What It’s Really Like Running Group Hypnobirthing Courses
So many of us who train to become Hypnobirthing teachers dream of running our own group classes one day.
There’s something magical about the buzz of a group - the shared laughter, the sense of community, the energy in the room as parents prepare together. And of course, it’s also a wonderful way to make your time go further and boost your income.
Let’s do a bit of group course maths for fun.
Imagine you’re running a group Hypnobirthing course across three Saturday mornings, 9.30am -12.30pm. You charge £250 per couple and have six couples booked on. That’s £1,500 in earnings - minus your venue, resources and a few biscuits for tea break. Not bad for three mornings doing something you love!
It’s no wonder group courses are a goal for so many Hypnobirthing Instructors when they take the plunge to become a Hypnobirthing Teacher. But as exciting as they are, setting them up can come with a mix of nerves, overthinking and “what if no one books?” moments.
To give you a real behind-the-scenes look, we spoke to three of our wonderful Love Your Birth graduates about their experiences running group courses and they’ve shared some brilliant tips you’ll love.
Sophie Conneely
Sophie, Norfolk studied our Hypnobirthing Teacher course a couple of years ago. She shared with us that she “felt so nervous before running my first group course. I had been used to 1-2-1 courses, so more people felt like more pressure!”
“I knew being nervous was similar feelings to being excited so I tried to change my mindset that I was just excited which really helped. Also, some calm breathing and affirmations worked brilliantly.”
We asked her what she has found works really well during group courses, she said “Group discussions work very well in Group Courses, I think it really helps people to feel a bit more comfortable with each other and helps to feel relaxed.”
“My previous group courses loved the 'C- Shape' hand demo which shows the difference between relaxed and tense muscles. Group tasks of putting the stages of labour in order and working out the Myth or Reality quiz were always very popular and engaging.”
We agree! Interactive tasks are a must for group courses to avoid the reading from a PowerPoint approach no one wants to have.
Sophie also says “try and build a relationship with each client before the course starts, so they feel welcomed and like they know you more too and it tends to then open up easy conversations at the start when you have already been chatting beforehand.”
Now, before hosting a group course, we’ve got to actually get bookings so we asked Sophie about this. She said “My top tips for marketing a Group Course would be to plan at least a few months ahead (if not longer!) so you don't feel rushed to get clients.”
“Also, potential clients aren't going to book on to the first post they see about your new group course (if only it was that easy haha!) they need reminding about it, a lot! Really emphasising WHY it is going to help them instead of just laying out the basics (location and how long it's for etc) is very beneficial to potential clients too.”
Sophie acknowledges that planning your first group Hypnobirthing course is a scary. But Sophie says “If your feeling nervous about running a group course is to remember your clients have chosen you! Remember you are the expert and you are helping them at such an important time in their lives. Be yourself too! That is what makes you different and what clients will love. You don't need to know everything, you know enough!”
Sophie's business Bumps and Births can be found on Instagram here and her website is www.bumps-and-births.com
Becky Binkiewicz
Becky is a highly experienced Hypnobirthing teacher and also helps others out in their business too so we were so grateful to her for sharing her experience on this.
Becky says “So, group Hypnobirthing courses? Do you love ‘em or hate ‘em? Personally, I LOVE them, but I must be honest here and say that while I’ve always loved them, I was initially also very scared of them too!”
We asked her what she was scared of and she said “Everything really, from marketing, to nobody turning up even though they’d booked, worried I’d be lost for words (admittedly this is yet to happen), that I’d be locked out of the building and any anything else I could think of.”
Tell us about your first group Hypnobirthing class “I think my worst nerves were probably before my very first group course. I can’t even tell you why, I think it’s perhaps because when something is important to us it does make us feel a little anxious. I think that this is perfectly natural and normal. Surely it would be worse to have a course booked and not give a shizzle?”
“I found three things which helped me overcome these nerves.
- Practising what I preach and using all the calming techniques I was about to teach everyone else.
- Using my fave life affirmation ‘if you can birth a baby,you can do this’.
- Getting on with it and doing the session. Once it’s done it’s done. You only have to do your very first group once! Afterwards you’ll be on such a high you’ll wonder why you were ever nervous.”
Structure wise Becky says “I have typically run my sessions over four weeks of 2-hour sessions, I wrote my own course so 4 weeks flows quite well in the format I have. I like to make sure that I’m not talking at people constantly, so I break each session up with something. I show a video in each session (5-minute birth relevant to that sessions topics) and do an activity.”
“I’ve done ALLSORTS of activities from building a fab birth environment out of Lego to a quiz focussed on the things I feel are important. There is a £10 Amazon voucher as a prize so things can get quite serious particularly if a couple disagree on an answer!”
We asked her what the secret of success is. She said “There are loads of ways of making groups a success, it’s so important to put your own stamp on your sessions and make them really ‘you’. People will love it.”
Becky kindly summed up her very best advice for other Hypnobirthing teachers about to start groups. “Some of the most important things I have learned about marketing and delivering group courses in 11 years of teaching are …
- Scheduling and marketing your course very well in advance will help it fill rather than announcing it then forgetting about it and panic marketing two weeks before(ahem)
- Talk about it ALL THE TIME, social media is mean and only shows a fragment of your fab content to your followers
- Take FABULOUS snacks, many of my clients have been via word of mouth, all of them knew about the snacks before arriving!
- Allow people to book their space with a deposit and make it very obvious and very easy for them to do that for example a PayPal button and not ‘dm me’ most of us are too awkward for that.
If you’re reading this and planning your first group hypnobirthing course, be excited! They are SO much fun. You get to know people pretty well and by the end it doesn’t even feel like work. Oh, and money comes in too, which is kinda nice!”
You can find Becky over on Instagram here or over on her website www.thebirthbizhub.com
Hannah Brown
Hannah is an experienced Hypnobirthing teacher and incredibly supportive mentor at Love Your Birth and has been running group courses for over 7 years.
Hannah has run hypnobirthing group courses from different venues over the years but found that teaching from her living room best suited her and her clients.
Hannah said "I love teaching from home, there's no rent to pay, I feel comfortable and so do my clients, it's really easy to access and we have a downstairs loo which helps too. I can make it nice and cosy and people really do feel at home, often putting their feet up and getting comfy with the cushions and blankets."
We asked Hannah what it was like teaching her first group course compared to teaching groups now, 7 years later. She said "it is really nerve wracking running your first ever group course, you will get butterflies and feel anxious but once you have done it, you will leave on such a high, I still get nervous and excited butterflies even now but I really do love running group courses and the more you do it, the easier it becomes."
Hannah now runs her group courses across 2 Sunday mornings, each one lasting 4 hours, she tells us that this is what works best for her family, 'obviously my husband and kids have to leave the house whilst I teach, so doing 2 longer sessions works better for us as a family.'
Hannah shared with us her favourite tips on making group courses run smoothly and helping to keep people engaged for 4 hours:
1. Buy yourself a hot water container so that people can pour their own cups of tea and coffee, it saves you having to make them all and it tends to be quicker for them to make their own. Don't forget the decaf coffee too.
2. Allow plenty of smaller breaks, along with a longer one, even just 5 minutes here and there for people to get a drink and go to the loo, it helps to keep them interacted. Remember the snacks, have some in the kitchen but also in the room that you are in too, think fruit, biscuits, cereal bars etc.
3. Encourage people to get up and move around during the break times, this will help them to make conversation with others in the group and if it's nice weather outside you could prompt them to get some fresh air too. If people sit for the entire session, they will start to feel tired and lose interest.
4. Include lots of tasks, demos and get them chatting to their birth partner and each other too. I like to get them drawing and often use the jelly baby in a bottle demo which gets them laughing as well. I often go by the rule, teach for no longer than 20 minutes and then have some type of task.
Hannah says "remember that in the early days, a group may be 2 sets of expectant parents but that is still a group, talk about your courses as much as possible and eventually word of mouth will be so good for you and your business and eventually you might even need a waiting list."
Hannah's top tips for get group hypnobirthing bookings include:
1. Putting dates out for the full year if possible, get them scheduled in and then people have the chance to book there and then as all your dates are visible.
2. If possible use a booking system so that they can book straight away with a deposit, that way they don't have to contact you back and forth.
3. Use photos from previous classes if you have permission from the people that attended, this shows real life people taking your courses.
You can follow Hannah over on her Instagram page here or head to her website www.hypnobirthingwithhannah.co.uk to find out more about her courses.
Ready to start teaching your own group Hypnobirthing courses with confidence?
At Love Your Birth, we give you everything you need- comprehensive training, beautiful resources and ongoing support to teach inspiring and professional Hypnobirthing classes, both one-to-one and in groups.
Find out more about our Hypnobirthing Teacher Training here and become a Hypnobirthing instructor yourself - www.loveyourbirthtraining.com/train
