To ask if anyone had a bad birth experience despite using hypnobirthing techniques?

[Movingsoon21]

I'm due to have my first child in a few weeks and I've been reading a lot of confusing/conflicting papers and statistics when trying to work out the best options for my birth preferences. None seem to reference specific factors of vaginal deliveries that lead to forceps delivery, which I really want to avoid.

I'm lucky to have a low risk pregnancy, am early 30s and generally fit and healthy. This profile leads the midwives to guide me to a vaginal delivery in an MLU, which sounds like it can be a great experience, especially when coupled with hypnobirthing techniques (e.g. using the BRAIN system for decision-making, using up/down breathing for coping with contractions and pushing, focusing on things that will increase oxytocin and reduce adrenalin etc). I have some friends who have had brilliant experiences in these circumstances.

However, I also have a number of friends who have ended up with traumatic vaginal deliveries, ending with forceps/EMCS and lasting internal damage. I haven't asked them whether they tried to use hypnobirthing techniques as I don't want to pry or potentially upset them, but I'm pretty sure at least some of them didn't.

I was therefore just wondering, as I can't find any studies on this, how much the hypnobirthing techniques actually help to move you into the "good outcome" vaginal delivery group (assuming you are otherwise low risk), or whether it's really all down to luck?

Did anyone on here with a low risk pregnancy follow hypnobirthing and still end up with a bad birth experience/bad post-natal recovery outcomes such as third/fourth degree tears or incontinence? TIA.

Hypnobirthing is great.

It also will not protect you from medical complications or traumatic experiences.

Nobody 'causes' their birth trauma by anything they did or did not do. Your post felt a little judgey in that way, so maybe just reflect on that.

It is still really worth taking part in a hypnobirthing course if you feel it will help you. That's great.

The rest will be what it will be.

Remember, with hypnobirthing techniques, it will help to focus on the positives.

I had my second 'hypnobirthed' baby two weeks ago. It didn't go 'to plan' and I needed interventions such as my waters being broken.

However, I believe the calm mindset helped me to focus and not panic, making sure I didn't have adrenalin that may have slowed my labour.

Focus on your techniques and try not to worry about things that may or may not happen.

@QuiltedHippo

Youll probably attract all the reaponses from people who had bad experiences and i dont think thatll help. Do you follow the Positive Birth Community FB group? lots of positive birth stories that are not all breathing your baby out at home. I ended up with a section that I loved, I used BRAIN and got that before carrying on with an induction that wasnt working and could have ended up as one that more of an emergency, or forceps etc. I think its when you feel out of control that you can feel negetive about your birth, so hopefully hypnobirthing will help you in that regard no matter how your birth ends up.

The thread is titled 'AIBU to ask if anyone had a bad birthing experience in spite of using hypnobirthing techniques', so I don't really know what other outcome OP could be expecting.

The fact is that all the breathing techniques in the world aren't going to help if your baby gets stuck or distressed on the way out, or if birth goes awry in any of the many ways available to it. It's a great technique for making you feel okay, mentally, but we can't and shouldn't pretend that it has the power to alter the physical process.

@neverbeenskiing

You have to accept that a huge amount of this is outside of your control.

This is so important. I know quite a few women who were really upset and blamed themselves because their birth experience wasn't what they planned. I think some (not all!) private ante-natal classes can add to this, as some promote drug-free birth that is as "natural" and "non-medicalised" as possible to such an extent that anything else is seen as being a failure. With my first I thought that a "good birth" had to be drug free, intervention free, everything going completely to plan. With my second I took the view that as long as I felt safe and able to cope, and baby arrived safe and well that was a "good birth", however it happened.

Cannot emphasize this enough! My friends who struggled the most postpartum were those whose birth experiences deviated farthest from their plans. If you don’t HAVE a plan, then you can’t “fail”. ;-)

Seriously, birth is such a vulnerable experience, and so much depends on the size of your pelvis, the amount of dilation… it’s probably one of the foremost examples of “things in life we can’t control”. I’ve always focussed more on trying to make peace with that fact than with practicing any birthing techniques.

For the record - my first labour had to be augmented because my contractions completely stalled after my waters broke. Total agony, but healthy baby, so still a win in my books. Second and third births very straightforward and quick. I was lucky. And that’s what it was - luck.

Hypnobirthing can be amazing if you're susceptible to it. It's not pain relief, it's more of a grounding technique to help you stay calm, not to panic and flood your body with adrenaline.

I found hypno birthing more useful during 2 unplanned Csections and various medical interventions that went with those (epidural, spinal blood patch + more) than I did during labour.

The breathing took my mind away from what was happening to my body, whereas during labour I didn't really want that to happen - I wanted to focus on what my body was trying to do.

I'm pregnant again now, and my yoga teacher promotes positive natural birth and hypno birthing. I listen to everything she says with a wry smile - what will be will be and a breathing technique won't affect that either way.

OP, the experience a woman has giving birth is different for every woman. It’s so pointless to compare.

You’re born in a time where there are interventions that could save your life if you needed them, so be reassured by that and keep in mind not everything is in your control.

Hypnobirthing can help keep you calm & relaxed. Being relaxed has a proven link to births with a lower overall risk of interventions, but you should find peace in the fact that these interventions exist to potentially save your life if needed.

If you’re looking for a fail safe guarantee that your birth is going to go exactly the way you want it to, then I’m have to tell you that it doesn’t exist. It’s a personal experience that varies massively from woman to woman. I would focus entirely on yourself at the moment.

I did hypnobirthing techniques and I do think they helped me to stay calm during a very long labour and to not be too troubled by the pain. They didn't stop my baby getting stuck and me needing an EMCS however.

I found hypnobirthing useless, and I’d practiced it very seriously on a daily basis, and took classes with a well-known midwife-teacher. I might as well have burned twenties and spent the time reading a thriller.

Birth was a CS in the end, and was fine.

I did hypnobirthing, and also NCT which I found to be very anti induction / anti pain relief / anti intervention / breathe your baby out etc. Whilst hypnobirthing is lovely on paper at calming you and giving you the tools to focus on the breathe, absolutely nothing can control the outcome of your labour or the intensity of your pain. I ended up 14 days overdue, induced with the hormone drip, 4 failed epidurals leading to an episiotomy and forceps. I was minutes away from an emergency c section and they had prepped me for one in theatre, as I had been in labour for 19 hours and forceps were the last ditch attempt. My birth plan was the complete opposite of my actual birth (I was 30, low risk, midwifery led unit water birth and fairy lights on paper!)

All of the above sounds horrendous and if I’d been reading this a few months ago I’d have thought “jesus no thanks, not me - my birth won’t be like that”. Honestly after it I didn’t care AT ALL. My stitches healed really well, I was out of hospital the same day. Really try not to overthink the birth, it is over so quickly in the grand scheme of things. I wish I had focused more on reading about newborns. Those first few weeks of sleep deprivation are so hard and I wish I’d known more about feeding, sleeping, awake windows, naps etc. The birth is a means to an end and getting your baby out safely is the main thing. Congratulations, soak up every minute, it flies!! X

I practiced hypnobirthing assiduously leading up to the birth and then it went completely out the window during the actual labour. I literally didn’t think of it once as I was just focusing on getting through the contractions and my partner helpfully said I mainly spent the time mooing like a cow… And yes I needed forceps and an episiotomy but I have had no lasting negative effects from those.

Yes I did hypnobirthing and ended up with obstructed labour, forceps, sepsis and haemorrhage despite being very fit, healthy and low risk. Sorry but nothing is going to prevent these things happening if that’s what’s in store. They happen due to bad luck, not because someone didn’t have the right mindset!

Hypnobirthing didnt help with the trapped nerve that caused me to be in agony both between and during contractions

@Obira

Hypnobirthing won’t prevent you having medical problems or needing a c-section.

Exactly this. As it goes I did find the part of the course about understand what the body is doing useful in staying calm when things escalated, but I could have found that out from a YouTube video or Wikipedia. The rest doesn't dictate how your birth will go, to add though I had forceps and it was fine. It wasn't my dream birth but it was okay and I healed fine- personally I'd recommend with going in with an open mind.

I don’t think you can plan your birth. It will be what it will be and accepting this helps.

Think about what really matters to you. It’s likely to be one or two things.

Sorry op, you can try all the hypnobirthing technics you want but childbirth is luck of the draw. The best you can do is inform yourself on when to push and breathing technics. The rest is out of your control.

No offence but hypnobirthing doesn’t prevent birth complications but it can help a woman cope with the pain. The woman in labour has no control over how her body handles the birth complications.

My baby’s head was on the 98th percentile and it was stuck. I was calm and focused while pushing. Nothing I could do would get his ridiculously big head out. I had failed forceps and a resulting emcs, by which time I had become distressed but that doesn’t mean the emcs was my fault.

I used hypnobirthing and I had an excellent birth experience despite the fact I ended up induced, having to be fully monitored on a bed and then have an epidural.

I used the breathing techniques to stay calm and brain tool to help me understand what was happening. I also trusted that the midwives and doctors with decades of experience between them were trying to help me and were recommending the things they believed to give me the best chance.

I think hypnobirthing is potentially really dangerous. It can lure women into thinking that as long as you focus on the techiniques it will all be fine. I think thats a very troubling message. Having eagerly gone to alp the classes, read all the books etc I went into labour with a hypno cd and lavender spray. I came out a deeply traumatised woman. No it certainly wasnt the "hypnobirthings fault" that my labour took that turn but it was, along my useless midwife, entirely to blame for the trauma. I thought I'd failed. I thought it was my fault. I suffered horrendous birth injuries along with PTSD. It just about ruined me. I feel very strongly that hypno birthing didnt prepare me for this. It took me over 6 years to brave it all again and I had a c section, which was an incredibly healing experience.

I found hypnobirthing helped with the early stages of labour, but with long labours I got tired and it then became a lot less effective (2 out of my 3 were back to back).

The hypnobirthing course I did was all about focusing internally, what my course at least didn't do was work through what a partner could do to help keep you going when flagging. I found JuJu Sanjins Birth Skills book helpful with a long labour, as well as covering hypnobirthing it gives a range of other techniques to try and also lists of suggestions for what partners can do.

I did however find the hypnobirthing quite helpful for coping with pain and struggling to sleep post birth.

Hypnobirthhing if taught well covers lots of different scenarios. No matter what sort of birth you have, doing it while minimising fear, panic and pain is a good thing.

I had a great birth that I do attribute to hypnobirthing, I went in with a thorough understanding of how the birth process works and all the things to do to give myself the best chance eg I remained upright and focused on my breathing. Before hypnobirthing I had no idea of the important role hormones play. I agree with others that it can't prevent complications beyond your control but it will hopefully make you feel more empowered, I did the positive birth company course and it covered all kinds of birth.

You won’t find any peer reviewed journal articles as they don’t exist. Don’t buy into the woo nonsense.

I think the main thing that will prevent a forceps delivery is you saying clearly and repeatedly "I don't want a forceps delivery" then hopefully they'd go to an EMCS instead

Yep, my birth was very complex.

Almost two days of labour, an emergency c-section at 10cm because my daughter was transverse. I lost 2.5L of blood and had a transfusion. A drain then sewn into my womb to collect blood afterwards.

I had subscribed to hypnobirthing since 20 weeks and did it daily. It cannot prevent difficulties such as the above occurring. Labour was fine but I was shit scared having my section. I had my tracks on through labour as my dh had "helpfully" put on, as per my request in the weeks and months before. My words to him were "Turn this shit off!".