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3rd Trimester
Hypnobabies vs. Lamaze
any one have experience with either? hypnobabies classes are quite expensive. trying to decide which class to take. thanks 
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Re: Hypnobabies vs. Lamaze
Everything I've heard or read has said that HypnoBabies is much more helpful and gives you a lot more tools than Lamaze. HypnoBabies is very thorough, and includes breathing techniques, visualization, scripts, comfort techniques, etc. I respond really well when people talk to me in a soothing way, so for me the scripts and CDs are great. We're doing the home study course, which is cheaper and works better for us since DH is out to sea most of the time, so we can't make regular classes together. I've talked to other women who did the home course and had great success. However, I've heard it really requires someone who puts the time in and is good about studying on their own, and we also have a doula who has done HypnoBabies/HypnoBirthing and can walk us through a birth prep and also provide related support during the birth. The home course also has a section for the partner to help them prepare.
I just finished the Hypnobabies home study course this last week. The home course is $143, but I was able to purchase it when they had a sale, and I've also seen people sell their courses on ebay for cheaper.
This is different than the hypnobirthing classes. I can't speak to the classes, but as for the Hypnobabies home course -- I absolutely loved it. The nightly scripts have helped me to relax, sleep much, much better, and I feel completely prepared, confident, and excited for my natural childbirth.
Hopefully I can share my birth story with you soon!
Agreed, I think they are very different child birth philosophies. That said, I also think you can mold them a bit for what suits you. I like HypnoBabies for the techniques it gives you. The whole rewording of common childbirth terms kinda bugs me, so I still call pain by the word pain, etc., and I don't have a problem with the staff at the hospital using that terminology. I've talked to other women who didn't agree with all of their rewording etc and changed it for how they saw fit and still found the program very useful during birth. There is a lot of other stuff there to help you have a more positive outlook on childbirth and to give you helpful techniques.
I have no experience with Hypnobabies. I took Lamaze, but it was pretty much a bad idea -- I'm not going the natural route, and I can't stand it when they say "pressure" when they mean "pain." I also thought the videos they showed were VERY biased in terms of spouting out side effects to pain-management without any stats whatsoever. All I got out of it was info about the stages of labor. If i WERE attempting a natural childbirth, I think I'd feel pretty gipped, though. I think hypnosis would probably work a whole lot better for "pressure" than a few breathing tricks.
Then again, you're talking to the woman who is EXCITED about her epidural. YMMV.
I'm doing Hypnobabies as well and took a set of classes with Ginny Phang from Four Trimesters, a Hypnobirthing instructor and doula in Singapore. If anyone wants to know what's the difference between home study and actually taking the classes (and wondering what you get from the classes), with home study you can get the Mongan book on Hypnobirthing and Rainbow Relaxation/Birthing Affirmation CD and you're pretty much on your own. If you learn well solo, this is a great, inexpensive route for you.
In classes, you get all the above materials too, and we can either learn in a group setting or have a private class with Ginny alone, both have their own advantages. With group, you get questions you might forget to ask or never thought would ask - and you get to mingle with other pregnant couples and maybe even learn from their Hypnobirthing experiences. With private classes, your instructor can give very detailed and one-on-one experience, which is great. I don't know about other Hypnobirthing instructors, but we were given an extra set of summarized with extra info booklet, a couple of O-Ring cards with birth affirmations and positions to get into for positioning baby in the right place for optimal birthing experience (handy!).
Then, in the classes themselves, we were shown videos of mothers practicing Hypnobirthing and actually witness the lack of screaming, tension, stress or fear and the effect of Hypnobirthing has on mothers. It was liberating. One video actually made me cry, it was so beautiful.
) This is to prep you and reduce the shock value - husbands benefit from this too if they don't know what to expect in a delivery room.
Ginny also gave hands on approach on positions you can get into comfortably while in labor, and she also demonstrated Hypnobirthing techniques by speaking in a low, hypnotic voice - swaying you, relaxing you... making you utterly and comfortably relaxed.
What makes a successful Hypnobirthing experience:
- Baby engaging in optimal positioning in your womb for easiest and smoothest transition into the world
- Ways to calm and relax very deeply for a mother to naturally give birth to baby without the use of drugs, by practicing visualization and breathing patterns to suit stages of labor.
- Husband plays an important role to comfort and calm the mother, there's a script for them to read out
- No fear from the mother at all. Animals give birth with no preconceived notions of how it is supposed to hurt, etc... and it doesn't.
Also, in classes you'll be given "exercises" to do - sharing and purging your fears of birthing and ways you can cope with them. They also show you a detailed way of creating your own personal birth plan.
Um... so that's the general idea of what to expect from Hypnobirthing. Hope that helps.