When you hear the word “hypnosis” do you imagine a scene from stage hypnosis of someone acting crazily pretending to be a chicken or making a fool of themselves in some way! Yet hypnosis can be really beneficial, not only for labour, but also to alleviate some of the common discomforts of pregnancy such as morning sickness.
Hypnosis has recently become a really popular form of childbirth preparation in the last 5 or 10 years and many women find it really does make a difference to their birth experiences.
So what is hypnosis? It is a method of relaxation to bring you into a deep state mentally and physically where you can really focus on one thought or feeling without distraction. The subconscious mind is available for positive suggestions, in this case, about labour and birth, and can replace fears or negative beliefs. This altered state is actually one we are in regularly during the day – for example ever wondered how you got home when you were driving? You hardly noticed the familiar route or remembered the way you went – that’s a hypnotic state, so too when you are engrossed in a great novel.
During pregnancy hypnosis (like regular guided yoga relaxation) can help you to sleep better, may lower blood pressure and prepare your mind for birth in a positive way. Regular sessions either with a hypnotherapist, a specific hypnosis birthing course or an on-line course can help to shift negative perceptions of birth, alleviate fears and increase confidence. Calm Birth in Australia is a great programme for working with replacing negative beliefs and helping women to look forward to their labours.
In the prenatal yoga relaxation you are invited to bring your own positive statements to mind so that they can go directly to the subconscious mind rather than the conscious mind. The subconscious mind can hold beliefs we are not even aware of and may come up during labour and create feelings of fear or anxiety (and we all know how that can slow or even stop labour!) Well, hypnosis does the same and can often take you much deeper than a yoga relaxation by the use of specific language to help the subconscious accept these positive suggestions. You want to avoid the “fight/flight” response in labour as much as possible and keep those “feel good” hormones of birth high (oxytocin and endorphins)
It’s like re-programming a computer and getting rid of viruses (negative birth thoughts and fear)!
Can someone make you act like a chicken?!! The answer is no! All hypnosis is self hypnosis and you only take in what feels right for you, no-one has “power” over you despite what we see in movies.
Here’s a great free birth hypnosis track I found on a UK site. The accompanying book is one worth getting and will help you have a deeper understanding of how it works together with lots of great suggestions. Another popular course is Hypnobirthing
Don’t want to do hypnosis? Then make your own positive statements and repeat them regularly, particularly when you are deeply relaxed or just before going to sleep, you can put them on the fridge too and take them on cards into labour. Subconscious fears and negative beliefs can be changed with regular repetition -best done for at least 21 days daily. Use any words that feel comfortable for you and feel good to say. Visualisation is also very powerful but that’s another blog!
During labour my body opens easily like a flower
