Hypnobirthing or its varients

[Reallytired]

Last time I was pregnant I did the NCT classes. I had a good birth experience although I did have an epidural as I had had an excpetionally long labour. (after 28 hours in labour and the whole labour was 33 hours)

This policies in our area have changed. The lovely maternity unit I was in last time has been shut and the nearest hospital has a policy of not allowing mothers to have epidurals unless there are signifant complications. Most women go to the midwify led unit. I feel quite scared at the thought of being 33 hours in labour without an epidural.

Anyway I have been mad and booked a homebirth. (If I can't have an epidural then I would rather stay at home.) I am looking at alternative pain relief. Last time I found tens useless and gas and air made me throw up. Has anyone used hypnosis? Does it work. Can you use hypnosis with active birth positions? Can you use hypnosis with a water birth.

hmm I did Marie Mongans Hypnobirthing, I was in labour for 12 hours (11 at home with just tea and paracetamol and got to 8cm) before having to have an emcs. The problem is because every womans labour is different I don't know if I found labour acceptable because of the hypnobirthing or because my labour was easy. However I went from being absolutely TERRIFIED of the thought of giving birth to, whilst not looking forward to it, accepting of the fact it was going to happen and that I would cope.
Anyway in answer to your questions.

Does the hypnosis work?
Not for me, maybe I didn't practice enough BUT the breathing techniques that were taught and the relaxation and visualisation exercises were invaluble. Worth every penny.

Can you use hypnosis with active birth positions?
Yes

Can you use hypnosis with a water birth?
Yes

I don't think your labour could have been easy if you ended up with an emergency cs.

My labour which was in hospital was painful because I had quite a long time between my waters breaking and contractions getting started properly. I also found my stress levels went through the roof as soon as I went into hospital. The stress of having the consultant saying that he could not find the head and talking about a cs also stopped my labour from progressing.

However I do wonder if some of the claims of hypnobirthing are unrealistic. Libra1975, how did the rest of your class get on?

I had an emcs because when I got to the hospital it was found my DS was a footling breech position which is one of the more dangerous positions to deliver vaginally because of the higher risk of cord compression and not because my labour was going badly or wrong, hence why I still class it as easy!

I only did hypnobirthing with one other couple and she had a difficult labour but still said she found the hypnobirthing useful. What you have to remember is that hypnobirthing can't change the type of labour you are going to have i.e. if it's going to be a long labour then that is not going to change and some labours are going to need interventions no matter how much you practice your breathing. What I found is that it gave me tools to deal with labour.
Put it this way, the NCT classes have to cover so much that the breathing and relaxation exercises make up about an hour maybe 2 of the total NCT time. Our hypnobirthing course was 12 hours, of which probably about 8 of those hours was practising breathing/relaxation/visualisation exercises so by the time labour came it was second nature.

I don't think the nct classes I went to 7 years ago covered breathing in that much detail, it was mostly about the advantages/ disadvantages of various forms of pain relief, a bit about active birth, a bit on breastfeeding. Did you do a proper Morgan Hynobirthing class or something similar like www.natalhypnotherapy.co.uk/

I am bit shocked by the cost of a proper Morgan Hynobirthing class.

Actually i was being generous about the amount of time our NCT class allocated to breathing!
I did a proper Mongan course, it's not cheap I agree but for me personally it was worth every penny, I can't explain how terrified I was about childbirth before I did the course.
If you are in the Surrey area I can give you the name of the women we did it with, she was fab.

hypnobirthing and water birth at home for ds2 in march, ds2 11lb11lz. hypnobirthing also very helpful to cope with 3 day induction with ds1. excellent method of pain management.

very interested to hear about your area restricting epidurals. wonder how much of that done on clinical research and how much on cost?

sorry just got chance ot read rest of thread. mine was the natal hypnotherapy. did the prep CD every day at least once for weeks. so hours and hours of practice. i think hypnosis for any kind of pain management works for large numbers of people, it's kind of window dressing which you choose. i believe you get a personalised tape with the mongan course. i guess i just now i'm susceptible flexible enough to use a generic program.

found myself using same techniques 2 hours into major dental work and trying not to laugh as dentist took out molar roots in many pieces on friday...'come out of the canal...come out of the canal' type thing . also use it to cope with the worst excesses of my rheumatoid arthritis

I used the Natal Hypnotherapy CD for the homebirth of my DD - she was my first and 9lb 12. Active labour lasted about 7 hours and I didn't need any chemical pain relief (TENS for 1st stage, nothing for 2nd)

As my mother says, we've good child bearing hips and are from old peasant stock (which has to have helped), but I wouldn't say I found labour painful or particularly unpleasant - just very intense. I don't remember using any of the specific hypnotherapy techniques apart from the breathing, but I did find it came naturally to do the whole disapearing into yourself thing - to the point the MWs told me I'd have to tell them when I was having a contraction (I couldn't - I squeezed DH and he told them)...

We also wound up with IMs (long story), and I do think that having MWs that I knew and trusted helped my labour.

Interestingly I've also found myself using the breathing in other stressful situation

As well as exploring Hypnobirthing, I would highly recommend exploring the 'Birthing From Within' approach. I used this approach (plus some other things in my 'birthing tool bag'!)for the home births of both my children. Both births were amazing experiences despite the fact that after the birth of my first daughter, I ended up in hospital to remove a retained placenta!

The BFW approach is a holistic approach to birth and Postnatal preparation in that great importance is placed on emotional and mental preparation as well as practical info.

It's a very creative, nurturing personal way of preparing for birth and parenthood. You'll discover what you personally need to be able to give birth and learn how to 'birth in awareness' (ie. to feel empowered and sense what is needed moment to moment rather than focusing on achieving a specific outcome) I found that really useful during my first labour when I needed to go to hospital to remove the placenta)

Pain coping practices and developing a pain coping mindset are a core part of the preparation. For me, having as many pain coping tools in my 'birth bag'as possible were key as I was planning a home birth. I knew I only had my own resources to rely on and so really got the sense that I needed to tap into those resources at a deep level.

The book 'Birthing from Within' is by Pam England or you can go to www.birthingfromwithin.com

I've actually become a BFW Childbirth Mentor (as well as a Shiatsu Practitioner specialising in Pregnancy)so feel free to ask me anything about BFW or you can visit my website for more info at www.birth-illuminessence.com

Love n laughter :-)
ChilledOutChic

I've had two hypnobirths using the Mongan Method and will be having my third in March.

My first birth was great, it was an induction, and although it took a long time to start labor was only 3 hours long (9 hours from start of drip to start of labor). I slept through most of the pushing and don't remember it as it was 2.5 hours.

Ds2's birth was also about 3 hours long and I didn't go under as much as with ds1, but everything went very well.

as well as the hypnobirthing mongan method you can also go and see hypnotherapists privately who will do tailor made sessions for you according to you needs and teach you various techniques. I do this for clients and it works really well. Can be used in conjunction with any other pain relief and waterbirths.

Message withdrawn

Pruners, i've just done the HypnoBirthing practitioner training and it isn't lightweight. Not sure if you think so because you don't have to be a hypnotherapist to run the classes, but essentially, the person running the classes is there to give the parents attending the confidence that they can do this by themselves without the need for anyone else. It's giving you the tools to manage your labour more comfortably and to feel in control. Hypnosis is just a state of deep relaxation which everyone tends to use at some stage (in my case, usually when I wonder how I've just driven from a to b and not realised how i've got there on autopilot!). So yes, it can boil down to your practitioner rather than the method itself.
Also bear in mind that you have to condition your mind, it's not just a case of read the book once or twice and listen to the cd occasionally. The more you listen, the more you can go into autopilot when the time comes.

I did the course last Nov for my birth in March, booked for a home water birth as I was terrified at the thought of having to be in hospital. Due to BP probs ended up admitted to hospital just after labour started. This was so not what I wanted to happen, but I kept listening to the relaxation tape and DH got me to do lots of relaxing breathing every time I felt about to panic, so while I was aware of everything going on, and not necessarily happy about it, I was able to focus on getting things done. The birth itself still gives me trauma thinking about it, but I truely believe without doing the HB that I would not have managed at all.