Does the thought of natural childbirth frighten you? Would you prefer not to take any medications that could affect you or your soon-to-be-born baby? If you would like to experience childbirth in its fullest, but don’t wish experience the pain, HypnoBirthing may just be the answer for you!What is HypnoBirthing?
HypnoBirthing is a relatively modern method of child birthing which interlaces self-hypnosis, visualization and breathing. The program itself is fairly uncomplicated and simple. It focuses on preparing new mothers for a calm and peaceful birthing experience. HypnoBirthing helps instill trust in letting your body and baby do what happens naturally.
The History of HypnoBirthing
To Marie Mongan, a young New Hampshire English teacher, childbirth did not have to be a sterile birthing experience filled with drugs that knocked you out nor an excruciating experience with painful contractions and pushing . . . the seemingly only two choices for most of history. She explains, “Most women were totally anesthetized and out cold, and their babies were taken from them with forceps; except for the very few who didn’t make it to the hospital and had them by the side of the road.”
Not at all pleased with how childbirth was handled, Marie devised her own method to avoid the “system” by practicing a form of self-hypnosis which helped her to relax and imagine a calm and painless birth. What had initially given her this idea was when she witnessed a cat giving birth to its kittens. When a dog interrupted the cat’s birthing process, the cat’s labor ceased and the mother cat took her kittens away to a quieter place to resume the labor.
“I always believed that it didn’t make sense that it [labor] had to be painful,” Mongan said. “It’s a physiological law that all muscles in the body work unless there is something wrong. What could be wrong with procreation of the species?” Her self-hypnosis method is now a registered trademark and women are currently practicing her technique in 34 countries across the globe.
How It Works
HypnoBirthing begins by taking away the negativity associated with childbirth. For example, instead of labor pains or contractions, they’re called “surges.” When the actual birthing begins, it’s not referred to as pain, but rather pressure. By removing the fear associated with pain, it opens the door to a much calmer experience.
A regular contributor on such networks as CNBC, Bravo, and Fox, Nancy B. Irwin, PsyD, C.Ht., Psychotherapy/Clinical Hypnosis and noted speaker and author offers this: “Most of the other animals in the animal kingdom need no assistance in birth. It is an instinctive, natural act for the female to deliver offspring. Of course, a percentage dies in the process, but for the most part only humans have focused on this small percentage of loss, exaggerated it, and learned how to ‘freak out’ about this natural process.”
She continues, “The good news is that the fear of childbirth was learned. And whatever has been learned, can be unlearned. Hypnosis can restore a woman to her natural default setting . . . and focus on listening to her body cues to deliver safely and naturally, minimizing the pain, and [focusing] on the miracle of birth and the magic of a baby. There is nothing more powerful than human thought. Indeed, the ‘negative mass hypnosis’ of childbirth is exactly what causes the distress. In therapeutic hypnosis, we turn that around, using positive hypnosis to encourage the woman to embrace this process as a fascinating one, start to finish.”
Read More: http://www.insidershealth.com/article/could_you_have_a_pain_free_labor_the_power_of_hypnobirthing/5152