Hypnobirthing

[BabyBeanBelly]

Hi,

I just wanted to get an overview of hypnobirthing experiences; good or bad. I'm in my 2nd trimester and keen to give it a try. I'm under no false illusions with respect to the pain of labour (although this is my first) and I expect I might still need the pain relief, but hopefully the hypo will get me from home to labour ward without breaking down/ stressing out too much.

Those of you that have tried this, did it work? Are the classes better than self-teaching via CD/book? Do you have any hints/ tips?

I'd love to be able to feel calm in labour as for me focussing/ stressing about pain just makes it worse. But as I've said above my current thoughts are that I'd use hypno but have a plan B for pain relief, probably the epidural...

Hope you can help...

(Apologies, I think I wrongly posted this is ante-natal classes initially... Still gettin used to MN!)

Hi!
I had never considered hypnobirthing before I was pregnant. I think a lot of people are put off by the term, as it tends to conjure up all kinds of images, most of them negative!
However, it is actually a technique of relaxation, positive thinking and breathing techniques which are all designed to help during contractions (sorry, "surges"!!!)
Personally, I work in the health service, in obstetrics, so I have personal and intimate experience of other people's childbirth, mostly when complications arise. I found hypnobirthing was immensely helpful in banishing any anxiety about childbirth which was founded on other people's experiences.
It empowers you to take control of your body and thoughts during labour. I wouldn't say labour was pain free! But it was very manageable and at all times I felt calm and in control, not of the actual mechanics of labour, but of how I responded to everything that was happening.
It takes practice and you really have to take that part seriously. I think the level of preparation that I did was fundamental in my positive experience. Breathing techniques and relaxation..... It's not a chore to do these things but I would recommend sticking to daily practice, because when you are in labour , you just automatically use them without it feeling strange or unfamiliar.
I went on a course over two weekends when I was about 30 weeks. but we were sent a book beforehand to read. I have to say the book made no sense to me, was full of irritating Americanisms, and misinformation about obstetric care that does not represent UK practice at all. But the course was fantastic and made perfect sense. I think you should try to get a personal recommendation about which course to go on if you do. Mine was bloody fantastic, and totally won over my partner who is a massive sceptic of most things.
So, I had a home birth (first baby) using hypnobirthing. My active labour was seven hours after about ten hours latent phase. We were relaxed and happy, my partner felt so confident in supporting me that he buggered off and did some DIY for a bit! We only just remembered to call a midwife (I was in the zone, partner forgot?!) We had one midwife who arrived thirty mins before my daughter was born with no pain relief, in perfect condition , weighing 10lbs2oz. I had a few grazes and felt fine!!!
So I suppose for me it was just bloody brilliant. But labour is sooooo unpredictable and I was very lucky everything was straightforward and went well. I was totally prepared to use pain relief if I needed it, go to hospital, have an epidural if I wanted it etc etc, with NO feelings of disappointment or misplaced sense of failure. As my instructor said, hypnobirthing is just one thing to have in your toolbox to help with labour, it doesn't have to be the only thing. There is an affirmation that sums it up .... I feel totally relaxed and at ease with any path that the birth will take... And if you truly believe this, you won't be in a bad place emotionally.
Sorry to ramble! I hope the rest of your pregnancy goes well and you have a calm and confident birth :)

Honkyponk, wow! Thank you for taking the time to give such a detailed response. It sounds like you did an amazing job. Had a little chuckle at the DIY bit!

I am pretty keen on the course and I know we have one locally, like you I know I'd not be too keen on overly Americanised support materials. Thanks for the tip re practice, it sounds as though it really did make perfect!

Thanks again for your reply, it is super helpful x

I bought the natal hypnotherapy set and I did find it useful. I had a homebirth and did midday to about ten pm with no pain relief, just breathing carefully and bouncing on my ball. When it really ramped up about ten I stuck the birth cd on and summoned the midwives with their lovely gas and air. DD slithered out most un dramatically two hours later. It must have worked a fair bit because one of the midwives commented on how well I cope with pain - err, not normally I don't!

I do think it's really helpful if you can stay calm, I found my first labour very frightening and I think it slowed things down and made it more painful. The natal hypnotherapy is basically guided relaxation and so if you get on with it it can be really useful. (Some of the things they say could be construed as a bit... airy fairy and woo, though, so if you find that sort of thing hard to take seriously I found only half listening helped me stay focused on the relaxation element )

One thing I would really recommend is Michel Odent's book about the mammalian process of birth and how to help your body get on with doing what it needs to do to get the baby out, it's fascinating stuff. I found reading as much as possible about the process very reassuring.

Good luck!

I used it for DC4 - did it myself using a NCT CD someone on here gave me (I subsequently passed it on so might be worth asking if anyone has one). Just listened to it every night. It was very relaxing.

It most definitely helped during the birth. Despite DC4 being two weeks late she was in a massive hurry once she decided to come. It really helped me keep control until the MWs came (another HB here too).

Wholeheartedly recommend it.

Mindalina & Ohforfoxsake, thank you both for sharing your experiences. I'm going to give it a shot! Hypnobirthing preparation here I come :-)

it worked for me as well! After a very traumatic birth with DS1 I gave hypnobirthing a go with DS2. It was a text book delivery and I was calm throughout. Give it a go!

Another vote in favour here, helped a lot with DD1 and even more so with DD2. I struggled with some of the more "woo" elements but just picked and chose whst worked for me. Definitely give it a go, the way i looked at it was it could hardly make it worse so i had nothing to lose.

I've been reading this thread with interest!! I am 33+6 with DC3 and would really like to try hypnobirthing. I can't go on a course because I am agoraphobic, so would like to know which books or cd's you guys would recommend.

Hearing the very positive stories has intrigued me!!

I am 35 weeks and took a hypnobirthing workshop a few weeks ago. Even though I can't share what it's like in actual childbirth I have been listening to my CDs daily and it had really helped me through terrible pelvic pain and fatigue. I have four CDs from my course and alternate then daily. Sometimes I feel so relaxed I nap right after. I am looking forward to using then throughout my labour.

I just used the cds from here - I bought the home birth prep cd and the labour companion. I didn't actually listen to the prep one more than four or five times, and always in bed as I was nodding off (not optimal I think) and I still think it was really helpful - it certainly can't do any harm!

I used natal hypnotherapy CDs for my first pregnancy/labour. I thought it was brilliant, used in combination with yoga breathing and moves and a hot bath.

I was in labour for 3 days at home, and was able to cope for all that time with the hypno, bath and yoga breathing. I was actually so calm that when I called the ward to see if I should come in they thought I couldn't be in proper labour! Fortunately I went in anyway, to discover I was already 5 cm dilated. I then made it to about 7/8 just with the hypno, bath, breathing. Then gas and air from 8cm.

My labour at this point was progressing extremely rapidly, and in what turned out to be transition, but the mw didn't realise at the time (prob because I was so relaxed), I asked for pethidine. Given the long time I'd been in labour they gave it, and I started pushing about 10 minutes later, which was unfortunate. Pushing took 20 minutes.

Mw were amazed how calm I was. I was in the worse pain I've ever been in, but I was calm throughout and didn't mind too much, and the breaks between contractions felt quite long. I screamed just twice in the entire 3 days (with the burning of the first push), but the mw asked me to concentrate on the breathing, so I did.

After the birth things started to go badly wrong with a severe tear and haemorrhage, and strangely I was complaining more about the tear pain than at any point during the labour (when I didn't complain once)! I think that shows how well the hypno was controlling the pain of labour, just wished they'd added a bit about pain relief for tears!

For me also the most useful was that although I nearly died following the birth I think the hypno helped me to remember the experience as positive. Everyone is amazed that I am not traumatised. I have been traumatised by something else and I know that fear/what you fear is happening is far more important in terms of longer lasting trauma, than the reality. So I think the hypno helped me avoid that.

I have to have a c-sec this time, and as that scares me I will use hypnotherapy again. I am even disappointed not to get a chance to put hypno against vaginal birth again!

Can I just ask exactly which CDs you used? I've looked at the Natal website and there were so many different ones. I'm 18 weeks pregnant and for some reason I can see that I'm starting to panic about birth. I've given birth 4 times before and I was never like this - admittedly the last time was 6 years ago but I feel like I'm working myself into a state - and I've got another 22 weeks to go to get even more panicked :(

I just wanted to say a big thank you to you all for sharing your HB experiences. I'm now booked onto a local course, can't wait! X

Hi Animol. You are probably about 20 weeks pregnant now. Can I suggest you start with the "Pregnancy Relaxation" cd now which will teach you the same hypnosis, breathing, visualisation techniques that you can use during labour, and then move onto the "Effective Birth Preparation" one from about 32 weeks. By starting now you are will find that practicing the relaxation and hypnosis gets easier and easier to do and that by the time you go into labour it has become second nature.

There are some lovely clips on youtube of women using Natal Hypnotherapy which may inspire you