I came to Hypnobirthing by chance. One of those apparent chances that you wonder if they’re really chances at all. A colleague had done the training, and mentioned to me in passing that I might enjoy it. It has changed my professional life.
Having had four children of my own, I had considerable experience of birth from the practical side. When my children were born there had been good preparation classes which included relaxation and breathing based on the teaching of Grantly Dick-Reed. Hypnobirthing takes his premise much much further.
The comment that I am constantly hearing from midwives who have attended a Hypnobirthing mother is: “I couldn’t believe how calm she was” or “I’ve never seen such a chilled out baby”, and it is my experience that Hypnobirthing always makes a difference, a big difference, and that the number of mothers who have a calm, easy and pain free birth is remarkably large.
Of course, no-one can promise the perfect birth to every mother; would that we could. Each mother will have the birth that is right for her. I have taught mothers who have had a caesarean and said afterwards, “Well, the birth wasn’t as I had planned, but I know that Hypnobirthing made a huge difference.”
One mother who had a breech baby decided to allow her obstetrician to attempt to turn it manually. Usually a mother is given an injection to relax the muscles of the abdomen before the procedure, but the doctor remarked that she didn’t need the injection because her muscles were so relaxed anyway – because she had practiced what she had been taught in Hypnobirthing just before she went in.
Another mother with a breech baby decided that she would deliver it breech rather than having a caesarean. Her baby was born in six hours with no drugs and no pain, and she described it as the most wonderful day of her life.
My observation is that a home birth is far more likely to be a positive and rewarding experience than a hospital delivery. If you can afford an independent midwife it’s even better as then you have continuity of care with someone of great experience who knows you well. The number of mothers who have written to me afterwards in amazed delight at the experience of giving birth is heartwarming, some of them with labours lasting only three hours for a first baby with no drugs and no pain. One mother when asked said: “I can put my hand on my heart and honestly say that it wasn’t painful, but I was amazed at how powerful it was.”
Teaching a Hypnobirthing class is always a rewarding experience, and I regard it as a privilege to be allowed into people’s lives at such a special and positive time. Each couple is special, and once they have been to my class I am always available to them to answer questions or give any help that I can.
