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"I can't believe so many
women are not told about the benefits of giving birth at home
and therefore don't consider it as an option. Being able to
give birth in my own home at my own pace meant I didn't need
medical pain relief. My wonderful midwives supported me brilliantly
and giving birth without any intervention was really empowering.
Giving birth at home really helped me to relax and helped
me cope with the powerful experience of labour and birth."
Davina McCall
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HypnoBirthing
in the News
HypnoBirthing helps mothers have pain-free labor
By Heidi Zhou, on September 29th 2009, on News 8 Austin
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This method of giving birth combines the power of mental thoughts with physical emotions, such as pain. |
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HypnoBirthing helps women believe that labor can be pain free though consultations, meditations and affirmation CD’s.
"Fear a lot of times leads to tension in our muscles which leads to pain. In HypnoBirthing, we aim to dispel the myth that pain has to accompany labor,” Grosshaupt said.
This method of giving birth combines the power of mental thoughts with physical emotions.
"Your body and mind are so closely intertwined. Whenever you’re startled, if you hear the door close all of a sudden, you jump [or] if you see the sirens in the rear view mirror, you start to sweat a little bit," Grosshaupt said.
Continuing with that philosophy, if you think giving birth will be the extremely painful, then it will be.
By listening to the affirmation CD nightly, positive phrases like, “My mind is relaxed, my body is relaxed” help to relax muscles and in turn, lessen the pain of contractions.
Recent HypnoBirthing mother, Suzi Sosa is a believer in this method after having gone through labor using it.
"It was an incredible, euphoric experience," Sosa said.
Sosa said she actually enjoyed giving birth to her daughter, Pia.
"I was really able to tune out all of the medical, hospital sensation that makes you feel anxious and get into a place where I could relax, be comfortable and be calm," Sosa said.
Getting to that level of control takes time for moms-to-be. On top of listening to HypnoBirthing affirmation CD’s, they must also practice relaxation techniques with their partner.
"All of hypnosis is self hypnosis, if you decide that you’re not going into hypnosis and it’s not your thing, it won't work for you because you have told your mind that you're not going to do it," Grosshaupt said.
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News 8's Heidi Zhou and her husband William try the method of HypnoBirthing. |
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When a mother and her partner see the beautiful, happy results of labor, it’s hard not to look forward to the actual birth it with a brave face.
Grosshaupt said HypnoBirthing will work in whatever setting, whether it is a home or a hospital. "
To see a video associated with this article follow this linkNews 8 Austin on HypnoBirthing
Why Pain is not a vital part of having a baby
By Miriam Stoppard in The Mirror 27th July 2009
"I don't think suffering pain in childbirth can help you bond with your baby or prepare you for motherhood, as one male midwife suggested recently.
I know of no robust research that backs up this view - and I don't believe in putting up with pain for its own sake.
When I had my babies I opted for epidurals. One worked a treat, making hte whole thing a breeze - and no problems bonding! The other, unfortunately, didn't and was pretty agonising. But I'd still advise against deciding on the full works too early in pregnancy.
Women
should have a choice on pain relief - but that choice should be informed - which is why it's so important to find out about all that's on offer and make sure your decision is in yoru birth plan.
If I were to go through the whole thing again today, I'd opt for hypnobirthing, a technique devised in the 1980s (see below). It doesn't involve drugs, some of which may affect the baby, and gives you a sense of control.
Here's a roundup of the options, plus ways to beat the fear factor...
NATURAL BIRTH
This teaches drug-free pain-control methods, including breasthing, relaxation, massage, visualisation and yoga techniques.
WATER BIRTH
Sitting in a birthing pool filled iwth warm water can help relax and relieve pain. You don't have to stay in the water for the birth.
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HYPNOBIRTHING
You'll learn how to put yourself into a state of hypnosis.
But don't worry - it's a natural, safe state of mental relaxation in which you're still fully awake and in control. In fact, we all go into this state every night before sleep. This is when we're most open to suggestion and can absorb a positive, anxiety-free view of birth.
You'll need around five 30 minute sessions [Edited - 2.5 hours] with a hypnotherapist during your pregnancy, plus practise on your own. Visit www.hypnobirthing.co.uk
Pros: Not only is hypnotherapy preoven to be effective in controlling pain, it can shorten labour and significantly reduce the risk of complications, the need for medication and risk of postnatal depression, studies show.
It's durg-free so it doesn't interfere with the baby.
Cons:You have to practice regularly
5 ways to fight the fear
1) Remember it's a natural process:
Your body is designed to give birth and knows what's expected of it.
2) Go to antenatal classes:
The more knowledge you have about what will happen and how to control the pain, the less scared you'll feel.
This is important - fear causes production of adrenaline, which increases tension and slows down production of oxytocin, a hormone that triggers contractions.
The key is to stay calm. Practise relaxation techniques so you get familiar with them.
3) Get your partner to come to classes, too:
Positive encouragement can make all the difference.
4) Draw up a birth plan...
5) Go into labour with an open mind:
...don't beat yourself up if all doesn't go to plan."
Baby boy arrives on bathroom floor
Angie Theobald with new son Tyson, safe and sound after his dramatic entry into the world.
A Baraboo couple who opted for a home birth couldn't possibly have planned a special delivery quite like this: Angie Theobald had to deliver her new son solo.
On Jan. 24 2009 she and her husband welcomed newborn son Tyson to the world in a most unusual way. Angie, already a home-birthing veteran, delivered this newest addition on a bathroom floor — completely by herself.
What makes this story all the more unique is that Angie, just one month before, dreamed that this is exactly how it would play out.
"Back in December I had a very vivid dream that I was in labor, calmly reached down, and delivered my own baby," she said. "The midwife wasn't there yet, and I wasn't sure where Jason was. It was very peaceful and I wasn't in any way anxious”...
Angie awoke at 3 a.m. to some light, sporadic contractions, but was able to fall back asleep in between waves.... Between the heavy contractions, Angie and Jason moved to the master bedroom and Angie stopped by the bathroom first before intending to climb into bed. Once Angie sat down, the baby quickly descended the birth canal and immediately was crowning. With Jason's help, Angie quickly undressed and went down onto all fours to slow his arrival.
"Jason jumped to his feet and called the midwife," Angie said with a laugh. "But she said there was no way she was going to get here in time, as she was just getting on the road and that Jason would be delivering this one solo." Jason ran to the kitchen to get the phone number for the neighbors, as the couple's 2-year-old was about to wake up. "It was one of the fastest phone calls of my life," Jason said. "I think I said, 'Can you come over quick and watch Trey? Angie's in labor...the front door's open!' CLICK!" Jason hardly hung up before he heard the cries. Not of his wife beckoning him to hurry back, but the cries of his newborn boy.
During the brief moments while her husband was away, Angie felt Tyson's head emerge, briefly retract, and emerge again. As is customary, the baby turned his head to the side, and with Angie's one-handed assistance, Tyson was delivered into the world during a deep exhale.
"Angie's amazing," Jason said. "She never made a sound, never cried for help, didn't moan with the delivery ... nothing! I've been saying this all week — she's Wonder Woman!"
While no one could have predicted that Tyson's birth would have gone this way, Angie is convinced she was as prepared as anyone could have been for such an event. "From the moment I knew I was pregnant, the next nine months were all about getting my mind, body and spirit ready to birth at home...I'm also very well-read on natural birthing and took classes... on hypnobirthing." Hypnobirthing is a method of relaxed, natural childbirth education that instructs women on how to use their natural instincts to bring about a safer, easier, more comfortable birth.
About a half-hour after birth, the couple's midwife arrived and checked over mom and baby. Their 8-pound, 4-ounce bundle of joy was the picture of health. Angie and Tyson are doing well at home, and the couple wouldn't trade this experience. "It took a while to sink in, but yeah, I'm proud of myself and what I was able to do in the situation," she said. "But even our hypnobirthing instructor says that while she was thrilled for us, she wasn't the least bit surprised as to how it unfolded. Everything keeps telling us that this is just how it was meant to be." Click here for full article
A wonderful birth experience...
"Kate Baily, 39, was terrified of giving birth. But when she went into labour, she used a process of self-hypnosis to ensure that her experience was as stress free as possible. I was sitting in the bath when my waters broke. There was a loud pop and suddenly I was surrounded by brown and green water. I was going into labour with my first baby. There was clearly a lot of meconium, infant faeces, which can mean that the baby is distressed.
I was terrified. I phoned the hospital and they told me to rush in.
My husband Dave and I then had a tense 40-minute drive to Hospital, during which time my contractions were getting stronger. I was convinced something was wrong.
I waited for what seemed like a lifetime to be fitted with a foetal heart rate monitor. I was told the baby was likely to be breech and that I would probably need a caesarean.
This was not the scenario I had imagined. However, instead of panicking, I became calm and concentrated on my breathing. When eventually the monitor was fitted, the baby was neither showing signs of distress nor was it in a breech position. To everyone’s surprise, I was already 4cm dilated, which is about halfway.
We dimmed the lights, put on a CD of calming music and I shut my eyes. I concentrated on breathing through each contraction, while my husband read to me to help me relax. Two hours later, I was 8cm dilated. I was reminded that if the baby showed any signs of distress I would have to have a caesarean. But two hours and three pushes later, our son William was born naturally.
In just six and a half hours and with a bit of gas and air, I had gone from a panicky scenario to holding my healthy baby in my arms.
So how did I keep calm and have such a straightforward first birth?
Throughout my pregnancy I had been terrified by the prospect of childbirth. I had tried anything I could to prepare for it. In addition to antenatal yoga, which helped to keep me flexible, I tried acupuncture as it is believed to increase the blood flow to the uterus and ensure the baby is in a favourable position.
I also attended National Childbirth Trust (NCT) classes to learn about the process of birth as well as options for pain relief. Still I didn’t feel completely relaxed, so Dave and I enrolled on a HypnoBirthing course.
HypnoBirthing is based on the belief that severe pain to the mother and distress to the baby are not inevitable during labour.
The theory is that when the mother-to-be is relaxed and comfortable, she produces both oxytocin – the hormone released when we fall in love – as well as feel-good endorphins, which are released following exercise. These are thought to be more effective than any traditional pain relief.
Problems start when panic sets in. The body goes into fight or flight mode and produces adrenaline, which actually halts labour. The endorphins are no longer produced and the pain becomes unmanageable. This in turn can lead to medical intervention.
So how effective is the use of hypnosis in childbirth? A study of 126 first-time mothers in South Wales found that six sessions of hypnotherapy reduced the period of active labour by three hours and by one hour for women having their second child.
Studies of hypnosis during labour have also found a significant reduction in the use of medication and medical intervention. A review of 14 studies of 1,400 women who tried the method found that hypnosis lessened the need for pain relief during labour and reduced the need for medication that augment labour.
Although the science may not be exact, this year the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) ran courses to raise awareness about HypnoBirthing. An RCM spokeswoman says: “Some women want all the pain relief they can get but for women who are very in tune with their bodies it [HypnoBirthing] seems to be very effective, resulting in low levels of intervention.”
The RCM also found that couples who used HypnoBirthing tended to be committed to having a positive experience and found that the preparation involved was beneficial during labour.
I can’t claim that I achieved a totally pain-free birth. However, the course relaxed me enough so that I was able to enjoy the later stages of my pregnancy. I also believe that the breathing techniques helped me to stay calm during labour, which meant that the pain didn’t become unmanageable. HypnoBirthing played an important role in preparing me for childbirth and enabled me to have the best possible birth experience. I still feel exhilarated when I recall the night my son was born.
" Story in the Sunday Express, November 2008
From
an originally reluctant HypnoBirthing Dad
"I swore I'd never be there, but my baby's birth was mesmerising...While
some individuals find words like "healing", "chakra"
and "energy" soothing, they actually make me angry, and
HypnoBirthing sounded like exactly the sort of hippy-dippy, New
Age nonsense that I abhor. Two couples told us that they had used
HypnoBirthing, and credited the program with the easy births they
had experienced. Sasha wanted to give the system a try.
When faced with a choice between
his principles and the wishes of his pregnant wife, a wise man will
abandon his principles in a flash. " to read the full article click
Midwife championing natural births
This article in the
Guardian came from the standpoint of a consultant Midwife in Kings
College Hospital, London.
Much depends on the relationship between the labouring woman and the midwife; it's more effective if the woman has been able to get to know the midwife, because then you can prepare her...
I think one of the most important things is what the midwife's presence is like. For me that's about being there, not in an intrusive way, but being quiet and reassuring, and open and honest and explaining things, and engaging the birth partner. It's helpful to repeat positive, encouraging words. You're trying to relax the woman, partly by the impression you give. I wouldn't suggest medical pain relief unless it comes from the woman.
Rosie Goode "hypnobirthing" teacher
When a woman is anxious going into birth, that creates tension in her body which then results in pain. The key to what I do is to teach women how to release anxiety. Midwives, obstetricians and GPs I've also taught say they see the adverse affects of stress on pregnant women entering hospital.
I teach women to practise breathing exercises and simple visualisations to relax their body. By regular practice, their body gets used to releasing its natural endorphins. We encourage partners to work on these techniques with the women.
When anyone is anxious, stress hormones are produced, which affect the production of oxytocin, the key birthing hormone that enables the cervix to open and the contractions or surges to work. When the surges are more effective, women often have much shorter births. The vast majority of people who practise this have no need for any other pain relief. Some may want some gas and air at the latter part of the second stage and, of course, there are occasionally going to be special circumstances where extra assistance is necessary. Women get to feel in control of their birth.Click
here to read the full article
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