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We planned a hospital birth with midwives, and it was so important to me to be able to manage my labor pain naturally. Joy’s amazing coping techniques and comfort measures made this possible. One of the most amazing things she did during the birth was put my partner at ease and coach him in what to do for me. It made my labor and birth the best night of my life. She helped maintain a calm, pleasant atmosphere throughout the night, and the support and encouragement I got as things got intense were such a gift to me.
Somehow, she always knew exactly what to say and do. Our birth was perfect, and it wouldn’t have been the same without Joy on our team. I can’t say enough good things about our experience with Joy Kraynak. If we have another child I will call her again without hesitation. I would recommend her to anyone.
-Jamie and Jeremy’s Experience
Working with Joy was, well to not be funny, a Joy. We began classes with her for HypnoBirthing a few months before our due date and we lucked into finding out that she was a Doula as well. When she offered us the opportunity to use her as one we weren’t really sure what to expect, but after meeting with her she helped calm any concerns that we may have had and made it obvious to us that she would only be there to help and be condusive to the birthing experience we wanted. Joy was coridal and answered all questions that we had prior to labor and then on the day of birth she showed up promptly after calling her at 2:00 AM. And luckily, cause we were at the hospital by 4:00. She was with us throughout the whole process and this technique she worked on my hips was amazing! At the same time she was taking pictures when the midwife was helping with me, which came out great and are the only labor and delivery room pictures we got. Not only was she an incredible doula but her HypnoBirthing class allowed me to have the natural and positive birth experience I was hoping for.
Joy made herself available to us at any time, offering to come over several times when I was just feeling sick and kept us informed of her schedule whenever she was leaving for a few hours. I would definitely reccommend her to anyone in the Richmond/Virginia area and furthermore would say take the HypnoBirthing class because the breathing techniques and other information really helped me a lot. I enjoyed working with Joy and like I said I can’t recommend her highly enough because she was truly great and made my first child birth an endearing experience. Thanks again!
-Zach and Katelyn
Joy encouraged me to look into hypnobirthing after a conversation we had regarding my fear of childbirth. The idea of childbirth had always intimidated me, but after learning more through hypnobirthing classes I was able to understand that the source of my anxiety was due to the way much of society portrays childbirth as unpleasant and complicated.
Through the HypnoBirthing classes we gained a deeper understanding of the birthing process and were fully prepared to make adjustments as needed without feeling anxious or overwhelmed. By using the exercises we’d learned I was able to listen to my body and respond as needed with as little medical intervention as possible.
Our daughter is such a happy child. We strongly believe HypnoBirthing played a vital role in how she is today because of how calm and relaxed her birth experience was.
Joy is a gentle and wonderful coach and her voice is instantly soothing. Her encouragement and support helped to make our first birthing experience a beautiful and unforgettable event.
-Sandra and Abram Jackson
Taking HypnoBirthing with Joy was a very good choice for us and I would recommend it to other pregnant women. She was so nice and we always looked forward to her coming over because she made us feel so confident about having a baby and being good parents. The homework that she gave us to do was actually enjoyable and it was no trouble to do the practice. After the last class was over she checked in to remind us to keep relaxing and practicing for our birth. Towards the end my surges got very tight and I started to get a little nervous a few times and James would put his hand on my shoulder and tell me to go deeper into relaxation and I did, just like we practiced! This made the surges much easier to handle, I mean they didn’t feel great but it was nothing I couldn’t handle by breathing and thinking about holding my baby. When the actual birthing time came I did bear down some but not really hard and only because my body did it automatically. I remembered to do the J breaths with each surge. This part did not hurt at all and I am really glad that I knew not to push really hard. A lot of people have told me that they can’t believe that I gave birth without pain meds, but the truth is that it really isn’t even that hard if you do HypnoBirthing!
-Beondra Greene