Karin Walters
Hi there - my name is Karin Walters. I teach Active Birth with Yoga, Couple's Courses, Motherhood Gatherings and I also offer Pregnancy massage and Zero Balancing.
I attended Active Birth Classes during my first pregnancy and found it immensely helpful. I had an enjoyable first pregnancy and a long but natural water birth at Honiton Maternity Unit in August 1996. I found the active birth so helpful and felt so empowered by the birth that I decided that I just had to pass that information on to other couples. I started the training and qualified as a Doula in 1998 and as a Natural Active Birth and Parenting (NAPAB) teacher in 1999. By this time my second son had been born in August 1999 - a much shorter and beautiful home birth. I started teaching classes in Exeter in January 2001 and to this day continue to feel passionate about teaching these techniques.
I am a qualified nurse, now retired, and have worked in various areas of nursing for 13 years. I qualified as a Massage Therapist in 1993 and as a Zero Balancer in 1998. Together with my husband, Richard, I run The Natural Health Practice on Spicer Road in Exeter. Since qualifying with NAPAB I have done further training with Jean Sutton in Optimal Foetal Positioning and in the Rebozo Technique as well as various seminars with Michel Odent, Suzanne Colson and other leading specialists in the maternity field. I have also attended "Yoga for Pregnancy" and "Teaching Active Birth" at The Active Birth Centre in London with Janet Balaskas and I am an Associate Member of The Active Birth Centre. Richard and I have over the years developed and are now teaching Zero Balancing in Pregnancy to other qualified Zero Balancers. Zero Balancing is a wonderful therapy for supporting women through the whole process of conception, pregnancy, birth and postnatal recovery.
I continue to learn and grow on a professional, personal and spiritual level and I have been committed to practising yoga since 2003 which gives me great inspiration - I see it as absolutely essential for my own well being. I am originally from Denmark and have lived in Devon since 1992.
A little feedback...
“Karin has so much energy, knowledge and enthusiasm for women during their pregnancy - I would recommend her to anyone seeking to enrich their experience of this time”
Charlie
“Karin runs Active Birth Classes with a modest authority which inspires confidence and trust. The classes were fun and informative on lots of different levels; breathing, visualisation and chanting became ‘normal’, while sharing and hearing stories of pregnancy and birth helped to build up an overall picture. Karin’s response and advice was consistently calm and reassuring. By the time my baby was due I had a pretty good idea of what to expect and I felt well armed with an array of natural techniques and inner resources to deal with whatever nature was going to throw at me. I chanted and used visualisation throughout a very long labour but had an entirely natural home birth”
Clare
“I attended Karin's classes from week 15 of my pregnancy. Karin's warmth and empathy helped enhance the joy of that special time in my life. The support and advice I received prepared me for what turned out to be a very positive natural birth. Now I have a beautiful baby girl and attend the Motherhood Gatherings, where the support continues. I feel that any pregnant woman would benefit from her relaxed and friendly classes”
Hilary