Hypnobirthing?

[JellyBean]

Wondering if anyone has tried Hypnobirthing? The Mongan Method?
My doula has given me the book with accompanying cd - its incredibly insightful - even in regards to the biology of birth, but in particular the mind body connection, and the fear-tension-pain theory.
Can all these women really be claiming to have had minimal or pain-free labours??
Anyone have any experiences to share?
With DS1 I had a labour which stopped and started- spanning 4 days in total, so I am remaining very open minded this time around and am willing to explore any avenue which may be of assistance to me.

XX

[Mumma2three]

I did calmbirthing with DS, which is pretty similar to hypnobirthing. I can highly recommend the course I did, and found the biology of the birth, and the mind body, to be incredibly insightful. Even though I'd given birth twice before, I learnt things I never knew.
I cannot say it took the pain away, but I will say this. The midwife did not believe I was ready to push as (her words) " you haven't even grunted yet"! So for me that meant it was successful. I was so concentrating on my breathing/visualising, that making a noise didnt' occur to me! And even though she was familiar with calmbirthing, she still was suprised at my lack of noise!! And sure enough, after I then told her I could make noise if she wanted, DS was born in less than 4 mins!!

[Smoke Jaguar]

There are loads of threads here dating years back about BB members' experiences with HypnoBirthing Just do a search and they'll all come up!
Calmbirthing is one up on HB because of it's physiological emphasis. The difference (apart from language used - one's for US audiences and the other for Oz) is that CB is from a midwifery perspective, with the visualisations etc and HB is writte by a hypnotherapist, not a birth/pregnancy caregiver. I loved my HB course, and the advantage was that the practitioner is also a doula (so has that physiological experience and education), as well as a counsellor with HB and Emotional Freedom Technique under her belt

[Ozziehoffy]

I did the Mongan method course with a practitioner and thought it was great! I think that the second time it was even better. I remember being in my own little world and coming out of it when I wanted a drink or something. Total labour 12 hours from 9 mins to birth. This out of my 3 was my ONLY time I birthed completely intervention free so for me my first "real" full labour. First was c/s, second was VBAC but was vacuum assisted and third... all on our own I found HB to be sooooo helpful and recommend it to everyone!

[JellyBean]

Cool - thanks for the input ladies. I am going to give it my best shot!!

XX

[tellytubby]

Jellybean, i'm reading the exact same book atm!
I'm excited aswell, very good read huh!
Fingers crossed we'll have the labour we wish for!

[Bella Mia]

Hi

I am very interested in hypnobirthing.

Ozziehoffy can you tell me where abouts you did your course? Was it in Brisbane?

Many thanks

Sam

[Ozziehoffy]

Sam, the lady I did my course with is now at Bribie, Beachmere actually so very close to the highway. Where are you?

[Traveller]

I have done both HypnoBirthing "The Mongan Method" and Calmbirthing, and all 4 of my children (2 singleton's, one twin birth) were without pain, and therefore without drugs. I cannot recommend this highly enough. The breathing and CD's really helped me remain calm and in control, and considering I am a complete control freak this really appealed to me.

Personally I preferred HypnoBirthing, but I think it was because that was what I did with my first and therefore it was familiar by the time I came to my 2nd and 3rd labours. Calmbirthing certainly has the advantage in that it removes the suggestion that you are somehow hypnotised to give birth, and also it has a lovely Australian voice instead of the American one which can get a little grating.

Good luck

T
xx

[LadyNoor]

Traveller, did you do the course or just self-teaching?

Can anyone tell me, roughly, the cost of the hypnobirthing classes and how long it takes to manage the techniques? How many hypnobirthing practitioners are they in NSW (Sydney area), or just the one from the hypnobirthing website?

I just want to know few things before I decide to contact the hypnobirthing website.

[Smoke Jaguar]

Mine was $350, incl partner and the Mongan book - over 3.5 years ago in Melb.

[Traveller]

Traveller, did you do the course or just self-teaching?

Can anyone tell me, roughly, the cost of the hypnobirthing classes and how long it takes to manage the techniques? How many hypnobirthing practitioners are they in NSW (Sydney area), or just the one from the hypnobirthing website?

I just want to know few things before I decide to contact the hypnobirthing website.

I did a course for my 1st, a short refreshed course with my 2nd, and just revised on my own with my 3rd. I would definitely recommend doing a course with your 1st, it really helps with learning the techniques.

[Ozziehoffy]

I would recommend doing the course also. I think my course was $80 per class and it's 4 classes. There was also payment for the book but I can't remember how much..... so would be probably around the $350 all up. Absolutely worth it though. If you're in a health fund you can claim it too. I did a refresher course with Elijah.

[Smoke Jaguar]

Oh, I should also add to recommending doing the course. Once you've done it, the subconscious mind retains it. I wanted to do a refresher but the cost was going to add to homebirthing costs etc and I just went over the book and used the CD's. I had confidence that it was all still in there (knowing what I do about the unconscious mind etc), and even though I thought I was losing it during my quick and intense labour, the DVD footage shows that it all kicked in, and I know that I was using what I learned during the 2nd birth I kept remembering things we talked about in the classes and the exercises we did.
It's amazing what doing a class can teach you about what you're capable of, that you can't get out of a book with no practitioner to collaborate your thoughts and learnings.

[melbel]

we just did a calmbirthing course on the weekend......both of us loved it to bits and pieces...cost us $380 for the two full days including food and it came with books and 2 DVDS for the price.....well worth the expense to my mind plus our health fund will give us a rebate so check out that avenue too..

[LadyNoor]

Thanks everyone for the info. And thanks Jellybean to start the thread, hope things are going smoothly with your birth :-)

Since I'm hiring an IM and going for a homebirth things are a bit squeezed, iykwim. $350 seems a lot at the moment, but if it's worth it I'm really considering it. But I don't know if I can get my husband to do the course. He's great & supportive but reluctant to do these kinds of things, that's why I was adamant to have my own IM.

I'll talk things through with my IM at next appointment and see what she suggests. She did recommend me to have a gentle/calm birth course, I'm not sure now which course to take. Looking forward to see her next with my loads of questions!

[Ozziehoffy]

LadyNoor, I would highly recommend it. My hubby was really sceptical but was a changed man after the very first lesson. Hypnobirthing, calmbirthing, it's the same. Same material involved just one is Australianised as hypnobirthing is American.

[Janie]

I love reading these threads, haven't seen this particular one before .

A question.......a PP mentioned her lack of noise during the birth, and how that made her successful in using her CB/HB techniques. During my labour with DS, I found noise (low moans, grunts etc) a great way of releasing pain, and riding through each contraction. I am a vocal person! Is it recommended to 'be quiet' when using CB/HB techniques? Not that I'm totally against it, I just felt that I used my voice in a very positive way during DS's labour and birth .

My DH is a bit skeptical too I think, though he will go along with what I want for the birth. I am hopeful that he too will be a changed man after the first class! I think he's confused because I have always said how awesome DS's birth was......he doesn't understand why I would want to change anything. I'm hoping after the classes he will understand what I mean!