When I found out I was going to be a mom, I wanted to bring my son into this world with alot of love and peace. I wanted the best for him. Growing up, my mom was never shy of sharing my birthing story with me. It is the typical I was in pain for 3 days story that we see and hear all the time on TV and in movies. I had other ideas about what birthing should be like since both my grandmothers had 10 kids each. My dad’s mom had him in the rice paddy and quickly return to work after she gave birth. When I heard that story, I knew I had to research and find a better way to give birth. While doing my research I found Hypnobirthing and Hypnobabies. I did a Hypnobirthing class and the home study course for Hypnobabies. I wanted to be prepare. However, when my labor started I ended up using Hypnobabies and it was a success.
Because my physical movement was restricted when I was pregnant, I saw that the childbirthing method that I was chose was like mentally training me for birth. Instead of preparing for a marathon, I was preparing for birth. Mentally training yourself to think something positive when all you heard is negative is tough. You constantly have to fight off the people that will tell you that there is no such thing as a painless birth. I guess the similarity between the two courses is that it teaches that birthing can be comfortable and that each contraction (or birthing wave) lasts for about 60 seconds of which YOU can be in control. Fear is the main reason for pain during labor. If you release that fear and believe that your body knows what it is doing, you will have a comfortable birth.
I found the Hypnobirthing course too focused on the history of how Marie Morgan, the founder, got the idea. There are about two different scripts on one CD. And that was probably my only problem with the program. I wanted more practice. I wanted to do more than listen to two script. I did my research and found Hypnobabies.
Hypnobabies is a six week course. During this time, you learn how to put yourself into a hypnotic state and how to do it with your eyes open. It also gives you a meal plan where protein and sodium is very important to a pregnant woman’s diet. Yes, I said sodium. Of course like any childbirthing method, it gives you the different phases of labor. I also liked that it gave me an exercise plan to help relieve the pressure off your hip. Since your baby is resting on your hip, doing the exercises really gives you relief from it. One of my favorite was sitting on a birthing ball (or a regular exercise ball). It relieved the pressure off my tailbone. However, the best part of the program was that there were many different scripts. You alternate between the Deepening script and another script each week. I really felt like I was training myself for a mental marathon. I felt prepared. When I went into labor, I was very in control with each contractions getting more intense. Because I was so relaxed and in control, I was only in active labor for 4 hours. I never felt the crowning (or burning sensation). It was just so comfortable. I’m going to save my birthing story for another post. But for more information you can visit their homepage.
http://www.hypnobabies.com
But don’t just take my word for it.
Namaste
Jessica!
This is a wonderful testimony to Hypnobabies and to your own strength, in finding what you knew would work for the birth you desired, putting in the effort to create the hypno-tools and having a beautiful birthing as a result!
Thank you for posting this link to the Hypnobabies site. Much appreciated. Enjoy your little one.
Yours in gentle birthings…
541 sweet babies births attended
Carole Thorpe, VP Hypnobabies-PR
Hypnobabies – BIRTH PARTNER SERVICES
http://www.hypnosis4birth.com
carole@hypnosis4birth.com
Orange County, CA
Thanks for sharing your experience with the two programs. Congratulations on your wonderful birth and baby!
If only more than 77 people could read about this.
Please help spread the word about Hypnobabies. Women should know their rights and choices. The only way we can do that is to educate them.
Hah I am actually the first comment to your great read!
Super great article. Truely.
I cannot agree enough with this post! I too used hypnobabies for my first birth and it was a miracle. I had a pitocin induction after my waters broke and I didn’t go into labor — both legendarily painful and the nurses were all assuming I’d want an immediate epidural. In fact I was mobile, lucid, and happy through the whole labor. And like yours it lasted only about 4 hours. I could feel my son moving down through my cervix, feel exactly what I needed to do and where to relax to let him be born quickly and easily.
When people ask me if I felt ‘pain’ it’s really hard to even answer the question. My basic feeling was that the whole experience was so awe-inspiring that even though it was physically very intense — especially during the final stages of dilation — it wasn’t pain. It was just way too cool. I would never give up having actually FELT my baby being born every step of the way for any amount of ‘pain relief.’ I actually find it hard to talk to moms about it because I feel like if I’m honest about how unbelievably awesome it was I’ll make them feel bad for missing out on such an incredible experience.
I also think the hpynobabies course must really prepare moms well — maybe because of having so many hypnosis scripts to listen to? My doctor and doula had both worked with ‘hpynobirth moms’ before but they said they’d never seen anything remotely like this. He and my doula both ended up recommending the program to other moms afterwards because of it.
I can’t praise this program enough. But my one caveat: YOU have to decide to USE IT. You can’t let nurses, hospital procedures, or fear that things might go wrong throw you off your game. You have to be in the mindset of a high performance athlete: your hypnosis is your mental performance tool, and you’re going to throw yourself into it body and soul just like a top athlete running the race of her life. It’s like the running shoe ad says: Just Do It. And if you do it, it really truly does work.
Jessica – I agree with everything you have to say. Too often, people choose the easy route of drug without ever thinking of the side effects. You definitely have to make the choice to have a natural birth and you definitely have to practice! As a first time mom, I had alot of people tell me about their experiences. I was okay with it, but I made it clear to myself that it was THEIR experiences not mine. I was determined to have the dream birth and I did. I am so glad that it worked for you. Please continue to spread the message and educate women. We often just take whatever is in front of us without ever doing any research and trying it for ourselves. We are able to give birth naturally and without pain because our body was born to do so!
[...] childbirth education program which promotes natural childbirth through self-hypnosis. In the blog Beyond Baby Bond, Jessica compares hypnobirthing and hypnobabies, after taking both classes. She expresses a [...]