Hypnobirthing?

[minipie]

I'm a first timer and have been given conflicting views by new mum friends about hypnobirthing - some say it was great and really helped, others say it was a bit useless.

Any views from MNers?

And can anyone recommend a class in SW London...?

Another first timer so can't really say whether its worth it for birth but I have found the relaxation in pregnancy absolutely invaluable!
I have not been on the course but have to book and CD and am really looking forward to the birth...probably not something many people would say.

I would say check it out but don't spend loads on it. Childbirth is one of those things that you just can't really imagine unless you've been through it. I know a few people who tried hypnobirthing and ended up having a very painful birth quite different to what they'd imagined. A friend of mine developed PND to an extent because she felt she had been very 'rose-tinted' about the birth and being a mother, and before it all she was all over hypnobirthing.

If you have an easy birth and are the right kind of person you may find it a very useful tool. Certainly for my second birth I used deep breathing and relaxation and it helped a lot. I had a few sucks of G&A once we got to hospital but I didn't really need it; it was more to enjoy it a bit (!).

Also you don't know what your body is going to do; it may not cooperate meaning you end up with intervention (and therefore probably drugs) to help your baby out.

Hi Ruidh!!

I did hypnobirthing with my pregnancy with DS and loved it. Also had a really positive straightforward waterbirth, zero pain relief - alot of which I put down to the hypnobirthing. I can't say I was an amazing zen like silent birther like some of the videos you see of hypnobirths but all the midwives commented on how calm I was throughout. I really threw myself into it and I think the main thing it did for me was give me a positive mindset and a real sense that I could do it.

It might not be for everyone, I know some of the visualisation is a bit weirdy and out there but I think if you just embrace it, its great. Having a DP who is happy to go along with it helps too.

Having said all that, am currently 22 wks pregnant and havent even started thinking about it yet. Have a feeling I won't be practising so much this time but hopefully will manage some and the mindset from last time will remain. Good luck minipie :)

oh and by the way - Katherine Graves in central London is highly recommended by a few people I know.

I had a rough birth with ds1, pain for some reason didn't enter my head. I acknowledged it was painful for other people but didn't think it would hurt me nor did I want drugs!! Failed epidural later and I was determined not to go through that again! So, I looked into a hypo birthing class which was very expensive and I couldn't afford it. I bought a CD from amazon and listened to it about twice a week from 34 weeks. I was induced (again) but still managed a magnificent water birth, which truly was the best experience if my life! This time I expected the pain and welcomed it it's definitely worth a try, you've nothing to loose really. Good luck x

Btw I also had zero pain relief (with hypo) and hated the weird visualisations whilst I was pregnant but in labour they suddenly worked for me. Also I wasn't silent but talking about making sure the baby would be out in time for visiting so ds1 could meet the baby!

Any recommendations for a particular book and/or CD that people found useful? I have just looked on amazon and there are quite a few. I definitely fancy looking into it, though not sure it's really for us as DH a little sceptical, though supportive of what I choose to do.

Sorry forgot to say thanks for starting this thread minipie - has made me think about this properly!

I completely agree with howiwonder. I have a daughter and used hypnobirthing - must admit I found it a bit strange to begin with, but I got over that and just listened to the tapes when I went to bed at night (fell asleep a quarter of the way through, most of the time, so was a bit sceptical if it would work).

Anyway, I had a good experience (obviously have nothing to compare it to as only have one child) but I got to the hospital and was 6cm dilated. Used the pool, no drugs at all!

Hypno doesn't promise a 'drug-free birth', what they say is the best birth possible in the circumstances. It's really a birth education course... how your body works and what it will do. I felt in control, prepared for the different stages of labour, the breathing techniques were superb and I was very calm and relaxed before and during the event.

If you can afford it, I would definitely recommend it and also try to use a birthing pool, if you can. I also used reflexology throughout my pregnancy and am sure that helped too.

All the best.

I had Maggie Howell's Effective Birth Preparation CD and book - they were brilliant. I ended up with an EMCS, but I did 30 hours of labour, much of it on that drip with no pain relief.

Hello - I did it, and found it to be fab! It was my second, so things had done it before. WIth my 1st I had epidural, catheter:( stitches and so on, and felt very sore for 2 weeks. With my second, they detected a possible problem with the baby, and what with a 2yo to look after I really really didn't want a CS. It's major surgery and scares the life out of me. I got the MArie Mongon book and CD - I'm quite cynical, and am totally not into all this hypnosis hippy dippy stuff, but found the theory behind it all really makes sense. The CD was so relaxing, and I found myself really looking forward to the birth.

It took 2 days to induce me, which was the worst bit, although I bobbed on my ball, listening to relaxation music downloaded, and doing my breathing techniques. When the time came, I could feel the breathing working, and I could feel the muscles working as they should. The book tells you how the body works, what it does and how to visualise pleasant things. I didn't practice the visualisation once, but in labour found myself going off somewhere nice. The tightenings/contractions are painful, but I found I easily kind of locked onto them and knew why they were hurting (the breathing REALLY helped, there is a spcial breathing out thing).

From first contraction to 'out' took 1.5 hours, like lots of other HB women, the MW's didnt' believe I was as far into labour as I was cos it didn't hurt at all, although the last 1.5 hrs I could feel it. I didn't have any drugs, and felt like I could have run a marathon afterwards, I didnt' get tired or anything. It really worked for me, and although my DS is my last, I can't bear to throw the book out. I'm going to sound a bit gushy here, but I found it to be amazing. Give it a go, it's really worth the effort:) Good luck x

p.s. forgot to say no stitches/damage:)

Yes, you can't control exactly what your body will do but hypnobirthing is about you remaining calm and in control of your feelings no matter how the birth goes and that results in it being a positive experience the vast majority of times.

I used it for my second and found it to be amazing, compared to a fairly horrible first birth. The classes were certainly better use of money than NCT which focused entirely on pain relief (setting the expectation that it would be painful before I'd even started!) During labour I was able to stay calm, focusing on breathing and relaxation techniques. DS2 was born at home in a birthing pool and 3 hours later I was up, dressed and drinking tea with the neighbours! There was nothing traumatic to recover from and I didn't feel stressed or exhausted.

I would thoroughly recommend hypnobirthing.

We have our second session tonight.

The course is expensive and im not daft enough to think its a guarantee for everything to go to plan (in fact our teacher said the same thing on session 1). However I fully intend to give it a good shot. The first session was very good and baby seems to like me practising the breathing.

I'm looking forward to the rest of the course.

I did Katharine Graves. I was pretty sceptical (highly medicalised caesarean for first pregnancy, which I was trying to avoid second time around). I did the weekend course and downloaded the visualitions on my ipod, which I listened to every night. I also read Ina May Gaskin cover to cover and Marie Mongan's book. Both well worth a read, particularly the chapter on 'Sphincter birth' (think that's the title) in Gaskin which gives you a great understanding of what your body needs to do in labour. The breathing and visualisations I learned on the hypnobirthing course really tied in well with this. I could see how, with the knowledge from Gaskin, I could use my breathing to make labour calmer and, potentially, 'easier'.

It changed my mindset from utterly terrified to 'I can do this'. I knew there were still no guarantees but it got me prepared. As it turned out, I had another horric birth by emergency section when the baby went into distress and hypnobirthing was AMAZING - kept me centred and calm when my baby came out in a terrible state (flat/blue for a long time and needed the crash team and NICU - he's fine now, thank God). I put that wholly down to my hypnobirthing as, honestly, it was fucking pandemonium in the operating theatre.

As for pain, I still felt pain. I know some people have pain-free births but that wasn't me. Equally, my labour started very quickly and 'violently' - waters exploding, instantaneous contractions as I think my body was trying to evacuate my very sick baby - and I struggled to get a handle on the breathing as it was all so intense, so quickly. Had I had a slower build up of 'surges' (as contractions are known in 'hypnbobirthing speak') I think it would have been easier to implement. However, my husband tells me I seemed miraculously calm and controlled and he wasn't sure how much pain I was in. It's odd, as I distinctly recall feeling as if I was being disembowelled; that the pain was off-the-chart incredible.

I view my baby's birth, which was an absolute disaster, with absolute calm euphoria and happiness and I'm certain most, if not all of that, is down to hypnobirthing. If you can, do. If you can't, read Ina May Gaskin.

Good luck with it all.

Hi everyone, thanks for the replies, sorry to post and run (I forgot I'd posted this )

I'm not intending hypnobirthing instead of pain relief and know I can't predict what will happen. I have it in mind more as a way of helping me cope with whatever the birth throws at me!

In an ideal world I'd have waterbirth, gas & air and hypnobirthing. But was hoping some of the hypno type stuff might be useful even if that doesn't happen, which seems to be the experience some of you have had.

I'll look up Katharine Graves and the books mentioned - thanks.

What are these visualisations everyone mentions (I know next to nothing about this clearly!)

I am also quite cynical/non hippy so would like to know if it won't work for me for that reason!! However I do like knowing more about how my body works and what is happening, I think that will really help me - is that included in hypnobirthing books/classes?

There are lots of visualisations from imagining your bits opening up like a flower(!) to picturing yourself holding your baby in your arms. I did the Marie Mongan course which involves picturing the colours of the rainbow as you go through stages of relaxation.

I'm non-hippy too and my partner was very sceptical but we were both converted after a couple of classes. There were some bits that I thought were a bit too "far out" but the wonderful thing about hypno is that it gives you a whole load of tools and you can pick and choose the ones that you find useful.

I think you'll only really buy into it once you've had a go and seen how it works. It does work (even for non-hippies!) but you have to want it to work and practice the breathing techniques daily leading up to your birth.

The course explains all about how the body works in labour i.e. how the muscles in the uterus stretch, blood flow and oxygen getting to the uterus, and also what can be a barrier i.e. adrenalin when scared blocks the "good" oxytocin. So you can really understand how your mental state affects your body's physical reaction. I found it really helpful in staying calm and controlled knowing that I was helping my baby in doing so.

Happy to answer any more questions.