Bradley vs. Hypnobirth

codarayo · April 2012

Okay, I'm still learning about these methods. What are the differences? Do you prefer one over the other? Why? What have your experiences been?

This is our 1st! We are excited and happy. However, I want to know as much as I can about different birthing methods. I know we are having natural childbirth for sure, but still looking into the different methods.

dmhrn13 · April 2012

Hypnobirthing. I am a midwife & Hypnobirthing teacher. Bradley is very much about the "right" & "wrong" way of doing things. There is a feeling of failure if things don't go exactly as planned- which they almost never do. Bradley patients get through but they scream their heads off. Also, the father answers everything for the mother- which is very irritating to me because- well, its your body.

Hypnobirthing moms are much more laid back & relaxed. They have calm births. Much more enjoyable. Good luck!

pixieprincss · April 2012

dmhrn13:

Hypnobirthing. I am a midwife & Hypnobirthing teacher. Bradley is very much about the "right" & "wrong" way of doing things. There is a feeling of failure if things don't go exactly as planned- which they almost never do. Bradley patients get through but they scream their heads off. Also, the father answers everything for the mother- which is very irritating to me because- well, its your body.

Hypnobirthing moms are much more laid back & relaxed. They have calm births. Much more enjoyable. Good luck!

Wow, I couldn't disagree more with PP! Bradley is not about a "right" or "wrong" way. Now, if you just read Bradley's own book, you may come away with that. But, if you go through the class series it is clear that the method has evolved from the 1950s phrasing of the book.

I am very, very sad to see a MW take such a low view of couples who have different approaches to birth and who dismisses the strong emotions of a mom when things work out differently than dreamed.

My MW and others I have known are very much Bradley proponents.

Anyway, to answer your question...

Bradley is about education for both partners and teaching dads/partners to coach mom through labor. "Coach" does not mean take control or be a mouthpiece. It means be an equal partner in terms of education and preparation and learn what relaxes mom so he can be the best encourager possible during labor.

The primary pain-management strategies for Bradley are education (understanding why pain in labor happens and why it is an amazing, guiding thing) and relaxing through the pain through deep, rythmic breathing, visualization, soothing touch, etc.

Bradley also focuses on nutrition, exercise, emotional prep for the birth, and each family prioritizing for themselves what their hopes are for the birth, ranking the desirability (or not) of interventions, etc.

As someone who ended up having a challenging birth with my first, I still very much stand by Bradley. In the midst of very tense moments, I knew how to ask the right questions about if/when interventions were genuinelly medically advisable and how to assert myself.

JFH2010 · April 2012

I don't know much about Bradley, so I can only say that I had an awesome Hypnobabies birth. Self-hypnosis really worked for me and my labor was pretty quick. Not to say it didn't hurt, but I was in a good mental space to get through it. Here's my birth story if you're interested: https://community.thebump.com/cs/ks/forums/thread/64426021.aspx

LindseyJW · April 2012

pixieprincss:
dmhrn13:

Hypnobirthing. I am a midwife & Hypnobirthing teacher. Bradley is very much about the "right" & "wrong" way of doing things. There is a feeling of failure if things don't go exactly as planned- which they almost never do. Bradley patients get through but they scream their heads off. Also, the father answers everything for the mother- which is very irritating to me because- well, its your body.

Hypnobirthing moms are much more laid back & relaxed. They have calm births. Much more enjoyable. Good luck!

Wow, I couldn't disagree more with PP! Bradley is not about a "right" or "wrong" way. Now, if you just read Bradley's own book, you may come away with that. But, if you go through the class series it is clear that the method has evolved from the 1950s phrasing of the book.

I am very, very sad to see a MW take such a low view of couples who have different approaches to birth and who dismisses the strong emotions of a mom when things work out differently than dreamed.

this and especially this.

there is a post about the differences between Bradley and HypnoBirthing in this board's FAQ blog (link in my siggie).

i am also a HypnoBirthing instructor as well as a Bradley graduate. my first birth did not go as well as one would hope and i did feel like quite the failure, but in all honesty, I absolutely do not blame that on Bradley. coincidental, at most.

i found that my personality changed as i progressed through my 1st pregnancy. while i started off very much a Bradley type, i slowly morphed into someone for whom HypnoBirthing was a better fit. i did not feel that i got sufficient relaxation techniques from my Bradley class and the techniques did not work well for me. i spent more time trying to do the right thing than i did just following what my body wanted to do (which was not what I'd learned to do in labor). in retrospect, i believe i wanted to follow a textbook labor pattern and my labor was anything but textbook.

to bradley's credit, i obviously had experience going into my second birth, but it was much more laid back the second time.

codarayo · April 2012

Thanks so much!

codarayo · April 2012

Great birth story! Thanks for sharing!

dmhrn13 · April 2012

I deliver a lot of babies. I am talking from that experience. Also, I have read the Bradley notebook they give out in class & it has incorrect medical information in it.

But lets face it, there are women around the world every day giving birth without a "method"- they just do it!

dmhrn13 · April 2012

She asked for opinions

bornmommy · April 2012

dmhrn13:
Hypnobirthing. I am a midwife & Hypnobirthing teacher. Bradley is very much about the "right" & "wrong" way of doing things. There is a feeling of failure if things don't go exactly as planned- which they almost never do. Bradley patients get through but they scream their heads off. Also, the father answers everything for the mother- which is very irritating to me because- well, its your body.

Hypnobirthing moms are much more laid back & relaxed. They have calm births. Much more enjoyable. Good luck!

I am also in complete disagreement with this statement. Dh and I just finished our Bradley course and I, in no way, feel like it spoke to the "right and wrong" ways of labor and birthing. In fact, it really was very educational at all ends and helped DH feel like he can really take on a role in the labor process. Also, the part about failure, I have an A-Type personality and always feel the need to be in control. My Bradley instructor told me flat out to only worry about things I had some control over and stop concerning myself because things do happen. She made it clear that your experience in labor is unknown until known and there is no need to feel like a failure because the main goal in labor is to get the baby out, event means c-section or drugs.

Bradley teaches you to be your own advocate throughout your labor process by educating you and your partner. It's not so much a "method" as it is a philosophy that puts you and your partner in control of your experience (as much as you can have!) I cannot speak to Hynopbirthing and won't bash something I do not know about but will say that I loved my Bradley classes and am looking forward to my birth more now that I've had them!

flyer23 · April 2012

No experience with Hypnobirthing, but I did Bradley with my first, and Hypnobabies with my second and this one.

Pretty much ditto everything LindsayJW said.

I did a long blog post recently, contrasting my experiences with the different methods: https://homebirthjourney.blogspot.com/2012/03/childbirth-preparation-classes.html

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