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Is it overkill to use both Bradley and Hypnobabies?
Hello there! I'm planning a VBAC (water birth) at a birth center. My birth center offers Hypnobabies as part of the package. I have a friend who is a provisional Bradley instructor, and we're thinking of learning that method as well. Do you think that's overkill? I guess I'm a little paranoid about one method not working and then having nothing to fall back on. I had no way of dealing with the pain with my son, and I think that's one of the reasons why I ended up with a C-section. Thoughts?
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Re: Is it overkill to use both Bradley and Hypnobabies?
Brady Phoenix, 8.29.09
Claire Zoe, 10.26.10
Our midwife will be giving us the Hypnobabies materials for us to work with at home. Of course, if we need help, we can come in anytime. But no formal classes.
We'd only be attending the Bradley classes.
Do you happen to know why they say not to use it with another method? That's interesting.
this is what my hypnobabies stuff says too...hypnobabies is more of an "untraining" so there is different terminology for things, "pressure waves" instead of "contractions," etc, so I can see how they might conflict.
i have never taken bradley classes, we took the general "prepared childbirth" hospital class for #1.
Matthew Kevin
7/31/83-7/20/11
Met 1/8/00
Engaged 4/21/06
Married 9/29/07
Two beautiful legacies: Noah Matthew (2 yrs) and Chloe Marcella (8 mos)
Day Three
This is going to be long because im getting it right out of my HB book.
It is much better to embrace Hypnobabies fully and not take in another course/method or try to use their techniques with your hypnobabies. ...your success will be much greater if your belief system includes using only hypno-anestesia and deep relaxation.
hospital preperation for childbirth classes- are geared toward their policies and teach a different/shallow breathing method. And they tell you how early you will "need" an epi.
natural childbirth classes- sometimes show videos of moms in pain moaning and crying, and this can frighten you and be confusing. This is why you shouldnt watch A Baby Story or similar shows anymore.
bradley classes- the relaxation and breathing techniques are limited when compaired to hypnobabies deep hypnosis. and all of those subjects and more are covered in the hypnobabies text
DD2 (b. 9/04/2013)
BFP 2/25/12, m/c @ 6w 3d || BFP 8/1/12, m.m/c @ 9w5d
I did Bradley classes with DD, and Hypnobabies home study with DS.
Really, the two methods are more alike than they are different. The main difference boils down to this: Bradley teaches how to manage the pain of labor. Hypnobabies teaches that labor (or "birthing time," as Hypnobabies calls it, to avoid the negative connotations of the word "labor") is pain-free.
For this reason, I would have had a VERY hard time doing Bradley classes with Hypnobabies. I called Hypnobabies my "brainwashing," because I had to wholeheartedly embrace the idea that labor would be easy, fast, and comfortable. I would not have been able to do that while simultaneously going to a class that talks about how to manage pain during labor.
The classes are almost identical as far as talking about staying low-risk (exercise and nutrition), the stages of labor, breastfeeding, etc., so I think either class will prepare you adequately from that perspective. The "homework" for both classes is almost identical (kegels, tailor sitting, squatting, pelvic raises), but Hypnobabies adds listening to the scripts.
They both CAN prepare your DH adequately to be a support person. My DH got a lot more out of Bradley classes than out of Hypnobabies, but I believe that's because we did Bradley CLASSES, rather than home study, like we did with Hypnobabies. He had no problem sitting through classes, but wasn't motivated enough to read the home study materials.
Anyway, I would suggest reading up on both of them and choosing ONE that "fits" you better. I much preferred the relaxation techniques from Hypnobabies to those offered by Bradley, but I think it's more demanding as far as not really leaving any room for doubts in your head. The moment you stop believing in your self-hypnosis, it stops working... and so if you anticipate that you may have a hard time believing, you may prefer Bradley.
Mommy to DD1 (June 2007), DS (January 2010), DD2 (July 2012), and The Next One (EDD 3/31/2015)
i think the role your husband plays may help you decide. from what i know, bradley is husband-coached and mine is so not the coach type. so i've opted for hypnobabies, which is mostly on me, and hired a doula for the support for it. if my husband really wanted to be involved more, i might've gone more towards bradley.
also i felt like hypnobabies would help me more with anxiety and relaxation, and so far it has.
this. only from my personal experience. we did bradley with #1 and it was excellent - for my husband. it left me void of real techniques to use in birth. i defaulted to deep breathing on my own (which i later learned was the foundation for hypnobirthing) and took a hypnobirthing class for this baby.
I personally wouldn't combine them.
Bradley is more about working through pain and understanding it as "pain with a purpose". Hypnobabies is trying to convince your mind that what it's feeling is *pressure*, not pain. If you're easily succeptible to negative thoughts, Bradley can interefere with that reprogramming.
Also, in Hypnobabies, your coach's role is to protecrt you, keep people away from you and keep things super quiet. They don't do much to you at all - in fact, I found anyone touching me/talking to me during pressure waves to be very distracting when I was trying to stay in hypnosis.
With Bradley, your husband is very involved in talking you through or massaging you, holding you etc through every wave. You could be different, but I would not have been able to make the two work together at all.