Using Hypnosis for Childbirth
The use of hypnosis for childbirth is not a new concept or technique but neither is it mainstream. The descriptions of techniques used during childbirth thousands of years ago are very similar to those taught by some childbirth educators nowadays. However, these skills and techniques, including hypnosis, have been largely lost to the majority of women in western society. Hopefully as these techniques find their way back into our discussions of pregnancy and childbirth the skills will be passed on from mother to daughter, sister to sister and so on.
Preparing for birth
The most recent resurge of the use of hypnosis for childbirth was kick-started by Marie Mongan with the release of her book HypnoBirthing A Celebration of Life in 1989. In conjunction with the HypnoBirthing Institute in the United States, Marie has promoted the use of hypnosis for pregnancy and childbirth throughout a number of countries around the world.
There are a number of programs in Australia that teach or incorporate hypnosis into their childbirth preparation classes, including BirthSkills and Calm Birth, and many private hypnotherapists offer sessions to help allay fear or anxiety in the new mum. However, it is important to note that hypnosis alone will not deliver the ideal birth.
When placed in the right context of education about the human body, health and well-being and the process of natural labour, hypnosis can be a powerful tool for achieving the calm and confident state of mind vital to a positive birthing experience but it should not be the only tool you take into the labour room with you!
A (very) brief history of modern day childbirth education
In the 1920's a young English obstetrician named Dr Grantly Dick-Read realised that fear played a major role in the experience of pain during childbirth. Dick-Read, together with his wife, went on to write several books about calm and comfortable natural childbirth. Dick-Read did not use hypnosis or hypnotherapy in his childbirth preparation workshops, he relied simply on the techniques of physical relaxation, appropriate breathing, positioning and knowledge and education about the human body in labour. His underlying message was that women need not suffer during childbirth. Dick-Read firmly believed that with the right knowledge, preparation and support the majority of women can have labours that are comfortable and free of severe pain (2004).
The Dick-Read method of childbirth preparation is the oldest of the modern day techniques. Today, a good antenatal workshop or program of childbirth preparation will incorporate Dr Dick-Read's relaxation techniques together with a lot of good knowledge about the uterus and other aspects of the physiology of labour. Classes should also provide you with breathing techniques (perhaps similar to Lamaze style techniques), information and skills for your partner (as in the Bradley method), a variety of techniques to achieve physical as well as emotional relaxation, information about how different positions can work for you (as in active labour workshops) and provide you with opportunities and techniques for releasing fear (the focus in hypno-birthing classes).
Benefits of using hypnosis in labour and birth
The addition of hypnosis to this list of qualities of a good childbirth preparation program brings with it a number of benefits during pregnancy and labour. Some of these benefits are (Tuschhoff, 2003):
- Time distortion through deep relaxation means that labour seems shorter.
- Brain activity shifts from the stress-prone right frontal cortex to the calmer left frontal cortex. This mental shift decreases the negative effects of stress and anxiety.
- There is also less activity in the amygdala, where the brain processes fear.
- An awake, energised mother, as a result of relaxation throughout the birthing process.
- Fewer drugs or no drugs at all means less risk of side effects on mother and baby.
- Shorter labours - resistance of the birthing muscles as a response to pain is minimised or eliminated.
- A calm, peaceful and welcoming birthing environment.
- Breech and posterior babies can be turned using hypnosis.
- Fewer interventions and complications during labour.
- Babies who are better sleepers and feeders due to fewer drugs in their systems and more feel good hormones (endorphins) they get from Mum.
Hypnosis also has many wonderful benefits during pregnancy and can be used to help with nausea, fatigue, leg cramps and heartburn as well as the physical and emotional benefits of deep relaxation for both mother and baby. Some therapists can also help with turning breech babies. For the majority of expectant parents, guided meditation and hypnotherapy is most helpful during pregnancy when it can be used to help women release any fears or anxieties about labour and replaces these with positive thoughts and images to work with on the day.
Using meditation and hypnosis techniques during pregnancy also helps women to learn deep relaxation which will come much more naturally during labour if well practiced during pregnancy.
The reality of using hypnosis for birth
Many women who practice hypnosis during pregnancy find that during labour they don't actually end up going into a hypnotic-trance as such, but welcome labour with a sense of calmness and confidence as the surges begin. These women are then in a good position to work effectively with their bodies during the process rather than trying to fight off pain or fear. Although there are a number of hypnotic-analgesic techniques that can be learned to help numb pain, the majority of women find that well practiced relaxation and breathing techniques, together with the right information about their body and how to work with it, do the trick on the day; which means that there is no risk of failure in terms of the hypnosis working or not-working.
The techniques taught in a good program should be equally useful during a natural birth and in situations where plan 'B' is required. It is important to remember that, while hypnosis is a wonderful tool for pregnancy and childbirth, there is so much more that women can do to help themselves maintain their wellness and well-being during this special journey into motherhood.
References
Dick-Read, Grantly (2004), Childbirth without Fear: The Principles and Practice of Natural Childbirth. Pinter & Martin: London.
Tuschhoff, K. (2003) What is hypnosis for birth and does it work?
www.hypnobabies.org
Visit the BirthSkills business Listing.
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