I’ve thought a long time about this post. I want to start a healthy and open dialogue about birth and what it has the potential to be, in a woman’s life. I don’t condemn or judge any woman for the birth choices she makes. Instead, I want to present an option for women looking for something natural and unmedicated. In our culture, it is very common to share “horror” stories about birth. Baby showers, play-dates, and get togethers often devolve into who had the most horrific, painful, or medicalized birth. The media also plays on our fears of birth, by portraying it as some sort of torture that women need to be rescued from. Women with uncomplicated, natural births rarely add to this discussion, and so the topic of birth often becomes very one-sided.
I believe that this lack of exposure to natural birth, leads to fear. Very rarely, as pregnant women, are we told to trust our bodies. Instead we are treated like a ticking bomb, that may go off at any moment. We a not guided to trust the process of birth and our body’s ability to do it successfully. We are instead bombarded with everything that may go wrong, and rarely told that most often, when left alone, the process of birth goes right.
I have had people ask me why I would want to birth naturally. For me, it was a combination of medical and personal reasons.
One of the main reasons is, that once an intervention is introduced into a birth, there is often a cascade effect, with each intervention presenting an additional risk to mother and baby. For example: If you are being induced, the contractions will be harder than natural contractions, and you will often request an epidural for pain management. Both procedures introduce additional risks such as: dangerously lowered blood pressure, epidural fever, rupture of uterus, and increased risk of needing forceps or a vacuum extraction. If you have an epidural, you will need to birth in the lithotomy (flat on your back) position. This is the least effective position to birth in and actually narrows your pelvis, so that you have to push your baby uphill.
I have found that by having powerful resources at my disposal, natural birth has been an empowering and rewarding experience for my babies and myself. The birthing method I chose to use with both of my previous two births, was Hypnobabies. This method utilizes self-somnambulistic hypnosis (very deep level of hypnosis). If you are feeling weirded out by hypnosis, I want you to know that you actually enter hypnosis many times everyday! You are in various states of hypnosis when you wake up and go to sleep, while you are watching tv or playing video games, when you are daydreaming, and even when you are driving!
It is a very natural state for our minds to be in. Hypnosis is not: being controlled by someone else, being unconscious, or being asleep. It is a state of deep mental and physical relaxation.
Hypnobabies utilizes a technique called “eyes-open childbirth hypnosis”. When using this technique, you are able to maintain a deep level of hypnosis, while moving and birthing in the most comfortable way for you. This movement, also, allows you to move into positions that help your baby move downward and can speed up birth.
Hypnobabies has a specific “Fear Clearing” session. This allows moms to let go of fears and concerns about birth. Each negative story we hear or see influences our personal belief system about how birth works. By letting go of those negative influences, you are able to approach your unique birth with a positive belief system.
Hypnobabies also utilizes a visualized anesthesia. This allows the mother to direct comfort where she needs it, when she needs it. There are actually people that are allergic to anesthesia, and they often use hypnosis techniques like this during dental procedures and surgery!
Birth, by its intrinsic nature, is an intense process. But by utilizing the powerful tools created by Hypnobabies, and approaching birth with a positive belief system, mothers are able to have the comfortable, safe, natural births that they desire. I have been so thrilled with Hypnobabies techniques, and the birth experiences that it helped me to have, that I am using it again for my third child’s birth. If you are seeking to have a natural birth, I highly recommend Hypnobabies.
- 5-Winter Themed Bone Chilling Survival Movies on Netflix - 12/29/2017
- 7 Best Scary Movies for Kids that are Streaming on NETFLIX - 10/13/2017
- Watch P. King Duckling on Disney Junior + Giveaway - 06/26/2017
This is fascinating and I really appreciate you sharing it. I’m a huge advocate of hypnosis since I lost 150+ llbs from a self hypnosis class I took more than 30 yrs ago.
Thanks for this great post!
i think i would want to be fully aware of the moment though
I think that this is great that it is available. I would think if I couldn’t make the pain less by either hypnosis or pain medication I would not be able to enjoy the childbirth fully.