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Original poster

Is hypnobirthing worth doing?

116 replies

elm26 · 10/05/2023 01:23

After a loooong pregnancy of Hyperemesis, covid, growth scans etc after 13 miscarriages, I have finally accepted that I will be giving birth within the next 3 weeks 🥳

I've been quite disassociated and going through the motions as such, as it's been so hard for me to believe that I may be lucky enough to bring home a much wanted and loved baby.

I've suddenly had a panic that I'm 3 weeks away at most (being induced on 19th) and I've done no hypnobirthing. I have done the baby care and first aid, the labour course (taught different stages of labour by a midwife, what can help such as keeping oxytocin as high as poss etc).

Is it worth doing a hypnobirthing course? Shall I pay for it or are the ones on YouTube good enough? Help!

OP posts:
Original poster
elm26 · 10/05/2023 01:27

I'm asking this as somebody looking for the breathing techniques etc as I know they are mainly for women who don't want pain relief where as I feel I have an open mind and will have the pain relief offered if I need to.

OP posts:
myveryownelectrickitten · 10/05/2023 01:50

You’ll get lots of people saying that it worked for them, but it doesn’t for everyone. I’m not very suggestible (or relaxed!) and it did nothing for me. It’s basically guided meditation and relaxation, but you have to put some work in practising it, and also be the kind of person that works for. If you’re 3 weeks away I wouldn’t bother paying for a course - most of them are several weeks long - but you might find watching the breathing exercises online useful.

Good luck for the birth!

rowanoak · 10/05/2023 01:53

It helped me! I did lessons in person as well as listening to the soundtrack at night. My husband read the script during delivery and it helped me calm down. I had bad anxiety after a stillborn first child.

Mamma6546 · 10/05/2023 01:57

I did it. You do have to practice. I think it helped keep me calm early on when things weren't too bad, and I still use the meditation techniques when I have to face anything a bit scary. But it didn't help me at all at mid to later stages of labour. I agree, don't pay for a course at this stage, but find some meditative audio you like.

SparklyBlackKitten · 10/05/2023 01:59

Yes yes and yes
But you left it too late...
3 weeks isnt enough to fully grasp the ful idea and get the full benefit

But look into the affirmations that come with hypnobirthing. Those are fab! And will still help

Mumtum3 · 10/05/2023 02:52

The breathing certainly helps and the positive affirmations are useful too but I wish when it was recommended to me that the person did so with the caveat that it’s just another little strategy to perhaps draw upon. However, to be balanced and honest, I found it a little ‘toxic positivity’ personally, in the sense that it was very anti-intervention - maybe just the material I came across. So I’d definitely research some breathing techniques but I’d look into hypnobirthing more broadly with an open mind. I reckon you’ve got time to practise some breathing and positive affirmations though! Good luck!

Whowhatwherewhenwhy1 · 10/05/2023 03:06

Made no difference to me

JandalsAlways · 10/05/2023 03:15

💯 It makes the biggest difference, your partner should go with you too. The best part about it for me was it got me actually looking forward to the birth instead of being terrified about it.

HeadingOnUpNow · 10/05/2023 03:44

Yes definitely did. Baby came early at home (unplanned) and I was able to give birth no pain relief which was lucky as wasn’t an option. Contractions only lasted for a minute so just did the deep, slow breathing through them and then fine to talk again. Hypnobirthing was the best prep I did. It almost puts you in a meditative state and could breathe through it all. Was very special experience.

JandalsAlways · 10/05/2023 03:47

One thing that resonated with me is that they said if you go into something with fear your body will tense up and make things harder, whereas if you're relaxed your body is relaxed and everything is easier. It's common sense really, and basically giving you techniques to relax. Unfortunately things didn't go the way I had hoped for and planned, but this no doubt helped me tremendously and I would hate to thing how much worse my situation would have been without it. End result, happy and healthy baby and I put most of it down to doing this (my husband said so too, he did the course with me and helped me with the techniques). I guess ultimately, what have you got to loose? It's just another tool in your toolbox.

ThePoint678 · 10/05/2023 03:53

It made no difference to me unfortunately…

OrderOfTheKookaburra · 10/05/2023 04:11

It helped me a bit. The music helped me actually get some sleep once I had some gas and my pain levels reduced a bit. Wasn't a cure all by any stretch of the imagination. Certainly didn't hurt!

Foldinthecheese · 10/05/2023 05:23

I used the Positive Birth Company, which you can do at home on your own timeline. It was really helpful for me and kept me calm during an unplanned home birth. A friend started it at 37 weeks and also had a great experience. She was able to labour at home and was seven inches dilated by the time she got to hospital. As mentioned by a previous poster, it isn’t about having a ‘perfect’ birth, but about staying calm, assessing your options and feeling like you have some degree of control even if things get tricky. Best of luck whatever you choose. I hope, after having been through so much, that you are happily cradling your beautiful baby very soon.

DarrellRiversCriminalBehaviourOrder · 10/05/2023 06:13

Congratulations on your pregnancy.

Total waste of time for me. Actually probably wound me up more.

Sissynova · 10/05/2023 06:38

I think it needs to be done with a pinch of salt. There is far too much put on interventions being bad and I know several people who found that very triggering and felt like they had failed due to needing induction/an instrumental/ c section or were disappointed in themselves that the contractions didn’t feel like a ‘surge’ and were actually incredibly painful.

DrJump · 10/05/2023 06:42

I found it really helpful. I only did it with my third. I had a tricky pregnancy and then a tricky birth and post natal period and the hypnobirthing really helped me stay calm and cope.

Sipperskipper · 10/05/2023 06:47

It was fab for me. I had a real fear of birth etc & was very anxious. I had a tricky labour & emergency section, but hypnonirthing kept me so calm, and helped me to enjoy (some of!) the experience.

ToddlerMum2 · 10/05/2023 06:49

Foldinthecheese · 10/05/2023 05:23

I used the Positive Birth Company, which you can do at home on your own timeline. It was really helpful for me and kept me calm during an unplanned home birth. A friend started it at 37 weeks and also had a great experience. She was able to labour at home and was seven inches dilated by the time she got to hospital. As mentioned by a previous poster, it isn’t about having a ‘perfect’ birth, but about staying calm, assessing your options and feeling like you have some degree of control even if things get tricky. Best of luck whatever you choose. I hope, after having been through so much, that you are happily cradling your beautiful baby very soon.

@elm26 absolutely agree with what @Foldinthecheese has said!! I also used The Positive Birth Company’s online course. I wasn’t overly keen on all the affirmations and stuff - that side of things just really isn’t for me. But I used the breathing techniques and felt that the course gave me a clearer understanding of what was happening at each stage during labour and delivery which allowed me to stay much calmer. I had a 39 hour induction using pessaries and the drip with gas & air as pain relief. Really positive experience.
I’d definitely give it a go if I were you 😊 best case scenario - you find it really useful. Worst case - you’ve wasted £30 and a few hours 🤷🏻‍♀️

PinkPlantCase · 10/05/2023 06:54

I’m not sure how much it’s worth it if you know you’re having an induction.

Especially as I assume you won’t be allowed to go post dates so it could be more like a 39 week induction than a 41 week induction which means your body might need a bit more persuasion than someone who’s about to go into labour anyway.

As it happens I think hypnobirthing is a brilliant tool, but given the level of intervention/pain killers that you know you may need it might do more harm than good.

There is lots of very useful stuff about informed consent in relation to birth and talking your partner through your wishes and getting them to hold the space for you. Again whilst these things are all very important if you know you’re having a more medically managed birth anyway then the balance of things will be different.

For example I had my baby at home, it was very much a process lead by me and my body. The midwives really just had to sit back and watch/encourage. I would guess that in your circumstances there’ll be much more dialogue back and fourth as a conversation between you and the medical team about how things are going and what the next steps are.

Doing some good research into the different pain relief options and various interventions might be useful for you so that when something gets suggested you already know a lot of the pros and cons and/or your partner will know your wishes around certain things if you aren’t feeling particularly communicative.

And congratulations on your pregnancy!!

fellrunner85 · 10/05/2023 06:56

If you go into it thinking of it as just another tool in the box then it might be useful to learn some breathing techniques etc.
But it really didn't help me - in fact it irritated me more, as I felt I'd failed" when I couldn't "breathe through" a very difficult long labour with all the interventions.

On the contrary, when I went into my second labour with no pressure and no expectations, I had a very straightforward birth with no pain relief. It's all luck of the draw IME.

Pregnancy yoga might be of more use at this stage?

wildfirewonder · 10/05/2023 06:59

It is not about being 'suggestible' Hmm

I think it is worth doing, yes.

Yahyahs22 · 10/05/2023 06:59

I didn't do it with my first and I was in so much pain I had to have an epidural which I really didn't want. Second time I did and barely felt any pain till his shoulders were coming out. For me it was incredible

bowlingalleyblues · 10/05/2023 07:02

It was excellent for me, I only started 3 weeks before due date. It really helped me feel less nervous, which was good as went two weeks overdue. I did Kathryn Graves hypnobirthing audio and book by myself at home, and listened to it daily. I agree that it is the luck of the draw how things go, but the hypnobirthing helped me accept the uncertainty and manage all the early stages calmly.

Greycloudlooming · 10/05/2023 07:05

Congratulations!
Honestly just go with the flow, ensure your birthing partner is someone you're totally relaxed with who you know will advocate for you, listen to your body and remain open minded.

I did hypnobirthing with our fourth baby, but in all honesty, the only thing that brought calm to me was imagining myself on a sunny day paddle boarding around Bribie Island! I think with our 3rd baby, the only thing that brought calm to me was thinking about work and my colleagues! Our second baby's birth was just horrendous as the midwives sent me home because I 'wasn't in active labour' - her head ended up crowning just as I was leaving the main entrance of the hospital, so we had about 100 witnesses to her birth! With our first baby, I had to keep getting woken up as I'd been awake for so many days prior. So I think, if you do or don't manage to get in any hypnobirthing classes, then just try and find some inner peace amongst the chaos, whatever that may be.

I hope your birth goes so well and wish you well in this daunting and exciting journey. Please do come back in the future and let us know how you are x

JandalsAlways · 10/05/2023 07:05

wildfirewonder · 10/05/2023 06:59

It is not about being 'suggestible' Hmm

I think it is worth doing, yes.

Agree. I think PP is confusing it with hypnosis