Hypnobirthing: are classes worth it?

[9jawife]

We are fortunate enough to have hypnobirthing (Mongan method) classes close to our home. They are expensive ($320 for a six week series) but according to the 'syllabus', cover a lot more than just the self-hypnosis. My question for those who've tried hypnobirthing: do you think the classes are worth the cost? Or could one learn it from CDs and books alone? I really think learning in person with others would be helpful...in addition to all the added information. But would like your opinions too. Thank you.

 

[Dottiee]

I'm wondering the exact same thing. I'm TTC and have already been doing a lot of research on natural birth. The classes in my city are $350. I've always been a big fan of meditation and it would be nice to know if that actually works during birth.

 

[Bmama]

Also wondering this too, as classes are $450 in my area. I am leaning toward self-education and just ordering the books online so I can start...But I am interested in other's experiences with the class!

 

[MindUtopia]

I didn't use the Mongan method specifically, but I did use hypnotherapy in my home birth. We did take the classes (but they were a lot cheaper than that!) and they were definitely helpful and confidence boosting, but I wouldn't have considered them necessary. Have you been practicing already and read the book? I would think about how comfortable you feel with the practice and also how self-motivated you and your partner are to learn and practice on your own. I found the classes helpful for my husband more than me because he didn't have as much time to read the book and he wasn't doing the CDs with me (you can do it as a couple, but we just didn't have the time to practice together every day because of our work schedules). It was also really encouraging just to talk with other couples about our planned birth and the techniques and I found I got a lot of confidence from that. But I would have felt adequately prepared to use the approach in my birth without the classes. I'm not sure how good the Mongan book is, but for the method I used, the class was pretty much just a repeat of the info in the book along with some videos and several practice sessions. I'm glad we took it, but I think my birth would have been just as great without it. Our class was about $150 USD. If the class was $300-450 though I'm not sure I would have done it!