Hypnobirth Moms!

BShreeve

Would love to hear stories from moms who did Hypno. Good experiences? What would you do differently if anything? Also... Did anyone get tired of the Mongan discs and download any different hypnosis sessions?

skio

I did hypnobirthing and had a successful med-free VBAC.

It helped me the most in early labor. I was able to stay calm and aware and breathe through contractions for the first six hours of labor at home. Then I hit transition. Then we drove to the hospital. The combo of transition + car ride was not good! I was a ball of anxiety, in a lot of pain, and making a lot of noise by the time we got to the hospital. I was able to relax more and work on remembering my hypno training once in the quiet room. My H remembered his training, too, and was great; he dimmed everything, put on my relaxing music, made sure the door was shut and that everyone knew to leave me alone. I did my best to use my breathing, but I was not that quiet, serene mom you see in those videos. I also used lots of different positions, from ball to standing to hands and knees. I didn't just lay in the bed.

I used my visualization a lot; visualizing everything opening, lifting, relaxing vs. tightening. Remembering what my body was doing helped. Knowing that the birth canal was so short helped.

I wish I had waited a little longer to push. I flipped onto my knees at one point and got a contraction to end all contractions and couldn't stop pushing. But when I went back onto my back, the urge lessened. We pushed anyway. It only took about 7-8 pushes and 20 mins, but I did push without the urge and tore. I was desperate for it to end, though. And I was sort of on the clock with the VBAC. I sort of wish that I had gone to the hospital sooner...but I sort of don't. I think it would've helped me to relax if I had gotten there before transition (I was past 9cm when I got there), but it also would've given me more time to bail and get the epi.

And yes, I got different music. I couldn't stand the rainbow crap after a while, and when it came on during labor, I actually yelled, "Turn it off!" Lol. I had a cd called 'Sounds of Acadia' because it reminded me of Maine, my favorite vacation spot. I also got two Sonic Aid CDs; one called 'Deep Relaxation' and one called 'Positive Thinking.'

CDMay2006

I spent much more time practicing the methods in the book/classes than listening to the recordings. I did find the affirmations helpful during early labor.
I labored at the birth center, free I'd medications. I labored mostly in the tub and it went great. I utilized hb techniques and was surprisingly comfortable. Due to several special circumstances I transitioned to the hospital. Before and during the cs I continued to use hb relaxation and focus techniques and it was extremely helpful in managing my sadness (about losing my vaginal birth experience) and anxiety (about the surgery). Definitely worth the time, money and effort invested in it!

MrsP7309

I used Hypnobirthing and I loved it. The affirmations didn't do much for me, but visualizations and staying relaxed and loose were absolutely the key to my med free labor. The nurses at the hospital were stunned when they realized I was fully dialated, since they thought I only looked a little bit uncomfortable. I highly recommend it!

BShreeve

joules235 said:

I did Hypnobabies. Hypnobabies and HypnoBirthing are different. Hypnobabies is much more comprehensive and teaches medical grade hypno-anesthesia while also teaching you everything a normal birthing class would teach you. Hypnobabies teaches you to feel pain as pressure and to deprogram negative thoughts about birthing. This hypnoanesthesia is the same kind that is used to preform dental surgery without anesthesia.

Interesting, as this is exactly how I would describe my hypnobirthing class. I'm interested to know more of the differences...

Thanks for all the thoughts so far! Keep em coming! And any other good alternates to the Rainbow Relaxation! (I agree with PP, affirmations don't really do it for me either...)

sschwege

Used Hypnobirthing with both my babies and it is amazingly effective!  At my 6w postpartum check my MW asked if I had felt anything, that's how calming it was for me (I did feel the surges, but chose to feel them as 'tightening').  I think the key is practice, practice, practice, the more time you put into it the more effective it will be.  

At first I didn't like the affirmations either, they seemed kind of cheesy?  For lack of a better word.  But the more I listened to it the more I embraced the concept.  With the affirmations, you don't have to listen to it while actually practicing your Hypnobirthing, it is not recorded to a hypnotic rhythm.  Because of this I listened to it in the car, while cleaning the house or cooking.  It's just a way to sort of get yourself in the right frame of mind, wash away the negativity that is so ingrained in our culture surrounding birth.  

I thought Rainbow Relaxation was a great way to start the process and listened to it a lot in the beginning (it's fine if you fall asleep you are still absorbing it).  What I found really helpful later on was the Comfort Zone CD.  It's the music from Rainbow Relaxation, plus some other similar music, but no talking.  I tried to listen to Rainbow Relaxation on DD's birth day and ended up turning it off almost immediately because while I enjoyed it between surges I found the talking too distracting while I was having surges.  

This was sort of my approach to practicing, but there's certainly no right or wrong.  As I said I listened to the Affirmations a lot, just doing every day things.  Tried to listen to Rainbow Relaxation every day in the beginning, but in truth it was less than that (maybe a few times a week).  After I kind of got more comfortable with the process, I started to sort of pretend I was in labor.  So I would put on Comfort Zone and visualize my 'safe place' (I used my Aunt's Peach Orchard), I would just imagine myself, feeling very relaxed and safe.  Then I would pretend a surge was coming practice the breathing and visualization associated with that.  Then go back to my 'safe place'.  It occurred to me after practicing for some time that I would not always be laying down in a dark quiet place, there would be distractions, we were having a hospital birth after all.  So I started practicing on my exercise ball, walked around the house, drank water, even went for a couple of walks outside all the while trying to stay in that hypnotic state.  I really think that was key for the type of birth we were planning had we been planning a HB it probably wouldn't have been quite as important.    

My advice is just be open to what the day brings, try not to be totally locked into the process, let your mind wander and keep experimenting and figure out what works.  In early labor with DD I'm sure I could have gotten house work done, baked some treats, etc.  But I really used that time, when things weren't so intense to figure out what was going to work for me.  

Couple of things that did not work for me, the birth breathing.  I found that I either had to all out push or relax through the surges.  That's where keeping an open mind comes in IMO, birth breathing for whatever reason just wasn't doing it for me and despite what I expected I would want I was a ::gasp:: laying on my back pusher both times.  That's what worked best for me.  Also I purchased the Gentle Surge CD and did not like it at all.  It was a male's voice, which I kind of found distracting also the script just wasn't for me.  DH didn't like it either so we didn't use it.  

Hope this novel of mine helps Please feel free to ask me any other questions if you want more detail. 

Oh and I found it really helpful to listen to it on headphones, that way I could take it anywhere with me.  Listened to it in the car, in the bath, walking, etc.  Plus it helps to tune out the rest of the world.  It was quite a busy day in L & D when we arrived with my first and I was happy I didn't have to listen to all that was going on around me.

LOVEmyLUTZS

I used HypnoBirthing and it was mind blowingly amazing!!!!!  I literally feel asleep in between contractions at 8 and 9 cm dilated. No joke. I had a water birth with DS and that helped so much as well, but listening to the Relaxation track was and just reading the book during pregnancy did it for me! The HypnoBirthing instructor in my area was taking a break during my last pregnancy so I wasn't able to take the class, but I still did just fine and plan to use HypnoBirthing for this baby's birth. I didn't use the HypnoBirthing CDs at all during the actual birth but I fell asleep almost every night to one disc or another. I think this time I will purchase the comfort zone CD for the birth but other then that there isn't anything I would do differently.

DebateThis

I used Natal Hypnotherapy from the UK and liked it a lot.

F47

Thanks for starting this thread! I'm also planning a Hypnobirth (due next week!) and it's great reading all of these tips.

As far as other relaxation tracks, I've downloaded tracks called "Journeys Inward Hypnobirthing." Just search for them on iTunes. They're kind of expensive (about $12 each), but I love them. They're longer than the Mongan CDs and offer a good variety.

The only thing that's different is they use the word "contraction" as opposed to surge. Personally, that word doesn't bother me or make me think negative thoughts, so it hasn't been an issue. But, just a warning in case you're trying to avoid that particular word.

BShreeve

Thank you all so much for sharing your stories! I will definitely check out the Comfort Zone after your comments and upon recommendation from my hypno instructor.