Hypnobirthing - Natal or Mongan

[PodPea76]

I'm very early in PG, but already looking into relaxation techniques. There seems to be a big difference in cost between Natal and Mongan classes. Can anyone advise if there is a big difference in the methods and the results?

Am not an expert but have just been looking into those options myself. From what I understand, they follow basically the same principles, but the Natal method is a bit more straightforward, ie only one breathing technique to learn instead of several different techniques for the different stages of labour.

Also the Natal CDs have an English accent which some people may find less irritating than an American one!

That's what I have heard anyway - but am sure someone will be along in a minute who will know about it much more than I do :)

Good luck with hypnobirthing - my aunt is a practitioner and after listening to her speak about it I am definitely planning to give it a go!

hmm glad i saw this post as im meeting two hypnobirthing practitioners int he next week to choose between the two. i didn't realise there was such a difference between it and the natal method!

ive just had a look at natalhypnotherapy.co.uk website and i think for me i'll still go for hypnobirthing. mainly because i had a traumatic first labour so i think i need the time over 4-5 weeks to take in the methods, as i will also be battling a lot of 'demons' as i do the course.

also i think it depends on how your perspective is for the birth and how detailed you want the prep to be. although they are different methods, i do think there's also a difference in the detail and intensity of the course (from my limited research so far). had it been my first birth i would have gone for the less intensive and cheaper method, but i know for me this time around i need more...

Thanks ladies. I think I'm going to follow up on natal. There's a practioner in my area who is also a midwife, so hopefully that's a good combination

podpea76 that sounds like a great combination! i did pregnancy yoga for my first birth and the teacher was a retired midwife, it was great because she had a very realistic approach about natural birth v some interventions being unfortunately unavoidable. hope it all goes well :)

Im doing the natal as i read that the mongan is a little more unrealistic and tries to make you feel guilty in some ways too.. no idea if its true or not but it made an otherwise unmade decision for me. i have the homebirth version of the cd and i find it brilliant. i usually fall asleep at some point but apparently thats ok. it doesnt last for too long so im not worrying about other things which need to be done.
all i would say is that if you have an i phone or i pad available, get the ihypnobirth app first to try. it is very similar to the cds which i have and i find it quite practical to listen to on long car journeys or if there are other people in the house because i use the headphones.
it is nice to have the english accent too, not sure if i would be able to take an american accent seriously unfortunately.
Just my opinion but i really think that either type would be brilliant. wish id discovered it before my last pregnancy because i am so much calmer this time round!
i am also doing the buddhabellies pregnancy yoga dvd which is wonderful.
good luck :)

I have read both and chose the natal hypnotherapy course. My decision was based on the uk accent over the us one and hypnotherapy requires you to change some language ( I don't think you can use the word contraction). NH also involves your birth partner more.

Anyway, I had to seriously revise my birth plan last week but I can pin point several moments where NH really made a difference: during a painful exam, anaesthetic, going into theatre and panicking, between contractions to relax and save energy. Happy boy, elated mummy!