Hypnobabies AND Bradley Method?

KTdidit

I downloaded two free MP3s through the Hypnobabies site and the introduction track says that they stress that you do not take any other birthing classes or methods because they contradict each other, or teach different things. Before I heard this I had plaaned on getting the Hypnobabies home study course AND the Bradley Method book and workbook. (I want to be prepared!) But is this a bad idea? Would that be overkill and sabotage my purpose?

aylafsu88

I don't know much about hypnobirthing but I did take the Bradley class.  The Bradley class focuses on educating your support person and teaching them how to be a great coach.  I know my H learned a lot for the class and it was a huge help in my L&D.  It taught him how to look at the signs to know where I was in labor (early, active, transition).  It also gave him ideas about what he could to do help me, pressure points, positions etc.  IMO these are things that I think would be helpful with any method. Like I said, I don't much about hypnobirthing but I don't see why educating and teaching your H how to be involved/supportive in labor would be a bad thing. 

DebateThis

::Shrug:: DH and I are doing homestudy courses for Natal Hypnotherapy (it's a UK based company that's very similar to HypnoBirthing) as well as Bradley.

I haven't gone through labor yet but my feeling was that preparing both of us/two frames of mind for labor would be a good thing. If I wind up becoming very introspective and wanting to zone out/be left alone, the hypnosis tracks could be helpful. If I wind up needing to move around a lot or need help focusing or suggestions for different labor positions/massage/more physical support from an outside source, then DH feels very prepared with Bradley.

sschwege

The core principals are very different.  Bradley teaches that it is 'pain with a purpose'.  The Hypno classes have more of a 'mind over matter' approach and basically teaches you to reassign what you are feeling as something other than pain, the sensations may be pressure or tightening.  Hypno classes even use different terminology 'surge' instead of 'contractions', 'birth path' instead of 'birth canal', etc.  So as you can see if you are to fully embrace Hypnobirthing or Hypnobabies, Bradley will undermine the message.  

That being said, we did have a couple in our Hypnobirthing class who were also taking Bradley and they had a positive experience.  So I think it really just depends on the person and how deeply you are going to dive into it all.    

KTdidit

lbs2012 said:

Our doula recommended one or the other. She felt that Bradley Method immediately puts participants on the defensive and assumes the hospital staff will resist wishes for an intervention free birth. She also said Bradley instructors can only maintain their certification if 90% of more of their participants DO NOT use medication during birth. It was her opinion that the classes are taught in a manner that instill fear and anxiety in new parents which is the last thing you want if you're trying to progress naturally.

Interesting information on the Bradley method...being put ont he defensive is not the place I'd like to be at right off the bat.

sschwege said:

The core principals are very different.  Bradley teaches that it is 'pain with a purpose'.  The Hypno classes have more of a 'mind over matter' approach and basically teaches you to reassign what you are feeling as something other than pain, the sensations may be pressure or tightening.  Hypno classes even use different terminology 'surge' instead of 'contractions', 'birth path' instead of 'birth canal', etc.  So as you can see if you are to fully embrace Hypnobirthing or Hypnobabies, Bradley will undermine the message.  

   

A very good simplification, something to think about. Thanks for the response!

ClaireOtoms

lbs2012 said:

Our doula recommended one or the other. She felt that Bradley Method immediately puts participants on the defensive and assumes the hospital staff will resist wishes for an intervention free birth. She also said Bradley instructors can only maintain their certification if 90% of more of their participants DO NOT use medication during birth. It was her opinion that the classes are taught in a manner that instill fear and anxiety in new parents which is the last thing you want if you're trying to progress naturally. Now I haven't taken the class so I can't really say if this is the case or not - may just depend on your instructor. We have opted to take Hypnobirthing, a method our doula is also very familiar inwith. We're fortunate that our hospital and OB practice are natural birth friendly bradley so that's another reason we felt Bradley wasn't for us. This certainly isn't an easy i am a decision but it sounds like you're in the right spot for some great feedback.

I am a Bradley instructor, and I can tell you the highlighted is nonsense.  It is true that we encourage a non-interventive route as long as mom and baby are doing well, and we spend some time talking about the risks involved in routine interventions, but only in the name of informed consumerism.  We teach a lot of skills for positive communication with hospital staff in the case that there is resistance to your natural birth plans, but (at least in my class), we view the medical community as an essential part of the birth team, not as adversaries.

FTR, I am practicing some hypnobirthing stuff to prepare for this upcoming birth, and I think it goes along quite well with my Bradley background.

ETA:  @sschwege has a very good point about the fundamental difference.  In that light, I can see how Bradley information would be counterproductive to hypno.  However, the reason I chose Bradley the first time around was because I had heard a lot of first hand stories from women who trained using Hypnobirthing expecting a painless birthing experience, and ended up opting for the epidural because they didn't know how to cope with it.  I did experience pain in labor but felt very equipped to handle it. 

sschwege

ClaireOtoms said:

lbs2012 said:

Our doula recommended one or the other. She felt that Bradley Method immediately puts participants on the defensive and assumes the hospital staff will resist wishes for an intervention free birth. She also said Bradley instructors can only maintain their certification if 90% of more of their participants DO NOT use medication during birth. It was her opinion that the classes are taught in a manner that instill fear and anxiety in new parents which is the last thing you want if you're trying to progress naturally. Now I haven't taken the class so I can't really say if this is the case or not - may just depend on your instructor. We have opted to take Hypnobirthing, a method our doula is also very familiar inwith. We're fortunate that our hospital and OB practice are natural birth friendly bradley so that's another reason we felt Bradley wasn't for us. This certainly isn't an easy i am a decision but it sounds like you're in the right spot for some great feedback.

I am a Bradley instructor, and I can tell you the highlighted is nonsense.  It is true that we encourage a non-interventive route as long as mom and baby are doing well, and we spend some time talking about the risks involved in routine interventions, but only in the name of informed consumerism.  We teach a lot of skills for positive communication with hospital staff in the case that there is resistance to your natural birth plans, but (at least in my class), we view the medical community as an essential part of the birth team, not as adversaries.

FTR, I am practicing some hypnobirthing stuff to prepare for this upcoming birth, and I think it goes along quite well with my Bradley background.

ETA:  @sschwege has a very good point about the fundamental difference.  In that light, I can see how Bradley information would be counterproductive to hypno.  However, the reason I chose Bradley the first time around was because I had heard a lot of first hand stories from women who trained using Hypnobirthing expecting a painless birthing experience, and ended up opting for the epidural because they didn't know how to cope with it.  I did experience pain in labor but felt very equipped to handle it. 

I think that is what Hypnobirthing is lacking is teaching coping techniques.  I loved Hypnobirthing and thought it was highly effective, at least it was for me.  However, I did a lot of research outside of the class because I didn't feel like I learned much in the way of natural forms of pain relief.   

ClaireOtoms

sschwege said:

I think that is what Hypnobirthing is lacking is teaching coping techniques.  I loved Hypnobirthing and thought it was highly effective, at least it was for me.  However, I did a lot of research outside of the class because I didn't feel like I learned much in the way of natural forms of pain relief.   

Right!  But from my very simple understanding of Hypnobirthing, they couldn't really teach pain management, since the self-hypnosis is supposed to make labor painless "if you're doing it right."  Or do I have that completely wrong? 

I have read the Mongan book and use a lot of the imagery and scripts for my daily relaxation practices.  It seems that you can use Hypnobirthing as a supplement to Bradley, but not vice versa. 

ClaireOtoms

kaholland4 said:

I downloaded two free MP3s through the Hypnobabies site and the introduction track says that they stress that you do not take any other birthing classes or methods because they contradict each other, or teach different things. Before I heard this I had plaaned on getting the Hypnobabies home study course AND the Bradley Method book and workbook. (I want to be prepared!) But is this a bad idea? Would that be overkill and sabotage my purpose?

lol, I SWEAR I'm not stalking your thread, but I just noticed this part about getting the workbook.  I don't now if you've found a source for the workbook, but they are usually really expensive to order online.  The reason for this is that they can only be purchased from the publisher by a certified Bradley instructor, and we are told very explicitly that we can't give them to anyone unless they are taking the full 12 week course.  They actually track the number of workbooks we buy compared to how many students we have registered in our classes.  Usually if you can buy them on ebay or amazon, they are sold by former teachers who happen to have an extra book or two on hand. 

KTdidit

ClaireOtoms said:

kaholland4 said:

I downloaded two free MP3s through the Hypnobabies site and the introduction track says that they stress that you do not take any other birthing classes or methods because they contradict each other, or teach different things. Before I heard this I had plaaned on getting the Hypnobabies home study course AND the Bradley Method book and workbook. (I want to be prepared!) But is this a bad idea? Would that be overkill and sabotage my purpose?

lol, I SWEAR I'm not stalking your thread, but I just noticed this part about getting the workbook.  I don't now if you've found a source for the workbook, but they are usually really expensive to order online.  The reason for this is that they can only be purchased from the publisher by a certified Bradley instructor, and we are told very explicitly that we can't give them to anyone unless they are taking the full 12 week course.  They actually track the number of workbooks we buy compared to how many students we have registered in our classes.  Usually if you can buy them on ebay or amazon, they are sold by former teachers who happen to have an extra book or two on hand. 

Stalk away! I love having people give their opinions and experiences. I haven't looked to buy the books yet but I saw it metioned somewhere and just wrote it down as something to look into.

I'll be honest, Im terrified that I won't be able to do this so I'm trying to overload on information and techniques and just about anything to try.

sschwege

ClaireOtoms said:

sschwege said:

I think that is what Hypnobirthing is lacking is teaching coping techniques.  I loved Hypnobirthing and thought it was highly effective, at least it was for me.  However, I did a lot of research outside of the class because I didn't feel like I learned much in the way of natural forms of pain relief.   

Right!  But from my very simple understanding of Hypnobirthing, they couldn't really teach pain management, since the self-hypnosis is supposed to make labor painless "if you're doing it right."  Or do I have that completely wrong? 

I have read the Mongan book and use a lot of the imagery and scripts for my daily relaxation practices.  It seems that you can use Hypnobirthing as a supplement to Bradley, but not vice versa. 

I took the class and read the book, I'm far from an expert, so take my response for what it is.  But this is the way my teacher explained it to us.  She said, "You will feel something.  Your job is to reassign what you are feeling to something other than pain.  Call it pressure, tightening, etc.".  Which is what I did, I considered it tightening, not pain.  To this day I will tell you that the only time I felt true 'pain' with either labor, was when DD's shoulder got briefly stuck and they turned her and the 'ring of fire'.  That being said, I still needed ways to cope with the intensity of labor and delivery.  So the music, breathing and visualizations helped a lot.  Where I felt Hypnobirthing was lacking was giving more concrete forms of coping with the intensity.  So a warm bath, a birthing ball, different positions, tennis balls on the back, rice sock, etc.  Most of this I learned on my own or when I directly asked the instructor for ideas.  

It's not that Hypnobirthing is suggesting you will be totally numb, just that you don't have to allow your mind to perceive it as 'pain'.  When anyone hears words like, 'pain' 'hurt' they have an emotional reaction to them, they tense up, which in turn creates a more intense feeling of pain.  They call it the fear-tension-pain cycle.  So I think there is room in Hypnobirthing for saying, here's a way of dealing with the 'tightening' you might be feeling, get in the bath.  Or here's a way of dealing with the pressure you might experience sit on an exercise ball.   Do you kind of see what I'm saying? 

Luv2Run1st

Agree. My first hand experience with hypnobabies was that it was great for relaxation but poor at helping you cope with pain and unless you really master the eyes wide open hypnosis and or have a out of hospital birth, I think the philosophy can pose great mental conflict when you do feel pain. There should be a script that addresses what you do when you do feel pain.

For my second birth just a couple weeks ago I decided to not do anything in preparation and instead just listen to my body and use more movement. I also had a home birth which was tremendously better in allowing me cope better. For actual labor I listened to music, played games on my phone to distract myself and bounced on ball then moved to the birth pool and when things were intense enough I couldn't tall had husband apply pressure to my forehead. I made sure to be in optimal positions for birthing at all times...leaning forwards, squatting and hands and knees.

I'm not a fan of the hypno alone but could be more successful for me if used in combination with other techniques.

ashicaino

Just jumping in here, but Hypnobirthing and hypnobabies are 2 completely different courses. Some of you are talking about hypnobirthing ina post about Hypnobabies. Hypnobabies has been deemed a far more comprehensive, well-rounded and successful version of hypnobirthing. Pretty much a kick-ass upgraded version lol I read a thread that compares the 2 and almost everyone who did hypnobirthing didnt really get what they wanted from it, but those who did hypnobabies loved it and said it worked very well for them.

Im just finishing up my Hyonobabies course and love it and it covers preparing and training your birth partner also and there's even cd's for them to listen too. Also, there is A LOT of childbirth education too.

I honestly dont feel that you would need to take any other course ontop of hypnobabies, maybe breastfeeding, etc, but nothing pertaining to childbirth. I thought it covered everything, I feel totally ready and prepared and Im a first time mum!!! and I also have a degree in the human body so I'm pretty good at detecting when stuff written about the body is inadequate or BS lol

Check out this thread that compares hypnobirthing to hypnobabies https://community.babycenter.com/post/a22685789/hypnobirth_vs_hypnobabies

Luv2Run1st

I was talking about hypnobabies. I took a actual course...did everything I was supposed to daily which is about 2 hrs of practice per day. Although it is a comprehensive birth prep class, the methodology did not work well for me to manage transition because I did feel pain and it was a conflict with what I learned in the scripts that I would only feel pressure. Then this created panic for me. I think I may have been more successful with it in a out of hospital birth but didn't want to give it a try again.