What Is Hypnobirthing?
Have you heard of hypnobirthing and think it's 'just breathing', or maybe it's just for those people wanting a homebirth? Let me show you what hypnobirthing is all about and how it can help you birth your baby.
Hypnobirthing is a toolkit, full of techniques and information to use throughout pregnancy, labour, birth and beyond. The main idea behind hypnobirthing is it empowers you and puts you in control as you know your rights and options while being able to create a positive mindset through knowledge, breathing and birth partner involvement.
The first thing I will say, hypnobirthing is for every birthing person, no matter how they would prefer to birth their baby. You could be planning a c-section or freebirth in the woods, hypnobirthing has so much to offer you to make your labour and birth the most empowered and memorable (for all the right reasons!) experience of your life.
Often the first thing everyone thinks of is breathing techniques. The breath plays a huge part in labour and birth, as it does in life! We can use breathing techniques to influence how we feel and help our body do what it needs to do during labour and birth.
Birth can be scary, especially when we look at how birth is presented in the media, and when we feel scared our breath will start to become shallow and rapid. As this happens our nervous system is triggered into our 'fight or flight' mode and stress hormones including adrenaline start to flow as our body prepares to either run away or fight! But during labour we don't want to be doing either of these things, and much needed oxygen is now flowing to our arms and legs instead of the uterus muscles to help baby on their way. This will slow labour down and increase the perception of pain as you get tired.
By using breathing techniques we can combat this, extending the exhale tells our body we are safe and encourages the release of feel good hormones, like Oxytocin, which encourage labour. As the body relaxes so do our muscles, oxygen flows to the uterus where it is needed and labour is able to progress efficiently.
You can try it now, sit back, close your eyes and take a big inhale through the nose count to 4, and as you exhale count to 8 and slowly release your shoulders, relax the muscles in your face and notice where your body meets the chair, where your feet meet the ground. Repeat another 3 times.
How do you feel? I bet you feel more calm and relaxed, even if you weren't particularly tense to start with. That is the power of your breath.
A huge part of hypnobirthing is the science. What is actually happening in the body during labour and birth? How can we help the body do what it needs to do?
How can we change our mindset and birthing environment to influence our hormones? A positive mindset can sound a bit hippy dippy, but if you go into any situation thinking the worst will happen, it very likely will. If we consciously filter the stories and information we receive about birth, i.e. shutting down the horror stories and focussing on being in control and looking forward to meeting our baby we can combat fears we may have.
What role does our birth partner play during labour and birth, and how can they advocate for you? Your birth partner is not a spare part! They need to know and understand what you want, and what you don't want, during labour and birth in order to be able to speak up or ask questions when you can't. Your birth partner is is vital in helping you keep calm and ensuring you feel loved and supported.
Do you know your rights and options? Where can you give birth? What kinds of pain relief are there? What are the risks associated with induction? A hypnobirthing course will answer all of these questions and so much more. Through this knowledge and understanding you can better assess risk and make the best decision for you and your baby.
My hypnobirthing courses run over 2 weekends (6hours in total) once a month, see here for the next one.
Your baby, your birth, your way.
Are you pregnant or had a baby and looking for yoga or hypnobirthing classes?
Check out my timetable of pregnancy and postnatal yoga classes in Sutton Coldfield and join us!
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