Hypnobirthing. A skill beyond childbirth.
5 min readBecoming a parent is such a huge transition and a time of immense change, both physically and mentally, and it is said that when a baby is born, a mother is born too.
How the birth went and how listened to and informed she felt has a big impact on the start of parenthood for the first – or second, third, fourth…. time. You’ll never forget how you felt at your baby’s birth – you may forget names and faces, but you’ll always remember how you felt.
With my first, it was not a good experience and part of this was due to us not fully understanding my rights and options. I went along with whatever was suggested, no questions asked, and this massively impacted my birth experience.
Second time around we got informed! After umming and ahhhing, at the very last minute I booked onto a hypnobirthing course (I was very sceptical and the name ‘hypnobirthing’ really put me off).
And I’m so glad I did! The birth of my daughter was incredible, a world apart from my first experience. We knew our options, my partner knew what questions to ask, we knew we had a say in things - and this is what makes, or certainly goes towards, a positive birth.
A positive birth for one woman could be a caesarean she was longing for, for another it could be a home water birth, for another to get an epidural as early as possible and for someone else it could be how important it is to her for to remain upright during her induction of labour. It doesn’t matter how it looks. What matters is that the woman felt involved in the decisions around her care, that she was listened to, that she/her birth partner knew what questions to ask and what her rights and options were. This is a big part of what hypnobirthing is.
As well as informed decision making as outlined above, another big part of hypnobirthing is understanding the physiology of birth, which in and of itself is just mind-blowing stuff!! My daughter’s birth was no walk in the park and it certainly wasn’t pain free, but at no point was I locked down with fear, I understood what was happening to my body – that it was working hard to bring my baby to me. That nothing was broken or going wrong. I knew that each surge would last around a minute – and that I could do anything for one minute - and that I’d take one at a time.
When my daughter was born, on Boxing Day, 10 days ‘over’ I felt like Wonder Woman! On top of the world. My partner was just as ecstatic – he said how lovely it was to be so involved second time around. Hypnobirthing gave him a clear, and most importantly, useful role in his daughter’s birth.
My daughter’s birth is what ignited my passion around birth and the importance of informed decision making for all women during their pregnancy and birth. I wanted all parents to start parenthood feeling as good as we did second time around.
So, what is hypnobirthing?
As already mentioned, hypnobirthing is antenatal education on the physiology of birth and understanding your options and choices – after all, if you don’t know your options you don’t have any!
It is also in depth, positive mindset work using the exercises provided, hypnosis/self hypnosis using the scripts and audios you receive and breathing techniques to ensure you are knowledgeable, calm and clear headed on the day.
With hypnobirthing all the ‘work’ is done whilst pregnant – putting aside a little time each day for the mindset work using the audios and exercises in the book. This is very relaxing and enjoyable!
Hypnobirthing isn’t necessarily about having a pain free, natural birth, it’s about doing what feels right for you and feeling good about your decisions. It’s about feeling prepared - knowing that whatever turn your birth may take you will feel calm and won’t spiral into panic and fear.
You will have a birth partner worth his or her weight in gold – knowledgeable and knowing what questions to ask and exactly how best to support you.
Hypnobirthing skills for life.
I still use the breathing techniques to this day, 13 odd years later! When I wrote my book ‘Let’s talk about preparing for your baby’s birth’ I wanted to include a lot more practical techniques and ideas for parents, not just for birth, but for beyond too. I always thought it was a shame that books didn’t include an audio for after the birth as many women say once the baby is here that they miss the relaxation audios and so I ensured that I included techniques and audios that can also be of great benefit postnatally – and for life.
There are 10 audios in total, including a focus on the birth partner, caesarean birth, induction of labour – and more. You’ll also learn the valuable and empowering tool of self hypnosis which is a seriously cool skill to have!
So, to conclude, despite its questionable name, hypnobirthing has something for everyone and at the very least, it will help you to relax and feel prepared and at ease during your pregnancy.
Wishing you all the very best for your upcoming birth. And remember, however you give birth you’re an absolute Goddess!
