Book launch: 'Empowered Birth: lessons from sport psychology for your maternity journey' by Dr Carla Meijen

Dr Carla Meijen and Marie-Claire Stanmore will give the audience an insight to how sport psychology and movement can be helpful to consider on the maternity journey. In the session, there will be an opportunity to try out some of the lessons from sport psychology during an interactive seated yoga and breathing practice. They will offer some practical take-home messages that will be beneficial not only to those on their maternity journey, but also those around them including their birth partner, health professionals, and educators.

Carla will set out how sport psychology principles can be applied to the pregnancy, birth, and post-partum experience. You will learn what approaching the maternity journey as a positive challenge could look like, by drawing on and adding to what you already have in your mental skills toolbox, potentially without even knowing it. Carla will also give an insight to some of the psychological strategies that are covered in her book. Marie-Claire will then take the audience through a guided breathing and a seated yoga practice.

Together, Carla and Marie-Claire show how to promote advocacy on the maternity journey. Everyone can participate, and it is not necessary for the audience to have any experience to be able to participate in the session.

What to expect from the event?

• The event starts at 7pm. Arrival from 6.30pm.
• An introduction to the book Empowered Birth with an overview of some lessons that can be learned from sport psychology.
• Seated yoga poses.
• Guided breathing practice.
• Reflection on use of sport psychology techniques and how these can be used as part of the maternity journey.

About the presenters

Dr Carla Meijen

Dr Carla Meijen is an associate professor in Applied Sport Psychology and course leader for the MSc Applied Sport Psychology at St Mary’s University. She is a chartered sport psychologist with the British Psychological Society and registered with the Health and Care Professions Council. In her research, she focuses on the mental demands of endurance performance, stress, and emotions in sport and how to turn pressure in a positive challenge.

Dr Meijen has published her research in academic journals and books, and she has provided expert analysis for publications and organisations such as:

• The New York Times
• Runner's World
• The Sunday Times Magazine
• Women’s Health
• the BBC.

Marie-Claire Stanmore

Marie-Claire Stanmore is a sports massage therapist, pilates and yoga teacher, and professional trainer in all three disciplines of 25 years. She has written two books exploring a more authentic approach to understanding movement by using Newton’s third law, and a pain management book for sufferers of long-term pain.

In all areas of practice, Marie-Claire focusses on the power of calming the nervous system to improve physical and mental wellbeing, whilst also empowering clients to take ownership of their own physical experiences and learn to manage them more effectively.

More recently, Marie-Claire has established a support network for women suffering from perinatal and postnatal distress and uses all these techniques and many more to support women to advocate for themselves and find peace on their journey to and beyond motherhood.