What is Hypnobirth?
My newest passion is HYPNOBIRTHING!
Boiled down, hypnobirthing is getting the powerful, creative mind out of the way so the body can do what it was built for. That means learning to RELAX!!!
Your body was built for birth! When you tense up, your muscles and openings tense up and you are sending chemical signals to your baby that it is not safe to enter the world yet. A great example the Hypnobirthing book uses is cats.
When cats give birth, they find a secluded, safe place that they can go and completely allow themselves to be vulnerable and RELAX. If there is fear of threat, labor is halted and the cat will grab as many kittens as she can and run away, until it is safe to return, allowing herself to relax and begin laboring again.
The same thing is true for human bodies, except our body doesn’t know the difference between the thought of a threat and an actual physical threat in the environment. Either will produce the release of catecholamines and stress hormones to shut down labor, in an attempt to keep you and your baby safe. A fear thought could be as simple as the lighting or a person in the room, a trauma from high school, or new thoughts of birth and parenthood. A processes and release prenatal session may be in order!
When your body has a steady flow of endorphins such as oxytocin, you are sending signals to your body that it is safe to open and soften, allowing a gentle decent and birth of your baby, into the world.
It is possible for you to have a natural (unmedicated) birth AND feel very little, if any, pain!
BUT HOW?!
We train! From the first time we meet, through pregnancy, labor and delivery, Moms and caregivers will be trained in self hypnosis techniques and be asked to practice them EVERY DAY! Just like pro-athletes visualization of your intended outcome and mental rehearsal are just as essential as making a habit of the relaxation and breathing techniques, so they are second nature during labor!
These techniques help your body to prepare, with the power of your subconscious mind and gentle supportive cues from your partner, to help keep you calm and relaxed throughout the surges of energy (traditionally referred to as contractions) during the thinning and opening phases, all the way through breathing your baby down to birth!
Techniques include
affirmation
breathing techniques
visualization
process and release sessions
physical touch and massage for caregivers
verbal cues for caregivers