Who is hypnobirthing for?

Q: Hypnobirthing - who’s it for?

A: Anyone who is pregnant!

Not just homebirths

There can be a misconception that hypnobirthing is only suitable/relevant for women planning to give birth at home, or who don’t want pain relief in labour, or who don’t plan to have a Caesarean. Whilst these women will definitely benefit from using hypnobirthing, so will anyone who intends to have their baby in a birth centre or hospital, who thinks she might choose an epidural, or who finds out or decides that her baby will be born by Caesarean. Hypnobirthing prepares you for all birth situations, including highly medicalised ones. After all, no-one knows or can predict what will happen during a labour, so it is good to be prepared for all eventualities. That said, hypnobirthing has been shown to reduce the likelihood of a mother needing medical interventions. It can also shorten the labour and decrease the chance of a mum asking for an epidural, and can increase breastfeeding initiation rates.

Second time parents

Sometimes women who have had a baby before feel that they don’t need to prepare for the next labour in the same way as they prepared for the first, as they have gone through the process before. However, if their first birth experience had not been a positive one, or if they had had a lot of medical intervention that they are hoping to avoid this time around, then using hypnobirthing to prepare for this labour can be highly beneficial, especially if they had not attended any antenatal classes previously. Hypnobirthing may help them to release fears held from the previous birth/s, feel more in control, and to approach labour with more confidence and calmness, and a greater understanding of what they can to increase the chance of having a better experience this time around.

Partners

Hypnobirthing is also brilliant for partners! The KG Hypnobirthing course is designed to help birth partners feel knowledgeable about the birth process, and confident in ways to support the labouring woman. By practising the techniques and scripts together in the weeks and months leading up to labour, the birth partner feels fully involved in the process, and these practise sessions can create wonderful opportunities for couples to feel closer, and partners to better understand their role and how important their contribution is.

Baby

Hypnobirthing benefits the baby through the pregnancy as well as the mother during the labour, as practising the skills and techniques means the mother is less likely to be releasing stress hormones, which cross the placenta and can affect the baby. Babies who are born to hypnobirthing mothers are often very calm at the time of birth, don’t always cry much when they are born, and tend to be very settled afterwards.

So if you’re pregnant, whatever number baby this is and wherever you are planning on giving birth, attending a hypnobirthing course could just be the best thing you ever did to prepare for this birth!