Hypnobirthing

[whiterose2011]

Has anyone used hypnobirthing during labour? Someone has recommended it to me but its quite expensive and I wondered if it was worth it? I love the idea of being more in control during labour but I'm not sure if I could actually do it (does that sound strange?). Every time I've watched OBEM, most of the women are screaming their heads off and that's kinda what I'm expecting in labour. Any views from people who have used hypnobirthing would be much appreciated!

TIA xx

I did but it wasn't expensive

I used Natal Hypnotherapy CDs and also bought the book to read. I used pregnancy relaxation and then the birth preparation CD. (vbac prep for me)

I found it really helpful and only made it to the hospital by a couple of hours in the end. I hadn't realised I was 9 cm dilated.

I also found the Ina May Gaskin book about childbirth helpful to read.

I have a friend who had a hypnobirth, and swears it was the most amazing experience. She had a brilliant and easy birth. In fact she's now qualified as a practitioner and runs her own classes.

Apparently the effects last beyond the birth and a good hypnobirth claims to give you a calmer and happier baby, because of a less stressful birth.

If you PM me, I can give you her details and you can look into it more?

(Ps, good luck!)

It's available on nhs now if you ask for it as well. I didn't ask but they suggested it to me, there's like somebody they have you talk to I think...I'm not doing it I don't think but I might talk to whoever it is to see what it's all about x

ditto jaggythistle.

i did it... got 4 CDs and the book for less than £25 all in. (got from charity shop / NCT sale / eBay and book from amazon)

i did effective homebirth preparation as planning a homebirth. (maggie howell)

the result wasnt i didnt even realise i was in proper labout until transition, 12min before DD landed un-pushed on the sofa.

I had so little pain i didnt realise it could be it

never got a chance to turn on the birthing music CD i have

It was truley brilliant... im 39+2 now, and will be doing it again imminently

I bought the CD (about £10 from Amazon I think) and would highly recommend it after having a lovely calm birth with very little pain. None of the OBEM style screaming! I listened to it every day from about 37 weeks but I didn't use the CD during the actual birth because the relaxation techniques and positive thinking I had learned from the CD kicked automatically.

My baby was born yesterday and I cannot recommend hypnobirthing enough. I won't pretend things didn't hurt and for the pushing stage I just did what came naturally.
I got to full dilation without any drugs and was calm and confident despite my blood pressure rising right at the end and having to be whisked into hospital for the lost half an hour. I am hospital phobic and so this was one of my worst case scenarios but I stayed calm and positive. I won't pretend I didn't make some major noise in the pushing stage but I think that's the time to just go with it! Really think without the hypnobirthing classes and books (I also highly recommend Ina May Gaskin's book as someone else has done), it would have been completely different. My classes were £140 for five sessions and was worth every penny :) Good luck x

I'm 36+2 at the moment so not much help with how useful hypnobirthing is during labour. However, I'm using the natal hypnobirthing CD (£10 on amazon) and I am really relaxed and calm about the birth and not anxious at all. At the least I would recommend buying a CD, I really feel it is helping me enjoy the last few weeks of my pregnancy.

I used maggie howell's Natal Hypnotherapy CD with dc2. Had a lovely, quick easy birth. Like others on this thread, I arrived at hospital fully dilated without even realising it!

I bought the cd but it didn't work for me at all. Helped me sleep in the fatty last few weeks but did bugger all during labour. Perhaps I didnt give it a good enough chance

I didn't do hypnobirthing (too sceptical & stingy) but I wanted a smoother labour than DC1 so I decided to read & absorb as much as I could on mumsnet (real experiences felt much more valuable than books) and ask questions when baffled by conflicting advice. Also I watched a YouTube vid on how the baby comes out (a computer graphic type thing) and spent a lot of time visualising that during the labour which really helped actually. I was incredibly focused & confident but I suspect a lot of that was due to the fact it was my second. I listened to my body the entire way through. It was a very easy/textbook labour, i was over the moon! So I suppose I did my own version of hypnobirthing.
My friends in RL who have done it have had varying results with it- but there are an awful lot of people on here who swear by it, and it can't do any harm. It does seem to give women a sense of control & purpose which is a powerful tool during labour.
I'm not sure any of this would've helped with my first though!

I did the book and CD. I had an induced labour, and although I ended up with an EMCS, I would really recommend the techniques. I managed 30 hours hooked up to the Syntocin drip with no pain relief. I had no idea I had been in labour so long - it felt like no more than 2-3 hours to me.

I am 37 weeks and took an advanced Hynobirthing class in my area. Ended up with two half day workshops and 4 CDs. Worth every penny so far. I listen to them daily and has helped so much with pelvic and back pain this late in pregnancy. I enjoy that my CDs were recorded professionally by the woman who did the workshop and can tie in those classes with the CDS. Obviously in the next few weeks I can tell you how they worked in labour,