About Me
Experience the birth of your dreams…
My name is Susan McClutchey. Since I began teaching Hypnobabies in 2004, I have had the honor of working with hundreds of expectant couples. Over the years, I have become a member of the Hypnobabies Advisory Committee. In 2016, I was honored to begin training new Hypnobabies instructors across the nation and world.
I work with families who want to give themselves and their baby the gift of a safe, comfortable and enjoyable birth. My goal is for all families to know that they have the option of a safe, comfortable birth without needing drugs.
That option is hypnosis for childbirth.
I wasn’t always confident about childbirth. Initially, I was terrified of birth, and had no intention of giving birth without medication. However, I am a chemical engineer and very analytical thinker, which means I tend to research all the most important decisions in my life. (Ok, I’ll admit, I tend to research everything.) The more I learned about childbirth, the more I realized that I didn’t need to choose between suffering or medication to birth my baby. I found an approach that used sound science to teach parents what they could do to greatly improve the odds of birthing comfortably. The techniques are also used by people who have chronic pain as well as those who need to have surgery, but are unable to use pharmaceutical anesthetics. The techniques are powerful, easy to learn and offer many benefits, such as improved sleep, increased confidence and a more enjoyable pregnancy.
Despite my research, I had never met anyone who used hypnosis for their birth, so I was skeptical. I decided to use it anyway, because I had nothing to lose. I had learned that the skills could be used in coordination with any other comfort techniques I might choose, and there are no negative side-effects. I knew I could always choose to get medication if I still felt the need. My first birth was over 24 hours long, and complicated. I was as surprised as anyone when I remained calm and focused the whole time, and never had any need for pain medication. My husband and I were lucky to discover the joy of a comfortable, unmedicated birth using hypnosis before the birth of our first child. We went on to have even better experiences with our second and third children using Hypnobabies.
Even after that first birth experience, I never expected to become an instructor. But after Hypnobabies gave me an even better experience with my second birth, I became passionate about sharing this knowledge with other growing families who can benefit from it.
I love to hear from new parents who are exploring their childbirth choices, so feel free to call and chat with me. I am always happy to answer e-mails as well, but find I can usually answer your questions more quickly and thoroughly over the phone.
-Susan McClutchey, HCHI
To contact me for more information regarding my Hypnobabies classes held in Durham, North Carolina call me at (919) 806-8560 or use the contact form on this website.