Hypnobirthing

[leighdinglady]

I've booked a session but at £75 per session (1.5h) I'd be grateful to hear from others whether it's worth it, or just a fad?

I've got quite a bit of anxiety about the birth so thought it might be good for letting go of that

I'm also really interested in hypnobirthing. I too was very worried about the birth side of things but I read a book that was recommended to me on hypnobirthing and suddenly that worry had gone. I think If a book can make me feel like that, the sessions would be amazing. The book is a mixture of hypnosis ie breathing, calmness, a focus in yourself and a belief in your body, and the science behind birth.

Unfortunately i've not been able to Find anywhere near Me that offers hypnobirthing for less than £250 for a four hour one day course or I'd have signed up.

Hypnobirthing by Marie Mongan is the book. I believe she was the original founder of the concept.

I did hypnobirthing sessions with my first pregnancy and for me it was worth every penny. I went into the whole thing completely calm, relaxed and positive - no fear whatsoever only excitement! I was terrified at the beginning and by the end of the sessions couldn't even comprehend feeling that scared about it all.
Hypnobirthing also covers a lot of scientific information about the way the body works during labour, and everything useful you learn at antenatal classes is taught in your sessions too.
I had a wonderful natural birthing experience and my daughter was born into very calm surroundings in the birthing pool at my local hospital.
Honesty couldn't rave about it enough - recommended it since having my DD to 3 friends, one who had a homebirth with her first and was very quick and straightforward, one who also was very smooth sailing but in a pool in the hospital similar to my experience, and one who ended up having to have a c section due to unforeseen complications with baby but she said after she felt so calm and in control of every decision, did not panic at all when emcs was the only option and still managed to tick a lot of the boxes on her birth plan like immediate skin to skin contact.

Hope this helps!

DH and I went on a two-day hypnobirthing training course. I can't remember how much it cost but it was pretty eye-watering (maybe £250ish).

It was really useful in keeping me calm in the run-up to the birth, every time my mind wandered to how scared I was, I could ground myself using the '3, 2, 1 relax' method.

It also did a great job during my medical appointments, my blood pressure tends to read very high on the first reading (I panic) so medical professionals usually have to take it three or four times (by which time it's on the low side of normal), using hypnobirthing techniques I managed to have every blood pressure test without that first 'oh shit she's dying' reading.

The birth itself is not a fair way to judge the efficacy of hypnobirthing as it was very long and medically complicated ending in an EMCS. However, I feel like hypnobirthing gave me tools to deal with the birth, even though it was far from the birth experience that I'd expected.

Either way, do it! And then download the relaxation tracks and listen to them every single night, they really do make a difference.

I had a few hypnobirthing sessions through the NHS. I didn't actually use it during labour in the end but found the sessions very calming and enjoyable and I did use the techniques outside of the sessions when I was having trouble relaxing. Also found pregnancy yoga very good and it helped a lot with my anxieties

Three HypnoBirths, two of them with babies over 10lbs, all without any drugs at all. Practice is the key - you are training your mind. I practised in the car to and from work, and also at night before bed.

I think it's better to go to weekly sessions over a number of weeks if at all possible. It just allows everything to mull in your brain and order itself in between sessions. Definitely, definitely worth the money.

Following with interest! Our hospital offers a hypnobirthing course I think, and I've bought a book to read. Now just to find some time to read the book in between a toddler and everything else life throws in the way!

I'm going to my second NHS hypnobirthing session today. I enjoyed the first one, but not convinced I would have thought it was worth so much money. I do the Daisy birthing classes at £60 for 6 classes and they teach the same things but in more detail. May be worth a look if you have one near you?

I did two courses of hypnobirthing. All it did was leave me with a massive sense of failure when I ended up with an EMCS for DC1 (breech, i tried for a vaginal birth when I should probably have just gone for an ELCS). DC2 was a VBAC but the hypnobirthing and pool did naff all for helping me deal with the pain. Both my labours were transformed into wonderful experiences by an epidural.

I practiced like my life depended on it, so it wasn't lack of commitment on my behalf. The techniques just simply did nothing for me in. Labour, and the whole ethos of the classes set up interventions to be second best, rather than lifesaving.

...the whole ethos of the classes set up interventions to be second best, rather than lifesaving.

I think you were a bit unlucky with you course leader Punny, mine was very clear that the babies should be born by whatever means necessary.

Yes, there was a focus on tribal women who birthed alone in a baobab tree (which was a but of an overstretch) but the leader was adamant that she was giving us the tools to deal with the birth, whatever form that took.

Maybe she was an anomaly as she'd been a midwife for years, so had seen all sorts of births.

Another big yes from me! I read the Marie Mongan book after my sister in law had recommended it and then did a 4 session course. At the birth I was so relaxed and was pain relief free. I ended up having complications and needing a section but it gave me all the tools to be calm and collected. By the time of my second birth there were midwives trained in hypnobirthibg in my area and classes available for free. Maybe worth seeing if there is anything like that available near you. Be prepared for some bizarre videos of you do the course tho.... women giving birth on Perspex home birthing baths with all the family in there or women giving birth in coves in the sea! Good luck xxxx

Wow that's a conclusive 'yes' then! Thank you. I'll book on to the first 1.5h session and see how i get on. She's said most women have 2 or 3 sessions and then she gives you a disc and materials to do it at home

I just read the book and used the breathing techniques. I found it helpful and was excited about birth not scared, I feel extra excited this time as I know I can do it.

I've used hypnobirthing for my last 2 pregnancies/labours (didn't with the first - I'd have definitely scoffed at it back then) and they were so different from my first. I still feel euphoric whenever I think of my now 4-month old's birth!

I'm also a hypnobirthing practitioner - which is not why I jumped on this thread but is relevant because when I got pregnant with my 2nd son I'd been teaching for a few years and wanted to go to someone else to be on the receiving end. I couldn't find a course so found someone experienced who I paid for a couple of sessions and it was utterly rubbish - completely different ethos from the course and I ended up having to unpick quite a lot of potential harm. My point here being that most methods are a structured course and are that way for a reason - they are building on a philosophy and the science and the relaxation techniques in a coherent fashion so that mums/couples are best prepared for however their birth plays out. I don't see how this can be covered in a session or 2. There are various courses; Mongan, Wise Hippo, Katherine Graves and others which look at the entire preparation and this is where the effectiveness lies. They do cost somewhere in the region of £200-300 (more in London) but you should be getting at least 12 hours of 'teaching' for this.

Also, I'm curious how hypnobirthing can be taught within the NHS since a fair amount is learning how to respectfully question NHS protocols to make sure that, should you accept them, they are completely right for you. I can't imagine that is taught - though I could be completely wrong . . .

She's said the sessions will total around 5 hours and I'll have work to do at home between them.

I hypnobirthed with DS1 and I only read Marie Mongen's book, I didn't do any sessions (none available here) - I read the full book, ignoring the guff about "surges" and "women have been giving birth in fields for years" stuff, and just focused on the parts that really resonated and repeatedly read those chapters/paragraphs. I also listened to the CD every night from about 30 weeks.

I was very lucky that DS1 was an ideal hypnobirth, perfectly positioned and a smooth, speedy labor, 4 hours from waters breaking and first contraction, to baby born with evenly spaced contractions throughout.

For me, the key was the relaxation and visualisation. I hypnobirthed in the bath at the hospital with all the lights out, and focused on relaxing through each contraction even more than I'd relaxed in the previous one. I also visualised inhaling to 20 and then blowing up a huge blue balloon (which was the contraction) and then blowing it away.

I absolutely agree with the concept of relaxing as much as possible to allow the uterine muscles to contract efficiently and it certainly worked for me.

All this being said, I definitely went into labor with the mindset that I would try it and if it was too much I'd request an epidural because whilst I can cope with productive pain, I don't believe in suffering!

I've signed up to a course a couple of weeks ago. The face to face sessions aren't til October but I've been sent the MP3 tracks to start listen to. I'm actually finding it difficult to concentrate when they're on as I'm too busy squirming around trying to get comfyin bed, but I was noticeably less nervous at my first consultant appointment last week than I have been at any of my other antenatal appointments (doc surgeries and hospitals make me nervous) and I'm hoping it's the hypnotherapy already taking effect!

Hi OP I used Maggie Howells CD for my first pregnancy and it was great. I had significant anxiety and it really helped relieve that. Also I had a fast, smooth labour. Dunno if HB made any difference to the labour but I will certainly be using it again with any future pregnancy.