Taking Bradley Class - is Hypnobabies book worth reading?

Vegasbb

I'm still new to all the natural birthing methods. I'm only on week 3 of my Bradley class, and I don't know much at all about hypnobabies. My husband and I chose to do Bradley classes (and I'm very happy with them!), but a friend recently gave me her copy of Hypnobabies (with the CD). 

I realize all the Hypnobabies advocates out there will say I need to take a class to get any of the benefits, but we only have the time and resources to do one class. Did anyone else take Bradley but read the Hypnobabies book? Were the methods "contradictory"? Is it a waste of time to try for a "Bradley" birth but try to incorporate some of the Hypnobabies ideas?  

flyer23

I took Bradley classes with my first, and did Hypnobabies home study with my second. 

The material in the Hypnobabies book is virtually identical to what you're going to get in Bradley classes. The founder of Hypnobabies was a former Bradley instructor.

The obvious difference is in the self-hypnosis techniques taught by Hypnobabies, but if you only read the book, you're not going to get those.

I do think that the methods are a little contradictory in that Bradley teaches pain management, while Hypnobabies teaches that labor ("your birthing time") is pain free.

mkflower3000

I didn't take any classes, but the Bradley book was the primary one that I read and plan to rely on. I do have the Hypnobirthing book and have looked into it a little (mostly to see if there is any additional info/new tips that weren't in the Bradley one). I find that Bradley seems to be more the comprehensive one, as it includes similar techniques to what is discussed in the Hypno book, and then some. Of course, it might be different with a class!

J <3 D

I would highly recommend it. I would get the CDs too. I use the meditations constantly still and DD is almost two. They really helped me with sleep

brennarobbie

I'd recommend it too. Now, this is my first time around...I have no experience with does it actually help because I don't know yet. However, I bought the book and it came with a CD for relaxation exercises, and I just ordered the Rainbow Relaxation CD. I LOVE the confidence it creates inside me just by reading it. But then again, I am a research junkie...the more I know, the better I feel. ;o) Good luck, mama!

Tigerlilym15

I think its worth reading. I much preferred Bradley, but you may find some things in hypnobabies that you love and that come in really handy for labor. (I didn't take either class, just did lots of reading)

If you learn about a lot of methods you will have more strategies to try during labor. You can do what works and feels right in the moment. 

 

jbennett4579

Since this is a slightly older thread I don't know if my reply will be helpful at this point, but I wanted to clarify that Hypnobabies does not constitute one book + one CD - that would be Hypnobirthing (The Mongan Method).

Hypnobabies (the organization that was founded by the former Bradley instructor) comes with a set of 7 CDs, a 170-page workbook, a Birth Partner's Guide, a spiral bound book of scripts, a Quick Reference Guide to use during the birth, and a bunch more articles and helpful handouts. So it is a complete childbirth education course in addition to teaching the specialized scripts & hypnosis techniques.

I would recommend, if you haven't already, that you commit to either Bradley (pain coping) or Hypnobabies (pain elimination) techniques. You really can't do both. In fact, Hypnobabies instructors cannot accept you into their classes if you're currently enrolled in Bradley, because the belief systems are totally opposite. Hypnobabies does not promise women a pain-free birth, as one poster insinuated, but it does help a lot of moms to have easier, more comfortable births, and some even pain-free. I had two very comfortable births myself with Hypnobabies.

Best of luck with your decision!

Dman85

I didn't have time to take any classes. All I bought was the book Natural birth the Bradley way. I was able to have the natural birth I'd  always wanted.