Hypnobirthing - worth the money?

sooz

sarah1980 wrote: »

Thanks for that - I never thought about a CD, but it's a great idea!

TBH I'd rather have the water birth and skip the epi/pethi if that is the choice, like I said my main concern is for the baby and I can imagine it would be more stress-free to emerge in water than to ingest drugs!

I realise that the birth is not necessarily something the child will remember (!), but I have quite a spiritual outlook on these things and I would be thinking also about their first experience of life in general, and hoping to avoid the message that "life is a struggle".

Hope that doesn't sound too "happy clappy"!!

xx

Not too happy clappy at all
Another thing which made me choose the cd over the course is my partner. Whilst the cd does encourage you to listen with your partner, it's more focussed on mum. My OH is wonderful, but as far from happy clappy as you can get. I could not see him spending a weekend on a hypnobirthing course....he agreed to antenatal classes, but I think it would have taken a whole lot of beer and many many sexual favours to get him to agree to go on a course. Once there, I'd still have to stop him laughing

At the actual birth, he was wonderful...just the right level of support & silence...but there is no way I'd be able to get him to remind me to breathe in golden light

pukkamum

My sister used the hypno cd's and although she had a 2 day labour with a VERY big baby she only needed gas and air.
The midwives were astounded at how calm and relaxed she was.
One point though don't do as she did and listen to it whilst driving!!!!!!

upsydaisydoo

Hi
I just wanted to say that I did a hypnobirthing course when I was pregnant and I can't say enough good things about it. I was v lucky as 2 of the midwives at my local hosp had trained in it so it only cos me £25 and I got the book/cds included. I also had a water birth and although it's not an entirely pain-free experience (no pain relief) I wanted to be aware of what was going on. It was all very calm and there was no screaming, the relaxation techniques and the breathing were all i needed to get me through. It's a very positive technique (you walk away if you hear people telling about painful births). You could maybe get the book to see if you like the look of it. My friend did the course with me and though she ended up being induced she gave birth to a 10lb 6oz boy with no drugs I also find the breathing good for stressful situations in daily life. Hmm, that all sounds a bit hippy-peace-man-love but it's not like that ! honest

sarah1980

upsydaisydoo wrote: »

Hmm, that all sounds a bit hippy-peace-man-love but it's not like that ! honest

Quite frankly, the more hippy-peace-man-love, the better!

foreversomeday

I'm planning a home birth and my living room is currently invaded by a huge half inflated birth pool!! DF's friends always look so worried when they come over and ask "Er, she's not going to go into labour, is she??"

We did the NCT classes and found them brilliant, I didn't really look into hypnobirthing courses but heard a lot of good things about them. I wish I had got a CD or something now but I am going to be using a lot of relaxation techniques and the water to get me through. Also my mum does Reiki healing and I've asked her to be present at the birth and do healing during it so hopefully that will help me relax as well.

I think there is a lot in how relaxed the mum is during labour - after all, the womb is a big muscle, if you're tense of course it's not going to work as effectively!

By the way, the person who said you can't have an epidural or pethidine with a water birth was technically incorrect - there is nothing stopping you leaving the pool for either of these pain relief methods, although you won't be able to get back in because both can restrict your movement.

sooz

foreversomeday wrote: »

By the way, the person who said you can't have an epidural or pethidine with a water birth was technically incorrect - there is nothing stopping you leaving the pool for either of these pain relief methods, although you won't be able to get back in because both can restrict your movement.

sorry - you are right. I was talking about birthing in water, not just labouring, in which case of course you can get out. However, I'm going to a birth centre, so whilst I do have the option of getting out of the pool & having pethadine (and not getting back in for 4 hours), I'd have to leave the pool, the room & the birth centre to get an epidural. On our birth centre tour, they remind you that gas & air & pethadine are the only options available. If you go in thinking you might want an epidural, you will need to be transferred, & are blocking that pool room for someone else who might want to use it.

You also won't have the option of an epidural at home.

foreversomeday

sooz wrote: »

sorry - you are right. I was talking about birthing in water, not just labouring, in which case of course you can get out. However, I'm going to a birth centre, so whilst I do have the option of getting out of the pool & having pethadine (and not getting back in for 4 hours), I'd have to leave the pool, the room & the birth centre to get an epidural. On our birth centre tour, they remind you that gas & air & pethadine are the only options available. If you go in thinking you might want an epidural, you will need to be transferred, & are blocking that pool room for someone else who might want to use it.

You also won't have the option of an epidural at home.

That's right I suppose, it is a bit more complicated at a home/birth centre birth to decide on an epidural! I just didn't want people to think they shouldn't try using a birth pool for pain relief on the principle that they would later be denied an epidural if they wanted one.

sarymclary

My friend did the Hypnobirthing course a couple of years ago in preparation for her son's birth. The only downside I could see from it all was that she came away with a perception that childbirth could be painfree if you put your mind to it (there was some story in the course about a doctor seeing a woman giving birth in the slums of the east end of London totally with out pain, purely because she didn't know it was meant to hurt?!).

Now, I've given birth 4 times, and whilst I would never want to worry a first time mum, I do think you need to be sensibly, and practically prepared prior to birth. Breathing techniques offered by your local NCT or health centre are perfectly adequate, and even yoga's relaxation and breathing techniques work well. When you use them during labour, you just go into your 'zone' and cope anyway. Breathing techniques definitely help manage pain.

No two births are the same, and some people have better experiences than others, but this can be affected by many different factors, particularly the position the baby is in whilst you're in labour. This is why some women can have a 'back' labour, and other's experience their labour pains concentrating in the abdomen. It is very much like period cramps, that just progress and become stronger, but the strengthening means the baby is going to arrive soon.

I never needed an epidural, and tried to be as mobile as possible. Experiment with positions during labour; I found sitting on the edge of the bed with my feet on a chair, leaning towards the chair back, and then kneeling at the head of the bed holding the bedhead were good for me.

I always had a comprehensive birth plan, but that invariably went out the window each time! Go with the flow, and it can be a really positive, and enjoyable experience.

absolutebounder

Hypno birthing can be very good as hypnosis is wonderful for pain control. The late jack gibson (irish hypnotist) performed hypnosis for4000 operations without anaesthetic. Child birth can be pain free and red indian women were supposed to have perfected this.

shirlgirl2004

I have 4 children and after 3 very painful but not "bad" experiences I said it was going to be epidural or hypnobirthing. I did a hypnobirthing course and it was fantastic. I had it recommended to me by a friend who used it and was so relaxed her baby nearly arrived down the loo!

If I was ever mad enough to have another baby (I'm not ) then I would definitely use hypnobirthing. My baby was 9lb 4 and yes you can have a pain free birth.

IMO the book and cd is not good enough you need the sessions too. I would scrap the NCT course if you can, certainly in my area they are very booked up so hopefully they could resell your place. The NCT courses tell you all about what can go wrong and how to deal with pain. Well there doesn't have to be pain! IMO the only good thing about the NCT course is that you get to meet lots of mums with babies due around the same time as you.