What is Hypnobirthing and how is it helpful in pregnancy and birth?
ZenMuma Cat teaches Hypnobirthing classes in Aylsham, Norfolk. In this blog she shares an in-depth overview of the benefits of hypnobirthing and how it can help women experience a calm, empowered birthing experience.
Hypnobirthing is a “philosophy and techniques” to teach people that if you remove stress and achieve calm relaxation during childbirth, the muscles in your body can work together effectively in order to have a pleasant and even comfortable birth. The concept has been around for many years including the work of Dr Grantly Dick-Read, who was an obstetrician in the 1920s. He believed that in order to help women birth more pleasantly they must learn about the birthing process and therefore elimiate fear around it. The fear women have around birth increases muscular tension during the birthing process which he suggested was the cause of the pain that women experienced.
Hypnobirthing by Marie Mongan builds on this belief that women should understand the process of what is happening to their bodies during pregnancy and birth to empower themselves. She also proposed many different techniques such as breathing techniques, guided imagery and anchoring in order for a birthing mother to be completely relaxed during this process, understanding that her body knows what it is doing and needs to do in order to grow and care for as well as birth a baby safely.
The simple hypnobirthing method by hypnobirthing expert Jackie Heffer-Cooke has taken on board all information from previous experts in hypnobirthing and made it more relevant to today’s society. It is based around six essential components put together in an acrostic to spell the word simple. These six components suggest mothers can have a better and more beautiful birth if you follow them. These components are:
Self-hypnosis, intuition, mindfulness, preparation, loyal birth partners and endorphins.
Self-hypnosis during birthing is using the power of suggestion through visualisations and calming breathing techniques to be in a completely relaxed state in order to allow our bodies to perform the natural bodily function. This is being in alpha brain or the subconscious mind as Sigmund Freud would have suggested. This is when our brain is suitably distracted yet calm and has absence of logical thinking in order to complete an activity automatically. Those under self-hypnosis are awake and in full control of their bodies and thoughts but in a complete relaxed state.
Intuition is where we can support empowering women of Aylsham, Norfolk and surrounding areas, to listen to their bodies and minds in a and understand that the birth process is natural and we should trust that we know what we want and need during pregnancy and birth. This involves teaching women about how their uterus works and reminding them that this is a muscle that we do not use in everyday life. Therefore, it is a different experience for us but if we work with this and stay calm and relaxed, it does not need to be painful. Using specific non-medical language can support in understanding that this is a natural process and does not require constant medical intervention. Lots of medical language around birth creates fear and automatically creates thoughts of pain and anxiety. Therefore, eliminating use of this language around a birthing mother can help them believe in their own bodies natural functions and trust their own intuition. We can decide what our bodies need and support this. Rejecting fears and myths taught to people throughout childhood, through stories from other mums and learning that women are built to birth.
Mindfulness, breathing and relaxation are also key components of hypnobirthing. A happy, relaxed Mum will work with her body to birth a baby more easily. Using affirmations and breathing techniques to occupy the birthing Mum and keep her in a calm and relaxed alpha state. These breathing techniques as well as being useful in distracting a birthing mother, can also have physiological effects on the body. Relaxing, slowing down heart rates, increasing oxygen in the bodies and producing relaxing hormones such as the birth hormone, oxytocin.
Preparation is part four. Human’s prepare for many different occasions in life and should prepare for birth in much the same way. Birth partners play a large role here. Making sure we have the items to help keep birthing mothers comfortable and feel safe, the calmest environment and atmosphere possible, that people around the birthing mum are informed of how to support her in the most effective way that she needs. Both Birthing mothers and partners should prepare by deciding on their birth preferences ahead of time including where they would like give birth and what they would like the environment to be like. A chance to rehearse visualisations, self-hypnosis, affirmations, meditations and breathing techniques repeatedly to create neuro linguistic pathways in order to access this state of calm and alpha brain more easily during the birth.
Loyal birth partners are essential. This is making sure birth partners understand the importance of their roles. To support the birthing mother to feel safe, calm and empowered. To create the calm and relaxed atmosphere for mum, to provide drinks and snacks, to support with reminders for visualisations, breathing, affirmations and positions, or movements. Birthing mums should have nothing else to do but focus on their relaxation and birthing their baby, staying in their alpha state. Birthing partners or “Birth protectors” should be in the beta state of logical thinking where they are in control of every other aspect of the birth in order to support what the mother needs and achieve their goal of a relaxed birth.
Endorphins. This is about understanding that our bodies need the ‘Big three’ in order for the birthing mothers body to work most efficiently and to have the calmest birth experience. These are endorphins, oxytocin and oxygen. In order to achieve this, they must learn how our bodies autonomic nervous system works. That when our bodies are under stress our sympathetic nervous system kicks in. This means we react with a fight, flight or fright response. This involves our bodies tensing, creating hormones called catecholamine’s like adrenalin and pumping our blood more quickly around our bodies. This carried higher levels of oxygen to our limbs in order to fight a threat. Our capillaries and our blood vessels in our muscles open up and our breathing becomes more shallow. This all fights again the course of natural birthing. Our parasympathetic nervous system must be activated during child birth in order for our bodies to stay calm. In order to do this our mind must work alongside the body to achieve this. When the parasympathetic nervous system is activated our bodies are relaxed and they release chemicals such as endorphins which is the body’s natural pain relief. Oxygen is pumped around our body effectively and our muscles are able to open and contract as they need to. Using breathing techniques to lengthen breath helps stimulate a further hormone called oxytocin. This is the love or birthing hormone which in turn helps keep a birthing mum even more relaxed. A birth partner can help stimulate further oxytocin in lots of different ways. This can include providing the loving atmosphere, supporting with light touch massage, using our senses such as different aromatherapy smells in order to create a pleasant loving memory.
Hypnobirthing does not mean that advice from medical professionals is irrelevant! More that we should understand which medical suggestions are essential during times of emergency and that we can use our techniques to stay calm and relaxed during these times and which special circumstances can be supported through other methods. That the majority of births can be calm and relaxed without need for medical intervention because it is a natural bodily function, a muscle working as it should and mothers should feel in control and empowered during this time.
Hypnobirthing techniques can be using in any birthing situation including when something does not go as it was expected during birthing. It is very important that the birthing mother and her partner understand this.
Our thoughts and imagination are very powerful. keeping our brains in this alpha state using the tools learnt through hypnobirthing can help support mothers and their partners through inductions, c sections, babies in unexpected positions and a range of different special circumstances. It can create calm for a better birth for all expectant mothers.
The different breathing techniques, affirmations, relaxations, massages, sensory links and positions can be used throughout pregnancy to help relieve stress as well as rehearsing for the birth. It is about giving a birthing mother and her birth partner knowledge, techniques and opportunities to bond together and understand how each other may be feeling and give them a chance to relax together.
Hypnobirthing is believing in the female body and mind, its purpose of birthing being using a muscle and using all of the above techniques and together to create a connection of mind and body in order to have a positive calming birth experience.