Are TENS machines and hypnotherapy any good together?

[gingerfluffball]

Due in 4 weeks and I'm weighing up whether to hire a TENS machine for early labour at home or not - the thing is I'm keen to give the Maggie Howell natal hypnotherapy business a decent crack too, have been listening to the CDs like you're supposed to for the last few weeks. It seems like fiddling about attaching TENS wires and altering dials might cancel out all the relaxed breathing though?

Has anyone used either or both together? I am quite tempted to just order the TENS anyway in case the hypnotherapy just goes out the window when it all kicks off!

Yes, I used both. Tens was useful - as much for something to do, etc. Then hypno got me through the actual hard core bit. It sort of went out the window though, in that labour hurt and there was none of that baby 'slipping down your velvety birth canal' bollox (more like a barbed wire tunnel). But I manage to cope with the pain and keep calm and have the much-wanted home waterbirth.

Yup I did both and found it really effective.
With dd1 I had a 36 hour latent labour and then progressed very quickly and got to around 7cm with just Maggie howell and a tens machine. (Did the rest with gas and air)

With dd2 I had a home birth and went from 2cm at 4pm to giving birth at 7pm and MWs only arrived half an hour before birth so I did it all and got to 10cm and pushing with just tens and breathing.

It doesn't make it painless or easy but it helps you feel in control and to cope with the contractions for as long as possible before looking at additional pain relief options. X

I used both, would definitely recommend. I found I felt like the hypno stuff went out the window, it was very difficult to keep calm when contractions started getting bad though that passed when I got used to them. However i went to the hospital thinking I was still a long way off (but waters had gone) but actually fully dilated and he was born 2 hours later. The midwife wasn't even going to examine me as I was fairly chilled. I didn't bother with any pain relief. So I think the hypno stuff had sunk in more than I realised. I put the tens on a little late and probably in the wrong place as DH was sleeping but it was a good distraction during contractions.

I have used both but I didn't bother fiddling with the TENS machine during contractions like you're supposed to (I just left it on the normal level) and, like others have said, I found the hypnobirthing stuff good up until a certain point. I would recommend reading Juju Sudin's "Birth Skills" to every pregnant woman for some very practical ways of managing contractions that are not fluffy nor unrealistic. Even if you plan to have an epidural you still need to get to a point that you are deemed suitable and an anaesthetist is free so you will benefit from at least knowing some of the non-medical ways to cope until that point.

Thanks all! Will definitely order the tens then, sounds like the more options the better thanks for sharing stories too, really useful to hear how people got on with both.

Will also look into the birth skills stuff, think I remember the midwife mentioning that in antenatal classes.

I used tens and breathing/visualisations. My Labour was v quick, contractions 3 mins apart straight away so didn't have time to do cds. Breathing pattern kept me calm and tens gave me a psychological prop as felt powerless in face of pain before! Husband turned machine up at my request. Did also use gas and air once at hospital. The 3 in combination got me through v intense labour, including ambulance transfer.
I found hypnobirthing useful more for mentally preparing for birth. I was petrified but 2 months of the lovely cds really took away my fear. Keeping calm is essential. I had a positive statement s CD and some of them popped into my head automatically cos I'd listened to them so many times. Doesn't stop it being painful but makes it easier to manage. Good luck