TARA MENZIES’S Christian Hypnobirthing app was inspired by her own search for faith-based support when she was pregnant with her first son.
“My sister-in-law recommended hypnobirthing, and, while I tried different apps, I found the language didn’t resonate with me as a Christian. Hypnobirthing is really just relaxation and antenatal education, not hypnotism, but many tracks referenced things like the ‘universe’ or ‘your inner goddess’, which didn’t fit my beliefs.
“And then I was put off hypnobirthing after reading a Christian book [which] claimed that, if you had enough faith, you’d have a pain-free birth, and criticised natural birthing methods. Wanting to do the right thing as a Christian, I decided to skip hypnobirthing and just trust God for an easy birth. I was deeply shocked when that didn’t happen.
“I’d planned to go to a birth centre, but it was full; so I ended up on a labour ward. I’d hoped for a calm, natural birth, but stress set in immediately. The midwife was very negative; my birth plan said no epidural, yet she kept insisting I’d need drugs because it would be ‘so painful’. She told my husband the same and pushed interventions: a drip, continuous monitoring, breaking my waters. I felt that if I refused, something terrible could happen.
“My labour was painful and stressful, but, in the midst of it, there were miraculous moments. At my lowest point, my husband and I prayed together, and it just helped get my head back in the game; then I went into the bathroom and prayed alone.
“I had a powerful spiritual experience: clarity that God had never left me. The difficulty wasn’t lack of faith, it was lack of tools and information. Suddenly, my mindset shifted: I knew God was with me. That strength carried me through, and my baby was born within minutes.
“Reflecting afterwards, I realised how different my experience might have been if I’d had access to scripture-based hypnobirthing, and that Christian women deserve to have those tools.
“A faith-filled birth isn’t about avoiding medication: it’s about feeling God’s presence wherever and however you give birth — whether that’s at home, whether it’s a C section, whether it’s in a car. You know that God is with you, and you are not alone.
“Combining faith with understanding the miraculous physiology of birth matters. When we feel safe and supported, oxytocin, the key hormone for labour, bonding, and breastfeeding, flows. Stress and fear block it, leading to interventions.
“Faith-filled affirmations, scripture, and prayer help create peace, optimise oxytocin, and make birth more positive. That’s why I created the Christian Hypnobirthing app: to give women tools that resonate with faith and remind them that, with God, all things are possible.”
The app was launched in 2018. Despite slow early uptake, word of mouth gradually increased downloads, and more than 200,000 women have now used it. Her book Faith-Filled Childbirth: A Christian approach to hypnobirthing (Game Changer Publishing) came out in January last year, and has since become a number-one bestseller in pregnancy on Amazon. She also created the online Christian Birth Directory, to help people to search for Christian birth workers.
“Supporting new mothers is one of the most important things we can do in society: when we have happy and empowered mothers, we have happy and empowered children. God is the example, in terms of being slow to anger and abounding in love. And, while no one does it perfectly, having support and tools makes a massive difference, impacting generations to come.”
