Hypnobirthing-what others have said

Ok, so I've kind of got myself interested in this whole hypnobirthing idea and I went searching around the web for others stories.  So, I thought I'd share the good and the bad:)

"I didn't use Hypnobabies, but I did go to some sessions with a hypnotherapist. I can't say how well it helped in labor, subconciously it definitely helped me stay relaxed, but I never was able to do the full on listening to my cd and relaxing thing that I intended to. My labor went from zero to sixty in no time at all, and I just didn't have a chance to use the hypnosis. All in all, I am glad I learned it. It was fun to practice!"http://thelactivist.blogspot.com/2006/09/hypnobabiesmagical-or-big-old-hoax.html

"i did hypnobabies, practiced daily, did all the homework, etc. it did NOT work for me. in fact listening to a woman telling me it didn't hurt, was just "pressure" on a cd while i was in labor was extremely irritating."http://thelactivist.blogspot.com/2006/09/hypnobabiesmagical-or-big-old-hoax.html

"I used HB with my second dd, who was born in Sept 06, after not being very happy w/ my induction/epi delivery with my first dd in Sept 04. I had a great delivery experience the second time. I was healthier and more comfortable in my pregnancy (climbing stairs at 40 weeks). I arrived in the hospital room fully dilated, and had the baby in 4 pushes, -- and 4 because I lost focus a little. I also didn't need pain medication after delivery the 2nd time, either. Other than the local anesthetic for the tear, I only took one Motrin the next night trying to grab a little more rest. (DD was born at 4:23 AM. ) Having a comfortable natural childbirth was such a wonderful feeling. 6 months later, I could use that feeling again."http://thelactivist.blogspot.com/2006/09/hypnobabiesmagical-or-big-old-hoax.html

"I had studied hypnobirthing the mongan method but found it dull and not very detailed. I felt kind of left to my own devices with it. So about 2 weeks before my son was actually born, almost 4 weeks before he was due, I bought the home study course for hypnobabies. I got 9.. NINE, days practice. You're supposed to have 6 weeks... and out of a 14 hour labor, 7 hours was completely pain free. I felt sensations mostly. But seriously when that 7 hour mark hit back labor started, and that was REALLY hard for me to focus enough to use any kind of hypnosis. Especially with only 9 days practice.
My son was a home birth, born about 12 days early, but it was AMAZING."http://thelactivist.blogspot.com/2006/09/hypnobabiesmagical-or-big-old-hoax.html


"We used HypnoBirthing (Mongan Method) for our first child. We took the class from a very experienced licensed Hypnotherapist, who also happend to the and OB nurse on a L&D ward.
Working with a real hypnotherapist was very important for me. She made sure I had reached very deep hypnosis and relaxation.

I practiced everyday for a couple of hours at a time for the 6 weeks. My husband practiced and even recorded scripts for me in his own voice.

Between laboring in the nice warm bathtub and Hypnobirthing, I can say I had a "pain free" labor.

HypnoBirthing works! You must practice, practice, practice. I feel that a REAL instructor is important. A comitted support person or spouse is very important. This is the person who will get you back on track with your hypnosis if you become distracted or off track."http://thelactivist.blogspot.com/2006/09/hypnobabiesmagical-or-big-old-hoax.html

"My first child I had after taking traditional Lamaze classes. I used Hypnobirthing for my second child and loved loved loved it.  I saw an absolute difference in the experience and I plan on using it with this birth too. I feel like there are things I could have done "better", and look forward to making those changes.

For me, the techniques worked best in the first two stages of labor. I had a very large baby (9.5 lbs and she her shoulders were stuck) so the pushing stage was difficult. I also sort of lost my "edge" when I made the mistake of asking to be checked for dilation and found out I wasn't as far as I thought.

I was able to really be in control and just flow with the "surges" (as contractions are called) during the first two stages with the relaxation. Next time I would have my husband take more control or a more active part of the relaxation techniques in the later stages. This was his first child though, so he didn't know what to expect.

I highly recommend starting the classes or practice as early as possible (beginning of 3rd trimester is good) so you feel really comfortable with the techniques and get your husband/partner to be as active with them as possible.

My experience was not "pain free" but I did have a completely natural, med free, with no tearing birth. I do believe it is possible to stay completely calm and relaxed throughout to not experience the "pain" that most women do and hope to experience that with this birth. " http://www.mothering.com/community/forum/thread/486893/your-hypnobirthing-experience

"I tried hypnobirthing with my first and it was an utter failure!

With my second, I had a beautiful birth, but not because of hypnobirthing. I found out that I NEED to move around and yell (very primal!) and I found that I just couldn't concentrate on the hypnobirthing exercises while moving around."http://www.mothering.com/community/forum/thread/486893/your-hypnobirthing-experience

"I did Hypno for all three of my birhts. There are three rules for a successful hypno kind of birth:
1. Begin early in pregnancy (before 20 weeks is great!)
2. Practice the tape(s) at least once per day/night (fine to sleep thro it)
3. When Labor comes, don't try to enter a hypnosis state. It's not accurate to think you should be calmly laying there. You need to do what your body wants you to do. Behind your conscious brain, in your subconscious, they hypno is working. Mongan is one of the few hypno instructors that doesn't understand "sleep like" states are not productive for labor!

Here are my hypno birth stories:
1st baby used HypnoBirthing, only had pain for last 1-2 hours http://www.mothering.com/discussions...ad.php?t=61645
2nd Baby used Birth Imagery, short intense labor, but not painful per say. http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=123213
3rd Baby used Birth Imagery starting at 14 weeks. AMAZING birth. 1 hour, 40 minutes long but never painful for a second.http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=381975"http://www.mothering.com/community/forum/thread/486893/your-hypnobirthing-experience

I think my suspecions are confirmed(well at least for me:)).  Hypnobirthing helps most women work through labor.  The goal does appear to have a pain free birth, though, as most women used that as the comparison point.  So it worked if it was pain free, and it didn't work if it wasn't pain free.  There are some women who need something more than hypnosis...ie the need to move, or labor is moving too fast to be able to do this, or some women may not want to do the amount of practicing it takes.  

Hypnobirthing vs Hypnobabies

I'm still new to this area, in terms of knowing exactly what is taught in these classes, so I'm not sure if everyone would concur with this post on the differences, but I thought it would be an interesting read nonetheless.  It also has some great videos of women using this technique.

One thing that I liked about this post was the idea that it incorporated other techniques of coping.  That's were I feel like the book Hypnobirthing: the Mongon method did not prepare some mothers.  I'm not sure about the classes though, and it's really wanting me to take some...anyone offer online classes:)

So take  a look...share your thoughts...this is something I've enjoyed learning about from you guys!

Hypnobirthing-personal experiences

So, we have had a pretty interesting discussion on my last post on hypnobirthing, and I thought I should really share more of what I have seen, to give women an idea of where my own thoughts are coming from.  Disclosure: I have never taken a class.  These experiences are all coming from me watching and helping women in labor and from reading the book Hypnobirthing: The Mongan method.

First off, for all of the mothers that I have seen that have taken hypnobirthing(this includes actually taking the class, those who have read the book, and those who have purchased a set online that includes tapes and instruction) they have found some degree of help.  I would bet that most of them would say they are glad they they learned how to do this as it has helped them cope.  There are also lots of wonderful stories out there surrounding hypnobirthing and I would encourage you to look for them.  There is some on the last post also.  But in an effort to help women make decisions on what is best for them, I am offering a few different experiences I've had.

I'll start with a good one.  Which is a lot like many of the other good stories you'll hear.  I was privileged to take care of a wonderful couple that knew what they wanted and understood how to help their birth in a natural way.  They made themselves a calm, quiet atmosphere and brought things to the hospital to help provide her with comfort.  Her and her husband worked very well with each other(which I always like to see).  She had her tapes that she played to help remind her that her body was able to work the way it needed to.  She used the visualizations and worked very well through her pressure waves.  It was a beautiful birth to attend and she was glowing afterwards.  I never asked her what her pain level was, but I would bet she would say it was 0.

Here is an interesting thing that has happened in multiple births where women had been trained in the hypnobirthing method.  I would watch them and get the same sense of awe at how well they were coping.  One lady even came in during transformation(transition) laughing and talking and really enjoying herself.  Many of these women request epidurals.  From the outside looking in, they looked about as pain free as you could get, yet they were obviously feeling something they didn't want to feel.  My guess is that they had started out in the first place, not wanting to feel any pain or discomfort, thus they requested the epidural.  When they started feeling more than what they wanted, they opted for a medical method(while not 100% effective, it is the most effective method to not feel any thing in labor..for good or ill).  I don't know what these ladies thought processes are, but my guess is that they really didn't want to feel anything, they preferred not to have medication if they didn't have to(thus they took hypnobirthing classes under the assumption that it would get rid of their pain), but they preferred no feelings of pressure waves or contractions.

Then there are the ones that really concern me.  We had one patient on the floor that had taken the classes and brought a doula with her.  When she first started labor she was doing really well and using her scripts quite effectively.  Labor was prolonged and she started to get tired.  About half way through the labor, she requested an epidural.  What concerned me about this one is that she had invested so much of herself into hypnobirthing that she felt let down and defeated after she got the epidural.  She felt that somehow she had done something wrong.  That if only she had practiced more, if only she had been more diligent.   I felt like at this point, the program had not prepared her for the exhaustion she might feel after a prolonged labor and how that effects pain.  And then when she started to feel more pain she was not prepared mentally to accept and work with that pain.

So those are my experiences with the whole pain issue.  The other thing I spoke about was how some people cope with labor differently and are more extroverted rather than introverted.  If you look at studies of hypnosis in general, you will find that there are certain degrees that people are able to be hypnotized.  I assume this has to do with a persons personality, and I would say the same would go for those in labor.  Some women are more easily able to use this method of pain control than others.  And it's not about how well you pay attention or how much you practice, it's about how you personally cope and your own personality.

I had one lady that I was working with that needed lots and lots of movement.  Anytime a contraction came on, she needed speed walk up and down the halls like nothing else.  She also wanted other people to talk to her.  With both of these ways of coping, it would have been difficult to do the whole method taught by hypnobirthing.

It reminds me of my cat when she had her kittens.  Many natural childbirth advocates will talk about how animals give birth and how different that is from us.  Most animals will try and find a dark and secluded space.  Usually they won't want anyone around them.  I say usually because my cat is different.  When my cat starts labor, she finds me where ever I'm at and stays with me.  She really doesn't care where she is.  She just wants to be with me.  Which is totally different from what we are taught.  I think the same thing goes for people

Some people want to move, some want to go inside.  Some want to have people around.  Some don't.  Typically the Hispanic culture is loud and very vocal.  This is what many people use to ground themselves.  I have heard many women who'll say that it was the noises they were making, that gave them a sense of empowerment and ability to cope.

At this point, I don't think I would choose hypnobirthing for myself just because I've already come up with my own ways of working through labor.  Some of it involves breathing techniques and vizualization.  At this point I wonder if learning something new would actually irritate me when I'm happy with what I have:)

For other people I recommend looking into hypnobirthing, but to also notice how they usually cope with stress or fear.  Because if there is already techniques that you are used to using, it may be that these will be what you should use.

Hypnobirthing-my thoughts and observations

There was an article on hypnobirthing in my newspaper this morning and I thought I'd post thoughts about that technique here.

I have never used hypnobirthing myself...I think I found my own way into a form of it just because I learned through practice.  Having done five kids naturally, you kind of get a lot of practice.  Many women find themselves it what I've heard called labor zone.  This is a very relaxed place.  Many times they appear to be sleeping while they are working through contractions.  This has all been done without the formal hypnobirthing training, but I do believe it involves some of the same techniques.  These techniques involve learning breathing and relaxation ideas to help rid yourself of stress and fear and allow your body to work the way it's supposed to.  This techniques work very well to help ease labor pain.  I have also seen many women do very well with hypnobirthing and I feel like it has helped many women work with their labor in a way that decreases the pain.

There is just two issues I have with it.  First off, it makes the claim that if you use this method, your birth will be painless.  I have heard many people say how much this is true.  I have also seen women appear to be in no pain as they work through their contractions(or pressure waves, as they are called in hypnobirthing).  The problems I have seen with this are with women who are doing very well working through their contractions, but are still feeling pain.  I have seen a look of hopelessness as they have turned to me and said "this isn't supposed to hurt.  What am I doing wrong?".  Many times, they have given up because they came into this labor with the expectation that they would feel no pain, and yet they do.  They were not prepared for that possibility, and were not prepared to deal with that mentally.  Also, it doesn't leave room for women to incorporate their own ways of dealing with birth.  Such as their own rituals or visualizations that may spontaneously occur that help them cope.  From what I've seen, hypnobirthing has a set scripts and visualizations.  It doesn't seem to allow room for women who need to be vocal and move and make a ruckus during labor.  There are many women that are more external focused and trying to do so much inward work is difficult.  Whereas, letting out a good roar helps them cope more.

Bottom line, I think hypnobirthing is a wonderful way of working through labor.  It has many benefits and I really think anyone could use these techniques to help them.  But, I don't think it will makes everyone's birth painless or easy.  I see it as another tool to tuck in your belt to use, but should by no means be the only tool.  For those who are interested in more info, here's a few websites I've found helpful:

http://enjoybirth.com/blog/-a hypnobabies doula(technique is similar to hypnobirthing) talks about her experiences and use of hypnobirthing
http://www.hypnobirthing.com/-website for the original hypnobirthing tehcnique-the Mongan method
http://www.monkeysee.com/play/13420-the-hypnobirthing-method-videos on hypnobirthing
http://www.hypnobabies.com/-a website on hypnobabies-talks about some of the differences between hypnobirthing and hypnobabies
http://childbirthsolutions.com/articles/hypnobirthing-what-is-it-and-how-does-it-work/-a good overall view of hypnosis during childbirth