Hypnobirthing

[EmberElftree]

Anyone else had or planning a hypnobirth? My due date is 4th October and we are 2 classes in to our course. Makes sense so far but would love to hear others experiences post birth in particular. I'm hoping for a water birth but I have a reherniated disc so will have to see how I get on on the day (whenever that will be!)

Three babies all Hypnobirthed at home. Not a stitch or a tear and no pain relief. Highly recommend it and you've got nothing to lose in trying it. Best of luck.

Attempted a water birth and hypnobirth with DS but it didn't work - ended up with every intervention going.
My advice would be to prepare for every eventuality.

Hypnobirthing rocks! We used it with ds. Had a home water hypnobirth, was totally blissful and amazing.

Practise practice practice......learn which techniques work for you and go with them, i like silver glove in particular. The dial doesnt work for me.

Dont let yourself be tainted by negative thoughts and we stopped telling people as they were all nay sayers, once we had done it, they were gobsmacked.

We are just refreshing for this time round too, so good to get back into it

We did a hypnobirthing course and lots of practice and it was lovely. I found it really relaxing and bonding as my partner was quite invested too. I was convinced the birth was all in my control, but for reasons I agreed and still agree with had an EMCS. I found the techniques useful in the early stages, but in my particular case I found the expectations the course had set up didn't help with how I processed what ended up happening. So I think there's a balance in terms of idealising/being open to other things taking priority. I hope you have a great birth though and that the course helps you prepare.

I'm really intrested in hypnobirthing but don't think I can spend so much on the classes .. do books/videos help atall?

Saltedcaramel - just to say thank you for using the phrase "I found the expectations the course had set up didn't help with how I processed what ended up happening."
That expresses how I feel, so eloquently!

It's very reassuring to hear of someone who feels a very similar way. Especially as so much of hypnobirthing is "rid yourself of negative thoughts and you'll be fine"..that simply isn't true, and I wish I'd been prepared for that.

I don't regret attempting hypnobirthing and yoga practise. Indeed, I still use some of the breathing exercises in stressful situations. However, I do regret just presuming that such practise was all I would need, and not fully researching all eventualities (such as interventions and the possible alternatives/side effects of interventions).

MissS I used Natal Hypnotherapy Cds and found them v helpful. The tracks are available on iTunes.

Another vote for Birth Skills by Juju Sundin. Great, practical strategies.

MissSMartin I used the Maggie Howell hypnobirthing CD and book, and the techniques really helped me during birth, no pain relief and a six hour labour. Contractions are intense and painful but it kept me calm.

Came on to say that I had similar/same as Salted caramel but Running up that Hill beat me to it. I can't work out if I regret doing hypnobirthing or not. On balance, not. It was worth a try, nice in late pregnancy etc. But I do think it gave me unrealistic expectations re the birth itself and contributed to me feeling like bottom of the class/failure when I ended up with induction and EMCS. Every labour is different though.

I think if I had come across hypnobirthing on my first pregnancy I would have felt let down during labour.

I only tried it on my second baby and just saw it as something that might help. That was it. I didn't expect any miracles or for it to replace pain relief (which was a good thing as DS was back to back with all that brings).

I hoped that it would help me be calm and it did help with that.

I think that's a really sensible approach, NoMontagues. My problem was that I fell for all the spiel, did indeed expect miracles, and felt let down and like a "failure" when it didn't work.

I honestly thought that I could cope with whatever labour threw at me. I'm relatively tough - I run fell marathons - and have a high pain threshold. But a 24hr back to back labour was like nothing I could have imagined, and was very much at odds with the "intense sensations" I'd been led to believe I would feel.

Hypnobirthing, IMO, is best viewed as one tool that could be used to help with birth, alongside all sorts of other things, ranging from breathing exercises through to epidural.

Problem is, it's presented as an either/or situation - either you do hypnobirthing,in the water, or your birth is "medicalised." That's not the way it works in reality for lots of people. Hypnobirthing practice was useful for me for eight hours or so of labour. After that, it was not.

Fact is, my son was not coming out alive without an epidural and forceps. As it was, he was pulled out unresponsive. And no amount of positive thoughts and confidence in my own body could have changed that.

This isn't designed to put you off, OP. Hypnobirthing can be useful and in shorter, straightforward births I believe it may be all you need to get through. But it may not be. And if you do go for it, please don't feel like a failure if it doesn't work. I've spent nearly three years feeling shit about my birth experience, which wouldn't have happened if I'd been more realistic from the outset.

Thanks all

whyisitsodifficult that sounds fab I'm most worried about having a c section, surgery scares me and the most thing I'm worried about with a v birth is tearing, have read the water helps to stretch things out.

Topsy al the best for your second! Haven't had any negative comments but most folk have never heard of it (like me before my doc suggested it)

Running we are open to all eventualities but are looking forward to trying for a hb fingers crossed!

Thanks saltedcaramel and like running, my DH is finding the breathing and relaxation techniques great for dealing with stress too.

I'm thinking along the same lines as NoMontagues, I don't expect this to take away the pain etc. but I do enjoy the calming techniques and know that they will be of great use on the day regardless of the outcome.

Will defo look into the Juju Sundin coping techniques also, thanks Baffled and NoMontagues.

Sounds like a really good plan, OP. Wish you luck and a wonderful parenting adventure ahead.

I just wanted to say thank you, RunningUpThatHill and Now What So What for sharing your experiences. Yours made me cry a bit, Running. It's a weird thing feeling like a failure who you've got a great baby at the end of it. But that is how it can feel.

Sorry, salted, I don't want to make anyone cry!
I'm absolutely determined not to put so much pressure on myself this time around, that's for sure. If I have a healthy baby at the end of it, I'm happy.

Hypnobirthing did more harm than good for me - left me totally unable to process what I had done "wrong" when DD was breech and needed an EMCS to get her out. The birth itself was very positive, and yet afterwards I felt such an utter failure - how could I have let DD down so badly? Not helped by not being invited to the post birth class catch up...

Undeterred, I went back again for another crack with hypnobirthing (different course and practictioner) with DS. Again, labour was agonizing and only an epidural made it into a really positive experience. DS was a forceps job.

The techniques (despite me practicing religiously) really didn't help much in either labours. Given that so many people rave about it I feel obliged to say I had a less than positive experience with it - I may be in the minority but it is so often touted as the answer to every birth issue.

Exactly what Running said - FFS, I cycled over 200 miles in 15 hrs when pregnant and thought I was tough enough to cope with anything. Both labours had me on my knees begging for any and all pain relief.

I know lots of people get a lot from hypnobirthing, and I know lot of my disappointment and feeling like a failure stems from ending up with a section. I had never considered the possibility. But in the interests of anyone googling hypnobirthing, like I did obsessively and in tears, after the event, just to say you're not alone and whilst I'm sorry others felt the same, I would have felt less freakishly pathetic had I read some of the stories shared on this thread. When one of my health visitors said that I could have avoided a section if I tried hypnobirthing, I felt particularly annoyed. It's just not always enough for everyone. I also felt almost like I had egg on my face because I had told people how great the course was. My husband tries to reassure me that it wasn't a waste of time by reminding me how calm and mellow our baby was when she came out (by section. I had a section. Did I tell you I ended up with a section?). Having read the Marie Mongan book whereas he just attended classes, I feel almost like it's my dirty secret that apparently my baby's mellowness has nothing to do with hypnobirthing and everything to do with the interventions, being drugged up etc.

Agreed. My hypnobirthing teacher gave the impression that while she had pain relief for her own deliveries, that was only because hypnobirthing didn't exist in her day and if it did she would have had pain-free experiences. I think she truly believed this.