Lets face it, when anyone uses the word 'hypno' we can feel a bit sceptical about it and straight away think nah not for me.
However feedback from women who have done hypnobirthing along with statistics and evidence, speak for themselves!
On the whole, those who completed hypnobirthing:- approximately 94% of women were more relaxed whilst pregnant, 89% women overcame their birth fears and anxiety, 90% of women were confident of a natural birth and 91% of women were excited about birth.
Hypnobirthing has also shown that fewer women required pain relief during labour, needed less medical intervention and the length of labour was shorter.
I actually did hypnobirthing with my second child and I was astonished how different my labour was compared to my first! I felt far more relaxed, calm and confident in my birth choices. You will see in my first blog post the amazing experience I had with her :-). In fact it was such a good experience, that's why I started my own hypnobirthing business!
So what is hypnobirthing and how does it work? Let me explain this more in the questions below:-
What is Hypnobirthing?
Hypnobirthing is a full birth preparation programme. It combines lot of elements in order for you to feel positive, confident, and calm and give you the best birth experience.
This includes relaxations, breathing techniques, positive affirmations, visualisations and positive birth language, birth facts & stories.
It also includes birth/antenatal education such as learning what happens during labour, your birth choices, how induction works, pain relief options, choice of where to give birth, what happens after birth and so on.
When you practise all these elements together, not only does it enable you to feel confident, positive, calm and prepared for birth but also ensures you are well-informed and educated about birth by knowing all the facts and information so you can make the right birth choices for you.
2. How does hypnobirthing work?
When you practice hypnobirthing, you are reframing your thoughts and beliefs about birth. You are releasing any negative thoughts or fears you may have about birth and replacing them with positive thoughts and beliefs.
One way I like to illustrate this is with the iceberg analogy:-
If you imagine the tip of the iceberg about the water is your conscious mind (what you use to read, write, talk, basically everything you are aware you are doing).
The rest of the iceberg below the water, is your subconscious mind. This is where all your memories, past experiences, fears, beliefs, opinions and everything you have learnt through out your life is stored. I sometimes compare this to a computer hard drive.
Based on what is stored in your subconscious, how you react to things or respond to things will depend on the information stored there.
Unfortunately, when it comes to birth, the majority of women would have heard or seen negative stories about birth (whether from family, friends or tv shows).
So the likelihood is you will have negative thoughts and beliefs about birth in your subconscious.
So by practising hypnobirthing, you are releasing these negative thoughts and beliefs and any fear you have about birth and replacing with positive thoughts and beliefs about birth. You are learning to view birth in a whole new positive way.
So by the time labour comes along, you will feel confident, prepared and ready and will feel positive about birth.
3. Why is it important to practise hypnobirthing?
The more you practise, the more you will feel positive and confident about birth. The more fear you will release and the more confidence you will have.
Like with most new things in life, the more your practice something, the more second nature it becomes.
You will have all the tools necessary so on the birth day you won't need to think of anything other than allowing your body to do what it needs to do.
So it makes sense the more you practise hypnobirthing, the more positive, excited and ready you will feel for birth.
Like with anything practise makes perfect!
Can my birth partner do it with me?
Absolutely! In fact one of the great things about hypnobirthing, is that birth partners can get involved and it helps them to feel included in the birth.
You can practise the relaxations and breathing together so that on the day of labour itself, your birth partner can do them with you and encourage you to do them.
Also if your birth partner is educated about birth, they are more able to understand and help you with your birth choices and decisions on the birth day.
Any Q&As?
If hypnobirthing is something you are interested in, then please have a chat with me :). I can answer any questions you may have and what I cover during my course.