Before I had even birthed any of my babies, I was drawn into the wonderful world of birth! I watched movies like Business of Being Born and Ina May Gaskin's Birth Story and would ask mom's who had babies how their births went?! Quickly learning the so-called "normal" birthing is a nightmare experience for many moms. I read books and articles supporting natural childbirth and started to set my mind and self up for what I thought and I still believe birth was always meant to be. A beautiful part of us, a part of what women do, not something horrid that happens to us. I honestly, never fell for a curse on Eve during childbirth to be painful. I do believe that immense fear present in a birthing women's body can cause pain during childbirth. Women have been through generations of fear, of course birthing women are scared!

When I was pregnant with my first, I saw HypnoBirthing for the first time on a Instagram post. I checked out the website, found an instructor and we went to the class. To me it all clicked and it was exactly the childbirth class I knew I needed to help ensure this calmer birth I had been pinning for. During labor and birth I thought I was far from calm or following any of the practices we learned. But everyone around me said otherwise, that I was calm and my birth did go swiftly, powerfully and peacfully.

How I decided to become a certified instructor happened about 8 months after I had my first baby. A close friend of mine reached out for guidance close to her due date because her baby was breech and she was scheduled for a cesarian. Frightened and nervous she came to me to ask about HypnoBirthing and if I could help her. I loaned my book and showed her my papers but I didn't have the neccesary tools to help her fully for the techniques she needed. Because of that situation and the passion that I have always had towards a woman's natural ability to birth more beautifully, I enrolled in the course and am a certified HypnoBirthing Instructor as of August 2015.

Rena Chandler is a mother of two wild boys, long time journal writer, birthing families educator, yogi and art lover. Through her own inspiring HypnoBirthings with her two sons, sharing this gentle birth wisdom has become a passion of hers. She currently lives in beautiful Vista, California with her husband and sons.