I did hypnobirthing and absolutely loved it! I definitely think it helped me to have a positive experience and I'm looking forward to doing it again this time. If nothing else I think it helped me to feel empowered and excited about giving birth instead of feeling scared or anxious in the weeks leading up to it. I don't have any experience with either of the programs you mentioned. I would have loved to have taken classes but I couldn't afford it so I did it on my own at home. I bought Maggie Howells 'natal hypnotherapy' CD and listened to it about a million times in the months before my son was born, sometimes I even fell asleep listening to it on my IPod so listened to it subconsciously on repeat a million times as well. It was basically just a guided meditation of a positive birthing experience, which really is all hypnobirthing is- meditation and breathwork. I don't know, I personally think it played a major role in the experience I had but maybe it was just coincidence and I just got lucky because I know other people who listened to it as well and didn't feel like it helped at all. For $15 it certainly can't hurt right?? And like I said before, if absolutely nothing else I felt calm, empowered, and excited leading up to it so that alone felt worth it even if I had turned out to have had a completely different birthing experience than I did.
I also prepared for birth other ways as well. I truly believe that knowledge is power and learning as much as I could about not only birth itself but also the birthing industry, was also just as important as hypnobirthing in shaping the experience I had. Ina May Gatskin's Guide to Childbirth was an amazing book of positive natural birthing stories and was a wealth of information as well. She also wrote 'spiritual midwifery' but I haven't read it yet. 'Birthing from within' is another good book by Pam England.
I don't know anything about the programs you mentioned because I just couldn't afford them, but I have nothing but positive things to say about hypnobirthing in general whichever method you choose! I'm so glad I found it and gave it a try. I'm really looking forward to listening to that CD again. I know it's at least part of the reason I was able to stay as calm and relaxed as I did because if I learned anything it was that the best way to get through the pain of childbirth is giving in to it. That's I think what hypnobirthing does, gives you some tools to be able to go inward and find that strength to give in and trust your body and the process.
