Hi everyone, it is interesting reading about your experiences with HypnoBirthing. I am a midwife and a HypnoBirthing practitioner and found out about HypnoBirthing approx. 2 years ago through a mum who was looking for a method that could help her achieve a natural birth without the use of drugs. Prior this I had always believed that pain was part of the process and that women worked with it in different ways. I noticed that the women who were confident in their ability to birth their babies seemed to be more relaxed and generally had quicker, less uncomfortable labours. Second time mums typically had quicker easier labours and births (probably because they knew what to expect and weren't so apprehensive). On the other hand women who were anxious or fearful as labour progressed seemed to struggle much more in labour and generally needed more drugs to get through.
Through my studies with the HypnoBirthing technique so much of what I had witnessed started to make sense and it has really changed my view on labour and birth. I now know for a fact that fear = tension =pain in labour . The reason for this is that in our society from a young age, we are exposed to a view on birthing (through TV, Movies and what we hear eg horror stories about births) that is generally pretty negative. The message usually tells us that birth is painful. What this creates in our bodies as we approach labour and birth are increases of stress hormones called catecholamines. These chemicals are responsible for the 'fight or flight response' which is a primitive survival response that we all have. What it does is it constricts the blood vessels and pushes blood away from the 'non essential' areas of the body, to the areas that the body will use to help it stand and fight, or run away. Infact, 400 times the usual amount of blood is pumped to the arms and legs and other vital areas. Unfortunately for us when we are in labour, it means that alot of blood no longer gets to the uterus. The uterus is a big muscle. All muscles need blood, which carries oxygen, to function efficiently. When a muscle doesn't get enough oxygen and blood it becomes painful (for example the heart doesn't usually cause us pain when blood is flowing as it should. When you have a heart attack you get pain because the blood is not getting to it).
Well to cut a long story short!!!! HypnoBirthing teaches women how to decrease anxieties leading up to their birth, therefore decreasing the stress response, which inturn makes birthing less uncomfortable.
You learn relaxation and breathing techniques and how to stay focused.
As you can tell, I am a big believer in this technique and could go on and on about it. As a midwife it has changed my whole approach to how I work with women. Cheers, Kath.