Hypnobirthing is not just breathing exercises.
Taken from a feature written for Babies on Board magazine.
You’ve probably heard a little about Hypnobirthing. Once, solely the fodder for “hippy-types” it has now become much more mainstream. Even celebs like Fearne Cotton & Gisele Bundchen have raved about it. You may even know a few people that have tried it. So what’s it all about?
There’s a mistaken assumption that it’s just a few breathing exercises. If that’s all you take from a course, you have learnt a great relaxation tool. Yet, you have not grasped some of the key principles.
Hypnobirthing is about achieving the best possible birth for you. Making decisions from a place of knowledge, not a place of fear. It helps you in understanding all your options.
Fear is births worst enemy. Fear rushes the body with adrenalin, which stops the natural flow of oxytocin, the hormone needed to birth your baby. Without oxytocin, labour can stall or slow down.
If you understand all your options you will feel more confident, which immediately puts you in a place of power. Do not be afraid to ask questions during both your pregnancy and your birth, but also do your own research.
Often the way things are presented to you in a hospital environment, are done so to ensure you follow a standard path of care. These guidelines are put into place to guarantee a standardised level of service is met for everyone. They might not be right for you, as an individual. An example of this is vaginal examinations – some women don’t mind these, but others find them highly invasive and uncomfortable. Very few women are aware, or even told, that they have the right to decline these.
Hypnobirthing also works to include your birth partner. It ensures they feel confident enough to speak up. By them supporting you to the best of their ability – they become your guardian and champion. Once your birth partner fully understands your birth plan they can be a voice for you. This leaves you to focus on letting your body do its thing. It’s about building a strong support team with your caregivers, so that you feel fully supported throughout.
For both mother and birth partner, understanding your options is imperative. The acronym BRAIN can be really useful to ensure you ask the right questions and always make an informed choice.
Benefits & Risks – there are benefits and risks to every procedure and also to doing nothing.
Alternatives – There is always an alternative, this will also have benefits and risks attached to it.
Information / Intuition – get some and trust your intuition. A birthing mother often knows instinctively if something is right or wrong with her baby. If you feel this strongly enough, speak up.
Nothing – What happens if we do nothing, what happens if we just wait for 30-60 minutes? Quite often with birth, a little calm and time is all that is needed. Doing nothing can be the best thing.
It’s also important to point out that nobody is telling you to challenge your caregiver at every juncture. It’s not about arguing with them until you get what you want. This is not conducive to you, your birth partner or your baby. You want a calm environment, but you also want the best birth, for you. If by asking a few questions and doing a little extra reading beforehand you can facilitate this, please do so.
Birth is not an exam for last minute swatters. It’s the most precious moment and will stay forever in your memory. Make it the best it can be.
Understanding the medical options available to you is also great preparation, even if you are hoping for a natural birth. Sometimes the journey labour can take doesn’t go as planned despite everyone’s best intentions. Learning how you can take back control, if things change tack, can be very empowering.
So yes, there are breathing exercises during Hypnobirthing classes. Breathing is pretty vital to the whole process after all, but there is much more to it too.
If you don’t know your options, you don’t have any. Don’t look back afterwards and say “I wish I’d known that”.
Own your birth, birth brighter.
To find out more take a look at the Hypnobirthing courses we offer or get in touch