Hypnotherapy in pregnancy and childbirth

Does hypnotherapy offer a pain-free birth?

Is it possible to have a pain free birth? Some women do say that their experience was pain-free. However, hypnotherapy does not guarantee that a woman will have a pain-free experience. It would be incorrect and quite detrimental to lead women into believing that birth will be pain-free. You should be prepared to feel really powerful sensations and hand control over to your birthing body.

By preparing for these powerful sensations by building trust in your body's ability and reducing the fear, tension and anxiety around birth, hypnotherapy helps you feel more in control and far more able to cope with, and accept, the sensations that you are feeling.

What hypnotherapy options are available to me?

• One-to-one hypnotherapy sessions
• Group hypnotherapy sessions
• Audio hypnotherapy, using CDs

Hypnotherapy sessions

If you would like to see a hypnotherapist we recommend that you see a qualified clinical hypnotherapist. Many general practitioners can refer you to a clinical hypnotherapist registered with the NHS, or you can see who is in your area by going to The Hypnotherapy Association website

I suggest you speak to a few hypnotherapists over the phone then decide who you wish to meet. Most will give a free consultation for around 30 minutes to allow you to see them and help you to decide for yourself if you want to work with them.

There are group hypnotherapy sessions available from Natal Hypnotherapy where you will:

• Learn the principles of hypnosis
• Find out what hypnosis is and what it is not
• Experience being hypnotised
• Discover how to enter deep relaxation in seconds
• Learn how to safely and easily take yourself in and out of hypnosis
• Learn how to write successful programmes to make the changes you want
• Learn how to use more successful language with yourself and others
• Have fun and meet others who have benefited from hypnosis

Teaching is limited to groups of no more than 15 so that your progress through the course can be monitored on an individual level. For further information, visit www.natalhypnotherapy.co.uk

Audio hypnotherapy

Self-hypnosis CDs guide you into a deeply-relaxed state using breathing techniques, guided imagery and visualisation. Once you are in a relaxing daydream-like state, the CD continues with a detailed visualisation of giving birth from a physiological perspective so you can practice how you would like to feel and respond to the sensations and changes during labour.

The CD also includes triggers such as 'each new face you meet, reminds you of the confidence you have in your body, each contraction encourages you to relax, the sights and sounds around you float past and allow you to remain wonderfully calm.' This way you are using things that may otherwise have caused you some anxiety and turning them into something positive and useful.

By listening to the CD over and over again before labour your body and mind become more and more familiar with the processes of a calm, relaxed birth, so increasing your confidence and reducing a lot of anxiety.

As your mind does not know the difference between imagination and reality, once you go into the labour for real, all the suggestions just kick in as the body recognises the sensations and triggers and says 'Oh yes, we have done this before, this is a sign for me to relax and stay calm.'

Maggie Howell, d.Hyp, c.Hyp, LHA, UKHypReg, is the founder of Natal Hypnotherapy, a qualified British clinical hypnotherapist and trained Doula.