Hypnobirthing-What’s It All About?

For a woman preparing to give birth for the first time, the idea of labor can be a frightening prospect. You hear that it’s painful, you have no idea what to expect, and it’s something that you have no control over. As a result, many women opt for the epidural route (which is fine) but for those that are wanting a drug-free birth, hypnobirthing may be your answer. When searching the internet for a definition of hypnobirthing, I ran across this explanation from the Joy in Birthing site: “How you prepare your mind and body is the singular most important factor for the successful outcome of your birth. Far too often our joy and excitement are over-shadowed by fear, uncertainty and questionable self-confidence.With the help of a professional Hypnotherapist you can reach and embrace your ability to change your state of fear, worry and stress into calm and self-confidence. When your mind, body, and soul are in harmony, you have essentially created the perfect balance for physical comfort, mental relaxation and emotional confidence. Relaxation, achieved through self-hypnosis techniques, releases the fear and tensions that cause long labor.Therefore, pain is lessened and in some cases even eliminated. This is not to say that you will not experience any sensations during labor and delivery, this is to say that hypnosis can redirect your experience of the intensity of labor from an unmanageable sensation, to something you can comfortably manage.” Sounds almost too good to be true, doesn’t it? To find out if the method really worked, I interviewed Jaime from San Diego, CA, who chose to go the hypnobirthing route when delivering both of her children. Here’s what she had to say. . . What made you choose hypnobirthing? I chose Hypnobirthing because my doctor suggested it when I told her that I was interested in a natural birth. I had the desire to avoid needles at all cost (makes me queasy) and I honestly wanted to feel what it was like since I believe that I was lucky to be pregnant and I knew my body could handle it. I wanted to understand the full experience of child bearing and women all over the world do this everyday without drugs. Power to the women!!

Did you use the method for each child? Yes. First one was harder though because my doctor that delivered her didn’t support it. (It was a fill-in doctor for my birth since my original one was out of town.) Second child was a breeze. I was smiling, laughing and enjoying (yes enjoying) the whole process. The nurse was AWESOME and let me birth as I needed. What was you favorite part of hypnobirthing? Getting lost in the music was pretty rad. I was in another world during the surges (contractions) but honestly didn’t feel anything. I was so relaxed and able to labor with my baby and trust in my body. I loved the power and confidence that the whole hypnobirthing process–from the very beginning with the classes to the actual labor–gave me. It was just a great ride. And it brought my husband (coach) and I a lot closer too. Did you feel pain? In the first birth, the doctor wouldn’t let me lay on my side. I was having back labor and it KILLED to be on my back. But she was insistent I do it her way. That is where it is nice to have a doula. They can tell you to do what you need and be the assistant to the mom rather than the doctor to make you more comfortable. My husband and I didn’t know we could tell the doc no, and so we just obliged and did as we were told. So I was not completely comfortable because I was nervous and felt rushed. However I did it, and still wanted to do it for the second birth, which was AMAZING! I know that it was a true hypnobirthing experience and how it should have been for the first one too. Did NOT feel pain. Just focused and like I said, I have video of me laughing and talking and just enjoying the whole process. It was a rad birth. Loved it. Does the instructor come into the delivery room? The instructor (Jo Kilburn) is also a doula, so she could have come to the delivery room if I needed her, but I trusted in my hubby for the coaching. HOWEVER, if I could have gone back to the first one, I would have loved to have her there for the extra help and confidence that my team needed. It would have been just like the second, I am sure of it. For more information on hypnobirthing, click here.