I am a practising Natal Hypnotherapist and a qualified Midwife (over 12 years) and had fantastic results using Natal hypnotherapy for the homebirths of my first two babies and also to conceive this one (I'm 23 weeks!) and am enjoying the benefits during this pregnancy too!Yes all hypnosis is essentially the same thing, but you do get different results with different practitioners and different methods of delivery. I have seen positive results with many different methods of hypnosis for birth - not just the ones mentioned here, but also seen a negative effect from certain practitioners too.
So to clear a few things up (!):-
Natal hypnotherapists attend a full week of study, submit formal written essays for assessment (which have to be fully researched and evidence based) and are also practically assessed (with observed delivery of workshop content assessed by head office and workshop attendees) prior to being passed competent. It takes far longer than a weekend for us to train. This is generally as comprehensive training, if not more so, than hypnobirthers receive at present. We certainly do not attend just a weekend course!
Whilst we cannot practise as "general" hypnotherapists, neither can hypnobirthing practitioners who do not attend further training to become full hypnotherapists. So some hypnobirthing practitioners and some Natal Hypnotherapists have additional qualification as hypnotherapists. Some hypnobirthing practitioners and natal hypnotherapy practitioners are purely trained to deal with pregnancy and birth.
Natal Hypnotherapists are more fully regulated than hypnobirthers. We are required (not requested!) to attend study updates and are monitored on our performance. We are also checked to ensure that all of us are giving the same high level of tuition and correct information during our workshops. This does not happen with hypnobirthing - Once trained they act as individuals, which is why the content, course materials, information etc can vary so greatly from hypnobirthing practioner to hypnobirthing practitioner. I have seen this myself with women coming to give birth at the unit where I work as a Midwife. Some come with CDs, some have been given advice re birth plans, some come prepared for all out war with the staff having been told that we intervene at every opportunity (not true!!), others are more flexible and have clearly had balanced and well informed tuition. However, it can be a bit of a gamble with hypnobirthing and depends on the individual hypnobirthing practitioner. This is one of the reasons why I did Natal Hypnotherapy instead. If we don't come up to standard, our licences to practise are revoked.
The results used for the comparison chart on the Natal Hypnotherapy website are taken from the hypnobirthing website, so they are their own reported stats - not ones we have invented!
Not all the Mongan method information has been adapted for UK. There is still stuff that women bring and include in their birth plans that is never "routine" for UK births anyway - remember the US system IS very medicalised, far more than here, so women are battling much more against a system that does not allow for natural birthing so easily and is far more used to fighting against having a high level of medicalisation. It is for this reason that some hypnobirthing courses (not all!) can appear so aggressive towards the midwifery and medical staff and negative about what sort of experience you are likely to have in hospital environment. Natal Hypnotherapy is designed with the UK system in mind and so complements it more easily, making for a more harmonious birthing environment wherever you choose is most comfortable and safe for you (bearing in mind that not everyone feels comfortable with the idea of birthing at home or may have pregnancy/medical reasons for needing to be in hospital) - the idea is that the birth is a time of relaxation, calm and trust in your own bodies ability to safely birth your baby and also between you and the staff - not a potential argument!
In short - Natal Hypnotherapy is designed for the UK market, we are more intensly regulated and monitored as practitioners and we do have lower rates of c-section than reported by the hypnobirthing website. We don't change language as we deal with the fears directly, rather than looking to evade negative connotations. We do always help with writing your own post hypnotic suggestions, scripts and affirmations if this is what you want. Tuition is at a consistently high level. In addition we are award winning and we are the UK's leading provider of self hypnosis CDs and workshops for pregnancy and birth.
My advice is to think carefully about the individual practitioner you are booking with and feel comfortable with them. Look at her experience with pregnancy and birth outside of being a birth hypnotherapist and the length of time they have been involved with pregnancy and birth. What other qualifications do they have, are they regulated and how, do they have insurance (all Natal Hypnotherapists do as a requirement of their licence to practice), how up to date are they with current UK hospital / home birth practices, do they have any testimonials etc.
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