Hypnowhat?!
Chances are if you’ve found your way to this page, you’ve heard mention of this mystical sounding thing that is ‘hypnobirthing’. It might be that you know someone who used it when they had their baby and they’ve insisted that you need to try it for yourself, but before you go as far as committing to booking onto a course, you’d quite like to know what it actually is.
There’s something in the name ‘hypnobirthing’ which suggests it’s all a bit mysterious and bohemian. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. Hypnobirthing is type of antenatal education that is based on logic and common sense. It’s a method of preparing your mind and body to experience labour and birth comfortably and free from fear and anxiety, regardless of the type of birth you have.
There’s a common misconception that a hypnobirthing birth is a certain ‘type’ of birth, which must include certain elements, and exclude others. The image most people have usually includes candles, a birth pool in the middle of the living room, gentle music and a complete ban on pain relief. But this couldn’t be further from the truth. Hypnobirthing is NOT a type of birth, it is a way of preparing to have a positive experience WHATEVER type of birth you have, from a birth pool in your living room to an elective C-Section and anything in between. It’s all about supporting you to decide what kind of birth feels right for you and your individual circumstances.
A bit of a history lesson…
The origins of hypnobirthing go way back to the early 1900s, and the work of Dr. Grantly Dick-Read, who discovered that fear plays a direct role in the level of pain experienced during childbirth. This is because for the uterus to do its job efficiently, it needs a plentiful supply of oxygenated blood flowing through it. But when a woman is scared, her fight/flight response is activated, which diverts all of that lovely oxygenated blood from her uterus to her arms and legs in order to best deal with the perceived threat. This in turn leads to a less efficient, slower and more painful process, which has, unfortunately, become the familiar norm when a woman gives birth.
As humans, our bodies are perfectly designed to birth our babies, otherwise there wouldn’t be so many of us on the planet. It’s social conditioning that’s made us scared of birth (thanks One Born Every Minute!), and this is where hypnobirthing comes in. With the skills and knowledge you will take away from a hypnobirthing course you will feel empowered to pursue the kind of birth that is right for you, by acknowledging and overcoming your specific fears around labour and birth.
But if you’re thinking that there must be a valid reason for women to be so fearful of birth, take a minute to consider where this fear comes from. Usually, the answer is that it comes from tv and films, and from other people’s horror stories about their own births.
Dramatic births work for TV, they keep viewers interested when they don’t know if a character will make it to hospital in time after her waters break in spectacular fashion in the middle of a shopping centre, or when a baby is in some kind of perilous situation. But TV and film births are the exception, not the rule. Normal birth is actually pretty boring if you’re not directly involved in it!
The same goes for your great auntie Marilyn’s horrific tale of woe, (which for some inexplicable reason she thinks is appropriate to share with every expectant parent she meets). Think about how many people you know with children, and how many of them have ever told you their birth stories. All of those stories you’ve never heard, are more than likely the boring straightforward ones where nothing out of the ordinary happened, no gory details to delight in sharing with horrified expectant parents, so there’s not really much point in telling you about it.
Hypnobirthing Is…
Basically, hypnobirthing is a method of antenatal education and birth preparation, which at first might sound a bit off the wall, but in reality is anything but. It actually shares a lot of similarities with sports psychology, and would probably be better understood if we started referring to it as ‘birth psychology’, a much more matter of fact, and arguably more accurate name.
Hypnobirthing will prepare you for labour and birth in three main ways:
Informing you about what actually happens to your body on a physiological level during labour and birth, so you know what to expect during each stage of the process.
Teaching techniques for releasing fear, relaxing and remaining calm throughout your pregnancy, labour and birth.
Empowering you with information which will ensure you are well equipped to make informed decisions to achieve a positive birth, however that might look for you.