Natal Hypnotherapy - how does it work in practice?

[starfish12]

Hello!

I'm 35 weeks. I bought the Natal Hypnotherapy CD and have been listening to it most days. I have to say that each time I've listened I've fallen asleep so never actually heard the whole thing through yet!

I wondered how it works in practice since it says you don't need to listen to the actual CD during labour? Does your subconcsious just take over?

Just I can't imagine being that relaxed (ie asleep!) during labour, and having interactions with DP, midwives, moving about etc.

Could someone explain how they translated what they had 'learnt'/soaked up from the CD into a real life labour situation...?

Thanks!

Fuckwittery how do these two methods compare in your opinion? Did you decide to try natal hypnotherapy because there was smth you didn't like about hypnobirthing?
Thanks in advance!

I did hypnobirthing, and yes, it did work.

I just put on the CD and did a particular breathing exercise I'd learned.

I definitely didn't fall asleep but didn't feel any pain...just very strong "surges", more like very strong wind blowing on me.

It doesn't stop the pain, but it stops it from overwhelming you and makes you feel more in control over your response to it iyswim.

I used it in my second birth and when I called to go into the the MLU, and when I arrived, the midwives didn't think I was actually in active labour though I gave birth just over an hour later. (refused internals so they really didn't know).

My 3rd birth was at home and I didn't use natal, but simply a confidence in my body and breathing that I had got from the 2nd birth.

I'm now starting to research mindfulness as a general therapy.

Thank you for your answers!

Fuckwittery I'm 32w this Sat too so I guess it'll be too late for me to learn from your experience:) but still would be great to hear if natal works better for you!

I listened to the CD every day during the last few weeks of my pregnancies and it always sent me to sleep!

Before my first labour I was absolutely terrified and the CD calmed me down when I was panicking. I did listen to it in early labour and then stopped but it kept me calm in the car on the way to hospital.

During the later stages of labour I didn't consciously notice myself using the techniques BUT considering how terrified I was beforehand I found both labour and births relatively straightforward and not half as painful as I'd thought they'd be.

I presume the hypnotherapy did something in my subconscious but can't be sure!

I listened to the Natal Hypnotherapy cds when I was pregnant with DS. I had a pretty easy birth with DD (first baby), so I can't say that it made a huge amount of difference as things might have been just as good without, but I had no more than mild discomfort up until 45 minutes before DS was born when I went into a crazy birthing frenzy which was very intense (and painful). I would say that even during the painful parts, I felt fantastic - full of endophins.

I think that it helps to prevent the sort of unneccesary pain caused by fear and muscle tension, but it doesn't prevent the pain of natural labour - if your baby is coming out in a way that presses on your nerves, or stretches you quickly, or needs you to change position, then you will still hurt. But even then, it felt ok, not scary, just intense.

I had a home birth, and my midwife said something that really stayed with me - that when her birthing women were at home and feeling safe and comfortable and relaxed and free to move, they didn't need pain relief, and if ever they asked for drugs (unless it was in the craziness of transition) she was always totally ready to transfer to hospital, because that level of pain was usually an indication of a problem that needed intervention. She said that in 15 years as a home birth midwife, she had only ever transferred a woman to hospital purely for pain relief once.

So I guess Natal Hypnotherapy aims to put you in that situation where your pain is manageable unless it needs to attract your attention to let you know that you need some extra help.

Thanks all for sharing your experiences. I'll continue to listen to the Cd every day and just hope being relaxed kicks in. Im actually feeling intrigued and excited to know what labour is like and of course to finally meet my little one.

Thanks for all this, I have been wondering the same thing! Was sent a hypnobirthing cd by a friend and fell asleep about 10inutes into it so was a little confused about how it might work. Am 37+1 ...probably should have started listening to the cd a little while ago. Hmm. Oh well will start tomorrow!

Maybe I should put it on my phone to stop me being awake at 3 in the morning!!!