Anyone doing the Natal Hypnotherapy CDs?

[lovechoc]

I have been given one of these from a friend and have just listened to the CD today and found it really relaxed me. Got another 18 or so weeks left yet so hoping to get into a routine of listening to it but has anyone found these very helpful for the birth?

I am being positive and want it to work!

and don't worry, I've still got my hang ups too. I think we'll have them with us until giving birth the next time...

Gaelicsheep - I found the fears about the birth repeating were awful around the point you are at. I was a bit like the friend of mine, who after a tricky first birth, refused to get in the car to go to the hospital for the second one and kept saying 'I don't want to do this, thankyou'

But I found the cd really helped me to feel I was moving past that, and the different hospital I went to for dc2 made a huge difference too - the midwives gently talked me through the bits where I panicked about things repeating from last time.

Chegirl-I laughed a lot the first couple of times I listened ... (I hope things are well with your ds)

chegirl - there were some free hypnotherapy CDs with the evening standard a couple of years ago & the bloke on those sounds v similar to the bloke you describe. there's one that's meant to help you sleep, DP & i tried it but were laughing too much for it to help! the natal hypnotherapy CDs are good, maggie howells has a lovely relaxing voice, definitely not menacing

I bought my CDs for natal hypnotherapy on Ebay - I used them quite a bit before DD#3 came and I had a MUCH better birth than #1 and #2. I got to 9cm on TENS and visualisations alone and had no idea I was that far along when I went in Yes, it still hurt, but I coped mentally so much better with it all rather than losing control like I did with DD#2. It gave me a really positive birth experience to look back on.

I have tried to listen to the natal hypnotherapy CD three times. Each time I have fallen asleep and awoken to hear I have given birth and it's all over.

I can't hope, can I, that the hypnosis is SO good, this is what will happen on the actual day??

I've been listening to the CDs too and also keep falling asleep - I just hope some of it is going in subconsciously. I listened to the Pregnancy Relaxation from about week 16 to 32 and then the birth prep one since.

The booklet also recommends listening through the entire track whilst you are fully awake and making a note of the things you like, or think you will find helpful. I have done this and I am going to give this info to my DH (if I can't get him to listen to the CD itself) in the hope he can help me to remain focussed and relaxed when the time comes by using trigger words/phrases etc

This is my first birth, but I have to say after years of thinking I would be terrified at this point, I feel very calm and positive about the impending event! I put this down to these CDs.

havent read whole thread but just have to come and shout very loudly that natal hypnotherapy is AMAZING. really really worked for dc2's birth. poss the best night of my life. wheras dc1's birth had been one of the worst .

i have raved about natal hypnotherapy loads (mainly this one) so i will resist urge to start chatting away lots except to say i have a very low pain threshold and the birth was truly painless (6hrs start to finish, last three min hurt). i did the natal cd loads and loads, 30 times?, and i think that is the key.

i think which cd you do is quite important. i chose the natal hypno ones cause recommended on the Homebirth UK org site. Obvs i havent tried the others but i cant stress how good the one i did was.

sorry my link not clear - it's to another MN thread in which i talked about the things i did which i think helped me go into proper hypnotic state during birth.

best £16 i ever spent

curlyLJ and coffeeaddict, don't worry about falling asleep to the CD. This happened to me and I still found it worked a treat for the birth of my DC1. I must have been taking it all on board subconsciously. I agree with swottybetty that the Maggie Howell CD is fantastic and worth every penny. It DOES work.

hi swottybetty and everyone else, I am Maggie Howell and am so pleased that you have found the CDs so useful. They have helped over 30,000 women and even though there is no guarantee of a perfect/ pain free / natural birth, the vast majority of women find that it helps them feel more in control, more relaxed and more prepared for the birth.

I can fully understand some people being septical as I was one of those people before I started all this. I had never done anything "alternative" before and was a focused, driven career woman who was seriously worried about the whole pain and loosing control element of giving birth.

It seems crazy that simply listening to a CD can change the way you feel and respond - but having done it 5 times myself now, I continue to be amazed at how powerful our minds are at helping our bodies - espeically when it comes to giving birth.

Maggie, I blinking well hope it works, I have been listening religiously and am now 38 weeks and listening every night. Am a bit worried as I am so relaxed that I keep falling asleep in the middle, it's that darn beach, sets me off every time!

Seriously tho, after a stressful first time round, I am actually LOOKING FORWARD to giving birth. A huge turnaround for me as I actually thought about not having a second child due to the chaos last time. So, so far a huge thumbs up from me!

Great to hear. I gave birth to my fifth baby 3 months ago and even after all this time I was still out for the count by the time I get to the beach.

It may seem a bit wierd but hypnosis works brilliantly when you feel like you are asleep as you have stopped "consciously" anaylising and listening and are allowing yourself to be deeply relaxed and so more open to the positive suggestions.

I wish you all the very best and am so pleased you are looking forward to the birth.

When I found out I was pregnant one of my first thoughts was ?oh no, now I have to give birth?. I had always wanted to give birth naturally and was very anti the ?too posh to push brigade? but when push came to shove (so to speak) I was terrified. I knew that I was very bad at breathing and my reaction to pain or stressful situations was to hold my breath and just seize up. I also have a fast heartbeat which gets worse during stressful situations and I was scared something bad would happen during labour. I wanted to do something to teach me not to panic or stop breathing properly whilst in labour. I did some research and came across natal hypnotherapy (www.natalhypnotherapy.co.uk) and signed up for one of their courses. The teacher was lovely and had children of her own. She was a fantastic teacher and it felt more realistic and believable hearing stories from someone who has actually gone through childbirth herself. Both myself and my husband got a lot out of the course and we purchased some CDs. I listened to the CDs every few days at first and then once I was on maternity leave I listened to the longer session on the CD almost every day. I also regularly practiced breathing and relaxing techniques. My husband also practised with me regularly so it would be second nature to both of us during labour. I really enjoyed the CDs and the techniques involving my husband and I did feel generally more relaxed. Looking back now I don?t remember feeling scared at all in the run-up to the birth, I was just concentrating on relaxing and breathing. Lots of people seemed to take great delight in telling birth horror stories of theirs or of their friends but it didn?t freak me out at all.

I surprised myself when my waters broke and I didn?t panic like I thought I would. I actually felt quite excited as I knew I would get to meet my baby soon. I phoned the birth centre and they told me to go back to bed for a few hours as everything seemed ok. I put on the relaxing birth music CD and went to bed. I didn?t sleep but just laid there practising breathing and relaxing. After about 3½ hours I phoned the birth centre again and they told me to stay at home longer if I could. I was happy to stay at home and had some breakfast and cleaned the kitchen. After a few hours, when the contractions were stronger I decided to have a bath before putting on the tens machine. Whilst in the bath I phoned the hospital again and they told me to start coming in to hospital. My husband finished packing the bag and phoned a cab. With the tens machine on and the controls gripped very tightly in my hand we made the 20 minute journey to hospital. In the cab I was focusing on breathing through each contraction and relaxing in between contractions which were coming very quickly by now. I did manage to relax between each contraction which I never believed would be possible and it helped when the next contraction came as I felt I had had a break from the earlier contractions.

We got to the birth centre and they examined me and told me I was fully dilated. My son was born about half an hour later weighing 4.07kg. The midwife didn?t even get a chance to set up the gas and air and I never had a chance to use the birth pool that I wanted to try. I had had grand plans of listening to the Natal Hypnotherapy birth music CD while giving birth but we didn?t have time to set up the CD player.

From when my waters broke to when my son was born was about 8 hours. I had always assumed that I would be one of the horror stories of a 55 hour labour and then a caesarean. I really do feel that one of the reasons my labour was relatively short was that I was relaxed and focused and didn?t panic. I think it would have been a completely different story had I not done the Natal Hypnotherapy course. One of my first thoughts just after giving birth was ?wow, I could do that again?!

Can anyone answer this for me?
Should you use a TENS machine if you're practising the CD's.
I've been lent a machine, but can't see how it will "fit in" with the breathing and visualisations etc. Surely it just interferes with your thoughts etc?

I would take it along justbeme and see how you feel.

In my case, I did the CD (which was brilliant BTW, if only for getting a lovely relaxing lie-down at the end of my pregnancy). When I was in labour, DH came near me with the TENS machine and I just swore at him and he took it away! I don't mean that I felt I didn't need pain relief, just that I could face the faffing with a TENS machine. You might feel differently, so I'd suggest keeping your options open. I found that the hypotherapy kept me calm(ish) but I certainly wasn't in a total trance or anytning like that.

I would love to encourage women to use the Natal Hypnotherapy CD. My two sons were both born at home and were great experiences but the recent birth of my daughter was something really special. Five weeks before her birth I went to visit my sister who had recently had a wonderful home birth. I was feeling quite nervous at the time, I was finding it hard to trust that I would have another good experience, and I was (for no good reason) concerned about my baby?s health. Hellen had used the CD and on her recommendation I started listening to it every day. There was an immediate change in my attitude and for the first time I dared feel a real connection with my daughter. On several occasions I cried while listening to the cd and it was such a relief to be feeling positive enough about the forthcoming birth to admit my fears. I started to talk to my daughter more and more.

As I listened to the CD more I did become increasingly relaxed and this continued despite being four days overdue. Each time I listened to the CD I pictured going into labour in the early hours of the morning so that I could manage early labour alone before my 2 and a half year old son, Anton, woke up. I woke up at 3am on 17th March because of a good contraction and was able to spend the next two hours sat in the dark relaxing well. At 5.15 my Anton woke up so I woke my husband and mother (we were staying with my family). My mum played with Anton and I walked around the house just swaying and relaxing through contractions. At 7am I rang the midwives and was told that I may have to go to hospital because of a lack of staff. I actually didn?t become anxious although I really wanted a third home birth. Thankfully a midwife, Debbie, agreed to start her shift early so that I could stay at home. Debbie had done one of my antenatal checks and I had taken to her immediately and felt delighted she would be there. At 7.20 I put the CD on and listened to it while my husband rubbed my back.

The midwives arrived at 8am into a relaxed and busy household. I was 4 centimeters dilated. Four of my younger siblings were hanging around, full of curiosity, asking me and the midwives questions. Anton came to chat to me and then off to play. I was able to stay on my feet, walking around. I felt no nerves at all and felt very focused on allowing my daughter?s birth to happen. When the contractions became almost continuous around 8.45 I sat on a birthing ball and used gas and air. At 9.30 I asked my husband to prepare a bath and at 9.50 I walked up the stairs with the membranes breaking on the way.

When I, my husband and the two midwives got into the bathroom and shut the door the atmosphere became completely calm. Debbie turned off the light and they began to whisper. They showed my husband how to pour water on my belly, which was lovely. I lay in the bath visualizing what would happen when I was ready to push. I felt like a diver or gymnast practicing the moves in my head so I could perform them perfectly. I held Debbie?s hand for a few moments and felt very serene. Her calm was incredibly reassuring. Just after 10 I first felt the urge to push and welcomed it with relaxed excitement. My daughters head was out within a couple of minutes and Debbie knelt beside the bath stroking her head under the water, while we waited for the next contraction. It was such a perfect moment. My daughter?s birth took 7 minutes. Neve was placed straight onto me. The placenta was out quickly with no need for an injection and I was quickly in bed feeding Neve.

I really felt that using the CD improved both the time leading up to the birth and the birth itself. All I did was listen to the CD 26 times, mostly managing to stay awake! I felt such confidence that my body would do all the right things and that I just needed to relax and let it happen. I have had an experience I will always treasure.

The midwife found Neve's birth such a positive experience that she asked to keep in touch and came to Neve's baptism. Do give this a try. I didn't really think of it as hypnotherapy but a guided visualisation reprogramming my attitude. I think if you are willing to suspend your skepticism and just give 40 minutes a day to this the rewards can be brilliant.

i found it amazing

i didnt even know i was in labour... i was 7cm.... 20mins later i was a mummy....

no pain relief except a TENS.... a relaxing painfree easy homebirth

DD shot out and wasnt even caught!!!!

i found it calmed me and made it all positively easy & painfree.!!!!
will be doing it again for number 2!!!

All of these posts are so encouraging, I listened to the first VBAC natal hypnotherapy CD for the first time last night. Currently 20 weeks expecting DC2, really hoping for a more positive, controlled experience this time.

Interestingly last time we did the Mongan Hypnobirthing course and worked really hard in the run up to my due date on the relaxation and breathing techniques, I would say that even though I was induced (at 42+2) using Synto drip it really did help, I got to 6cm without even gas and air. It did hurt but not in a conventional sense, it was more of an overwhelming feeling that I felt I had to concentrate very hard on. Ended up with epidural after all though due to tiredness and inability to concentrate with the sound of the monitors and all of the tubes etc sticking out of my hand, felt so so so guilty and then to top it all we had an EMCS anyway...still I did feel calm all of the way through.

I have to say I found the american voice on the hypnobirthing CD to be difficult to get on with, so I am hoping that Natal Hypnotherapy will be better :) Hoping so hard that I can have a calm water VBAC this time without too much of a fight with my local hospital and sincerely hope that the CDs will help.

Anyone have experience of VBAC version of the CDs? Did they help? How often did you listen to the "Letting go" CD before moving on to the birth preparation?

Sorry for so many questions, thanks