Bernadett Kasza is a Doula, Hypnobirthing Therapist, Antenatal Educator, Biomechanics for Birth Practitioner and Belly Dance Teacher.
Since 2011, she has been providing information and support to her perinatal clientele, actively championing their rights and wishes in the birthing room.
After her Midwifery studies, she left the profession to create a better educational and support system for women and their families. She has an impeccable record of getting her clients the birth they wish for.
By merging her social and scientific studies, Bernadett Kasza provides unparalleled services to families.
An hour-long Hungarian documentary (New Paths in The World of Birth) delves into her life and ground-breaking work in the field of birthing.
Bernadett Kasza, Birth Professional
Introduce yourself! Please tell us about you and your life, so we can get to know you better.
We are a multicultural family. My wonderful man is Italian, I am originally from Hungary and currently we live by the sea in Bournemouth, England. In our family, we prioritise outdoor activities, creativity, lots of books and screen-free family time together with our 6-year-old daughter. We love visiting historical sites and museums. I consider myself very lucky to have found a person with whom I share family values and passions.
What motivated you to establish the Womanly Art of Birth?
The core motivators were the shortcomings of our national healthcare system, especially maternity care. Midwives being deprived of the time to provide information and support to families and the outdated and often poor-quality evidence that maternity care provision is currently based on.
The fact is that when it comes to pregnancy and birth, every labour and birth is unique. No two pregnancies and births are the same even if we are talking about the same person. This is the point where a one-size-fits-all approach to everyone and blanket policies are creating a huge sacrifice that institutions must make to keep up with their workload.
It is important to note that institutions have to serve the public in huge numbers, therefore tailored care will only stretch to a very limited length.
I witnessed these shortcomings creating unnecessary mental and physical damage to women and families and I did not want to be part of it.
The lack of time, lack of application of quality evidence and lack of individualised care have all fuelled my decision to leave the system and begin to create a private support program that not only fills in for the aforementioned shortcomings but also provides a continuity of carer and a fully personalised approach to my clients.
What are the core values that guide your business?
At the core of Womanly lies a commitment to listening attentively to the needs and wishes of my clients and honing the ability to discern the unspoken. For instance, as a Doula, I employ a silent approach during births, closely observing my client's behaviour to gauge the progression of labour. This acute observation allows me to detect any potential issues such as labour slowing down or being obstructed, enabling me to step in when I’m needed. Thus, my core values revolve around open-mindedness, empathy, adaptability and proactive care to ensure the best possible birthing experience.
I cultivate critical thinking and a growth mindset; these values are represented in the continuous updating of my knowledge and expertise. I keep up to date by reading research publications and attending a variety of courses. Due to the complexity of Womanly, my knowledge needs to be vertically deepened and horizontally broadened across other areas, for example cross-cultural studies and psychology as well.
Compassion serves as the foundation of Womanly, embodying not only the essence of my business but also the deepest, most humble, and altruistic attitude to serving women, birthing people, and new families.
Essential principles such as working in a trauma-informed way, reliability, confidentiality and a non-judgemental heart-centred approach are crucial when working with individuals and families.
Could you describe the range of services and support offered by your organization to expectant mothers and their families?
The Womanly Art of Birth provides educational, advocational, physical, emotional and mental support to women and families before, during and after the perinatal period.
Educational courses:
The Antenatal Course is aimed to provide the best possible information to enable families to make informed decisions about the care they wish to receive. Besides learning about, for example, birth physiology, we also discuss “what if” questions like pre-term births, what happens if general anaesthesia is needed for emergency c-sections, and so on.
Parenting Skills Workshops are focused on learning about different parenting styles, how to care for a baby, newborn behaviour, and so on.
Maiden-to-Mother group classes are only open to women and those who identify as one. This course facilitates the transition into motherhood, commonly called ‘matrescence’. We work through a variety of ancient feminine archetypes by way of art, meditation, movement therapy and storytelling.
I teach Hypnobirthing on a one-to-one basis. Hypnobirthing isn’t just about serene visualisations and breathing babies into the world but it is also about deep work on the subconscious level, working through any negative thought patterns, feelings and internalised societal expectations. Hypnobirthing is one of the prime techniques in my signature ‘birth toolbox’.
Comprehensive support and advocacy:
I am a birthrights advocate, I support clients with writing letters to their consultants, along with accompanying them to their appointments. This support can be requested as a stand-alone service and is a core element of Doula support.
Doula support service is a fully comprehensive service where I work with my clients on a one-to-one basis throughout their pregnancy, birth and postnatal period. This encompasses all my other services into one suite and is completely tailored to my client's circumstances and wishes.
I also provide a special service to those who suffered a traumatic birth through birth trauma counselling.
Biomechanics for birth is aimed at optimising positioning and helping with physical discomfort during pregnancy, labour and birth, enhancing maternal comfort and reducing complications such as labour obstruction during the birthing process. I offer it as a stand-alone service or as part of my Doula suite.
I’m also a dancer, teaching the ancient art of Belly Dancing. This dance not only strengthens the body and provides great stamina for labour but is also a remarkable tool to learn how to surrender to the contractions and not work against them.
Last but not least, my wonderful colleagues and I have set out on a quest to support families even further by providing flexible housekeeping through the Womanly Act of Service.
Photo credits to Celine Moniot Photography
Can you highlight any specific methodologies or philosophies that distinguish your approach to childbirth education and support from others in the field?
The evolution of my professional method went from the usual snapshot approach to looking at the bigger picture. What I call ‘snapshot’ approach is when birth supporters only focus on the perinatal period. How we lead our lives before becoming pregnant, our childhood experiences, the environment and the society we grew up in and so on, have a huge influence not only on the way we give birth but also on our transition into motherhood. This is a vast and complex topic, without even mentioning the effects of transgenerational trauma. The Womanly Art of Birth applies bio-psycho-social-cultural and environmental approach.
A few years ago, a dear client of mine highlighted a very important difference. She was learning Hypnobirthing from me, but her story took an unexpected turn and following our discussion, we decided to focus on her unique circumstances. I was able to support her with the right information thanks to my diverse background. If this client had taken a course from someone who is solely a hypnobirthing practitioner, they would have lacked the skills and flexibility to support this client appropriately.
I have walked the talk, meaning that I have experience working in the NHS and can give my clients an insider view. I can provide them with the medical and the institutional (policy) perspective, and frame it for their circumstances. There are antenatal class providers who are also active midwives within the maternity services, which I always saw as a form of conflict of interest.
What I offer is comprehensive and aims to address issues from multiple angles.
Although there are many Doulas, Hypnobirthing practitioners and antenatal educators providing services, I have yet to find a complete support system like the one I have created for expecting families.
Could you share a testimonial or success story that exemplifies the positive impact of your services on a family's childbirth experience?
A few years ago, I was contacted by a second-time mum, inquiring about Doula support. She had a severely traumatic birth the first time, which left her with serious physical and emotional trauma. After our initial meet-up, she chose me as her Doula and we worked together throughout her pregnancy.
When someone chooses Doula support by Womanly, they have access to all my other services too. This lady chose belly dancing and hypnobirthing, to enrich her knowledge and learn coping strategies for her labour and birth. We had long conversations during our regular 2-hour sessions and worked through her previous birth trauma too which is often an extremely delicate topic and can be very difficult to overcome. She dived deep into reading more and more birthing books, which provided reassuring feedback on her improvement and ability to soar above her previous experience.
This was quite the journey for her and her family, but in the end, she had a trauma-free and healing birth experience. I was present at the birth and stayed by her side overnight. Her newborn baby was so peaceful. He breastfed very well and they both had a restful night.
I was profoundly grateful that I could support this family to have a truly life-changing experience and overwrite the horrors of the previous birth.
Tell us about your greatest career achievement so far.
Gladly. All my doula support clients had the birth experience they wished to have, be it operative or natural. Those who chose vaginal birth had a successful normal birth without the use of any pharmaceutical pain relief (no, not even gas and air!).
What are your plans for the future?
Currently, I am working with a designer to create something wonderful for expecting women and birthing people. We will launch this product in June.
Towards the end of the year, I am planning to introduce an online training program based on the antenatal class material. This project aims to broaden accessibility for families worldwide, beyond the confines of the UK, ensuring that valuable information is available to those who need it.
Photo credits to Tom Saros Photography
Read more from Bernadett Kasza
