Hypnobirthing

[Mumbofeet]

I'm really keen on the idea of hypnobirthing to keep labour as 'relaxed' as possible but I was just wondering what others experiences are? I know a lot of people swear by it but I'm not usually into mindfulness and meditation etc, can it still work or do you have to be well practiced at all that?
Also, i dont want to pay for any classes, any recommendations for podcasts?

Hypnobirthing was absolutely amazing. I am a very anxious person and can rarely"switch off", but hypnobirthing really helped me to prepare for labour. It is so empowering, and really does take the fear out of labour. I had a lovely relaxed pool birth, delivered my 8lb14 DD with just gas and air, and no stitches :)
I honestly could not recommend it enough.

My friend tried it and then was screaming for the drugs. Be kind to yourself, you need to survive and feel well. Be realistic and again be kind

Can i hop on please? Ive thought about this but really wanna know more and hear peoples experiences 😊

Also watching.
I'm a prenatal massage therapist and many of my clients have recommended hypnobirthing. The Daisy Foundation do a course near me but I haven't signed up yet.

littlebillie I think you're right in remaining aware that labour / birth may not go as you intend ....which is ok.

I’ve had bad anxiety in the past and was petrified of labour. I did a hypnobirthing course and honestly by the end was looking forward to labour. It got me through 44 hours, and although I ended up with a CS under GA, I remained calm throughout. Something I just wouldn’t have been able to do before I was given the tools through hypnobirthing.

It sounds a bit like hypnotherapy, like you’re put into a trance, but the course just teaches you how natural labour is, how capable women are at giving birth naturally, the choices you have, and how to really relax properly... even in stressful situations. I found it all good common sense and actually not too airy fairy. I felt very empowered and confident when labour started.

I can not recommend it enough!!

mumbo Forgot to mention, I really would recommend a class. From my personal experience it really helped to practice the techniques with a professional. But I’m someone that suffered with anxiety so perhaps needed a bit more work!

If you really don’t want to pay then the Katherine graves book is excellent. It outlines the exercises well, and if you are disciplined with doing the exercises I guess that could work well 👍 I’ve seen posters on here before who just did he book/CD and got on well.

I went to classes and my hospital was really into this. Everything started off well, then I had a uterine rupture, lost 2 pints of blood and dd’s hearty stopped, so I ended up with a crash section under GA.

I was sceptical. My community mw suggested I give it a go. I signed up to a 6 week course and overall found it very helpful in labour.
My overall key thoughts:

• Do a course not just read a book/watch videos. I was a sceptic but I needed guidance on how to do the hypnobirthing properly.
• I found it helped take away the fear of birth. It was empowering.
• It is not some miricle. It will not magically make your labour a breeze. It will give you some tools to cope with birth mentally. If you're calm and relaxed, then you are more likely to go with your contractions than fight them.
• You must practice the techniques regularly. Like anything, practice makes perfect. I found I began enjoying it, like yoga for the mind.
• I found the skills useful in reducing stress, improving my sleep quality and even helped me cope better at the dentist (which I hate).
• My labour ended with ventouse but I used hypnobirthing, tens, and water (pool) for managing the contractions. By the time it came to push, i was zoned out and just focusing on the task. It didnt occur to me to ask for drugs/pain relief. Im not saying i wasnt finding it tough, I was, but what i was doing was working and let me be in control and i didnt want to upset that balance I'd achieved.

-I know others from my course had a range of births fron serene home pool births to emergency c sections but all found hypnobirthing helpful to some extent.

I had a horrible first labour in hospital, artificial rupture twice as they didn't realise back waters hadnt gone, oxytocin, epidural, anti sickness jab but then threw up more.... Back to back turn half way through manually turned back...Tear etc over 30 hours... So I was determined 2nd birth was going to be different. I went on a 2 day hypnobirthing course with DH, listened to the CD in preparation and during labour.... Had a water birth at home. Used tens machine for about 10 mins then pool...Cd... No pain relief. It was the most amazing relaxed experience, I loved it. Took 2hrs 22 mins in total. Had 3 midwives sipping tea at my dining room table as I could just get on with it.. One paracetamol near end as temp raised slightly. Placenta came out fine lying on my sofa after.... Then cuddles with baby chilling on the sofa. Magical, it realty was. I cannot recommend it enough! X

I did hypnobirthing with my DS and really found it beneficial. As a few previous posters have said though, it's important to realise that it won't help control the kind of delivery you have (after all, you can meditate all you like, but if you need an EMCS, then you need an EMCS) but it does equip you with the 'tools' to perhaps better handle whatever situation you get dealt.

For me, one of the main benefits wasn't how it actually helped me deal with my labour itself, but it helped me a lot with relaxation during my pregnancy, especially towards the end. I slept well throughout my pregnancy and approached my 40th week feeling pretty calm and excited about the whole thing.

In the end, I delivered a 10lb 3oz baby in the birthing pool, with absolutely no pain relief and with no tearing. That has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I practiced hypnobirthing but the hypnobirthing did help make the whole experience quite a relaxed and pleasant one.

Good, with caveats.

The core of the idea is good - that techniques can help you relax and feel more in control. That’s a good thing in many circumstances.

However.

1. The book I had was apparently the sensible one and it was dressed up in so much woo I nearly threw it away in disgust. All this ‘women have been giving birth normally for millenia’ Shit. Too much natural fallacy. Yes, women have. Lots of them died.

2.It will not have an effect on the type of birth you have. If you have a straightforward birth then fantastic. But the type of birth you have depends on the interaction of your physiology with how baby is lying on the day and any other issues. If you will need intervention then you will.

1. Which leads into the point that there is a high rate of depression in women who wanted to do something like this and ended up with interventions because they think it’s their fault it isn’t.

So in summary. Ignore the woo. Grit your teeth at the vignettes in the book ‘I dabbed a little clearly sage oil on and breathed my baby out’ oh for fucks sake... and roll your eyes at the homeopathy bits (recommended by an actual practising midwife, I despair..)

If you treat it as one tool in a flexible approach to birth I think it can be positive. May I recommend ‘birth skills’ by juju sandin as well?

Thanks for all your replies. I'm quite relaxed in general about the birth (for now) and i know what will be will be. I'm hoping if i can get on with hypnobirthing i wont need any pain relief, but if the time comes and I need it I'll take it! Just really like the thought of not being spaced out on pethidine and keeping a clear head. But (this is me being very naive) I've never really been in excruciating pain before so I don't know what to expect or how bad it will be. Hopefully if i can concentrate on hypnobirthing it will distract me from the pain a bit and i can get through it relatively untraumatised (now watch me end up with a back to front tear and fear of ever giving birth again lol)

@Mumbofeet you mentioned "excruciating" pain....I can only speak for myself but the pain for me was like intense period pains, strong cramps that do take your breath away until you have to bear down and then you let your body take lead... The "excruciating" part didn't last as long.... Ring of fire more like a burn down there... And that's when I felt the hypnobirthing really was amazing as I felt that I could take myself away into my own little bubble and the pain was bearable.... Not sure how to explain it but it was really empowering. X