Is hypnobirthing for me?

Hypnobirthing is for every birthing person and for every type of birth!

You’re forgiven if you think hypnobirthing is just for unmedicated water births at home, as this is how it is often associated. Hypnobirthing is actually a complete antenatal programme designed to support your preparation for birth, however and wherever you choose to give birth to your baby.

Birth is a journey

Every birth is unique

You can’t always know which route your labour will take, but by preparing for birth, you will feel far better equipped to deal with whatever birth throws at you. Hypnobirthing is a mindset, not an outcome. My hypnobirthing antenatal course helps to reduce fear and anxiety and promotes calm and positivity. It is science-based and packed full of lots of tools and techniques to support your birth experience.

If you’d have asked me ten years ago if I was scared of birth, I would have probably said ‘No!’. This was before I got pregnant!

The truth is, I didn’t realise how afraid I was of labour and birth until I found myself pregnant, and the 40-week mark began looming ever-nearer. The thing is, my subconscious was filled with images, from films and TV, of women in labour, lying on their back, screaming in pain. I’d heard birth stories too, but it seemed everyone loved to highlight the horrors of birth and I rarely heard anything positive. It felt, to me, that birth would inevitably be painful and traumatic but you’d get to welcome your baby at the end so it would all be worth it.

During my first pregnancy, I was so busy with work that I tried not to focus on birth or motherhood. As my pregnancy progressed, I began to think about the birth more and more and thought I ought to know a bit more about it all so signed up to evening antenatal classes with my husband. While some antenatal classes can be extremely beneficial, the free ones I booked onto did not prepare me in the way I had hoped. The sessions were packed full of information, and delivered in a way that meant it was hard to take it all in. Only one of the sessions focused on the actual birth and I came out of this one feeling more terrified than I had when I went in. I didn’t do any other form of preparation and just tried to avoid thinking about birth. The problem was, I couldn’t really see past the birth. I never really gave much thought to what it would be like to actually have a baby and to be a mum because the fear of labour was all that clouded my mind.

When I did go into labour, I panicked. There is so much I did that, I now realise, hindered the birth process. If I could go back in time, I would tell myself to invest in a hypnobirthing course as I really believe my first birth experience could have been a far more positive one. My son, my firstborn, was born via unplanned caesarean to a completely shellshocked mother and father and that is how we began our parenting journey. My husband felt so helpless that, after our son’s birth, he said he didn’t want another baby. I, however, desperately wanted our son to have a sibling. It took a little while to convince my husband but 2 and a half years later, I was pregnant once again.

I had heard of hypnobirthing during my first pregnancy but the truth is, I didn’t think it was for me. It sounded a bit too ‘woo-woo’ and not something I’d be interested in. I couldn’t have been more wrong!

After hearing positive birth stories from people I knew who had been to hypnobirthing classes, I decided to look a little more into it. And I am so glad I did! Hypnobirthing had a profound impact on me and my husband. No longer did I fear birth. I understood the science behind birth, I put in the practice, and I trusted my body. I was so determined to have a VBAC (vaginal birth after caesarean) that I chose not to meet with the consultant to discuss other options. While I did do some preparation for the ‘what-ifs’ at home, I put these to the side and very much focused on the birth I hoped to achieve. When I went into labour the second time, I used all I had practised to relax my mind and work with my body. My daughter’s birth was empowering, uplifting and such a positive experience and I truly believe that hypnobirthing had a huge part to play in it. I am so passionate about the course I teach as I know that everyone can take away something that will help to make their birth experience a more positive one.