Hypnobirthing in hospital

[Mrstobe90]

For the past few months I’ve been planning a hypnobirth at home.

Was told today that I now need to have a hospital birth which I’m a bit gutted about but obviously will do whatever’s best for my baby and myself.

I’m still planning on hypnobirthing and was wondering if anyone has successfully hypnobirthed in hospital?

Any stories/advice would be massively appreciated

Yes, I did. I was always going to give birth to DC2 in hospital after complications with DC1, I planned for a water birth and luckily the midwife who came on shift in the middle of my Labour was trained in hypnobirthing and completely got it and respected it. DC2 was born in the water with no pain relief, it was the most amazing experience of my life. Talk to your midwife about it, she might know what the hospitals approach to it is. The only problem I had was trying to make the room dark, the midwife did everything she could but it was a verity sunny day and there were no blinds on the window, if I had thought of it I would have taken our Gro blind that we have and used that. Good luck!

That sounds amazing! Thank you so much for sharing your experience.
I’ll start thinking about how I will keep the room dark :)

I did, I had a lovely hypnobirth in our mlu. I took my birth plan which the midwives were very accepting of, all lights dimmed, we had our hypnobirth music playing, managed to use pool.
Nobody spoke to me at all, just the odd question the dh who then gentle relayed info to me, e.g. perhaps move onto all fours as this is in birth plan.
Was a lovely experience.

I should add that only gas and air required. Had option to birth placenta naturally however didn't due to small complications after DD born but all was fine :)

I haven't but I did do hypnotherapy to prepare for my first birth (and also this one), both being home births. They say home birth is a state of mind rather than a place. You can have a 'home birth' in hospital if you need to. You just need to get your head around it, plan, make sure you have support for your wishes and try to re-create the right atmosphere, etc. My first birth, though at home, was lovely and not especially painful. I was so relaxed and comfortable that my midwives came, didn't think I was in labour after observing me for about an hour, and nearly left until I consented to a vaginal exam (which I hadn't wanted originally). I was 10cm. I was just really calm and comfortable. I can't see why you couldn't have the same experience in hospital, but it make take some extra effort to wrap your head around it and prepare (think about how to create the right setting for yourself, what boundaries you need in place to make sure you are disrupted as little as possible, do visualisations of what it will be like, etc.).

I met someone recently who did hypnobirthing and planned a home birth. In the end when she started to push, it turned out baby was in an awkward position and could not be easily birthed vaginally without a bit of intervention, which the midwives advised she transfer into hospital for. They pretty much asked her to hold the baby in and stop pushing. She had about a 20 minute transfer by ambulance and then needed an episiotomy at hospital all with no pain relief. She used hypnobirthing and said it was really positive and it helped to keep her relaxed throughout and she really credited the hypnotherapy practice for that. Fortunately, with a planned hospital birth, you'll already be at an advantage that you aren't rushing around in a panic in an ambulance while in labour, so it should help to keep you relaxed and feeling in control and make it all much easier.

You’re welcome, it is entirely possible to have a hypnobirth in hospital so I hope all these responses have reassured you. Although it was always the plan to give birth in hospital, I really wanted a water birth but at first this looked doubtful as they had some difficulty getting a good trace on his heartbeat (I’d had pre eclampsia in my previous pregnancy and they were keen to monitor me/him) and I was initially told I couldn’t use the pool because of this. It all got a bit medical and started to feel a bit like my previous birth experience, I was disappointed about the water not being an option and felt nervous about the birth but the hypnobirthing techniques really helped me to deal with that and adapt to a new plan. The midwife totally respected the technique and let me really get into my zone. In the end though when I was flagging a bit, she went and managed to convince the head of midwives to allow me to use the pool if I agreed to be monitored in the water, 20 minutes and two pushes later he was here! So even if things don’t go exactly to plan the techniques will really help you to stay calm and focused.

Thanks guys!

Your stories have really helped 😊 gonna try my hardest to make it a really calm and positive experience

Yes, I did, in hospital, wired up to monitor so couldn't use the water bath. Lights weren't dimmed, no music, completely different to how I had envisaged it!
All I had was dh talking me through it, based on the practice we'd had previously. Midwife was so impressed that she emailed him afterwards to find out more.

@Fitbitironic that’s incredible!

Thx mrs I was slightly skeptical beforehand, it being my first, but it really was worth it. Keep up the practice /visualisation exercises, and I hope it all goes just as well for you!

Yep! Planned to deliver in water in MLU- ended up in delivery suite hooked up to a monitor because my BP was sky high- but I was fully dilated with just an anterior lip when I turned up to the hospital, so wasn't for long, maybe an hour or so (rest and be thankful phase, and about an hour pushing- waters didn't break until 20 mins before DS crowned) - but Hypnobirthing got me through all the second stage at home, and I actually enjoyed the third stage (despite projectile vomiting pretty much continuously, and being in the hospital) It was the best day of my life- I fully credit hypnobirthing, Ina May Gaskin and yoga with my positive birth experience.

Oh managed to avoid all pain relief and just had labial grazing - also hypnobirthing (pain felt manageable and was able to control pushing, despite DS being a big baby for my size)