Birth is a deeply spiritual event, mysterious and miraculous. The arrival of a newborn is awe inspiring and ultimately life changing. But it is exactly how that newborn comes into this world that leaves many new parents heads spinning. There is so much fear of pain, blood, risk and pressure from every direction. Everyone expects birth to be painful and there is so much negativity toward any mother planning a natural birth.
Imagine a dimly lit room with tranquil music playing in the background. A woman in labour is breathing deeply and connecting to her body and baby while her partner supports her by speaking words of encouragement and applying a gentle touch. Her midwife or Doctor respectfully monitors the mother until the baby is ready to be born. The mother adopts a position that she is most comfortable with and breaths a new life into the world. The baby is welcomed by two calm and loving parents. Overwhelmed by this precious new being, the new family are allowed to spend time bonding with little interference. A far more gentle start to life.
HypnoBirthing® is a complete childbirth programme that teaches self hypnosis, relaxation and breathing techniques for a gentle and easier birth. A woman’s body knows instinctively how to give birth so there is no need to teach the mother “how to give birth”, but rather teach her how to rid herself of fear. When the mind and body are relaxed we can focus on birthing our babies gently.
HypnoBirthing® was founded by Marie Mongan 18 years ago. As a qualified hypnotherapist and hypno-anaesthesiologist she developed this unique childbirth method to help eliminate fear and pain from childbirth. After her own daughter fell pregnant and expressed the desire to give birth naturally, Marie used her own knowledge of counselling and hypnotherapy to develop the HypnoBirthing® programme for her daughter and 2 friends. After these successes the programme grew wings. Many hypnotherapists and childbirth educators became practitioners and soon the appeal became mainstream. Today HypnoBirthing® is taught in 22 countries and that number keeps growing..
The origins of HypnoBirthing® lie with the work of Dr Grantly Dick-Read, a British physician in the early 1920’s. After extensive research and his own experiences with women in labour he came up with the Fear-Tension-Pain theory. The fear that a women feels during childbirth causes blood to flow away from her uterus into the arms and legs to help her flee from the anticipated dangerous situation. The more fear a woman has, the more tension is held in her body and the more pain she will feel. Some midwives even report that they have seen a uterus that is white with fear. Dr Read believed that if the woman can eliminate the fear, the uterus will return to its normal function. So why hypnosis? There are many myths and misconceptions surrounding hypnosis. Many people think it is some scary way to control someone’s mind or body. In truth hypnosis is merely a focused relaxation. You know the feeling you get when you are immersed in your favourite activity and the rest of the world disappears? By learning how to achieve this relaxed state you can control any tension caused by fear or anxiety. This allows a mom to approach birth feeling calm, confident, aware and in control.
Not only do the breathing techniques teach you how to remain calm, release endorphins and improve your lung capacity but this relaxed birthing method has many benefits. It enhances pre-natal bonding and improves sleep throughout pregnancy. During labour moms experience less need for pain relief or interventions and often find that their labours are shorter. HypnoBirthing® babies are well known for being calmer, sleeping and feeding better. Moms recover faster as their births are less likely to be traumatic. There is also a decreased incidence of post natal depression for mothers.
It is of course true that not every birth goes according to plan. Parents are therefore taught when to recognise the need for medical intervention. By making educated decisions mothers remain in control and are able to cope better often utilizing the breathing techniques to reduce stress.
HypnoBirthing® allows couples to enjoy the incredible journey of bringing a new life into this world in a calm and centred manner. Through HypnoBirthing® a mother can learn to call upon her natural strength and ensure she is calm, confident and emotionally ready for the miracle of birth.
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