Are you supposed to do hypnobirthing classes as well as normal antenatel ones?

[Jane7]

I'm keen to do some hypnobirthing classes but at £295 for six I don't think I can afford to do both NCT classes and hypno ones.
But I'm wondering whether NCT one are more important. Did you have good experiences of their classes
(I'm in London)

You could do either. I have had clients who have enjoyed both hypnobirthing classes or their NCT/private antenatal classes.

It's really about what YOU feel would work for you!

Personally if I were doing hypnobirthing I'd favour them over antenatal because antenatal will use terms not used in hypnobirthing (like pain, pushing etc.)

Also frankly hypnobirthing does cover the physiology of birth and whether you know how birth works or not, it still happens

I have done both
Hypnobirthing only covered the hypno technique
nothing about birth itself

If you do the Mongan method you should make sure you get 12.5 hours of tuition

NCT good for meeting people but you could just buy a book instead

Or you could buy hypnobirthing CDs so it's not so expensive. I'm having hypnosis lessons and they're great. The teacher comes to our house. But obviously there is no social element (misanthrope emoticon)

I did a hypnobirthing course and a course which promoted natural birth.

Link didn't seem to work - it is www.gentlebirth.org.uk/

Mum2b2BabyRoo
that's interesting. is that the Gowri Motha course - when you say you're doing a course, do you mean you're actually having lessons or just listening to the CD and reading the book?

theblonde i did the hypnobirthing course and it covered loads about the birth so odd that yours didn't? Went into great detail about the whole process and made so much sense compared to the other info out there!
Asked our practicioner if it was worth doing NCT as well and she said there were mixed opinions...generally, if you want to meet other mums to be then do it for the social aspect, similarly if you want to know more about pain relief options then do NCT or your NHS classes, but that conflicts with the whole ethos of hypnobirthing, so you have to try to wipe the negative vocabulary out of your head afterwards.
Anyway, also asked my m/w if it was worth doing and she said i was unlikely to find out any new info that i hadn't found already either through hypno or just reading up online/through magazines so i didn't bother.

I don't think i missed out on anything by avoiding NCT, and the hypno made me much more relaxed during the 2nd/3rd trimesters

My hypnobirthing class covered all information about birth. Part of the course is learning how your body works during birth, and how your state of relaxation allows your body to do what it knows how to do.

I think it depends on the teacher but it is worth checking if they are covering birth or just the hypno technique

Does anyone know if the £295 hypnobirthing class is the price for you + hubby/birthing partner?? I hope / assume its not per person but rather per bump??

Hi again Daniya Yes it's £295 for both of you! You also get the Marie Mongan book and some visualisation CD's. Good luck!

Damn - I already bought the book!! Just started reading it yesterday, thought I should swot up before I decide if I want to do the classes.

Its going to be a bit of a cost for us as I want to do NCT as well, I know from what you have all said it not neccessary but I would really like to go for the social side, my husband and I don't have many friends in the area (they are scattered about London where we work) so it would be nice to meet some new ones and I know NCT classes are meant to be good for this.

For what it's worth, I did both and found the natal hypnotherapy course wonderfully detailed about birth, labour, etc... to the point that i felt like the NCT course I took after was a bit of a waste of time. The social aspect is important, but honestly I didn't feel like we had much time to get to know people at the NCT class - I wish we'd just saved our money.

You can still go to NCT meetings after the baby is born and get to know everyone then. I'm in a similar position too as I live in East London (originally fro Liverpool) and my friends are mostly West and South but I've met a couple from Hackney on the hypno course! You honestly don't need to do both (most people say they have NOTHING in common with others on NCT courses!)

we did the hypnobirthing course and NCT (in Oxon and Northamptonshire) and I think that we would have missed out if we hadn't done the NCT. The HB course was good, and gave you lots of ideas about how natural the birth could (and should) be - if possible. Our NCT classes were also very much along the lines of natural is best, but also gave you much more information about all the options available to you. When it came to it - I found the hypnobirth breathing at the beginning of my labour (well - the first 4 hours or so) really good, together with the light touch massage we learned... after that, I needed more help. It therefore helped that we knew about the different options available to us. The friendships we have formed through NCT have been invaluable - especially the support in those first few mind boggling months. We still meet (18 months on) every 2 weeks, and have couples get togethers as well. I haven't kept in touch with anyone from hypnobirthing - despite a few emails to announce births, everyone was much more private. For what it's worth.....

Hello

My partner and I have done both.

First preg - NCT course every Saturday morning for 8 weeks. Brilliant for meeting people (some of whom I'm still in touch with 3 years down the line). From an information / learning point of view, it was OK but nothing special. What we learned over 8 weeks could easily have been condensed into two!

This preg - did a 2-day intensive hypnobirthing course from this website (after buying the CD and benefiting from it). It was in Chiswick and the teacher was absolutely brilliant. A really inspiring woman. She's a doula as well as a hypnobirthing instructor and the course was incredibly informative. It's filled me with excitement about the birth (and I had a bad experience the first time). We paid £140 (they're doing a half price offer at the moment) and it was well worth the money just for making me feel so relaxed about the birth for the last couple of months of the pregnancy. I can't imagine a better birth preparation course than that one.

Hpno course rubbish for meeting people, though.

Would be worth finding out what kind of social activities the NCT organises in your area for new mums. That way, you can skip the course but still meet people.

hth

pregnabrains - is "natal hypnotherapy" as good as "hypnobirthing"? im attracted to the £140 offer (thanks for sharing that with us), but hypnobirthing seems to be more prevalent, but is always around £300...so im tempted with the natal, any views? Also, can you tell me the name of the amazing instructor you had? cheers

Natal hypnotherapy is similar to HypnoBirthing but it isn't the same thing. To find a certified, qualified HypnoBirthing practitioner you need to look at www.hypnobirthing.co.uk.

Yes cost is obviously an issue, but personally I wouldn't scrimp on something as important as birth. If a mum is genuinely in financial need, many HypnoBirthing practitioners will offer a concessionary rate.

But is natal hypnotherapy any good? pregnabrains seems to highly recommend it...if natal is just as good, i may as well pay half the price. do you know the difference between the two?

If you can't afford NCT and Hypno I thought the NHS also provided anti-natal classes for free?

the hypnobirthing practioner we hope to see recommended we do NCT as well.

We found a class that is designed to run alongside antenatal and NCT classes which was amazing value for money. We are in the East Midlands, but I heard that they may be starting classes in London. It was called Mindful Mamma. It also didn't mention hypnosis at all so my husband was a lot more interested!

It only cost £99 for both of us and also got a wonderful pregnancy and birth cd included. You can't beat that....