Hypnobirthing - Worth the money?

[Aubergenie]

I'm reading the Mongan Book at the moment and have been looking at hypnobirthing courses but I'm dithering about booking onto one because of the cost. I'd be interested to know whether people who have done the course feel that it was worthwhile for them and worth the money. This is my first baby.

A friend has recommended an ante-natal yoga class that she says really helped her prepare for labour physically but also in terms of breathing, visualisation, relaxation etc. While obviously not the same thing I'm wondering whether that would be an alternative.

Or am I just being tight?

This is a great thread - I used hypnosis for my second birth. Then I trained as a hypnotherapist and in different methods of hypnobirthing as there are so many approaches. I do Mongan, The Leclaire Method, and also run a one day course called Mindful Mamma which looks at how your state of mind affects your body during labour and how to tap into your own natural coping strategies and resources. Different women like different approaches _ I don't think that you can put everyone in the same box.

Ina May's book is amazing, even if it looks a little to 1960's and uses the term psychedelic a bit too much! Grantly Dick Read puts all the meat behind Mongan.

Another you may want to consider reading is Pam England's Birthing From Within - I love this book. It does tackle pain, which Mongan doesn't and it's not a hypnosis book but uses mindfulness as a route to conscious birth. It's also easy to dip in and out of.