Inspiring Conversations with Aleisha Olatunde of Blissful Birth KC

Today we’d like to introduce you to Aleisha Olatunde

Hi Aleisha, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today. You can include as little or as much detail as you’d like.

My journey to entrepreneurship was something I never envisioned or desired for myself as a young person, but one I’ve come to embrace and find deep joy, gratitude, and appreciation for daily. I graduated in December 2010 from Missouri State University with a bachelor’s in marketing and a dream to help people get connected to things they need to better their lives. After several years of jobs loosely related to marketing, I finally gained enough experience to earn a job as an inbound marketing specialist in 2017. I felt like I could finally fulfill my purpose. I learned a lot in those 3 years, but in my heart, I knew there was another way I wanted to help people that felt more authentic than “influencing” people to choose a university or product.

After much prayer, tears, and conversations with my husband, I decided I wanted to go back to school and obtain a master’s in clinical mental health counseling with an overall goal of becoming a sex therapist. For people who knew me, this was very uncharacteristic of me to not only want to work for an advanced degree but also work with people in an area that I had a lot of work to do myself. I began that journey in January 2020 and then the world shut down. Working full-time, studying, and writing papers for my master’s degree while living through a global pandemic was one of the biggest challenges of my life. Fast forward to June 2020, I quit my job, became a full-time student, and was forced to tend to my own mental health needs while attempting to process all of the events occurring in the world at that time. Working toward a mental health degree while contending with my mental health was a challenge, to say the least, but it helped me to empathize, sympathize, and understand what it is like to be on the client’s side of the chair. I added on a sex coaching certification to round out my skill set.

A significant part of a person’s sex life, if they so choose to go down this road, is having children. Knowing one day I wanted to experience this I was introduced to this program called Hypnobabies Hypnobirthing. Hypnosis and natural birth were not terms I’d ever heard associated with childbirth of friends, family, on movies, or in television shows, let alone having an easier, more comfortable childbirth experience. I decided this was the last missing component of my skillset to help people on their path! However, I didn’t want just to talk the talk, I wanted to walk the walk. When my husband and I found ourselves pregnant in Early Spring 2023 utilizing Hypnobabies Hypnobirthing was a no-brainer but I ran into an issue of there being no one local in the Kansas City metro area offering classes at the time. My husband and I did the classes via Zoom. Utilizing my Hypnobabies tools throughout my pregnancy was the key for me to have peace and calm my entire pregnancy even when things did not go according to how I had hoped.

The CDC’s report on provisional maternal mortality rates for 2024 shows on average 20 deaths per 100,000 live births. In 2023, 3.5 million babies were born. These numbers are hard to conceptualize and were part of my fear as a Black woman who was pregnant considering Black women hold the highest maternal mortality rate. My race alone is taken into account when determining if someone is high risk in pregnancy. Carrying this information in my mind and heart while still facing all of the many other things in pregnancy was tough, but it was undoubtedly therapy and my Hypnobabies Hypnosis tools that carried me through my entire pregnancy with peace, calmness, and assurance my daughter and I would not only make it but thrive! My experience sealed the deal on this being the final piece of what I wanted to offer people and their families. Being an instructor affords me to opportunity to offer families the peace they need, tools to advocate for themselves, and knowledge about their birth options. Blissful Birth KC was formed by my desire to be prepared mentally, physically, and emotionally to bring my baby girl into this world and still be alive to experience her in it. I’m excited to do the same for other families!

Blissful Birth KC is for all families and people who want to have an easier childbirth experience! We teach you to retrain your subconscious inner mind as a pregnant person and give your Birthing Partners – spouses, grandparents, whomever – tools they need to support you in your Hypnobirth. Hypnobabies use the same medical hypnosis techniques that people employ when preparing for surgery without drugs, called Hypno-anesthesia. Our minds are much more powerful than we realize and when we tap into it’s fullest potential we will be amazed at what we can do!

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The road has not been smooth because of the fear I had of throwing out all of the plans I initially had for myself. Some of the struggles are financial and getting the word out about something we don’t often hear about in our society. Internal struggles were dealing with my self-assurance and confidence I could meet the task and some sense of imposter syndrome. But how can I ever see change in my life if I don’t find courage? How do we decrease the astonishing and disheartening maternal mortality rates if we don’t get educated on ways we can see positive impacts for ourselves and our future generations? Working in a service-based business is tough, but the reward I get in really helping people is priceless

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Blissful Birth KC?
Blissful Birth KC we specialize in providing a six week comprehensive child birth course utilizing Hypnobabies.
Hypnobabies supports the belief that childbirth is a natural event; that birth can be an easy and natural process, enhanced by an intimate journey of self discovery, of finding a deep trust in the process of birth, and learning that women’s bodies instinctively know how to give birth. Expecting mothers are empowered with skills which allow them to help eliminate rather than just “cope” with challenges and any discomforts that may present themselves during pregnancy and childbirth. Hypnobabies mothers are able to remain in control of their birthing bodies by creating a mental toolbox that has powerful and effective post-hypnotic suggestions and physical relaxation cues to produce a safe and more enjoyable birth experience.

Unlike most childbirth education programs where the focus is entirely on the expecting mother, in the Hypnobabies program if the mother has a birth partner, he/she plays an integral role. Hypnobabies thoroughly equips birth partners with the tools and skills they need to be confident and supportive of the birthing mother as she experiences one of life’s most anticipated and exciting experiences – childbirth.

Hypnobabies families often choose to have their children naturally, without the aid of commonly available anesthetics. With abundant childbirth education classes available to families today, Hypnobabies is the most complete eyes – open, self-hypnosis, childbirth education and preparation program encompassing everything from nutrition, to birth partner training and medical- grade hypnosis techniques. Hypnobabies parents are able to give birth to their babies in a much safer, easier and more comfortable way- in comfort, joy and love.

Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
So many people have helped me along my journey to getting to this point. First and foremost is my wonderful, supportive, and personal hype man, my husband, Timothy Olatunde. He has seen the highs and lows of the entire journey and will often cheer for me louder than I cheer for myself. I also owe major thanks to my midwife, Darcie Smith, who I made a fantastic connection with during my pregnancy and beyond. She has fully supported me on this journey from allowing me to rent her office to serve my students to giving me extras of things she may have that help women prepare for pregnancy. Countless friends, colleagues, and church members have been a listening ear, a logo critic, or whatever I need them to be to reach my fullest potential.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.blissfulbirthkc.com
• Instagram: @blissfulbirthkc
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/Blissful-Birth-KC-61559136092798/