Hello my #MotherMuses Fam! We recently attended a weekend course for HypnoBirthing, and I wanted to share my experience with you. A few of my Mommy friends (and non-mommy friends) have been asking me about it – what is it? What do they teach you? How is it different to antenatal? And… Do they really hypnotise you during birth?
Even my own Mother doesn’t really understand it… but fear not! I shall attempt to enlighten you as much as I can!
First off, I did HypnoBirthing with my first pregnancy, and subsequently used it during my daughter’s birth. So I am a HUGE advocate for it, because I have actually experienced it before and know that it really does work!
The entire concept behind HypnoBirthing is taking the FEAR out of birth. After all, if you are a first time Mom, what are you afraid of? You haven’t experienced birth yet – so you are basing your assumptions on what you have been taught and told over the years about natural birth. Insert flashbacks to every birth scene in a movie, ever. Right? It’s like saying you won’t drive a car because you have heard how horrific a car accident can be.
Hypnobirthing is basically re-engineering your brain to believe that childbirth is not something to be feared – instead it is a natural process and can be managed in a pain-free manner (with the right attitude and techniques, of course).
I know – you’re probably raising your eyebrows at me right now, aren’t you? A painless birth with no drugs other than relaxation techniques taught in a weekend class? Pfft. Even I can’t help scoffing at myself.
With my first pregnancy, when I told people about Hypnobirthing and the way I was planning to birth my baby (natural, no drugs, and squatting) I was laughed at, particularly by Mothers who had given birth before in hospital (I will get to hospital births in next week’s post). How could I, a first-time Mom, know that birth was pain-free? That I could actually enjoy the experience? I would find out soon enough, they would say, about just how painful birth actually is; that I should get an epidural; and that I should consider going to a hospital and not a birthing clinic.
Regardless of these naysayers, I stuck to my instincts and my blind belief in HypnoBirthing (I say blind, as I had not given birth before at that stage) and birthed my baby in the way I imagined. Both my husband and I enjoyed the experience so much, that we felt there was no other way to birth our second. Thus we decided to attend a HypnoBirthing course again as a ‘refresher’.
This course was slightly different to the first, as the class was larger, we watched videos and went on a few visualisation journeys, whereas my first course was exceptionally small, run over 2 weekends and included more ‘practical’ work. Both courses, however, were run to the same teaching – The Marie Mongan method #love
Based on my first experience with HypnoBirthing, I will say that one absolutely must practice the relaxation and breathing techniques, as without it you tend to get caught in the moment and forgot your teachings. Once I was ‘alone’ in my room (hubby & midwife only) I became so focused on my body and baby that I went into a meditative trance, which was only broken when the time came to birth my sweet baby girl.
My next post will focus on what HypnoBirthing actually is (from my understanding of it, anyway) as well as why I would recommend it.
Pray and Slay,
#MotherMuses
mother muses 