About Louise Balm
BSc (Hons) Midwifery
BSc (Hons) Specialist Community Public Health Nurse (Health Visitor)
Certified HypnoBirthing Practitioner since 2009 (Marie Mongan, KG, The Wise Hippo, Love Your Birth)
Independent Placenta Encapsulation Network (IPEN) trained placenta remedies specialist (2017)

Hi I’m Louise! I worked as a Midwife in the NHS for 14 years.
Covering all the different settings; including Consultant Led Unit (CLU) in hospital on the delivery suite, antenatal and postnatal wards, Midwife Led Unit (MLU) and standalone Birth Centre.
I worked as a Community Midwife, where I led GP antenatal clinics, attended many home births including water births and provided postnatal care to mothers and babies. I am UNICEF breastfeeding trained, and have extensive experience at providing breastfeeding support.

Founding BirthBalm
I founded BirthBalm in 2009, and I have been teaching Hypnobirthing since then! I am trained and certified in the following courses:
– Marie Mongan HypnoBirthing
– Katharine Graves Hypnobirthing (KGH)
– The Wise Hippo Birthing Programme
– Love Your Birth Hypnobirthing
To date, I have loved teaching HypnoBirthing to over 2,500 couples, helping them to achieve the right birth on the day, and a calm, positive birth experience.
Placenta Specialist
As a Midwife, I have always been fascinated with placentas! The placenta can provide new mums with rich nutritional and hormonal balance to support their emotional and physical recovery after the birth.
I am absolutely delighted to be a trained Placenta Remedies Specialist; I qualified with Independent Placenta Encapsulation Network (IPEN) in 2017. I hold relevant certificates in Food Safety, Hazard Analysis Critical Control point (HACCP) and Infection Control. I offer a safe placenta encapsulation service, enabling a new mum to safely consume her placenta in the form of placenta pills, and reap the many benefits.
Hypnobirthing Mum
I am a proud hypnobirthing mum myself, to two beautiful girls!
Both were really easy, calm and relaxed babies. This is typical of HypnoBirthing babies – they tend to be easy feeders, sleep well and be calm yet spirited. I term them “Hypnobabies”. Isn’t that what all new parents want?!
Health Visitor
I have also worked as a Specialist Community Public Health Nurse (Health Visitor) in St Albans, which entails being an expert in child health and child development for newborn babies right through to children aged 5 years.
I passionately believe in making birth better for all.
My wish is to support as many mums and dads-to-be to feel empowered, in control and more positive about their upcoming birth and early parenting. And, ultimately for mums and their partners to have a positive birth experience and a calm start for their baby, which leads to long term benefits for the entire family.
With my extensive Midwifery & Health Visiting experience, and background “in the baby business” you can be sure you will be getting excellent teaching and WAY WAY more!!
I really look forward to hearing from you soon, and seeing you in my classes!


St Albans Location
My classes are friendly, informal and welcoming. I enjoy teaching from my home in St Albans, Hertfordshire. This is a comfortable, relaxing environment, that really lends itself to teaching Hypnobirthing.
Unrestricted parking is available.