What is Hypnobirthing?
So you’ve heard the term Hypnobirthing, perhaps heard people rave about it and how it helped them, or been recommended it by your midwife. But what exactly is Hypnobirthing?
What is Hypnobirthing?
Hypnobirthing is no hocus-pocus. There is no swinging of a clock or voodoo going on here. Hypnobirthing is actually straightforward stuff that is based on science. Hypnobirthing is logical, practical, and completely in-depth birth preparation. It will totally transform the way you view, prepare for and experience birth.
A calm, positive birth using hypnobirthing
A Hypnobirthing course is a complete birth preparation course. It will give you tools to use during pregnancy, labour and birth to help keep you feeling calmer, more in control and more comfortable. A lot of these techniques are life skills- you will find yourself using them long after your baby has been born.
These tools are to use in every single birth. If your birth goes in a different direction to what you had hoped, hypnobirthing will help you remain calm, help with decision making, and ultimately view your babies birth as a positive event.
Whats the “hypno” bit about?
So what is the “Hypno” bit about in Hypnobirthing. This is often the thing that puts people off! When they hear Hypnobirthing, they might thing of stage show hypnosis- Uncle Bob clucking like a chicken, or the time Jenny ate an onion thinking it was an apple. We think of mind control, and humiliating stuff we might see on TV.
Hypnobirthing is nothing like this.
All Hypnosis is actually self- hypnosis, meaning that you have to be on board to do it. There is no mind control at all.
Being in a state of Hypnosis is actually a natural state of consciousness that we are all in at least once a day- when we fall asleep! Its those relaxed, zoned out times when you disconnect from distractions.
Well how does this all relate to birth? Choosing to zone out of distractions is powerful stuff! Hypnobirthing gives you the tools to do this. Whether that is zoning out of your surroundings if you’re birthing away from home, to zoning out of the powerful sensations in your body, it will make your birth easier.
The science of hypnobirthing.
When you are able to zone out and keep your mind calm, your body is able to remain relaxed. A relaxed body it able to labour more effectively and more comfortably.
How did your body react the last time you felt afraid? Your heart rate would increase, you might get sweaty, your tummy will flip. A strong, physical reaction to something that comes from our minds. This was a brilliant, life saving system that was hugely important during Stonge age times. When faced with a threat, blood would be pumped away from our organs to our arms and legs, our breathing and heart rate increased ready for us to run away from, or fight a sabre tooth tiger or wooly mammoth.
The difference is, we are not stone age woman and we are not birthing with the threat of a Wooly mammoth around the corner. So why would we still have that response in labour?
We have our over thinking, human brains to thank for that. Think of all the things you have heard about birth over the past 20-30 years. The episodes of One Born Every Minutes you’ve watched. The scare stories your friends and family have told you. All of this gets stored in the deepest parts of our minds, and when we go into labour, it shouts at us that this is going to hurt! This is unsafe! Here comes pain! Of course, when we expect these things, we are going to feel fear.
Fear-Tension-pain
When we feel the fear we are in the flight or flight response. If we are in the flight or flight response, our bodies are tense. Our bodies are tense, our uterus muscles can’t work as easily or comfortably, so it feels more painful.
This confirms everything we had heard about birth, and so we feel more, fear, become more tense, and feel more pain. This is the Fear- Tension- Pain cycle, and it is one of things we work on in hypnobirthing to prevent and break.
Through a number of techniques we work to rewire the brain to see birth positively. This isn’t done by anything wacky. By watching positive birth videos, positive affirmations, relaxations and education. This means that when we do go into labour, we don’t feel fear, and our able to stay relaxed.
Hypnobirthing benefits your Pregnancy too
How can hypnobirthing make my pregnancy more enjoyable? By releasing any fear or anxiety about birth, and allowing yourself to see birth as a positive event, you will be able to enjoy your pregnancy more rather than worrying about the upcoming birth. The techniques you learn in Hypnobirthing can also help to ease any pregnancy discomforts you may feel.
Photo credits @birthbecomesyou https://www.instagram.com/birthbecomesyou/
One Response