re the pushing thing. i had nasty tear when i had dd (dc1, induction, epidural etc) and was determined second time round to do everything in my power to not tear.
i read up on birth a lot when preg with ds. two things i found most useful re pushing were in a book called "birth skills" by i think juji sumin (that name is wrong, sorry, but book title is right) and a some of the material in a yoga pregnancy book (again cant remember all details but it was from the teach yourself series). actually, thinking about it the juju sumin stuff was by far the most useful.
i read this stuff, didnt get round to doing the exercises, but was basically convinced i would push really slowly, controlled, internalise breath, not scream (see juju for more details re why you don't scream).
anyhoos i got through first stage of labour easy. just chanted these three words from the natal hypnotherapy cd through every contraction. really, no pain.
then waters broke (fully dilated at this point) and ohmygodithurt and all my chanting went to shit. i remember screaming. and at that point i remembered about not screaming and instead holding breath in and using that to push downwards. and baby was out in three more pushes (two min). remembering all the stuff i had read about pushing really helped. it was just for a fraction of a moment, but it did all come back to me.
i was really lucky cause baby was so low and ready at that point it would have happened quickly anyway. but i do think all my prep helped me focus once i had my jiggery moment of losing control when the nature of labour changed.
one thing i recommended before is to listen to the cd when clear headed and make a not of key phrases to use i labour. it was doing that that got me the words "power pressure warmth" for each contraction. what i hadnt done was make a note of any of the words in the cd script that talked about pushing stage - i wish i had done that cause i was lost there for a moment
incidentally, all that going slow so i dont care stuff went straight out the window. who can do that? mental! puuuusssshhhhh! first degree tear, barely noticed after though.
the stuff about nudging downwards, i cant really explain it. i didnt really get that from the natal hypno cd, but instead from the reading. so i would recommend them. it's just kind of hold your breath and doing kind of pelvic floor type things. told you i couldnt explain it
GOOD LUCK Y'ALL. LISTEN TO THE CD LOADS! I remember this time last year i was four months preg and did MN searches to see if hypnosis could possibly work. i was sceptical but figured that if it even made it made labour even one degree less painful it was worth a shot. it really really works.
ummm.... didnt say it last time, but if you find the funny breathing doesnt try working during contractions, do the breathing between them instead. that was when i started getting into blissy trance.
porca - sorry to hear your first labour so painful. also had syncto dip, epidural and cont monitoring with dd. greedyguts posts seem to give us hpe re hypnosis and induction. and you may not be induced second time ( i wasnt, went into labour day before 42 wk induction booked) so worth trying in spirit of optimism? maybe if you are really worried you could have one on one sessions with a hypnosis person to get a more personalised approach that would also work if induced?
speedy - ina may made such a huge difference to me. what a great read . all those lovely birth stories. i used to read her guide to childbirth in the bath with same oils i used for hypnosis. how geeky was i?