I was looking into pregnancy yoga and while on the waiting list the guy suggested I attend hypnobirthing classes.

Read up on it a bit and sounds like it reduces pain naturally by loads but not sure if it is a bit out there?

Anyone expereince or knowledge on this?

I've not looked into it but seems a good idea! yoga does stretch all your muscles etc so is bound to help.

I have heard of baby yoga tho! my friend takes her little boy (about 6 months) and he loves it!! a nurse teaches it so i presume its ok! lol

I am doing a hypnobirthing class in April. I really wanted to take it sooner, but my DH is too busy traveling. One woman I spoke to said that the meditation the method uses is just wonderful, she used it ever night and had no problem sleeping at all through out her whole pregnancy. I figure it is worth a go.

Thanks samantha,

Does seem worth a go and kind of makes sense in reducing pain by reducing stress...I will contact them and see...

I highly recommend hypnobirthing! I couldn't attend classes since there aren't any instructors in Iceland, but I read the book and practiced the relaxation. I can't even begin to describe the difference between that birth and my first! Everything was so much calmer and relaxed and it was just wonderful, I had a terrible first birth and I wish I had practiced hypnobirthing before that one.

If/when I get pregnant again, I'm going to use it again for sure.

Thanks Phexia; I was speaking to my OH last night and he is really keen too as apparently it teaches your partner how to relax you and massages too so they don't feel helpless.

Hello,

I took private hypnobirthing classes in preparation for the birth of my daughter, now 18 months, as I was terrified of giving birth.

Unfortunately they did not work for me. I planned on a relaxing home birth but my daughter was back-to-back and did not turn, resulting in a ventouse delivery in hospital, episiotomy, 3rd degree tear and retained placenta.

Another of my group of antenatal friends also paid for hypnobirthing classes and her experience of labour was worse than mine. We have joked since that out of 8 of us, the two who opted for hypnobirthing had the worst deliveries!

My thoughts are that the principles of hypnobirthing are quite sound. Relaxation, meditation, and any other method of focusing your mind will assist you during childbirth. However I do believe these methods have to be extremely well practiced, and you must be completely committed to them to achieve a pain-free birth as demonstrated in the hypnobirthing vidoes.

I wouldn't discourage anyone from considering hypnobirthing. However I believe that a combination of meditation, controlled deep-breathing or any other relaxation method which works for you is equally effective (and comes without the hypnobirthing price-tag).

My only criticism of hypnobirthing is that the tone of the course is that, if properly relaxed, you will feel no pain. And that there is no need for you to feel pain. It was therefore a huge shock to me to be in full-blown labour and I was quite simply unprepared for how painful it was. Afterwards, I felt like I had 'failed' and that had I relaxed properly enough, it would have been pain-free. I therefore think that if you are considering hypnobirthing classes, accept them for what they are - an expensive relaxation class, don't expect them to perform miracles, and don't beat yourself up if you don't have the perfectly calm birth you were hoping for!

Clarabelle
(20 wks pregnant with #2 - listening to relaxation tapes as I write!)

I don't think my birth will be pain free unless I am knocked out!

Hi Mums to Be, I've been teaching hypnobirthing for 3 years so please let me know if you have any questions. The first thing I tell my couples is that I can't guarantee a pain free birth - but it IS possible - several of my mums (I've taught over 400) described their labours as intense period pain...but nothing worse than that.

Nobody can guarantee it will be pain free - BUT if you learn the techniques, practice them daily then it will absolutely be a fear free birth. Sometimes things just don't go to plan and our babies have other ideas but when you feel calm and confident it makes those surprises much easier to deal with. A few of my mums have had to have cesareans - but they still say the hypnobirthing made a huge difference in how they enjoyed their pregnancies and felt it definitely contributed to their births being much more positive than it could have been. I teach a method of hypnobirthing called Gentlebirth - so there's a lot more focus on navigating your way through the hospital policies etc and avoiding unnecessary intervention.

You can't fail in labour.......there's no right or wrong way but some over enthusiastic hypnobirthing teachers focus on the pain free aspect rather than fear free - which means some mums feel very disappointed.

Gentlebirth is a 5 week homestudy course (I run workshops in Ireland too) so you don't have someone near you who can teach you and are motivated to do it yourself it's very easy to learn if you can commit to 30 minutes a day to practice. You receive support from me online throughout your pregnancy while you're using the program.

Please note Gentlebirth is a full antenatal course including breastfeeding, decision making and birth partner involvement - but it is easy to do with or without a partner.

Wishing you all the most wonderful births !

Tracy

GentleBirth Hypnosis

I downloaded and listened to the Rainbow Relaxation CD and also to another self hypnosis download "Natural Child Birth. I like the later so much more. I love it! In this downloads the voice tells that you need to relax groups of muscles, go to a special place where you feel comfortable, deeply relax more and more, breathe the baby out, it also says that the suggestions placed in the subconscious mind will have positive effect on my overall attitude, etc.
The goal of self hypnosis is that after hours of listening, the relaxation mode is triggered in time, i.e. when the labour and contractions begin, so does it really matter which download I choose 8does it have to be Rainbow Relaxation)? Along with this I will use the visualization, affirmations, etc. I live in the area where there are no hypnobirthing classes. Thank you