About hypnobirthing

So that’s all about what hypnobirthing is, but how about what it isn’t?

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• Hypnobirthing is only for mums planning a ‘natural’ birth

  Nope – for a start, all birth is ‘natural’, however it happens, but hypnobirthing is about empowerment, about taking responsibility for your birth and having a positive experience. This can look however you want it to, at home in a pool surrounded by candles and fairy lights with Joni Mitchell playing in the background, or in delivery suite with all the drugs going and Game of Thrones on your tablet, whatever you view as your ideal birth. It is true that often during the course mums change their mind about what their ‘ideal’ birth will be, but birth is birth, however it happens, and the techniques learnt in hypnobirthing are useful for everyone and anyone.

• ‘If my birth doesn’t go how I want it then I’ve failed’

  Again, not true. There is no ‘failure’ when having a baby – if you’ve done it, you’re a superstar, end of. It may well be that we’ve planned our ideal birth, the stage is set, the pool has been tested, the playlists made and we are good to go, but…for whatever reason, things take an unexpected turn. This is fine. Hypnobirthing is about managing the unexpected and still staying on your oxytocin train and in your happy calm bubble. Make a Plan A, then a Plan B, then a Plan C…all the way down the Z if you need to. That way, you can keep using your hypnobirthing techniques, retain your control, stay in your zone and have a positive experience no matter what labour throws at you.

• If I’m being hypnotised will I even know I’m having a baby?!

  OK – you are not being hypnotised. Self-hypnosis is COMPLETELY different to stage hypnosis. There will be no trances, no chicken clucking, no finger snapping, none of that business. The hypnosis element of hypnobirthing refers to the body’s ability to operate autonomously, to progress into deep relaxation where our sub-concious takes over, like when we are engrossed in a film, day-dreaming, making a baby. You are not in conscious thought but are quite aware of what is happening and are able to snap out of it should you need to. That’s as ‘out of it’ as you will be during labour.

• Hypnobirthing doesn’t really sound like my kind of thing…isn’t it a bit ‘out there’?

  Although it might sound a bit ‘alternative’, hypnobirthing is really anything but. To use an analogy, hypnobirthing is like organic food, it’s birth, as it was, as nature intended, before society started messing with it. Years and years ago most would have given birth without fear, but in our over-medicalised and fear driven society we have forgotten, or didn’t even know, that fearless birth is possible. Hypnobirthing provides scientific knowledge of the human body and the human mind. Provided you have both of those things (which I’m assuming you do) then hypnobirthing is for you.

• My partner is skeptical, they don't need to come do they?

  I’m sorry but they can’t get out of it that easily! Birth partners are a hugely significant part of your pregnancy, labour and birth experience and the course is specifically tailored to include them. Many partners feel pretty useless during labour but they will be taught how important their role is, how they can assist with birth preparation, relaxation, massage, protecting your space during labour and birth and get oxytocin flowing to really make a difference to both of your experiences.  Birth partners get just as much out of the course as mothers do and often come away feeling just as empowered and excited as mums.

• I’ve heard that I won’t have any pain, is that true?

  Wellll, as much as I would love to, I can’t promise that. Pain is a completely subjective sensation and everyone experiences it differently. Certainly some mothers using hypnobirthing have reported ‘pain free’ births, some have even reported waves of pleasure during birth, but we cannot guarantee there will be no pain at all. Hypnobirthing is there to teach you how to cope with your contractions using deep breathing and relaxation, reducing your stress and boosting your natural pain relieving hormones. Practice your relaxation techniques regularly and you will have the best possible chance of coping with whatever experience you have.

• Hypnobirthing won't make any difference to my baby

  This couldn’t be further from the truth.  During labour, if a mother is in a state of fear or stress she will be producing adrenalin.  This puts her body in ‘fight or flight’ mode, during which her oxygenated blood will be directed away from the uterus to her limbs, in case she needs to run away, or fight.  This deprives the placenta and therefore the baby of much needed oxygenated blood.  Whilst most mothers will come to hypnobirthing for a relaxed and gentle birth for themselves, remember that it also means a relaxed and gentle birth for your baby. A baby who enters the world drug free and alert, to be greeted by a mother who is also alert, loving and confident, starts life and forms its first relationship in this world in the best possible way. This is the blueprint for all the other relationships it forms throughout its life. You simply cannot over-estimate the importance of that.