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Childbirth

Share experiences and get support around labour, birth and recovery.

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Original poster

Hypnobirthing - Did it work for you????

25 replies

Difers · 22/08/2007 19:15

I listened to the hypnobirthing CD's when pregnant and despite being induced had a drug free, intervention and pain free birth. I wonder whether it was the hypnobirthing that helped or not as so many other factors come into play.

Did you do hypnobirthing and did it work for you??

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Original poster

Difers · 22/08/2007 21:45

Did anyone do hypnobirthing at all?????

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kamikayzed · 22/08/2007 22:44

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MKG · 23/08/2007 01:30

I've done it twice. First time was an indiction, I pretty much slept through labor and pushing because although pushing took 2 hours, I have no memory or the first 90 minutes. I was told I woke up pushed and than closed my eyes again. Absolutely no pain medications or other interventions.

second time was a natural labor and birth. didn't gave as great a birth as with ds1, but it was still very calm in the midst of all the chaos.

Luxmum · 23/08/2007 08:04

Ohhh, I hope it works, I'm using the cds for my birth in a month, I keep falling asleep in the middle of the cds (the relaxation techniques are pretty effective!) and so haven't got to the part on pain relief... I just hope my subconscious takes it all on!!

Amester · 23/08/2007 11:35

I hope it works as well - I have done a hypnobirthing course (Mongan method) and am due to give birth any day now. Your stories give me hope that it will work!

Cyee · 23/08/2007 11:59

I used the CDs and have spoken to a number of people who either went on courses, read books, listened to the CDs or had a personal session with a hypnotherapist.

Personally, I found certain bits helpful, like the music, the 3-2-1 relax tactic and the vision of the pain dial. However I have always had difficulty doing any deep relaxation, and childbirth/hypnotherapy was no exception. I just can't rid my mind of thoughts and go deep deep down.

I know a number of poeple who really could do this though, and had painfree or at least drug free labours.

I also had a fantastic birth though (minimal drugs, very quick third stage, no stitches), and I'm sure that the regular relaxation (I fell asleep all the time too!) and the belief in mind over matter really helped.

Aside from the hypnotherapy stuff I also got Ina May Gaskin's book, which was recommended by some of the fab Doulas on MN. I am a very rational person and got huge value from reading positive birth story after positive birth story. More than anything else, I think this made me believe I could have a good experience too. Yes it hurts, but our bodies can do it.

So... if any of you wonderful Doulas are reading this - thank you for recommending this book. I loved it and have passed it on to my pg friend now

Cyee · 23/08/2007 11:59

Oh and good luck with the births!!! Imagine forgetting to mention that

MumtoBen · 23/08/2007 12:07

I used a hypnobirthing CD every day for the last 3 months of my pregnancy. I was extremely worried about giving birth after a bad first birth. I always fell asleep after about 10 minutes of the CD. In fact I don't actually know what is on most of the CD even now.

My birth was still very painful (OP baby again), but I had no pain relief at all until I was 10cm dilated. I was also calm and quiet and relaxed. I only had g&a when I had to transfer from home to the hospital. I think if I would have been able to stay at home, I wouldn't have had even g&a.

It's difficult to tell how much it helped, but I think it did have an effect.

Original poster

Difers · 23/08/2007 16:36

I had a friend who did the CD's and had a homebirth and had gas and air and pethidine but she said she felt very calm throughout. So I do think the principle of relaxation helps the birthing process. I read Dr. Gowrthi's book The gentle birth method which advocates visualisation aswell.

Good luck with your babies girls!

OP posts:

beansontoast · 23/08/2007 16:48

not really hypnobirthing...

i read a birth story in a magazine about a week before i had dd...the woman was a trained hypnobirther and she reported that she repeated to herself 'breathe down to your baby'during her short labour,whilst doing just that (a deep abdominal breath i assumed)....

i remembered this gem and aswell as making a deliberate effort to not tense my body it REALLY REALLY worked for me...

(second labour so i wasnt as scared though)

Original poster

Difers · 23/08/2007 20:27

Yes, I breathed down to my baby and at one stage the monitor showed baby to be in distress, the registar said that they had to deliver the baby immediately and they started to put canulas in...I said "what happening?" and he explained that baby needed more oxygen so I said okay and really concentrated on breathing right to him and the distress subsided and the Registar was really surprised and I went on to give birth naturally.

OP posts:

miniegg · 24/08/2007 09:53

i did a hypnobirthing course and really wanted it to work. i had a very positive attitude towards childbirth as a result. however, despite my positive thinking and breathing etc, my labour was a bit of a nightmare. it went on for absolutely ages (40 hours from first twinge to delivery) and I ended up with ventouse, episiotomy, and now have a prolapsed uterus. hurrah! one positive note - I did it on gas and air and a single shot of pethidine, and I'm told that if i'd had an epidural i would have ended up with an emergency c-section as I wouldn't have been able to push him down as far as I managed. he was a big baby - 9lb - for a small mum like me and got rather stuck at the last stage.
i would say that hypnobirthing probably puts you in the right frame of mind etc, and no doubt helps if your labour was going to be easy or straight forward anyway, but if you're going to have a difficult labour and delivery, it's probably "preordained" and there's not much that mind over matter can do about it...i say that as someone who really wanted to believe in it and tried really hard to make it work for me.

snig · 24/08/2007 10:04

I am 30 weeks pregnant and would love some recommendations on hypnobirthing cds, if nyone could tell me where to get them? titles etc i would be most grateful.

snig · 24/08/2007 10:19

bump

Tumshie · 24/08/2007 10:30

Hi Snig

Friends have got the Natal Hypnotherapy Effective Birth Preparation CDs (hospital birth and home birth variations) which I've borrowed. One friend went into v early, fast labour (around 2 hours to full dilation ) and had kept her TENS machine on low thinking it would take ages. She WAS in pain, but said the CD did really help. I may be being induced this Sun so I'm really hoping so! I don't get 'hypnotised' by the CD, but do find the imagery useful (going to favourite beach, experiencing contractions as waves, seeing pain dial and being able to control experience of pain) and REALLY hope they work!

You can get the CDs from NCT.

Hope that helps...

snig · 24/08/2007 10:36

thank you so much am gonna check that out now, am hoping everything is gonna go well for you and that your baby will just pop out. will be thinking of you and wishing you lots of luck (even though you won't need it)

MrsTittleMouse · 24/08/2007 11:00

Hm, yes and no. I did the CD, not the classes. I concentrated very hard on staying in the moment and breathing during contractions (in fact the MW commented on how focussed I was). DD was OP and I managed to cope without drugs for 10 hours. Then I started panicking and had pethidine. To be fair, I had been in pre-labour for 2.5 days before that, so I was completely knackered due to lack of sleep, which I'm sure made a difference. After I woke up from the pethidine-induced sleep (40 minutes) I was OK and coped well with the last 2cm dilation and 2 hours pushing. DD was STILL OP and stuck though, so I was transferred to consultant care and then things went pear-shaped.
I have to admit that I have a bit of a bee in my bonnet about it , as I felt that the book stated that as long as the mother stayed calm and did everything right, that the birth would be straight forward, and therefore it was my fault that DD was stuck. I felt very guilty about it for ages , and then afterwards quite angry, as I felt that the book was too black-and-white. You can increase your chances of a good labour with hypobirthing and a supportive MW, but there are always going to be people who have problems and I think that should be mentioned at the very least. Even Ina May whatsit has a 3% C section rate, so there are obviously women who just are anatomically unable to birth certain babies (due to size, bad positioning etc)!

MrsTittleMouse · 24/08/2007 11:02

Sorry, forgot to mention:
Good luck snig! Hope that things work well for you, from reading this thread, it obviously can for lots of people.

ratfly · 24/08/2007 17:09

Not sure if it worked or not. I did the 'effective birth preparation' cds and had that on during early stages but it just made me really cross! I also went to a hypnotherapist for birthing, but it felt really odd and I didnt get too much out of it.

In the hospital I was only on gas and air, and tbh it was when dh started to help me visualise that I started to ride the contractions easier.
Ended with emergency c/s, so obv hard to know what later stages would have been like, but I was contracting for a minute every couple of minutes for hours and only used g and a? Only got to 2cm though...

BUT it did give me the confidence to go through a natural birth when I had previously really wanted an elective c/s..

Original poster

Difers · 27/08/2007 14:06

I think the CD's help but also birthing partner needs to support you aswell. I had the birthing music on. I had another friend who did them and she had a very quick labour.

OP posts:

turtle23 · 01/09/2007 09:30

My midwife has suggested doing the course and I am tempted, but I'm also slightly cynical about hypnotherapy in general. Do you think it would be useful to someone whose immediate reaction is to snigger?

Stefka · 02/09/2007 09:25

I just got a cd and I find it helps me to relax which is nice.

I did something similar to get me through my driving test and it worked a treat so I am hoping it will help keep me calm as possible.

MrsCarrot · 02/09/2007 09:34

I went to a hypnotherapist and she gave me a cd of our recorded sessions. I got comfy and listened to it on my bed, went through all the relaxation stage, felt like I was drifting off etc..

then it said, 'you (pause) do not want to eat chips (pause) chips make you feel sick (pause) chips are greasy etc etc..

She was very embarrassed, and came to my house to replace it, but tbh after that I kept laughing during the relaxation.

I wish I'd tried the natal ones from the midwife I've heard good things about those.

Bouquetsofdynomite · 02/09/2007 09:45

I heard a story from a midwife who said the calmest birth she'd ever seen was a teenage girl who knelt on the bed and just breathed. Her mum had told her to imagine a candle at the end of the bed and to try and blow it out with long slow breaths. I'd call that autohypnosis!

Magnolia36 · 02/09/2007 20:45

I did the Natal Hypnotherapy course and listened to the CDs religiously before the birth of my DD. I was really keen to have a natural birth. I'd say that the Hypnotherapy helped before I went into labour to relax, but as soon as I went into labour proper unfortunately all the techniques seemed to go out the window and all I wanted was as much drugs as possible to kill the pain!! I also remember saying alot - "I think I've underestimated this!!". In the end I had gas and air, two shots of pethidene, an epidural and then a c-section - and I have to say it was a relief to get all of them!!

So Im not sure it works basically...

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