What You Need To Know About Hypnobirthing
You may have heard of the term hypnobirthing – but there’s a reason more and more expectant mothers are turning to the technique to help them during labour. To find out more about this complex subject – including how it could help you, what it involves and how to use it during birth – we asked a hypnobirthing teacher and qualified midwife to answer our questions. Plus, one mother tells us how it impacted both of her deliveries.
What is hypnobirthing?
“Hypnobirthing is a set of tools and techniques which support the physiological process of labour and birth. That includes breathing techniques, visualisation, positive reinforcement through affirmations and guided relaxations.” – Emiliana Hall, founder & CEO of The Mindful Birth Group.
As an expectant mum, what can hypnobirthing help you with?
“Hypnobirthing tools can help you to keep calm and relaxed and have a sense of feeling in control of your birth. Because they help to focus the mind, you have little room to worry about the things that are out of your control. If you are a first-time parent or are preparing for labour after a previous traumatic birth, hypnobirthing tools can be extremely powerful to help you stay present and prevent you from going into panic mode because of the unknown, or a previous traumatic memory.” – Emiliana
“As with pregnancy and birth, hypnobirthing techniques are built on one foundation, but are individual to each woman. For hypnobirthing to be successful, a woman needs to allow it to work; in other words, she needs to understand birth, what to expect and adopt a positive approach to the process, as well as understanding how hypnobirthing techniques can help at each stage no matter how her baby is born.” – Lesley Gilchrist, registered midwife & co-founder of My Expert Midwife
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