Hypnobirthing/Hypnobabies

I've done the epidural (with my first) and then had the most amazing birth center birth, where everything was totally natural. I used hypnobirthing, and I loved it. I didn't really look into hypnobabies, because the other seemed so perfect for me, I just went with it!

First off, don't give in to the crazy stories about birth being the most painful thing in the world. It's not. Intense, yes. If not properly prepared and in the right mindset, painful may be a good word. It really is all in our heads though. We've all been brainwashed to believe that birth is painful, something to be feared but it's not, contrary to popular belief.

Don't think you're some super-hero by avoiding medical interventions or that you're a wimp if you opt for them. Birth is simply a natural process, and chances are everything will go fine if you are left to progress naturally. The moment you begin things like IVs, monitoring, medications for pain... that's when problems begin.

Think I'm crazy? Do some research. Read a few books. Ina May's Guide to Childbirth is a great book. Your Best Birth by Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein is another one, especially if you hate reading (nice, easy read with "girlfriend" language). See a few movies. Business of Being Born, Pregnant in America, Orgasmic Birth... all amazing movies.

I would never birth in a hospital again. If you live in the Redlands or Riverside area, look into Inland Midwife Services. The care you will receive there is amazing, the entire staff want to make your birth a memorable and amazing birth. You make the rules, you have all the options.

And don't bother reading the What to Expect books... they'll just stress you out. Some good info in them, but there are much better books out there.

Dear LC,
I teach hypnobabies (it's not too self-serving of me to answer, because my hypnotherapy office is in Eagle Rock, near Pasadena, so I think you're out of my area). When I went for the training this summer, at least 10 of the 25 women in the class were becoming instructors because the program worked so well for them they wanted to share it.

What's great about Hypnobabies is that you get it all -- complete childbirth education, nutrition, anatomy, stretches, suggestions for perineal massage, along with 6 different hypnosis scripts that you experience in class and then practice with your birth partner.

It's the PRACTICE that makes hypnobabies work. (It doesn't hurt that the practice involves relaxing for 1/2 an hour a day). When your birthing time starts, you're ready and fully capable of automatically switching your nerve input so you experience pressure rather than discomfort -- you can walk around, move, bond with your partner and baby or drift within as you breathe your baby out.

General relaxation and imagery is wonderful and helpful, but when you're talking about true medical self-hypnosis, nothing beats Hypnobabies. If there isn't an instructor near you, the mail-order course is still terrific.

And PS, it's not oxymoronic to want natural AND comfortable. People who say birth is SUPPOSED to hurt are either religious (punishing EVE again) or simply don't realize that the medicalization of birth has worked against us. We're not SUPPOSED to sit in chairs, either - and the fact is that when women squatted all day, our pelvis stretching at birth was easier and more natural. I absolutely wouldn't recommend doing without any necessary medically procedure, and thank heavens we have them available -- but the unnecessary ones are, well, unnecessary....

Please feel free to check out my website and call if you have any questions. www.HypnobabiesLA.com.

And congratulations to both you and your sister-in-law.
Sweet!

Hi L C. I gave birth to my 2nd baby at home in a birth tub, and hypnobirthing is a big part of it. I'm so proud of this birth. It was the most amazing experience. My husband and I took the hypnobirthing class in Silverlake area of Los Angeles. I'm not sure if there's anything offered in OC. You can probably just google it. I highly recommend hypnobirthing, even if you don't end up going all natural. But, we need to give ourselves as strong women and mothers more credit because it truly does benefit our babies the most to have a natural, drug-free childbirth. And hypnobirthing is a tool to make it happen. Good luck!

I did not learn about Hypnobirthing until I was pregnant with my 3rd child. I utilized the program both in class form as well as at home with the self "hypnotizing" techniques on a regular basis. I had pitocin induced and otherwise pretty "medical" births for my first two children and was not happy about either in the long run. I am not an "all natural" gal in the extreme sense of the word either, but do believe in the powerful experience birthing can be and in womans' bodies doing what they are made to do. My 3rd birth was an amazing experience and I do feel that the hypnobirthing techniques really played a role in that experience. You probably already know this, but it's NOT actually being hypnotized...just true affirmations and deep relaxation techniques. At any rate, good luck. May you find what you are looking for in this experience!

I used Hypnobirthing for my daughter almost three years ago. I thought it was great but I would suggest also watching TLC's Baby Story etc. My Hypnobirthing teacher told us to stay away from those shows but in hindsight I thought seeing the actual process from many different experiences also would have helped with knowing there are many different things that might happen and to not be afraid. It's important to have a birthplan but also important to be willing to be flexible and not stress out if things don't go exactly as planned.

I wanted to go natural and I believe the Hypnobirthing exercises and learning how to stay relaxed helped me get to 7 centimeters before we even went to the hospital. I'll admit though that I caved and had an epidural which was great in some ways and tough in others. I feel like if I had toughed it out my daughter would have been born sooner (but you never know). With the epidural the process slowed down for a while and took more hours (although they were pain free). However once she was born it ultimately didn't matter how she got there - just that she did.

Every birth is different though but the Hypnobirthing definitely helped me with the first few hours of labor and also helped to progress things quicker.

The point is to learn to relax and let the process happen and to understand why things happen the way they do. Also to be prepared for many different situations and not be disappointed if things don't go exactly as planned. Some women take Hypnobirthing and swear they felt minimal pain and others it doesn't work for at all. For me I was somewhere in the middle but I don't regret taking the classes at all. They certainly helped my husband and I understand the process and helped us both be more relaxed during the birth and labor as well. Once she was born I felt like I had run a marathon but felt so elated I swear I could have done it all over again.

Good luck!

I used hypnobirhting for both of my children. It is an amazing experience. The training is something you can use to help manage pain in all areas of your life. My first labor was 27 hours, my second was 5. I was able to use the hypnobirthing techniques to manage the contractions and did not need pain medication. it helps teach you that it is not pain, pain is something negative. it teaches you that each contraction will bring you closer to your baby.

You also might want to consider getting dula who is hypnobirthing trained.

Due in 5 weeks and planning on VBAC using Hypnobabies. Although I ended up stalling and having an emergency cesarean with my first, Hypnobabies got me through 19 hours of labor. Drop me a line if you'd like to chat... just sitting around waiting for this guy to pop.

Hi,
I own a natural parenting store in Fullerton, Belly Sprout and apart from products that support natural parenting (cloth diapers, baby carriers, non-toxic feeding, toys and personal care products) we offer classes, workshops and events. For birthing we have Hypnobabies and Bradley.

The women who have done Hypnobabies have had incredible birthing stories/experiences. Many women said they never felt the pain. I read the Hypnobirthing book, did a Hypbirth homekit and had my 2nd baby at home in the water. He was 11 pounds and it was a beautiful birth. Although I used some of the techniques from the Hypbirth, it really was my personal Yoga and meditation practice that helped me. I am grateful to have things to pull from at the time of labor.

What I do know now is that Hypnobabies offers specific techniques to birth whereas Hypnobirthing gives you simple visualizations to birth. I can highly recommend Hypnobabies because of what the moms have told me!

Check out our website and contact us if you have any questions!

C. Funk
www.bellysprout.com

Congratulations on your baby. How excited you must be! :)
I didn't even know hypnobirthing existed until after I had my children (2 natural, 2 epidural). I certainly would have preferred hypnosis. I like that feeling of mind control over body. I did the whole focal point/breathing thing but going a step further would have been nice.

Good luck and happy pregnancy!

I used Hypnobabies for both of my births, and they were AWESOME. I have so many good things to say about it. No drugs, and only minor discomfort. The classes before were great too.

Check out http://www.hypnosis4birth.com for a GREAT Hypno Doula (the one I used). She was awesome!

BTW, when I got to the hospital with my first birthing, I had been trying not to push in the car on the way there. But the nurses put me in the room and went away. I was so calm they figured I was hours away from delivering. My husband had to go tell the nurses, "um, she's pushing." They came running back in and said, "yep! the baby's here!" They had no idea, lol. Hypnobabies REALLY works.

Definitely go for the the hypnobirthing! With my first baby I did the Bradley Method and all I can say is it HURT!!! With the second one I did hypnobirthing. I was not happy because I ended up getting induced and I was freaked out that the petocin would be awful. I just listened to my hypnobirthing cd and the nurses couldn't believe how calm and quiet I was. (with my first one I was moaning like a dying cow) I was definitely uncomfortable, but not in the excruciating pain like with the first one. I think had I not had the petocin, it would have been even better!

http://www.hypnobirthing.com/

I did both Hypnobirthing(the Mongen Method) and Hypnobabies and think they are wonderful. I found the affirmations from Hypnobirthing more soothing but found the Hypnobabies program to be more well rounded. I'd say to read the Hypnobirthing: Mongen Method book, order the home course for Hypnobabies and if you want more support, find a Hypnobabies instructor. I ended up having a 3 hour labor and a healthy baby at home. There were intense sensations but I wasn't in pain and didn't need any meds. Best of luck!

Hey LC,
I am 20 weeks along and spent a lot of time researching birthing methods and spoke to a number of people. Hypnobabies definitely got a ton of positive remarks from everyone who used it. Most said that they were able to go several hours with no pain meds. In fact, one friend told me she went 36 hours and could have gone on longer, but was forced to have a C-section due to fetal distress.
I have already started listening to the CDs and we start our first class in two weeks. They are very relaxing!
There are two hynobabies coaches in the OC area: April Kuryka who works out of South Coast Midwifery and Carol Thorpe who works out of Mission Hospital. Price wise, April was less expensive, but from what I have heard, Carol is awesome. If you want further information on the subject just google "Hypnobabies" and their website will come up.

9 years ago I took a HypnoBirthing class (Mongan's method) with Teresa Van Zeller of Woodland Hills. I had a painFREE 18+ hour hospital labor. I felt endorphins when I went into the shower. I asked them to keep the pitocin drip low and felt now pain.

http://www.hypnobirthing.com/

Teresa's website:
http://www.hypno-birthing.com/

The class really helped me. There were many visualization techniques that I didn't care for (couldn't understand or "get") so I just ignored them. What helped me was learning with ONE CD "Rainbow Relaxation" how to deeply release all stress/tension from head to toe. That's the secret.

The other CD she offers (maybe there is more now, I don't know) is an Affirmation CD which helps give you self-confidence. That was good too.

5 years ago I had my daughter and a homebirth. I ordered some Hypnobabies CDs. There are MANY and I think it's a little too much. I regret using them (I ordered 2 out of curiosity, to supplement what I had) because it took my focus away from what I really needed.

But... trust your gut... which program seems to help you right now. If you have a teacher nearby, then take a class. Both programs have helped scores of women.

I'm sorry but I'm not familiar with hypnobabies or hypnobirthing, but I was just curious why your sister in law can't have an epidural and how she knows this far in advance that she can't have one? (Hadn't heard that before and it really peaked my curiosity!)

ohhh man... I'd be surprised if you get any less than 100 replies to this request! LOL I took the hynobirthing classes (mongan method) and absolutely loved my experience! THe book is amazing; read it and read it and read it again! The CD's are wonderful and really got me through the last couple months with greater comfort than anything else. I began dialating at 32 weeks; and by 34 weeks I was at 4 cm. I listened to a CD titled "keep baby in" for WEEKS and when my midwife finally said baby was ready THE NEXT DAY after stopping listening to those CDs I went into labor. I'm not a total granola either (love all you mama's that are!) but how can you NOT believe that drugs in labor go to the baby? WHY NOT give yourself the calm, COMFORTABLE pregnancy and birth you and your baby deserve? Check out this wonder method, what can it hurt to learn a couple tricks either way? :)

GOOD LUCK!

K.

Hi-

I did not do the hypnobirthing but have heard great things about it. My first child turned out to be an emergency c-section so for my son's birth, I also wanted something that would reduce the risks of a repeat c-section. I hired a doula and LOVED it! I took regular birthing classes but during the delivery just focused on a spot and kept my breathing slow, even, and easy throughout the entire process. I was really focused, and my doula was awesome.

Good luck to you!!

For women who really go without it, good for you, but as someone who has done it both ways, epidurals rock!!!

Seriously, if you want to enjoy the birthing experience, have energy to push and not just be focused on pain, the epidural is your friend. It's safe and I highly recommend.

I know it's not the answer you are looking for, but really...I don't get not having an epdirual unless you are medically not able to...which was my case.

And by the way, my babies were alert, healthy and nursed right away, even with an epidural!

Good luck!
-M

I took the Hypnobabies course for my 2nd birth at a local birth center. While I won't say the birth was "painless" I will say that it gave me the tools to realx and let my body do what it needed to do without medication or interventions. And the meditation/hypnosis helped me get some serious relaxation in the last few weeks before baby. The classes are usually taken at the end of your pregnancy so it's fresher in your mind.

There's a yahoo group dedicated to this here: http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/Hypnobabies/

Here's hoping for a completely comfortable and quick delivery for you.

LOVED hypno birthing. the human mind and spirit is very powerful. good breathing, and meditation techniques. incoporation of soothing music very nice. hope you check it out and enjoy.