Amazing introduction and insights by the lovely Becca from Be Your Own Birth.
"I do feel strongly that the state of your mind has a huge impact on the birth experience you have and after a very traumatic first birth I did a fair amount of hypnobirthing visualisations and affirmations. My second birth turned out to be a C-sections but I have used the relaxation methods I learned throughout and they did help to keep me calm. My third birth was exactly as I imagined it, a water birth, in the middle of the night, just my husband, myself and a midwife in a dimly lit cosy room. I was not scared at all and it was actually a really empowering experience. When I came across Becca and her work I knew straight away that I would love for her to be featured as a guest on my blog and we are already chatting on ways we can work together in the future.... So over to Becca for an introduction on what is Hypnobirthing about: "
Let's face it, when anyone uses the word "hypno" we can feel a bit sceptical about it
and straight away think: "Nah, not for me."
However feedback from women who have done hypnobirthing along with statistics
and evidence, speak for themselves!
On the whole, those who completed hypnobirthing:- approximately 94% of women
were more relaxed whilst pregnant, 89% women overcame their birth fears and
anxiety, 90% of women were confident of a natural birth and 91% of women were
excited about birth.
Hypnobirthing has also shown that fewer women required pain relief during labour,
needed less medical intervention and the length of labour was shorter.
I actually did hypnobirthing with my second child and I was astonished how different
my labour was compared to my first! I felt far more relaxed, calm and confident in my
birth choices. You will see in my first blog post on my website the amazing
experience I had with her :-). In fact it was such a good experience, that it is why I
started my own hypnobirthing business!
So what is hypnobirthing and how does it work? Let me explain this more below:
1.What is Hypnobirthing?
Hypnobirthing is actually defined as a full birth preparation programme. It combines a
lot of elements in order for you to feel positive, confident, and calm and give you the
best birth experience.
This includes relaxations, breathing techniques, positive affirmations, visualisations
and positive birth language, birth facts and stories.
It also includes birth/antenatal education such as learning what happens during
labour, your birth choices, how induction works, pain relief options, choice of where
to give birth, what happens after birth and so on.
When you practise all these elements together, not only does it enable you to feel
confident, positive, calm and prepared for birth but also ensures you are well-
informed and educated about birth by knowing all the facts and information so you
can make the right birth choices for you.
2. How does hypnobirthing work?
When you practice hypnobirthing, you are reframing your thoughts and beliefs about
birth. You are releasing any negative thoughts or fears you may have about birth and
replacing them with positive thoughts, beliefs and knowledge.
One way I like to illustrate this is with the iceberg analogy:-
If you imagine the tip of the iceberg above the water is your conscious mind (what
you use to read, write, talk, basically everything you are aware you are doing).
The rest of the iceberg below the water, is your subconscious mind. This is where all
your memories, past experiences, fears, beliefs, opinions and everything you have
learnt through out your life is stored. I sometimes compare this to a computer hard
drive.
Based on what is stored in your subconscious, how you react to things or respond to
things will depend on the information stored there.
Unfortunately, when it comes to birth, the majority of women would have heard or
seen negative stories about birth (whether from family, friends or TV shows).
So the likelihood is you will have negative thoughts and beliefs about birth in your
subconscious.
So by practising hypnobirthing, you are releasing these negative thoughts and
beliefs and any fear you have about birth and replacing with positive thoughts and
beliefs about birth. You are learning to view birth in a whole new positive way.
So by the time labour comes along, you will feel confident, prepared and ready and
will feel positive about birth.
3. Why is it important to practise hypnobirthing? What are the benefits?
The more you practice, the more you will feel positive and confident about birth.
The more fear you will release and the more confidence you will have.
Like with most new things in life, the more you practice something, the more second
nature it becomes.
You will have all the tools necessary so on the birth day you won’t need to think of
anything other than allowing your body to do what it needs to do.
So it makes sense the more you practice hypnobirthing, the more positive, excited
and ready you will feel for birth.
Like with anything practice makes perfect!
The tools you gain can also be used for everyday life, as they are all techniques to
calm the mind and body and cope with stressful or hard situations.
4. Can my birth partner do it with me?
Absolutely! In fact one of the great things about hypnobirthing, is that birth partners
can get involved and it helps them to feel included in the birth.
You can practice the relaxations and breathing together so that on the day of labour
itself, your birth partner can do them with you and encourage you to do them.
Also if your birth partner is educated about birth, they are more able to understand
and help you with your birth choices and decisions on the birth day and advocate for
you if needs be.
If hypnobirthing is something you are interested in, then please have a chat with me
:) I can answer any questions you may have and what I cover during my courses
and relaxation sessions.
You can find me on the following:-
Website:- www.beyourownbirth.co.uk
Instagram:- @beyourownbirth
Facebook:- Be Your Own Birth
Email:- becca@beyourownbirth.co.uk
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