Hypnobirthing - does it work?

[BelleMama]

I found out about hypnobirthing too late for my DS birth, but a good friend is 5 months gone and really interested. She isn't on MN so I said I'd ask around.

Sounds too good to be true but I'd love to use it for my next if others have found it helpful.

I'm using Natal Hypnotherapy and like it. If nothing else it's helped me relax and sleep whilst pregnant. It's a different program to hypnobirthing though - you can just buy the CDs if you want, which I liked.

Yes, I found it very helpful in keeping relaxed and calm during labour. I would definitely use some form of hypnotic preparation again during any future pregnancy and birth.

I had DD at home with an independent midwife using natal hypnotherapy CDs, a birthing pool and lots of stomping up and down the stairs. Me and DD had no birth injuries, minimal bleeding and a v. quick recovery. It was a positive and manageable experience.

Do be aware that it doesn't guarantee a completely painless birth for everyone, although some lucky people do experience this. My MW noted that everyone she knew who had used it had found it helpful with the exception of one woman who assumed 100% that if she did hypnobirthing preparation she wouldn't feel a thing in labour. She was apparently quite shocked by the reality of contractions.

I didn't use it myself but my cousin recently did for her dc2 after a very traumatic birth first time round. She said it really helped her to relax, she still felt pain but coped much better and managed with a birth pool and a few puffs of gas and air as her dd was crowning. She raves about it so I'll definitely give it a try if/when I have dc2. If nothing else it will at least help with feeling in control and less frightened about the whole thing!

Someone posted about this a few weeks ago - thread is here in case there are other useful replies for you.

I used the Natal Hypnotherapy CD and really recommend it.

I am quite sceptical about things like that but it seemed to make sense that the more relaxed I was, the better it would be for my body. I found out as much as I could about the physiological side and that really helped me understand what would happen and to feel less scared.

I saw the CD as a nice way to feel relaxed while PG and to have a chance to lie down and chill out for a while, but didn't really think it was doing anything.

Then a few days before my due date I got my mum to listen to it to (as she was going to be a birth partner along with DH I wanted her to be aware of it so she could remind me of key things if I was scared etc). She was convinced I'd gone to sleep but I was definitely 'there' throughout and really aware of everything around me, so it was obviously having more of an impact than I'd thought.

I found the breathing/visualisation really helpful - when in labour I think I sort of went into my own little world and was so focused on breathing etc. It gave me something to concentrate on and I honestly think it made a massive difference.

I may have just had a 'easy' birth as I used TENS machine from the start and G&A at 8cm and honestly didn't feel any big pain at all. I don't know what it was down to but felt I should try everything I could.

Worst case - you get some nice relaxing time when PG. Best case - it 'works' and will help you have an easier labour, so no downside really!

Good luck.

Not for me unfortunately, however it did help me to breath down an enormous poo after stitches without causing more damage.

I'm not really open to suggestion and found that I just wanted to giggle in the relaxation exercises.

Have heard great things about it, but it wasn't the right choice for me.

Yes I did a course and had the cd, and it was a very easy birth. I can honestly say that the only bit that hurt was the crowning (and that was like being shot in the fanjo). The rest was like pushing a big rock up a steep hill...hard work but not painful.

I had a terrible time with DS1 but DS2 came quickly, quietly and at home. I would recommend to anyone, but with the proviso that you have to put in a lot of work.

Oh and I didn't even think about needing G&A etc...which was a revelation after having - and needing! - the full works with DS1.

Thanks, really helpful to hear about your experiences. Would love to have a home birth last time after a pretty traumatic birth with DS.

(Was at a birthing centre - but left on my own at worst possible times, no guidance from midwife and she went straight to giving me pethidine before offering gas and air or birthing pool which was in the room!)

Have shared all the info and link to previous thread - ta tiokiko

The approach you all seem to have seems so sensible. There is nothing to lose by preparing yourself with these techniques - if it makes you relaxed and feel in control it can only be a good thing. The worst thing about labour with DS was that I was terrified, felt completely helpless and was becoming more and more distressed. It was never going to go well under those circumstances was it?

Um bunnybaby I'm speechless, thanks for your candour!

It is very useful and can help enormously.

But it is not a guarantee of an easy or straightforward labour/delivery. While you can maximise your chances, ultimately it's down to luck/fate/whatever. It can help you manage whatever happens though.

I used it during the birth of my girl 18 months ago. Although when I say I used it, I think I took things from the course and used them in my own way rather than really going into the relaxed sleepy state that you should aim for. The length of my labour made that rather difficult. I really liked the course because it made you really understand what was happening to your body during labour (more so than any antenatal class), and made me believe with a passion that my body was able to give birth all by itself without any need for unnecessary intervention.

I was hoping for a home water birth but unfortunately things didn't work out like that. My birth plan was all 'natural, natural, natural'. I went into labour on the sunday, had contractions regularly until she was finally born 3 days later on the wednesday....i got a water infection which made things very uncomfortable, eventually got transferred into hospital on midwives advice, had my waters broken in hospital, was put on a drip to try to increase the strength of my contractions, and eventually had an episiotomy and ventouse delivery....and lots of stitches. And i didn't get the natural 3rd stage i wanted. So things really went just about as far from perfect as I could have wanted, BUT I have to say that I was calm throughout, I never panicked, I coped at home with no pain relief (I did have gas and air once we went to hospital and by that point i was 7cm dilated. I was fine when i could be on hands and knees but not on my back (in ambulance!), and my husband puts it all down to the hypnobirthing. Maybe I'm just the sort of person who would have been calm anyway, but the midwife did comment that I had a really high pain threshold...but honestly I think it was just being informed and knowing what my body was doing enabled me to stay calm. I'm not going to say that I didn't feel any pain because I did, but it was manageable, and the best way to make pain worse is through fear and being scared of whats happening. I would recommend it to anyone.

Hi all. Is there a particular book or CD people would recommend? Thanks

I used the Natal Hypnotherapy CD and would recommend it.

horseygirly thanks - that's really helpful.

Personally found it really unhelpful as it left me completely unprepared for the reality of labour. Wish I had never read the Marie Mongan book!

I didn't get on with the Marie Mongan book at all, although I liked some of the relaxation techniques and visualisations. I used Maggie Howell's Natal Hypnotherapy. I practices loads and felt I was very very prepared. It helped a great deal in the run up to labour and I found the combination of her techniques and the few of Marie Mongan's that I liked relaxed me in the latter stages of pregnancy and helped me cope when I was in the early stages of labour at home. But it was completely useless when it came to the nitty gritty parts of giving birth and I ended up having to transfer out of the lovely MW led birthing centre onto the labour ward and going for an epidural. From what I understand I was pretty unlucky in how things turned out on the day - got stuck at 5 cm and was bouncing from one horribly intense contraction straight into another with no let up. To be fair to the hypnobirthing, nothing other than the epidural worked either - birthing pool, tens, gas and air, pethidine were all useless. Howqever, I think there is nothing to lose by having the techniques available to use on the day and if I have another DC I would certainly practice again. You never know!!