Hypnosis and Mental Preparation for Birth

Here, a mother births using Hypnobabies techniques. You can see she is comfortable and relaxed throughout the entire process.

Hypnosis can be a wonderful way to experience your baby's birth. I first learned about hypnosis and childbirth last year, when a close friend of mine decided to use Hypnobabies home study course for her birth. She had a wonderful experience, and peaked my interest into what this is all about. I recently heard a new mother talking about how she did a lot of mental preparation (though, not specifically hypnosis techniques) before her birth experience, gradually re-programming her mind to think about her birth experience in a positive light. I think this is so essential for women to do, and it often is neglected. Women all across america go into birth terrified of the "pain" they will experience. Our culture frames it that way for us, and therefore, what other choice do we have to deal with this miserable experience other than to just endure "hard labor," "contractions," and the like. I feel that we may view birth this way because we are told it. Over, and over, and over again. But do we have to?

During hypnosis, as my friend who used Hypnobabies described it to me, you are not asleep or doing anything against your will-- you have just practiced relaxing a certain way over and over and over again so that your body is able to relax without conciously making it relax. She compared it to the times you drive somewhere so many times that eventually, you may drive there without ever really conciously realizing each turn that you take. You just end up where you were planning to go. And you know that you weren't sleeping while you were driving. You just have programmed yourself to know how to get there, without being extremely concious of that.  For more about hypnosis go to http://www.youtube.com/hypnobabies#p/a/u/0/gGyA-kvbZZA.

There are a couple of popular hypnosis programs for childbirth. One is Hypnobirthing or the Mongan Method (http://www.hypnobirthing.com/), and the other is Hypnobabies (http://www.hypnobabies.com/). You can compare them here: http://www.pregnancybirthandbabies.com/comparison_between_hypnoclasses.htm.

Hypnobabies combines the best parts of the Mongan Method, along with education based on the Bradley Method. In the home study course, you go through a workbook and then practice relaxation hypnosis regularly leading up to your birth, along with listening daily to "Joyful Pregnancy Affirmations" which help you to reprogram your brain to think positively about birth, and protect your mind from negative ideas about your pregnancy, baby, or birth. Hypnobabies reframes everything you know about birth-- changing  terms such as "contractions" to "pressure waves," "labor" to "your birthing time," and "transition" to "transformation." I feel so strongly that this is such a wonderful thing, that I have decided to become a Hypnobabies Certified Doula (which means I will be able to support women who have done the Hypnobabies course for their birthing time). I ordered my packet yesterday, and I am super excited to learn more!

If you are not planning to practice hypnosis during your birth, you can still prepare mentally for your birth. It is extremely important to process through past experiences and mental images that could stall the process of your body relaxing and opening for your baby. One helpful way to do this is to practice daily positive affirmations about yourself, about your body, about your baby, and about your birth experience. These are all areas that can easily be affected by the negative media and medical birth pop-culture. It can also be very beneficial to regularly practice relaxing before you go to sleep every night. As you are laying down in a comfortable spot, practice making your body limp, and heavy so that you can feel every part of your body sinking down into the matress. Then take time to breath deeply, into your stomach, and then slowly exhaling each breath. You can then practice relaxing each muscle group, startig with the top of your head, and gradually moving slowing through each part of your body down to your toes. If you practice these things regularly, it will be much easier to relax your body when things get intense, and it will be much easier to get out of your thinking brain and into your primal birthing brain without mental hurdles to cross over.  It is never too early to start preparing for this part of your birth.