hi Michele

I practiced my hypnobirthing cd's daily and also repeated my affirmation (i will birth my baby smoothly and easily) whenever I felt fearful

as you practice you are training your subconcious to relax and let go, reducing any concious anxieties

I did not have my cd's playing in labor, but had no problem what so ever relaxing and as labor progressed and the surges became more intense the more relaxed I became. I was still very concious of the surges and I was very vocal, but as soon as the surge finished I without concious thought went very deeply again into relaxation

remember that birth is a natural and intuituve process and your body knows what to do

hope this helps

x