Testimonies

Deborah Saliby teaches hypnobirthing seminars and one-day workshops. We went to a one-day workshop, which was very nice, and even my super-skeptical husband felt pretty comfortable with it. Her seminars have gotten a lot of local and worldwide media attention, so they may fill up fast.
Her number is 510-541-1395, or 510-527-9266.

Debra-
I gave birth to a beautiful, healthy baby girl on May 4th - my exact due date.  Her name is Laila Ruth Shapiro.  She weighed 7 lbs. 4 oz. and labor was pretty quick - about 4 1/2hours - and while not at all painless, I didn't need any drugs.  I'm recovering well and enjoying the new baby very much (except her late night farm animal noises).  Thank you so much for the yoga, I think it helped with labor and it certainly helped with the discomfort of pregnancy.  I'm so glad to not be pregnant anymore!  It just wasn't as fun the second time around (and to think my grandmother came from a family with 14 brothers and sisters! yikes!)  Maybe I'll be able to make it to postpartum yoga someday.
Namaste,
Gina

Hi Deborah,
We just had our baby Monday night. thanks to li, our doula, and your hypnobirthing teachings, we delivered in four hours. We are in awe that sequoia Luna mah is in our lives. Will be joining postnatal yoga hopefully in a month or two. Thanks for asking. I think li sent you the link to our website with the pictures? Thanks for asking about us.
Yvette

Hi Deborah!
Thanks for the kind words.  Yes, it sure was a lot of deep breathing.  Everything we learned in hypnobirthing really helped!  It didn't turn out quite how we expected, but the ultimate goal of vaginal birth was achieved.  There were 2 times when they were really pushing for a c-section but we found a way around it both times.  I did end up having to have pitocin since my water had been broken for 2 days and I wasn't dilated nor was I having regular contractions (just once every 10-60 minutes). We (I say we because Adam was a HUGE part of it) managed the evil pitocin contractions with breathing and relaxation for 6 hours but when they checked me, I wasn't dialated at all and the baby's heart rate was dropping.  I didn't want a c-section, so they offered the epidural to help my body relax further.  It ended up doing just that after 6 more hours of contractions (I could still feel my legs which was great).  The epidural wore off by the time it was time to push so I could feel everything, which was just what I wanted!  What an amazing experience it was to push him out.  I was the greatest 7 minutes of my life.  They said I was a great pusher, and I attributed it all to the breathing techniques I learned from you.
Thanks!
Susie

Deborah,
It has taken me 10 weeks to find the time to write you a note of thanks - but I figure better late than never. I wanted to thank you for sharing your birth expertise with us during the Hypnobirthing course this Spring. I am happy to report that we followed  through with the plan of a natural childbirth! Even though the doctor decided it was time to induce 6 days past my due date and ordered pitocin to get things started - I still managed to get through without any other medical intervention. The HYPNOBIRTHING techniques helped prepare us for a relaxed delivery.  I truly believe the affirmations worked - my body and baby worked together for a smooth delivery, we had a baby that was the perfect size for my body and we were overjoyed to have her finally with us! Jeff did a great job coaching me through the surges- I could not have made it without his guidance and support. The team at Alta Bates totally respected the relaxed environment we wanted and supported a natural childbirth in every way that they could.
Justine Taylor Simons was born on May 31st, 12:24 am. 6lbs 10 oz, 19.5 inches long. I thought it might be helpful to provide feedback about one aspect of the labor that I was not prepared for in case it could help others in the future. While I was able to relax and concentrate on positive thoughts during the surges - I was not prepared for the examinations from the nurses to see how labor was progressing. The exams interrupted my focus and felt intrusive. I felt it had nothing to do with my baby and body working together. I felt I did not have a tool to manage the time during the exam and began to fear them.
I think it would be helpful if the HYPNOBIRTHING course covered this area of delivery and provided some ideas of how to manage the necessary checks as part of HYPNOBIRTHING not an interruption to it. I know it would have helped me cope with this aspect of delivery.
When people ask about our labor it is such a blessing to share a positive history - it was one of the most incredible mind/body experiences of my life. I feel lucky to have found methods and experienced people who let us know it was possible to have a child in a positive, healthy, and natural way. I'll send you a photo album link so you can see a few pictures of our precious girl.
You really touched our lives - thank you!
Cynthia

Dear Deborah          July 4, 2005
It's been almost three weeks since my baby arrived, and I want to take a moment to thank you for your role in helping my pregnancy and birth go smoothly. I loved your prenatal yoga class and know they helped me stay comfortable and centered.  The hypnobirthing techniques we learned from you were invaluable in maintaining relaxation during labor, especially in the early stages of what turned out to be a long (32-hour) labor.  I managed to give birth without any medication, which was my goal, and so our daughter was remarkably alert and awake as soon as she was born, and I recovered quickly.  So thank you for all of your support and teaching over the past months.  Your insights contributed much to my happy pregnancy and birth and I'm grateful.
Best,
Lynne

Hi Deborah!
Sorry it's taken so long to get back to you. I would definitely like to tell you all the details. When I see you next I can tell you the whole story. To sum up though... it was a wonderful experience and I am SOOO glad I did the hypnobirthing. Labor was an intense 7.5 hours but I was so excited and happy the whole time. No fear at all. His head was a little cocked in there so I had some back pain but I felt focused and calm the whole time. I even snoozed through a few contractions in the shower at the hospital. Chad and my doula were great about talking to me through the whole event and using cues that reminded me of the relaxation practice.  They also had some good techniques like the "hip squeeze" that helped a lot with the backache.  I pushed about 45 minutes I guess. The breathing down thing wasn't working for me so I ended up pushing, but it wasn't tiring. I did get a tear that needed stitches so the only meds I got was the local for the stitches. Afterward I was really happy (probably really high on endorphins). I wouldn't say it was easy, birth is an intense experience! But it wasn't traumatic or seriously painful. All the discomfort had a place because I knew what was happening to my body.
I'm looking forward to seeing you in person.
I'll stop by the studio some time soon, or Chad and I could drop by your place with some goodies from the bakery if you schedule allows. There is One fact I have to save for when I see you in person. To give you a hint,
it was the relaxation CD that got me into labor. ;-) It's a good story.
Thanks from both Chad and I for getting us going with the hypnobirthing and the great Yoga classes. The top three choices we made in the whole pregnancy and childbirth were our doula, the hypnobirthing, and the yoga.
I'm so glad we fell into these things.
Our baby Sage is doing great. He was 9lbs 5oz at birth and in the last three weeks has beefed up to over 11 lbs!
Hope all is well with you!
Christina

Hi Deborah -
I hope you are well.  I don't think I ever let you know that I pretty much had the delivery of my dreams -- 6 hours from beginning to end.  In case you are interested, or want to pass on my story to people in your class, here it is.  I did a lot to get my labor to happen "on time" (acupuncture, etc.) Because I had gestational diabetes and my doctor was concerned about me going too far past my due date.  My water broke in the morning on my due date (Jan 9th), but I didn't have any contractions or anything. The doctor said I needed to go to the hospital immediately, but we ignored that advice and stayed home for 5 hours, taking walks, doing nipple stimulation, etc., to get labor going.  We got to the hospital, but still nothing, and I was barely dilated or effaced. I refused to be put on pitocin, but I checked into a room and spent the next 2 hours "running" back and forth and doing nipple stimulation. At about 3:30pm, labor started with a bang (no gentle beginning).  I went from 0 to 60 in about 2 minutes.  I knew I wanted an epidural before labor started, so I got one at 3 cm (1 hour into labor).  Felicia Roche was our doula and she arrived in hour 2, when I was about 5 cm; she was incredible, because the baby got stuck in a high position and Felicia helped her come down.  After 5 hours, I was fully dilated and was able to push. The epidural never really worked (it numbed my legs really well), but it took the edge off during transition so I was delighted that I had it. When it came time to push, I could feel everything, so I knew how to push. 45 minutes of pushing and little Anika Lieberman Venezia popped out (we decided to do the matriarchal naming thing and used my last name). Dan was just fabulous -- with me every step of the way and incredibly encouraging and loving. The experience drew us even closer together.
I used the hypnobirthing techniques the entire time (breathing, relaxing my muscles, going into myself but staying present enough to listen to what was going on around me).  It helped me stay completely relaxed and calm the entire time. I found that the breathing and meditation exercises we had done beforehand were crucial for an easy delivery.  It was a great experience. Most importantly, I think it helped me prepare my mind and body for what was to come, so I knew how important it was for me to stay relaxed.  So --from a skeptic (I'll admit it!) -- thanks!
Thanks so much!
Warm regards,
Andrea

Hi Deborah,
Just wanted to check in and let you know that my son, Dexter, arrived 8 days early on Oct 3 at 231am -- 5 and half hours from the time I got to Alta bates to the time I delivered!  He was 7 lbs 7 oz and 19 inches long. I wanted to let you know how incredibly helpful the prenatal yoga classes proved to be for the birth/delivery.  Given that I was a novice and somewhat of a skeptic about the role of yoga in childbirth, I was impressed with my ability to breathe through the contractions and maintain calm.  I honestly did not attend your classes with the intention that it would serve a direct purpose to the child birth -- I thought at most it would check my stress level during pregnancy -- but I was delighted when the breathing techniques I learned in your class allowed me to pass on the epidural and any other interventions!  I can't believe I delivered without any drugs!! Anyhow, thank you thank you thank you!  I am now a true believer and cannot imagine not taking your class again for child #2! 
Hope all is well on your end!
Warm regards and many thanks,
Anatasia

Deborah
Well we finally received our little one into the world.  She was 6 days overdue but all is forgiven.  She was born on Tuesday at 11.47pm after an extremely fast labor (from 2 centimeters to fully dilated in less than 3 hours and then just 2 pushes!!).   We walked the corridors for an hour and doing cat/cow intermittently really helped.  Yoga breathing was KEY of course but also I really focused on keeping my facial muscles and tongue relaxed.  It was an awesome experience and yoga practice definitely helped me through it.  So keep it up girls.
We named our daughter Theodora (Divine Gift) but we call her Theo. She was just a little one at 6lbs 14ozs.
Thanks for all your help.
Liz

Hi Deborah,
Sorry that it has taken so long for me to write.  I have missed pre-natal yoga and your presence SO MUCH.  I have been thinking of you and hoping you are doing well.  We have a beautiful daughter.  Her name is Zoe Jane Hodge Milcoff.  She is happy and healthy and we could not ask for anything more.  She was 8 lbs 5 oz.  and 20 1/2 inches long.  She was born at 10:30 am on January 4th.
My labor was intense.  The most intense experience I have ever gone through but so worth it!  It was about 12 hours.  I was able to go through the entire labor with no drugs so I am happy about that.  The breathing that we do in yoga helped me tremendously.  The technique that helped me most was the simple deep breath that we learned to take into the belly.  We would do this in every class.  Breathing into the belly and providing that space for the baby was invaluable.  When I was in a lot of pain, my instinct was to fight the pain BUT instead of fighting the pain, I took that opportunity and trusted that deep breath and it made it easier.  I really had to surrender.  So, thank you for all of your support.  I miss you and the class so much.  I look forward to yoga with baby and hopefully running into you at some point.  If you don't mind, send me an address and I will send you a birth announcement if you would like.  Her are some pics for now.
Love,
Julie Milcoff

Now that things have settled down a little (and Mikey is currently sleeping peacefully in his sling and seems unlikely to interrupt this narrative), I wanted to let you know what a difference your teachings made to my whole labor experience!  As you know, I'd been having pre-labor contractions since February 1, which started getting increasingly intense.  By the morning of February 18, I was in early labor.  We stayed home as long as we could, practicing every deep breathing technique we knew of, and by the time I was admitted to the hospital, at around ten thirty pm, I was 100% effaced and 4 cm.  The midwife who triaged me was one of your Hypnobirthing students, but unfortunately, I only spent five minutes with her and don't remember her name.  I ended up stalling out at 7cm for six hours and finally resorted to some medical options, namely, pitocin and an epidural, as the next step would be a ceasarean.  After two hours of pushing, (Ron said that I pushed 300 times in those two hours!), Mikey was born, 19 hours after being admitted.  He decided to present sunny-side up and at 9 lbs 8 oz was quite a challenge.  Since we spent so much time at the hospital while Mikey was sick, I got to know my labor and delivery nurses and midwives quite well.  They were so fantastic!  Apparently, I was the talk of the unit for a couple of days, because everything was pointing towards my needing a c-section, but I am convinced that my practice of yoga with you was what made the critical difference.  Not only was I in pretty good shape, but I was calm, relaxed, able to try all sorts of crazy birthing positions and had great endurance.  This turned out to be really important, because Mikey's lungs were stuck in "transition".  Since he was born with acute pneumonia and pulmonary hypertension, his lungs were filled with liquid and he couldn't breathe on his own.  By delivering him vaginally, his lungs were squeezed during birth, expelling some of the fluid.  If this had happened as a c-section, he wouldn't have had this benefit.  So, thank you.
Fondly,
Laura
P.s. I had an incredible doula.  If anyone is interested, her name is Teresa McLean.  She's helped at over four hundred births, is a lactation consultant and was a godsend during that long labor and those horrible weeks at the hospital.

Dear Deborah,
Thought I would forward this to you as well...felix's birth was amazing- thank you for all your help.  Yoga and your relaxation cd came in very handy!
Molly

Hi, Debra --
It's Thursday afternoon and my beautiful baby is asleep next to me -- life is good! I know you heard the happy news from Corrina that our son, Luke McCoy Wade, was born early Monday morning, healthy and BIG -- 9 lbs 6 oz and 23 inches.
We did have a long, hard labor, but with a combination of our doula, yoga, hyponobirthing, and some interventions, were able to have a birth experience we feel positive about and, most importantly, a healthy baby and mom.
In a nutshell, I'd say: -- hypnobirthing techniques of breathing, relaxation, and visualization (Esp. in the tub, which I ended up loving) got me through the first part of labor at home, which for me personally was the hardest stage -- medication got us over the hump in the middle where we got hung up at just 4 centimeters after 14 hours of laboring -- whew.
-- Yoga made the final delivery stage downright comfortable; I was able to hold positions and access strength I know I didn't have before I was pregnant, and even actually enjoy this stage (I thought of you saying, "enjoy the pose" :) )
Throughout the adventure, our doula provided essential support and insured that the hospital team at Oakland Kaiser stayed supportive of our choices, too.
I will definitely see you when I come to post-natcl yoga with Rosie, hopefully sooner rather than later.  Thank you again for all your teachings and for the community of women you create -- it has made all the difference for me!
Kim

Hi everyone,
Just a quick note on my labor and delivery.
We had a beautiful baby boy May 23rd 2006, at 11:31 pm, he was 7lbs and 15ozs. The labor started at 2:30 am that morn.. I guess it was pretty long. It was a back labor and quite a challenge but the hypnobirthing was a life saver. Every time I would start to lose control of the breath and panic a little the pain was horrible but when I focused on my breath the 20 in 20 out I was fine I was in such deep trance I couldn't really tell anyone when the contractions were over and this went on until I was having them every minute. My mom was finally like , "I think we need to go to hospital now". Jonathan said we should wait and I kind of feeling that way too, because I didn't want to move, and I was afraid they would send me home. We went around 7:30pm. When we got there I was 9 sonograms, they rushed me into a delivery room. My midwife was there by 8:30.
Because he was posterior my midwife suggested pushing and I just wanted it done, I was getting tired, and tired of counting to 20 over and over, so I agreed. I pushed about and hour and half. But I continued to stay in trance, it didn't hurt and I didn't scream. All the nurses, my midwife, my mom, and Jonathan were in awe. Later an nurse told my mom she always thought that hypnobirthing was a joke but I changed her mind. Everyone kept saying "Burning Ring of Fire", but I didn't feel it, I didn't know what they were talking about. Also I was asked to rate my pain level and I said I didn't know, no one asked me again.
I do wish we could have practiced the birth breathing more because I didn't really feel confidant with it and that was part of my decision to push.
Anyway I healed quickly. I did bust a blood vessel in my eye but it's almost gone.
We named our baby Oliver Nicolas Santeramo, he's almost 9lbs. now, he fusses about and hour every afternoon but sleeps really well at night so I can't complain.
Nicollette

Hi Deborah,
Thanks so much!  I am sure a regular yoga practice helped things go smoothly.  I really enjoyed your prenatal classes and have to tell you what a great teacher you are!  Thanks so much!!
Kari

Dear Deborah,
It's been almost three weeks since my baby arrived, and I want to take a moment to thank you for your role in helping my pregnancy and birth go smoothly. I loved your prenatal yoga class and know they helped me stay comfortable and centered. The hypnobirthing techniques we learned from you were invaluable in maintaining relaxation during labor, especially in the early stages of what turned out to be a long (32-hour) labor. I managed to give birth without any medication, which was my goal, and so our daughter was remarkably alert and awake as soon as she was born, and I recovered quickly. So thank you for all of your support and teaching over the past months. Your insights contributed much to my happy pregnancy and birth and I'm grateful.
Best,
Diane
July 4, 2005