“If we hope to create a non-violent world where respect and kindness replace fear and hatred, we must begin with how we treat each other at the beginning of  life..."  

~Suzanne Arms

Not long after giving birth to twins at the age of 42, I took them for a check-up with a close colleague and friend - a Naturopath and Acupuncturist – who was delighted with the health of the babies and also with my quick recovery.

She looked at me and said: “Vivien, you have had the good fortune to have the knowledge to help you achieve all this. You need to share this with others so that they can be as fortunate too. I think you should write a book.”

So, the first seed of writing Wellness Our Birthright was planted in my mind. Added to this were all the experiences in my own practice with helping women, not only with fertility challenges, but also with all the complications through pregnancy and the early stages of motherhood. It was heartbreaking to see some of the suffering that could have been avoided by having knowledge in advance.

If women can increase their understanding through accurate knowledge and gain an enhanced trust in their bodies then the whole process of pregnancy and childbirth, can be a natural and joyful experience. Did you know, for example, that the body makes its own painkillers? Or that there is a hormone of love that passes between the mother and her baby? It is this sort of information that begins the journey into parenthood, more easily.

I have a passion for collating and compiling this type of information. However, one of the challenges in writing the book was how to filter this and make everything less complicated, while ensuring you could still use it as a comprehensive source for all the information you need.

Most people don’t have time to read huge amounts of text, so I decided to use a question and answer format for you to dip into and out of as required. (You can see examples of this in read some extracts.)

In doing my research for the book I also learnt information that I hadn’t known before, which made me even more determined to get this information out, because I believe it is our – and the next generation’s - birthright to be able to share and benefit from such knowledge.

Equally, a number of my clients gained tremendous joy and happiness through their experiences, many of whom kindly gave me permission to write up their personal stories as case histories. I therefore wanted to share these experiences with you, as with others in the practice, in order that we may gain insight and understanding to make our lives, or someone else’s, easier.

There are many wonderful books on the individual subjects of pre-pregnancy, pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding. Also there are others that look at the subject from either an emotional, psychological, nutritional or developmental point of view. But a number of my clients asked if there was a single source, in an easy-to-read and non-judgemental format, where they could learn about the whole process from all points of view. So that was what I decided to write!

It is also my goal that the information in this book will have a cascading effect within and between generations – spreading understanding of the benefits of natural health like ripples across a pond.

As Suzanne Arms says so beautifully: “If we hope to create a non-violent world where respect and kindness replace fear and hatred, we must begin with how we treat each other at the beginning of life. For that is where our deepest patterns are set. From these roots grow fear and alienation or love and trust.”

Add to that the physical health of each individual cell, and you will understand what an important job you are about to undertake!