Hypnobirthing: Is it for you?
You may have heard a lot about this in recent years, Kate Middleton and other celebrities seem to favour it, is it something for you?
What is it?
Hypnobirthing is a complete antenatal education, it covers meditation techniques to get into a state of deep relaxation, visualisation and breathing techniques, as well as practical information to make birth more peaceful for both mum and baby. You will discover how to feel in control and to trust your body.
Even for healthy mothers with low-risk pregnancies, birth can be stressful and lead to exhaustion.
Birth is natural, we are mammals after all, and can learn how to make it easier.
Society gives us a lot of information about birth however most of it is not accurate. Birth is portrayed on TV for drama, for example, and unpicking this negativity can be helpful. Part of what I do is about enabling you to see birth as a normal function of our bodies, something not to be feared.
On a practical level you will learn about how the hormones and uterus work, our responses to this, how you may feel in the various stages of labour and links between relaxation of the jaw and the pelvis.
What type of birth is it for?
In short, all types of births from natural, homebirth, hospital, caesarean, induction, they all benefit from a calm, less anxious mum, with lower blood pressure and less adrenaline.
What are the benefits?
Learning to calm a busy or anxious mind allows you to zone out and birth effectively and more easily, releasing endorphins to naturally assist. Tension can make contractions feel more intense, taking us into fight or flight mode and it’s much harder for our body to work effectively.
It empowers women to have the knowledge they need to navigate all their birth options confidently, whatever turns they may take.
Other benefits include: (Calmbirths website)
- Fewer instrumental births
- Shorter labours
- High success rate in turning breech babies
- Less pain perceived in labour
- Lessens fatigue during labour
- Less need for episiotomy
- HypnoBirthing babies are calmer, better sleepers and generally have higher Apgar scores at birth
How can you do it?
You can start after about 20 weeks. I offer classes as a group, privately or via zoom- whichever suits you best.
It is made up of 4 sessions, with meditations to listen to in between. There’s opportunity for plenty of questions and practise.
Involving your birth partner is helpful so that during labour they can remind you of the visualisations, relaxation and breathing techniques. They also then have a practical role during the birth, which can help them too.
By thinking positively and planning for birth using hypnobirthing, you can really change your response and look forward to it. The more you practise, the more it becomes second nature to you.
Some myths…
- It’s not all hippy dippy (unless you want it to be).
- You’re not hypnotised like on those TV shows, where you do strange things! It’s just a relaxed state of mind, you are always in control.
- You can’t have any other pain relief if you’re using hypnobirthing, YES you can!
- It’s just for birth- NO these are skills you can use every day, pregnant or not!
What do clients say…
I feel more confident about my birth, I know how to help myself and so does my partner!
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