Pyrrhic
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I promised I'd write a thread on this, so here's an overview of how I've found it so far. I'll be updating my journal with more though. This is about my personal experience, if you want information on hypnobithing I suggest you check out their website. I'm aware that some people won't agree with this method, but I have been asked to share my experience so far.
Initially I was very skeptical of 'hypnobirthing' as I come from a scientific background, as does my OH (we both studied BSc degrees at University). I assumed it would be very new age rubbish tbh.
My Aunt is actually a hypnobirthing teacher, and got in touch and convinced me to come to see her for some information. I figured why not, I may as well get some information on it THEN decide if I was interested in it or not. I had no knowledge of what hypnobirthing was before this week. In fact I went along, still with the negative ideas in my head that it was whishy washy nonsense.
I was soon to be proved very wrong!
I am the type of person who hates taking medicine and putting things into my body unless I absolutly need to. On the occassions I've been in hospital, I've only ever taken pain relief when I need it - not when the trolley and nurse come round. I only seek help when I feel my body can't cope on it's own. I'm not going to go to the doctor about a cold, but I will if two weeks later I can't shake it.
Hypnobirthing (In my opinion) is a more in depth way of saying 'Natural Childbirth'. So I'm going to explain briefly what I've read and learnt so far.
Natural childbirth is exactly what it says on the tin. It's the basic belief that woman are built and programmed for childbirth, and that it is a natural process and does not have to be a medical experience. My Aunt lived in Africa for many years and said when she was with a native tribe, a woman would go off quietly and have her baby, returning to work the fields the next day. No screaming or yelling from the hut where she was giving birth and that all the women looked on birth as a positive and natural experience that they looked forward to.
I would ask yourself, how does the act of labour make you feel? Tense? Scared? Nervous? Out of control? If so, maybe you should question why. Why do you automatically associate labour with pain and suffering when millions of women have given birth in a totally natural way.
Nowadays we have a lot of things that influence how we feel about birth. Look at TV shows. Have you ever seen a silent, relaxed birth? I always see the women failing around screaming in agony. We're taught from a young age that childbirth hurts like a bitch and what a shame that as women we have to go through it. In fact, I've found that being pregnant makes people want to tell me the worst birth stories that they can possibly think of. All of this can add to feelings of fear, tension, etc. We learn to expect something bad and sore to happen to us.
I feel it would be better if we could approach childbirth totally calm. What if we had no idea it hurt? Or people told us instead how amazing their experiences were? Surely we'd then have a more positive outlook.
Something that annoys me is when people gloat about the fact that they don't have to go through childbirth. Especially some men, or even friends. Sarcastic smiles and comments like 'god I'm glad it's not me' are frankly stupid and annoying. I mean, you are only going to give birth to this child once. You are THE ONLY person who can bring this child into this world and create this unique person. I'm lucky to be able to do such a thing, and have such an amazing experience.
So lets get to the sciency bit (I did say I'm more of a scientific type).
If you're tense, scared and pre-empting or experiencing pain then your body goes into a 'flight or fight response'. This response diverts blood away from some now redundant parts of your body, and send this blood to your heart, lungs and limbs in case you need to fight or run away. The problem is that labour usually induces this response, but we don't need to fight or run away! The uterus is one of the places where blood is diverted away. (After all, you aren't going to fight or run away by the use of your uterus!)
When blood is diverted away from a part of your body, and when the body is tense the muscles get tighter and constrict.
Your uterus is made up of different layers of muscles, that move in different ways to allow you to give birth to your baby. When you feel a contraction, these muscles are naturally moving apart to allow for dilation.
So, if we're tense, in pain and scared, these muscles have less blood flow to them and get tighter. If the muscles are tight, it inhibits some of the ability for the contractions to occur naturally, and the baby instead of having to move through ralexed muscles has to struggle to be birthed against tight muscles. This prolong labour, and makes it more painful for the mother.
So how do we 'fix' it, and where does hypnobirthing come into it?
Well hypnobirthing teaches that women who expect fear will tense up without realising and start inducing the response. How many threads do we have on here from Mum's to Be who are terrified that their waters have just gone, or who are worried about labour? I've seen some threads where women have developled a phobia because their fear is so intense.
So hypnobirthing teaches you ways to stay calm, and approach your birth with a sense of joy and excitment. You're taught breathing techniques that will help relax your mind and body and keep your muscles relaxed. This is not a 'new' thing, midwives have been teaching people to breath through their birth since people started having babies. The problem is that by the time people are in established labour then it's too late.
Hypobirthing teaches you different ways of relaxation, and three different methods of breathing to help you from the moment you start to get contractions to the moment you hold your baby.
Your shown how to stay calm, and in control and how to be confident about your birth.
I thoroughly recommend that people at least look into it and read at bit more about it. After all, what have you got to lose? If it's not for you, then at least you know. If it is for you, then hopefully you'll have an amazing birth.
To me, a lot of it is common sense and I do think sometimes 'why didn't I think of that?!'
What I also loved, was that your OH/birth partner is not just an observer who gets to cut the cord but he actually helps and coaches you through the whole birth. I can't explain it all here, but your OH becomes so involved in the birth that it is a huge experience for them too.
What I also felt was that it was like having another MW. They'll go through making a birth plan with you, explain natural ways to induce labour and even attend the birth if you want.
From the hypnobirthing website: https://www.hypnobirthing.co.uk
Why is HypnoBirthing® so good?
* Breathing techniques that actually help the birth (and it's not the panting that most people think they have to do. Think about it - why would anyone want to hyperventilate during labour?)
* How to massively reduce the need for any medication at all
* How to reduce your risk of needing an episiotomy during birth with a stunningly simple massage technique
* How to be confident and informed when dealing with the medical staff - when to question, what to ask...and when it's time to let them take charge
* How to release any fears you might have about childbirth...regardless of where they come from
* How to bring about your own easy start of labour with these simple, natural techniques, if you go beyond your "estimated due date"
* Most importantly, you'll know how to relax and stay calm and in control - regardless of what's happening around you
HypnoBirthing® is designed as a structured but informal class format that teaches about the physical, emotional and spiritual aspects of birth. You'll learn why your body does what it does, as well as how.
Plus, as well as the classes themselves, you'll receive a professionally produced 196-page text book "HypnoBirthing®: A Celebration Of Life", an affirmations and relaxation tape or CD set, and numerous weekly handouts, all included in the price.
More benefits
Additional benefits that have been reported by mums include:
Considerably shorter labour and birthing
Signficantly fewer surgical births
High number of comfortable, natural births with no technological assistance
A high rate of success in assisting breech-presented babies to turn into appropriate birthing position with the use of posture and hypnosis (in a study done at the University of Vermont of 100 women at 37 to 40 weeks, there was a 81% success rate with hypnosis)
Highly energized mums in good spirits following births that are calm and gentle
You'll learn the techniques once for this birth, but then you can then use them again and again, no matter how many children you have
HypnoBirthing® techniques work very effectively with home births, water births, hospital births, birthing centres...whatever. It's your choice what kind of birth to have - HypnoBirthing® helps them all.
You can use the techniques to help calm and relax yourself any time you feel stressed out...(we've had many couples tell us this alone has been invaluable!)
Initially I was very skeptical of 'hypnobirthing' as I come from a scientific background, as does my OH (we both studied BSc degrees at University). I assumed it would be very new age rubbish tbh.
My Aunt is actually a hypnobirthing teacher, and got in touch and convinced me to come to see her for some information. I figured why not, I may as well get some information on it THEN decide if I was interested in it or not. I had no knowledge of what hypnobirthing was before this week. In fact I went along, still with the negative ideas in my head that it was whishy washy nonsense.
I was soon to be proved very wrong!
I am the type of person who hates taking medicine and putting things into my body unless I absolutly need to. On the occassions I've been in hospital, I've only ever taken pain relief when I need it - not when the trolley and nurse come round. I only seek help when I feel my body can't cope on it's own. I'm not going to go to the doctor about a cold, but I will if two weeks later I can't shake it.
Hypnobirthing (In my opinion) is a more in depth way of saying 'Natural Childbirth'. So I'm going to explain briefly what I've read and learnt so far.
Natural childbirth is exactly what it says on the tin. It's the basic belief that woman are built and programmed for childbirth, and that it is a natural process and does not have to be a medical experience. My Aunt lived in Africa for many years and said when she was with a native tribe, a woman would go off quietly and have her baby, returning to work the fields the next day. No screaming or yelling from the hut where she was giving birth and that all the women looked on birth as a positive and natural experience that they looked forward to.
I would ask yourself, how does the act of labour make you feel? Tense? Scared? Nervous? Out of control? If so, maybe you should question why. Why do you automatically associate labour with pain and suffering when millions of women have given birth in a totally natural way.
Nowadays we have a lot of things that influence how we feel about birth. Look at TV shows. Have you ever seen a silent, relaxed birth? I always see the women failing around screaming in agony. We're taught from a young age that childbirth hurts like a bitch and what a shame that as women we have to go through it. In fact, I've found that being pregnant makes people want to tell me the worst birth stories that they can possibly think of. All of this can add to feelings of fear, tension, etc. We learn to expect something bad and sore to happen to us.
I feel it would be better if we could approach childbirth totally calm. What if we had no idea it hurt? Or people told us instead how amazing their experiences were? Surely we'd then have a more positive outlook.
Something that annoys me is when people gloat about the fact that they don't have to go through childbirth. Especially some men, or even friends. Sarcastic smiles and comments like 'god I'm glad it's not me' are frankly stupid and annoying. I mean, you are only going to give birth to this child once. You are THE ONLY person who can bring this child into this world and create this unique person. I'm lucky to be able to do such a thing, and have such an amazing experience.
So lets get to the sciency bit (I did say I'm more of a scientific type).
If you're tense, scared and pre-empting or experiencing pain then your body goes into a 'flight or fight response'. This response diverts blood away from some now redundant parts of your body, and send this blood to your heart, lungs and limbs in case you need to fight or run away. The problem is that labour usually induces this response, but we don't need to fight or run away! The uterus is one of the places where blood is diverted away. (After all, you aren't going to fight or run away by the use of your uterus!)
When blood is diverted away from a part of your body, and when the body is tense the muscles get tighter and constrict.
Your uterus is made up of different layers of muscles, that move in different ways to allow you to give birth to your baby. When you feel a contraction, these muscles are naturally moving apart to allow for dilation.
So, if we're tense, in pain and scared, these muscles have less blood flow to them and get tighter. If the muscles are tight, it inhibits some of the ability for the contractions to occur naturally, and the baby instead of having to move through ralexed muscles has to struggle to be birthed against tight muscles. This prolong labour, and makes it more painful for the mother.
So how do we 'fix' it, and where does hypnobirthing come into it?
Well hypnobirthing teaches that women who expect fear will tense up without realising and start inducing the response. How many threads do we have on here from Mum's to Be who are terrified that their waters have just gone, or who are worried about labour? I've seen some threads where women have developled a phobia because their fear is so intense.
So hypnobirthing teaches you ways to stay calm, and approach your birth with a sense of joy and excitment. You're taught breathing techniques that will help relax your mind and body and keep your muscles relaxed. This is not a 'new' thing, midwives have been teaching people to breath through their birth since people started having babies. The problem is that by the time people are in established labour then it's too late.
Hypobirthing teaches you different ways of relaxation, and three different methods of breathing to help you from the moment you start to get contractions to the moment you hold your baby.
Your shown how to stay calm, and in control and how to be confident about your birth.
I thoroughly recommend that people at least look into it and read at bit more about it. After all, what have you got to lose? If it's not for you, then at least you know. If it is for you, then hopefully you'll have an amazing birth.
To me, a lot of it is common sense and I do think sometimes 'why didn't I think of that?!'
What I also loved, was that your OH/birth partner is not just an observer who gets to cut the cord but he actually helps and coaches you through the whole birth. I can't explain it all here, but your OH becomes so involved in the birth that it is a huge experience for them too.
What I also felt was that it was like having another MW. They'll go through making a birth plan with you, explain natural ways to induce labour and even attend the birth if you want.
From the hypnobirthing website: https://www.hypnobirthing.co.uk
Why is HypnoBirthing® so good?
* Breathing techniques that actually help the birth (and it's not the panting that most people think they have to do. Think about it - why would anyone want to hyperventilate during labour?)
* How to massively reduce the need for any medication at all
* How to reduce your risk of needing an episiotomy during birth with a stunningly simple massage technique
* How to be confident and informed when dealing with the medical staff - when to question, what to ask...and when it's time to let them take charge
* How to release any fears you might have about childbirth...regardless of where they come from
* How to bring about your own easy start of labour with these simple, natural techniques, if you go beyond your "estimated due date"
* Most importantly, you'll know how to relax and stay calm and in control - regardless of what's happening around you
HypnoBirthing® is designed as a structured but informal class format that teaches about the physical, emotional and spiritual aspects of birth. You'll learn why your body does what it does, as well as how.
Plus, as well as the classes themselves, you'll receive a professionally produced 196-page text book "HypnoBirthing®: A Celebration Of Life", an affirmations and relaxation tape or CD set, and numerous weekly handouts, all included in the price.
More benefits
Additional benefits that have been reported by mums include:
Considerably shorter labour and birthing
Signficantly fewer surgical births
High number of comfortable, natural births with no technological assistance
A high rate of success in assisting breech-presented babies to turn into appropriate birthing position with the use of posture and hypnosis (in a study done at the University of Vermont of 100 women at 37 to 40 weeks, there was a 81% success rate with hypnosis)
Highly energized mums in good spirits following births that are calm and gentle
You'll learn the techniques once for this birth, but then you can then use them again and again, no matter how many children you have
HypnoBirthing® techniques work very effectively with home births, water births, hospital births, birthing centres...whatever. It's your choice what kind of birth to have - HypnoBirthing® helps them all.
You can use the techniques to help calm and relax yourself any time you feel stressed out...(we've had many couples tell us this alone has been invaluable!)
