By some divine chance I stumbled upon Johanna Laurent's name while searching for a sage-femme (mid-wife) who gave private prenatal courses in Paris. Unlike the other midwives that I came across, Johanna caught my eye with her delightfully titled "gymnastique sensorielle perinatale" technique. Hmmm, what the hell is that? I had to know. I called her up to find out more about it. The moment I started chatting with her I was hooked. She was so sweet and attentive and asked all of the right questions, about my previous birth, what drew me to her, what my expectations were for my second birth, etc. Already I loved her! Over the course of the next couple of months Johanna worked with me on preparing me for the big day. The technique she practices is designed to give you the tools to manage your pain during childbirth by mastering two simple movements (convergence and divergence) that echo the same positions that babies make in utero. Before working with Johanna I had absolutely no intention of giving birth without meds. Not on my bucket list, no thank you! Even the thought of a medicine free birth freaked me out to no end. Johanna never put any pressure on me to go that route, but over the time we worked together, she instilled so much confidence in my ability to handle anything that might come my way that I felt up for the challenge! So on the d-day when I got to the clinique after several hours of contractions I bravely told the staff that I wanted to try this thing without an epidural. They joked with me, telling me to come back to them when I couldn't bear it anymore. Even my DR tried to get me to give in after 10 hours of contractions with not much change in my cervix. Over the course of it all, Johanna was coaching me along via text, telling me to follow my instincts, insist on taking a bath, not to give in to my DR's wishes to induce labor if I did't want it. She was an outstanding support! And thanks to her advice and my husband's in-house coaching which she prepared him perfectly for I was able to handle the 48 hours of contractions and give birth to my baby without any meds at all! Warrior woman hear me roaaarrr! It was by far the hardest thing I have ever done, both physically, emotionally and psychologically. Had I not worked with Johanna I never would have gone that route, and I am so thankful that I did! But my time with Johanna wasn't over there. After the birth she came over to check on me and the baby and started looking after both of us for different things. I wound up getting mastitis twice which she helped me heal with homeopathic remedies; she helped set me up for breastfeeding success after noticing that my son was tongue tied (which made it extremely painful to nurse), even sending me encouraging words at 11pm on one of the darkest nights of my life when I was ready to give up from so much pain; she helped get my coccyx back in place after the tiring birth. Bref, she was exceptional! And so generous with her time as she frequently consulted via text late at night or over the weekend if something came up. I can't say enough good about this woman. Wise, patient, nurturing, generous, attentive, healing -- never have I met someone who so perfectly embodies the profession that they practice. read more