cindi Gilmore gave birth this past June to her third child, the experience was markedly different from those that she’d had with her first two babies. “With this pregnancy, not only was I a lot more at peace, I was a lot more confident,” she says. “I felt more centered and more focused this time around.”

Wendy Baum, who is expecting her first child in November, says she’s not feeling many of the mommy-to-be anxieties that most women report, and in fact she’s feeling confident in her body’s ability to go through labor—and in her own abilities to be a good parent.

Although their backgrounds are different and their experiences are, too, what binds these women together is that they both believe in the principles of Calm Birth, a meditation-based birthing experience that offers women a complementary tool to use prenatally, during labor, and after birth. Founded more than ten years ago by Robert Newman, who apprenticed for 20 years with Tibetan meditation teachers and doctors, Calm Birth may sound like it’s too good to be true—can techniques as simple as meditation, affirmation, visualization, and abdominal breathing really make a difference when it comes to an experience as intense as pregnancy and birth?—but its benefits are hard to dispute. The practice of Calm Birth has been lauded for its ability to improve health and emotional well-being, and for giving women the ability to believe in their bodies and trust their instincts.

The advantages of Calm Birth and its potential to elevate the birthing process are what caught the attention of Christine Novak, RNC, HNC, CCE, a labor and delivery nurse at Overlook Hospital for 18 years. She was researching the roles of oxytocin and skin-to-skin contact when she came across Calm Birth and began looking into that, too. “This is what I’ve been searching for,” Novak says she remembers thinking last year, when she first read about Calm Birth. “This is the missing piece in prenatal care in this country.”

Her revelation compelled her to appeal to Overlook management: Newman would be holding a three-day teacher-training course in New York City in June 2007, and Novak wanted to learn more. “I need to be there,” she told her supervisors. “It’s that important. This is my vision for our hospital.” In exchange for permission to attend the course, Novak struck this bargain: If Overlook would open its doors to Calm Birth, she would take as much time as necessary to mentor other nurses.

“That was my commitment to the hospital,” Novak says, and she has delivered. Novak has taken four three-day training seminars in the past year, has become a certified Calm Birth instructor, and has recruited fellow Overlook nurses to participate and become instructors. Now Overlook has become the first hospital on the East Coast to begin teaching patients about Calm Birth, and Novak says Overlook aims to be the epicenter of Calm Birth on the East Coast as its popularity spreads. In fact, by the time the hospital holds its third all-day Introduction to Calm Birth on October 7 and its first three-day teacher-training class October 10-12, it will have five Calm Birth instructors to its credit.

A New Method for the 21st Century

Calm Birth structures itself on three practices, merging centuries-old wisdom with modern understanding of healing, the energy body, and quantum physics. The Practice of Opening is a reclining progressive-relaxation technique that allows a woman to release nervous-system stresses to optimize neural responses in herself and in her unborn baby. Womb Breathing is a sitting meditation that brings in full oxygenation and increased energy for greater function in childbirth. This helps women progressively recognize and release anxiety and fear in preparation for labor. In Giving and Receiving, another sitting meditation, the pregnant woman transforms any effects of shock and trauma that may still be present from her own birth. Here, a pregnant woman learns to breathe in the energy of any pain, stress, illness, or trauma within her or her baby and breathe out calm, healing energy in its place.

Following a three-hour training class, all of the tenets of Calm Birth are available to practice; an audio CD guides the way. Novak emphasizes that women who are curious about Calm Birth but who have never meditated should not hesitate to try it. Previous mediation experience is not necessary, and with some patience and perseverance it can be learned at any stage of pregnancy—though the earlier a woman takes a class and starts practicing, the better.

“What’s great about Calm Birth is that it goes with any kind of birth experience,” says Manager of Patient Education Amy Gole, RNC, Ed.M., herself a certified Calm Birth instructor. “It’s complementary. It will work with whatever birth experience people are looking for. It can be used for a woman who wants an epidural or pain medication, a woman who wants an unmedicated birth, a woman who has a C-section.”

If this seems unlikely—too “one size fits all” to be right for you—consider that meditative techniques like those utilized in Calm Birth have been proven to improve the functionality of the nervous system and bolster the immune system, the endocrine system, and the adrenal system—all of which fosters better health and better healing and a clearer mind-set.

“In pregnancy, we’re bombarded with stress every day,” says Novak. “Most of us do not sleep well, do not breathe properly. We go to sleep tired, we wake up tired. We really don’t know how to take care of ourselves. We need to teach women how to take care of themselves. We need to learn how to quiet the mind—to release the fears and anxiety, decrease our fear of anxiety and apprehension, decrease stress hormones like cortisol. An undercurrent of concern robs us of vitality. We’re in this worried state.”

The baby, too, reaps the benefits of Calm Birth. “The stress hormones we release, the baby receives,” says Novak. “With Calm Birth, the baby feels what it is like when mom is calm and settled, and the baby receives benefits before she is born.” Plus, she says, new moms often don’t have energy to be with their baby in an ideal way. When the mother is healthier in body and mind, she can be more available to her baby.

Is Calm Birth Right for You?

“The reason I’m so excited about Calm Birth,” says Novak, “is that it complements everything we do. It doesn’t interfere—it only benefits. It teaches women how to care about themselves, appreciate their bodies, enhance their healthiness. We don’t know how to take care of ourselves well. We don’t trust ourselves that we’re capable of birthing. But we have this power within ourselves. It doesn’t have to be as difficult as it is.”

The Benefits of Calm Birth

• Natural elevation in DHEA, melatonin, and serotonin, so you’ll sleep more restfully


• Improved restorative sleep


• Decreased stress hormones, anxieties, and fear


• Decreased blood pressure


• Normalized heart rate


• Improved sense of well-being

To schedule a Calm Birth class, please call 866-869-0093.