Thread: Tell me more about Hypnobirthing...

I've seen a lot of you posting about listening to hypnobirthing to help relax/sleep/labor. I've looked it up online but it seems to be a pretty expensive class I'm already almost finished with an AMAZING natural childbirthing class and feel really prepared - but I love the thought behind hypnobirthing and believe I should incorporate it.

Anyway - itunes has some albums I can purchase, so just wondering - are these the right things? And what is in the class that I'm missing if I just purchase the albums?? Here are the options they have for sale:

1. Hypnobirthing Hypnosis (Natural and Painless Childbirth) by Tania Cotterell 31:37 $11.99 (most popular)
2. Hypnobirthing - Birthing from the Inside Out by Michelle Leclaire O'Neill 41:40 $9.99

3. Hypnobirthing Relaxation (Colour and Calmness) by Katharine Graves 29:56 $9.99

Thanks for your help!!

No, those aren't the Hypnobirthing class CDs, although they may be helpful, I don't know! The Hypnobirthing CDs that go with the class are all by Marie Mongan (founder of Hypnobirthing)

I did a Hypnobirthing class--was fortunate enough to find one offered for only $100--and I can definitely tell you it is the kind of thing that you would benefit from the class experience. We did many things in class that aren't covered in the book, and it really helped my DH to get super comfortable and knowledgeable as a birth partner, above all else. I'd be happy to tell you more about my experience if you want, but suffice it to say, I do recommend it, although for a couple of very specific reasons it didn't work out quite the way in practice that I would have liked to be able to use it. Still extremely helpful in too many ways to count, though. If you have finished a really good class, you may be able to get what you need to just supplement with some Hypnobirthing scripts from CDs like the ones you posted, but I haven't heard them and can't specifically say...

A lot of women on this board do HypnoBabies, which is a homestudy course and different from Hypnobirthing, although similar. I'm sure they'll chime in shortly

(PS Couldn't help but notice, I share your anniversary, although a different year )

I just got the Hypnobirthing book off of amazon and trained myself. I ended up getting charged and sent (thank goodness) some cd's, which I have the tracks for if you would like them, they are already in MP3 format. I loved it and think that it made a wonderful, and helped me achieve, a basically pain free birth. I'm looking into the more advanced hypnobabies course for my next one but Hypnobirthing worked wonderfully for me.

I did the hypnobabies homestudy and I really enjoyed it. It is more than just listening to the tracks, there is a childbirth education book included to go along with the tracks. My labor was quick and I really didn't have what I would describe as pain, it was just intense. I would highly recommend giving it a try!

I posted the very same question about 6 months ago. Ultimately, I decided to take the course because it only cost $100. I took the same class (same instructor) as Leigh. I believe that whether or not the class helps is dependent upon your level of knowledge about natural child birth, your commitment to practicing at home, and your personality.

I have to agree that it helped my DH feel more comfortable than anything because he had some tools in his tool belt. No matter how wonderful the husband, they just don't spend nearly as much (if any) time preparing for the birth yet we often expect them to be our main support person. Having a class to go to every week forces them to get involved. Honestly, I don't think I got much out of the actual class. Before taking the class, I had researched natural childbirth like a mad woman and I felt going into it that I could handle it. I'm naturally very stubborn and have always tackled whatever I do with the notion that I get what I want. If I wanted a natural child birth, I was getting one, dammit! So, I didn't need all the talk about believing in yourself and not letting the docs take over your birth. I'm also very firmly left-brained. The "inner spirit" type scripts didn't jive well with my highly analytical brain.

The part of Hypnobirthing that helped me the most was listening to the rainbow relaxation track every night. I was able to sleep really well those last few weeks of my pregnancy despite getting up to pee a dozen times . When I was in labor, I had practiced calm breathing so much that it came very naturally and I never panicked. I did not have a painless birth by any means but I got everything I wanted out of it and more and it was 100% natural, dammit . One of the nurses told me the next morning that I was the poster child for Hypnobirthing. That's actually pretty funny because I didn't use anything from Hypnobirthing other than the breathing, which I wasn't really even doing consciously.

The class gives you practice with the scripts (which I didn't use), reaffirms a lot of things you've probably come across in your studies of natural child birth, and gives you a forum to talk to other couples. If you feel like you can do without all that, then just get your hands on the tracks and the book and practice at home.

Wow, that was a novel. Hope it helps!

Originally Posted by BuckeyeK

I did the hypnobabies homestudy and I really enjoyed it. It is more than just listening to the tracks, there is a childbirth education book included to go along with the tracks. My labor was quick and I really didn't have what I would describe as pain, it was just intense. I would highly recommend giving it a try!

I did this too and felt very much the same. I had a very long labor and felt the things I learned from the homestudy and tracks helped me focus and relax through it. I would highly recommend it as well.

There are several hypnosis for childbirth options. I've done both HypnoBirthing and Hypnobabies. Hypnobabies tends to be a LOT more effective for more women. Hypnobabies is taught via a home study course or a live class. Here is my comparison between the two methods:

http://www.birthnaturally.org/hypnobirthing.htm

If you're just wanting some basic relaxation tools (rather than deeper and more powerful hypno-anesthesia techniques), the tracks you posted could be everything you want or need. The HypnoBirthing (Mongan) tracks will be similar, I think, because they use progressive relaxation. Progressive relaxation works the best when a woman is lying down (Mongan does not believe movement during labor is beneficial, nor does she believe that women should push).

Hypnobabies teaches hypno-anesthesia, which means you learn how to release endorphins (your body's natural painkillers) on cue. There are multiple cues and the techniques were designed to be used with other basic natural childbirth tools (massage, walking, swaying, tub, vocalizing, etc.). Because of this, I found Hypnobabies to be far more compatible with what I wanted for my babies' births. With my last one in particular, I was very glad to have hypnosis techniques that I could use while moving around. My baby was posterior and I needed to use certain positions to relieve the pressure in my back and to help her turn around. I would NOT have been able to use the very basic HypnoBirthing relaxation tools in the positions I needed to use. The Hypnobabies tools allowed me to increase my comfort using hypnosis while I also remained active.

If you don't want a full course, but you want to write your own hypnosis tools for a partner to use with you, check out Mind Over Labor by Carl Jones.

I just got the book (with a CD) and studied it at home with the last pregnancy. I didn't do any real structured study or practice, but I really liked the techniques and exercises. I still you the head to toe, 5,4,3,2,1 relaxation technique often. Hope you give it a try, I really liked it!

I bought the hypno birthing book and read it and practised what was in the book as well as listening to the cd and the free hypnobabies track. I didn't get a natural birth unfortunatly as I had a c section, but what I learnt allowed me to stay calm and focused when I was going through the early stage of labour while they prepped me for surgery, which was stressful in itself as I was having to deal with not having a natural birth (I was stubborn and would not schedule a c section like the doctor wanted and was very tempted to drive to another hospital that would attempt to deliver a breech, but didn't as it wouldn't have been safe to drive in labour and because my hubby had asked me not to for a number of reasons)

I've used HypnoBabies for both of my children's births. I took a live course which was expensive but highly invaluable. Having an instructor walk you through the hypnosis sessions was huge for both myself and DH. For my second birth we just listened to the CD's and re-read the book. Are you a fairly intuitive person, or are you more analytical? The more analytical you are, the more I'd advise a live course. Also, the less you know about natural birth the more important a live course would be.

Most of all hypnobabies helped me to let go of fears I had about childbirth. I had a little bit of a scare with DD when they couldn't get a good heartbeat read in triage and hypnobabies helped me to calm down, refocus, and stay in a good place mentally. I was able to make better decisions because of my training. With DS I had back labor the entire time, there were no pauses between contractions like you are told there should be. Without hypnobabies I never would have been able to get through labor like that.

Good luck deciding!