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Fiona I posted in the platinum section to Di Gardner the same question... I felt the same, like if I was in "deep relaxation" then I wouldn't be able to move or change positions during labour. She said during BH's was a great way to practice and find good positions while you were breathing & relaxing.
Is hypnobirthing the same as calm birthing?
I was thinking of doing Peter Jackson's course in NSW and I wanted to understand if they were the same thing.
I think calmbirthing is the Morgan Method of hypnobirthing, so yes :)
I don't get BH's.....:
Also that still does answer my question. I am assuming that you can't do both. As in, you either need to be active or hypnobirthing. Not both.
I don't really feel that I will be able to apply hypnobirthing in its fullest intention while I am in labour. I will do the breathing techniques & having more knowladge about how the uterus/cervic etc work during labour will be a huge advantage. But I don't think I completely agree with the full techniques behind hypnobirthing. I just don't think labour & birth can/should or is meant to be done while being still KWIM? I think its more natural to be free to move about as you need too.
Maybe its just me but it seems to restrictive. Maybe I am just not as open minded about it all. I found alot of the book to be condersending & also I got the feeling from the birth affermations that I was tryig to "kid" or "fool" myself into believeing what she was saying. Not all of them, but the ones about eating a healthy diet etc, why do I need to tell myself that?
Christy & others, maybe you can tell me about your honest feelings about the methods to help me see what I am missing?
Fiona... IKWYM. I think we take from it what we will use & then leave the rest, as far as the book was concerned I felt a bit "let down" because there is no way I can nod my head & agree to everything written in there. But the classes & the practice sessions have been great.
The affirmations, like I mentioned earlier, I have had to rewrite so they work for me. Listening to them doesn't help because I can't help but laugh at some (my cheeky side) so I just did a list of ones that were what I need to hear & listen too. I believe that every surge is helping me get one step closer to meeting my baby and some of the others will really help and I use them now. I feel funny speaking things out that I may not fully trust yet, but I use this in parenting too. I often say things in the positive for Matilda and we use positive affirmations all the time in parenting Matilda even when I feel so cranky with her. Sort of like "positive reinforcement" ;) training for dogs... So I do the ones that ring most with me & I know will help me in labour & preparing mentally for labour.
I listen to the relaxations and those help HEAPS. I have had a few anxious episodes in the last few weeks which I have never experienced in life before, and the relaxations have helped me calm down & relax so fully its fantastic.
When I have had more full on BH's (I had a few last week) I deep breath as I would for the relaxations and I stand & rotate my hips or I move slowly & surely, but during it I suddenly am able to concentrate on what I am doing rather than the uncomfortable feelings going on. In this I feel best prepared, because I am able to change the focus from the "fear pain" to the relaxed preparations. Does this make sense???
Hi, I'm jumping in a bit here, but I have some comments. I used HB and found it was fantastic.
FionaJill - the state of relaxation that you get into does not prevent you from having an active birth. I used my visualisations and breathing techniques to get me into a 'zone' and when the surges came on I would rotate my hips (either standing and leaning my hands on a wall, chair or DP, or kneeling on a pillow leaning over the bed or couch), or walk up and down the street (yep, walking and relaxing at the same time!). When it came to the birth part, when I arrived at the birth centre I put myself into a zone again (practising the deep breathing is essential, I think!) so that I could move in the way I needed to without distracting thoughts or unnecessary movement during surges. I had a waterbirth and I was not 'lying still'. I was on my knees, leaning on the edge of the bath and breathing out in a 'hum' the whole time, whilst easily visualising my 'bits' opening and accomodating Oscar's little corkscrewing body the way our bodies do when we trust them. Deep relaxation doesn't mean you have to lie still, it means that you cut out the peripherals and are in the moment of birth and all that you have to do for it. And it's not much - the sooner you realise that your conscious mind is not really part of birthing, the easier it is to tell your conscious mind to let the body and your 'inner intelligence' (the thing that regulates all your bodily processes, i.e. the thing that tells your heart to pump, your diaphragm to let your lungs take in air, your cells to rejuvenate etc) do all the work. Deep relaxation helps you to give in to the fact that your body knows what to do without you having to tell it. HypnoBirthing merely trains us to stop the mind chatter that interferes with our instincts - unfortunately, in today's world, some of us need to pay good money to do a course to teach us to trust our instincts! If the pregnancy is progressing normally then your body will not put you through more than you can physically handle. What you can psychologically handle is another matter and that's what the HB training is for.
CalmBirthing - is the Australian version of HB. Peter Jackson trained in the Mongan Method and in order to be able to publish books for the Australian context/experience, he's had to register it under a different name (otherwise, if he altered the HB for Australians and kept calling it HB'ing, he'd be in breach of copyright, not that the US HB would really take any angry action, but it's a potential minefield). Practitioners qualified in CalmBirthing can then be registered here in Australia and get the benefits of membership that they don't get as registered HB's. This is because HypnoBirthing is registered to the US only and benefits of registration are limited to the US - Australian practitioners of HB are gradually changing over to CalmBirthing to get the flexibility and benefits of having an Australian registration. It's pretty much a cultural and legal difference, but not much else! In Victoria I don't think any of the HB's are yet fully fledged CalmBirthers, but soon there will be. My own instructor was in the process of it (Esther Swoboda) when I did her course, and she also used some of her own techniques to supplement the HB'ing ones, which were an immense help.
Hope I've clarified some of your questions!
Thank you so much for your reply, IK. It has clarified a lot for me. :)
Yes Thank you IK its great to hear from someone who has been through it ;) I was telling DH last night that I won't really know until we are there how much we will be able to use.
Thanks for your reply Christy & IK, IK, The info you have posted about your own expereince has just mad eme realise that I could have done that with out the hypnobirthing stuff. But as you said the hypnobirthing teaches you to let go & let your body do what its meant to do.
I think part of my troubles is that DH & my instructor (luckily for me, a friend so I didn't have to pay) both think that I am not "open" enough to be able to do it. I questioned everything. I do question things, but to help me understand it better, not so I can fob it off. I think DH thinks it can only be done by following the "rules" down to a T. But there are so many aspects that just don't sit well with me. In a way, even the instructor was this way. When I think about it. I think it is them who are closed minded about it all. In the way that neither of them are going to be able to experience it first hand. So all they have to go off is what the manual says.
I can acheive deep breathing etc. I think I will do a lot better then what they are giving me credit for. DH is supportive, but he says he knows me to well & how I was with my 1st 2. This just gives me more insentive to prove him wrong.
i have just been accepted into the HATCH trial at the Adelaide WOmen's and CHildren's Hospital, it's a hynobirthing trial run by an anaethetist who is also a hypnotist. The trial is done the three weeks before birth. I think there are three groups of preg. women. one group does NO hynobirth learning, one group does hypnobirth training with a cd they take home, and one group does hypnbirth training at the hospital (I'm in that group).
I have also just gotten hold of the Pink Kit, and hope that will help me have a gentle birth. Haven't learnt any breathing techniques yet but my midwife assures me she will be encouraging and modelling good breathing during my labour so it won't matter.
I will be at home in a birthing pool in my loungeroom - no gas or drugs - so i really hope the hypnobirthing helps me!!!
Gigi through my hypnobirthing they showed some amazing births in home waterbirths using hypnobirthing. And some from Russian women in baths... just inspiring to watch.
hi ladies :)
very interesting to read all your posts - as usual bellybelly is sooo helpful!!
I enquired about hypno birthing classes this week. i'm keen to do them, and have to book in this week. i'm just in two minds - only because of the cost - $400, or if i do the classes with another couple, $300. i'd love to do the classes, but don't know if i can justify the expense? IK, I think you would recommend doing the classes, regardless of cost?
I paid $400 for the classes & we had them come to our house. I would definately justify the cost in what it has helped me in the final weeks of pregnancy. I will let you know in a week or two ;)
hi ladies:)
i know this isn't probably the correct forum, but i wanted to know if any of you gave birth using the hypno birthing techniques? i'm thinking about signing up for a hypno birthing course, and while i think it will be good, i'm a bit hesitant, because of the cost - $400, or if i do the classes with another couple its $300. money is going to be tight anyway, so i'm not sure if i can justify spending that much money on the classes? do you think they are worthwhile, and were you able to use the techniques during birth?
thanks ladies, and hope you are all enjoying your babies,
Yeah, I gotta say I would recommend the classes, especially as the Marie Mongan book is geared to an American audience so half the book might frustrate you, on its own. My classes were $350 but probably because we went to her house (less overheads compared to her classes in rooms closer to the city, and more convenient for us to go to her anyway), but I would have paid the $400, especially with hindsight. Yes, it was expensive, but I projected into the future of no HB and pictured myself wishing I had paid the money to have a better experience. It was really worth it to learn specific techniques to achieve the birth that I wanted. I might have been able to do it without the classes, but I didnt' want to leave it to chance.
But then again, being that I haven't NOT done the classes, I can only recommend one way with any authority!
Hey, good luck and have a great birth (cos it CAN be done :) )
Anne is that the class at Bowral with Peter Jackson? I'm planning on doing it when I fall pregnant again.
I was a bit OMG at first when I heard the cost...but I am going to do the classes. After talking to the lady who runs them and getting more understanding about it and what I want from the birth ...to me the cost is worth it.
If the class is with Peter Jackson then DO IT! He is the Australian guru for HB. Oh, and just keep in mind that a HB class in NZ costs about $500...in kiwi money!!