Hypnobirthing and epidurals?

[Nellynoo182]

Hi everyone,

FTM here. Thinking about doing a hypnobirthing course (I’m 33 weeks now) but can’t work out if it is a waste of money.

I have a ‘go with the flow’ attitude to birth and not a strict birth plan, the plan is deliver the baby as safe, quick and less painful as possible 🤣

Saying that, I do have a very low pain threshold and know it is likely I will want an epidural.

I don’t want to do a hypnobirthing course that primarily focusses on natural births and might make me feel like a failure if I need an epidural/ other medical intervention.

Can anyone share any experiences of whether it’s worth doing a course and what ones don’t focus entirely on natural births? Or is it a waste of money/ bit of a fad? Thanks!

the plan is deliver the baby as safe, quick and less painful as possible

in that case a C section is a no brainer.

I used a cd that I listened to every night from a certain number of weeks pregnant. Can't remember now sorry! It was very much about being calm and positive and did not focus on natural birth.
They did do one for elective section as well.

Imo anything that helps keep you calm and relaxed is a good thing as being tense makes pain worse.
I think it helped me, I didn't have an epidural, just gas and air but I was open to whatever going in.

Nothing wrong with an epidural of you want one.

Maybe try and find out more about the contents of the course. Then it might be easier to decide .

Do you have Spotify or Apple Music? Have a listen to Moon and Stars hypnobirthing or another of the free podcasts and see what you think before paying for a course if you're in two minds.

I prefer the moon and stars podcast because she is very down to earth and says it how it is. She also had a epidural and forceps delivery for her first birth.

Knowledge is power and hypnobirthing gives you a lot of scientific reasoning and information surrounding labour and birth aswell as relaxation techniques.

Nothing wrong with using an epidural to help you have a vaginal delivery, it's what I went for and I would definitely choose that option again.
Hypnobirthing courses seem incredibly expensive for what they are so I think a cd or podcasts sound like a good idea.
I also did pregnancy yoga that included some breathing techniques that could be used during labour.

Good luck for the rest of your pregnancy and your labour!

I've done a couple of online hyponotherapy courses (one for my first DC and one for my second DC) and they were about £40. What I would say is the courses are always a lot broader than just the hypnotherapy techniques, they break down about the physiology of birth, what breathing to do when, why it's important to try and not panic etc.

With my first I had a premature labour and I found the hypnotherapy course really interesting and it certainly helped me cope during the early stages and understand when I was transitioning etc. I only had gas and air in the end but was close to getting an epidural.

My second DC is due next week and I've picked another course by a different company to refresh what I knew. There's sections on inductions, sweeps, caesareans etc, so it really isn't only for those who have a vaginal birth with no pain medication. And like you I will have an epidural if I feel like I need one.

Personally I think it's worth the money (£40) as all the information is there for me in one place and I can listen to the videos when I want. But you could easily find free videos online about the breathing and other bits of you wanted to, you just have to do a bit of digging x

I did a hypnobirthing course but the only thing I really took from it was the breathing.

With dd1, my blood pressure was sky high so it was recommended for me to have an epidural to help bring it down and manage labour.

With dd2 the same happened again with my bp, but I had to wait too long for epidural and she arrived 10 mins after it was administered. I spent the whole labour breathing in for 4 and out for 6-8.

So I'm not against hypnobirthing, and appreciate it works for a lot of women but it just what you take from it at the end of the day

@SouthwestSis what pregnancy yoga class did you do?

@MsSquiz @Sarahlouise86 what courses did you do?

thanks

I did a hynobirthting course and found it really useful - and I had an epidural. If anything, it helps you under birth, and learn to advocate for yourself should you need to.
I was also going in without much of a plan, hoping for minimal pain help, but my low pain threshold got me.
The hypnobirthing really helped when I needed assistance with the birth, I could stay calm and breathe through the chaos of it all.

I did the positive birth company online course and found it really good. Though always had in my mind that I wanted an epidural (and I did end up having one ... thank god!)

I had a really long labour and found the breathing techniques and knowing what my body was going through really helpful. I didnt bother with candles, affirmations etc. That's not going to take away the pain!!

Particularly with first labour's things can take a while to even reach the stage of even getting to the hospital so you need to be able to relax as much as possible to cope at home without the drugs. I can also reccommend a tenns machine.

I did a hypnobirthing course and found it very helpful. I don't personally think it's sensible to go with the flow when it comes to pregnancy and birth, I think being open minded is good but you need to do the work to understand your choices so that when labouring you are making full informed choices. It's difficult to make an informed choice when in labour because obviously you're preoccupied.

I did hypno with my first. I found a local lady who ran smaller classes and she was lovely and definitely didn't only focus on vaginally births, she also explained how it can be applied to c section births so if you do decide to do a course you could ask the person running it what their thoughts are and check they don't pigeonhole you.

I had a water birth with only gas and air and definitely think it helped to an extent, I can suffer from anxiety and it kept me calm so I definitely recommend it for that.