Is there such a thing as no nonsense hypnobirthing?!

[Loapal]

Experiencing severe anxiety around my upcoming c section and it has been recommended I try some hypnobirthing/yoga/meditation type exercises. Which I'm willing to do but it all seems so annoyingly twee. I just did a pregnancy yoga video which involved "breathing in the golden light" down to where my baby lies, alongside other stuff, and it was all so annoying that I'm sure it made my heart rate go up rather than the opposite. I've tried a few hypnobirthing tracks on Spotify but it all seems in much the same vein and also completely geared to vaginal birth, not c section.

Does anyone have any good resources for straightforward, non wishy washy, non lentil weavery exercises I could use to help me not panic during my section?

God it’s awful isn’t it. I KNOW how powerful breathing and meditation can be because I use it to cope with the extreme abdominal pain I have been suffering with for years and for travel sickness. However, all of the woo pseudoscience shit that comes with hynobirthong can get in the sea. Some twat on here the other day, on a thread about birthing big babies was saying how they would repeat the mantra ‘ my body will not make a baby that is too big to birth’ to themselves during labour. Like, sorry, that is just patently untrue. How can you trust something that is untrue and involves denying reality to ‘work’?

Anyway, good luck finding common sense breathing techniques without all the nonsense.

Basically, all that will be relevant to you from a hypnobirthing course is the breathing technique, which is inhale through your nose in for 4 counts and out for 6 or 8 counts. Repeat. Focus on the end goal which is having a healthy baby safely.

Choose a playlist that relaxes you. It doesn't have to be woo whale music, whatever floats your boat whether it's heavy metal or classical.

I know what you mean. I find the same with yoga. I just did the classes and took what I wanted out of it, and ignored the really woo stuff.

I used the mindfulness type techniques and imagined cradling my much wanted baby/playing with him on a golden sandy beach etc and it really helped me mentally

(Said baby is now a towering 14 year old who bears me at chess )

I had a hypnobirthing book that came with a cd. Ditched the cd after one listen (far too twee) and read through the breathing exercises in the book to find some I could do without sniggering. I think there was possibly a waterfall one, maybe an opening flower? I didn't do much with it apart from practice a couple of times in later pregnancy, but it was enough that I could do those couple of breathing exercises in the first stage of labour before I got to the hospital. Once I got there and I found I was already 8.5cm dilated it was all going too fast to fanny about picturing butterflies anyway.

Didn't think I'd remember the book but this was it.

https://www.awesomebooks.com/book/9781911558026/the-hypnobirthing-book-with-antenatal-relaxation-download/used

I am a hypnobirthing coach and doula and I do one to one sessions where I explore with the mom to be, what techniques and methods might work.. we try out a few things .. then I record individual relaxations. There are many approaches to this type of practice, some work better than others for individuals. Getting to know how the individual responds to specific words and different techniques means that I can tailor the recordings to them.

Some people find the techniques useful in many different scenarios and indeed, this approach to stressful situations can be hugely beneficial.

Many people find the generic affirmations / visualisations / recordings great.. but for many others, there are words, images, suggestions, that have a negative association and are therefore not helpful. Some people like music, others like guided breathing, progressive relaxation, guided muscle relaxation, visualisation.. there are many options. For some... imagining being on a beach makes them think of sunburn and scratchy sand and the most relaxing place for them is imagining they are at home, snuggled up on their sofa!

'My baby will be born safely' 'I trust the people around me to keep me and my babh safe' 'I am safe', 'My baby is safe'

We can increase our heart rate and rate of breathing by thinking of difficult and stressful things and we can reduce them by reminding our mind and our body that we are in good hands... that soon we will meet our baby...

The practice of bringing your body and mind into a state of conscious rest and relaxation, regularly, is beneficial and makes it easier to return to this state, when faced with stressful situations. Remaining calm in stressful situations helps us to make better decisions and improves outcomes both in the short term and in the long term.

You are not lying to yourself or silencing your valid concerns, you are putting yourself in the statistical likelihod of a positive outcome and putting your trust in the expertise and experience of your medical team. For some that is about not considering possible outcomes, for others it is focussing on the vast majority of positive outcomes.. we don't get into a car thinking we might scratch it.. we trust that most times we drive, will be without incident and if there is something, we will be able to deal with whatever comes.

I hope.you find an approach that works for you.

I'm a hypnotherapist (not hypnobirthing though) and I would recommend the following to do before the c-section to help your stress levels, etc in advance.

1. Guided meditation daily - this will reduce overall stress levels. It doesn't matter what you do as long it relaxes you
2. Focus on the good things about the c-section eg. health baby, healthy mum, grateful for the NHS, all those medical staff who are there to ensure your safety, literally anything you can think off. Make a list and keep adding to it
3. breathing exercise now that will help regulate your vagus nerve - this will strengthen your whole system and will make breathing exercises, coping with stress, etc a lot easier when you are there. 4-7-8 breathing is a good one - breath in for 4, hold for 7 and then out for 8. Do this 8 times twice a day. There are others but I have to go now as I have a client soon, but Google will give yo some more ideas.

Good luck!

crossed with @ChateauMargaux - I agree with everything she says too.

Have a look at natal hypnotherapy with Maggie Howell. It's just tracks to download (when I did it 20yrs ago it was CDs to buy). Very nonjudgmental and about having a positive birth experience and has a special one for csections. I found it very helpful.

And the point above about anaesthetists is sound. They will know you are nervous (who wouldn't be) and they pride themselves on making sure you have a safe pain free experience.

It sounds like your concerns may go beyond just finding the right mindfulness technique. Is there a chance that you could ask to speak to a doctor, voice your concerns and ask if there are any other investigations that could be done to rule out anything underlying? That would potentially work better than breathing exercises alone.
Having said that, high HR in pregnancy could be completely normal as your volume of blood increases and the heart needs to work harder to pump it around your body as well as the placenta. But overall it's a very valid question to check with your medical team

They say no further investigations are warranted as ECG was normal.