What exactly is Hypnobirthing?
When you first hear the term ‘Hypnobirthing’, it can be a little confusing or intimidating! Does it mean I will be ‘hypnotised’ during my labour – won’t that mean I don’t understand what’s going on/can’t make decisions? If I choose to do hypnobirthing, does that mean I can’t use pain relief?
I completely understand, because I had these questions too! But I’m so glad I did some further research and ended up doing the course, as it ended up being one of the best parts of my pregnancy – it really helped open up discussion with my partner so that he felt educated and able to support me during labour, and the techniques I learnt in the course enabled me to have a positive experience of childbirth.
So, what exactly does the course entail? The Hypnobirthing Australia™ Positive Birth Program is an evidence-based, carefully-designed course taught only by practitioners who have trained with Hypnobirthing Australia™. The purpose of the course, as the name suggests, is to enable you to have a positive birth – whatever that means for you and your family. (You can read a full course outline here).
So what exactly does the course cover?
Hypnobirthing teaches you ‘self-hypnosis’
One key thing that we learn in the course is that all hypnosis is self-hypnosis. You will not be having an out-of-body experience where you don’t know what’s going on and don’t feel in control of what’s happening – quite the opposite. With regular practice throughout your pregnancy, you will develop the skills to remain calm and relaxed through labour, so that you can stay ‘in the zone’ and not get distracted or upset by everything happening around you. It’s the same feeling of calm focus you might have experienced when really intently listening to a song, playing sport, or doing Yoga. You know exactly what’s going on, and you’re just focussed on doing one thing, so that everything else becomes background noise.
The Positive Birth Program is for everyone – regardless of what kind of birth you want
There is a common misconception that having a ‘hypnobirth’ means one very particular kind of birth – with no pain medicines, probably in the water, maybe at home, with no interventions. But this is not true! If that’s your vision for birth, that’s amazing, and learning skills through the hypnobirthing course will be so useful for you. But the course is no less relevant or helpful for those planning any other kind of birth – the course is perfect for you if you’re planning to: birth in the hospital; take pain relief; have an epidural; have a caesarean; will be taking antibiotics throughout; will be induced – really any path that birth might take! Although there is some evidence suggesting that people who use self-hypnosis generally report lower pain scores, feel less need for medical pain management and lower rates of intervention*, this is not the focus of the course. It’s less about planning an particular kind of birth experience (although we do cover some physiology and the basics of what’s going on during labour and birth), and more about your mind, and how you can harness your thoughts and subconscious beliefs to have the most positive and empowering experience possible.
The Hypnobirthing Australia™ program will help birth support people to feel more useful and connected to the birthing person throughout labour
This one is related to the idea about hypnosis – it can be easy to think that if you’re in a state of hypnosis, you’re in your own little world, which might make partners feel excluded or uncertain of what their role is. But I find the inverse to be true. Throughout the course, birth partners learn about birth and labour, so that they have a greater understanding of what’s going on; they develop a toolkit of techniques they can use to support you during labour, so they’re not left feeling uncertain and nervous about what to do; and there is lots of opportunities for discussion between the support person and the mother/pregnant person, so they have a clear sense of your preferences and how to respond in various situations. With so much focus on how the mother/pregnant person feels, it can be easy to forget about the support person, and I love that this course really actively involves and empowers them too.
If you’re interested in learning more, you can read the full course outline here, or get in touch with me to ask any questions, or book in to do the course with me using the button below!
Laura xx
*If you’d like to read a little bit more about the research around Hypnobirthing, have a read of the studies outlined here: https://hypnobirthingaustralia.com.au/research-statistics-scientific-studies/