Hypnosis & Childbirth: What is it and how does it work?

Mention the words ”giving birth“ to an expectant mom in her last trimester and chances are good that her heart will begin to race, her mind floods with concern and in some cases she may panic. She knows that the day is coming when a force much bigger than herself will take over and her body will govern itself completely. For some women, this is a very fearful event, but for hypnomoms, it is merely a challenge.

These wise women use hypnosis to eliminate pain and fear from the birthing experience. In the past, the word "hypnosis" conjured up images of stage hypnotists re-creating Elvis, or mesmerizing others into embarrassing situations. Now it is common for hypnosis to be used therapeutically in many areas of medicine, dental anesthesia and personal therapy sessions. Even so, there are many misconceptions regarding hypnosis that can dissuade those contemplating this powerful tool.

All hypnosis is self-hypnosis; the hypnotherapist is only the guide. A person chooses to enter into a hypnotic state, stay in and come out at will.
Approximately 90-95% of the population can be hypnotized. Willingness, belief and motivation have great influence over your ability to be hypnotized.
During hypnosis you are neither asleep nor unconscious, and will always "come out" when you wish.
Stronger-minded and stronger-willed people are easier to hypnotize; not the other way around as is usually assumed.
You cannot be made to divulge information or do anything against your will while in hypnosis.
Hypnosis is not Satanic or religion-oriented at all, just a way to direct your inner mind toward the positive.

You actually go in & out of a state of hypnosis every day. For example, how many times have you been in your car, arrived home & realized that you hadn't been paying attention to driving? Your unconscious drove home while your conscious mind was thinking of something else. Hypnosis is used in medical and dental hypnosis with great success by patients who have life-threatening allergies to anesthetics, allowing them to undergo surgeries with no drugs and no pain. We know therefore that the mind can be trained to experience discomfort as only pressure, and that is what is achieved in childbirth hypnosis as well. In addition, with labor, the more relaxation the mother experiences, the more comfort she will have, and the depth of relaxation necessary can easily be achieved with hypnosis, as physical relaxation is learned and practiced daily in preparation for birth using guided visualizations followed by positive hypnotic suggestions. When the critical conscious mind is by-passed with hypnosis, the inner mind can literally be reprogrammed to believe that birth will be comfortable, easy and joyous. Software for your mind!

In other cultures, childbirth is regarded as a natural, normal event in a woman's life. The birthing women are given support from other women, and children are often present to witness the event. In this way, birth is celebrated and honored. Young girls then grow up with the belief system that birth is a positive event and their expectations of childbirth reflect this attitude. As a result, their births are similar to their predecessors; without pain and fear. They have a positive expectation of childbirth. In our culture, it is very much the opposite. For many generations we have been told that delivering a baby is many hours of painfully agonizing work, to be faced with fear and trepidation. We have heard stories from well-meaning friends and family that send shivers up our spines, and so the legacy continues. We experience pain in childbirth, in part because we very much expect to!

Hypnomoms learn how to hypnotize themselves to manage their labor, helping them to relax and let their bodies take over. If women are terrified of childbirth, the fight-or-flight reflex kicks in once the contractions start. This reflex shuts down organs that are nonessential to fighting and fleeing, including the uterus. With reduced blood flow, the uterus cramps, causing pain. If women could relax, the theory goes, they would experience no pain, have more effective contractions and therefore a shorter labor. In this calm state, endorphins -- naturally occurring chemicals in the body that can relieve pain -- replace the stress hormones that contribute to pain, proponents say.

Hypnosis for childbirth is a childbirth education process that includes a major focus on many of the techniques used in hypnotherapy to relieve fear. It integrates factual information on the childbirth process along with hypnosis and empowers the mother & birthing companion about their birth experience & their choices for their birth.

Other childbirth processes approach pain as a given and try to find ways to deal with pain, from medication to massage, but hypnosis for childbirth teaches women to transform the sensation of pain so that it feels like something else, like pressure or tightening. The healthiest way to deliver a baby is to be very relaxed and allow the body to do it. Once labor begins, it has its own momentum and mom really doesn't need to do much of anything.

Hypnosis for childbirth can also be used along with other birthing processes ranging from Lamaze to pain-killing drugs, even c-sections, since it allows the mom-to-be to relax, therefore allowing healing endorphins to be released rather than stress hormones.

Fewer drugs or no drugs at all means less risk of side effects on mother and baby.
Shorter labors - resistance of the birthing muscles as a response to pain is minimized or eliminated.
An awake, energized mother, due to total relaxation throughout the birthing process.
A calm, peaceful birthing environment.
Breech and posterior babies can be turned using hypnosis.
Fewer interventions and complications during labor.
Babies who are better sleepers and nursers due to fewer drugs in their systems.

Couples learn the technique by taking between four and six classes, starting after the first trimester of pregnancy. The instructor (and eventually the birth companion) helps the woman get into very relaxed state, where she is fully conscious of what her body is doing & of what is going on around her. She is very relaxed, which provides a safe and healthy environment for the baby and the mom. It also creates a strong bond between the couple as well as between the mother and her baby.

Carol Yeh-Garner is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker & a Certified HypnoBirthing Instructor. She teaches group HypnoBirthing classes in Encinitas & Leucadia. She is also available for private &/or accelerated classes. You can learn more about HypnoBirthing, watch a video about Childbirth & Hypnosis, & listen to a radio interview in which Carol talks about her own 2 successful HypnoBirths at www.AWellLivedLife.Net.