The science behind Hypnobirthing

How does Hypnobirthing really work?

Let's address the elephant in the room.

I know how hypnobirthing sounds. It conjures up images of hippies giving birth in a field, banging a drum and wafting incense. Birth partners can feel really skeptical about it too and wonder how it can actually benefit you when it comes to preparing to give birth.

The truth is that hypnobirthing has absolutely nothing to do with how much of a hippy you are - or aren't.

Hypnobirthing is a fully comprehensive, evidence based antenatal course which empowers you to feel totally confident for birth. It teaches you powerful relaxation techniques to help you stay calm and cope with pain, gives you an in depth understanding of the science behind birth and can help you to navigate the maternity system so that you can have the most positive experience.

These powerful relaxation tools and techniques are for every single birth.

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What's the 'hypno' in Hypnobirthing?

Spoiler - it isn't what you think!

The 'Hypno' in Hypnobirthing stands for hypnosis.

Essentially, this is all about learning how to go into a deep state of relaxation. When you feel more relaxed during labour, contractions typically feel less painful and birth can unfold much more easily. Being relaxed also helps to boost your birthing hormones, in particular the hormone Oxytocin. This is the hormone responsible for starting labour and for keeping it going!

The hypnosis element of Hypnobirthing also helps you to move away from a place of feeling fearful about giving birth and to a place where you feel really confident.

Positive birth stories

How does feeling fearful effect birth?

When it comes to birth, most of us have pretty negative expectations. This is usually driven from other people's stories, the TV, films, social media and our over thinking human minds. But this fear can negatively impact our experience of birth.

When you feel fear, your body will naturally tense up. If your body is tense when labour starts, this will make giving birth feel more painful.

Once you start to experience high levels of pain, you may become even more fearful and your body will tense up even more. You then get stuck in this vicious cycle and your body begins to pump you with the hormone adrenaline. This is your fight or flight hormone.

Adrenaline isn't a hormone you want during labour. It can slow your labour down and even stop it altogether, this is because your body doesn't feel safe.

On a Hypnobirthing course, we are aiming to really minimise your fear levels, enabling you to become more relaxed during labour and therefore reducing any pain your may experience.

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The mind body connection

Hypnobirthing focuses a lot on the role of the mind and the part this plays in birth. This might sound a bit 'woo woo' but think about it - without the mind, the body wouldn't work!

On a Hypnobirthing course, we focus specifically on the unconscious part of your mind which isn't something other antenatal courses do.

One of the biggest functions of the unconscious mind is your basic survival instincts and it's also the part of the mind responsible for emotions.

The unconscious mind processes things that it sees or hears as either safe or unsafe.

So if you constantly hear a negative birth stories, your unconscious mind will process birth as unsafe. This means that when labour starts, your unconscious mind could trigger your fight or flight to kick in, triggering a whole series of emotional, hormonal and physically responses to something it perceives as dangerous.

This is an amazing mechanism when you're actually in danger, but giving birth is not inherently dangerous. When this response is triggered during birth, your experience is not likely to be a comfortable or enjoyable one.

But it's not enough to simply tell yourself to 'relax'. Relaxation is a skill that you have to learn, and this is exactly what you will learn on a course with me. I'll teach you practical, hands on relaxation skills that both you and your birthing partner can use to stay calm during labour, helping you to achieve a positive birthing experience no matter what happens on the day.

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Hypnobirthing for all births

Even if birth goes in a different way to what you were expecting, my Hypnobirthing courses will help you to stay calm, in control and ultimately view your baby's birth as a positive experience.

I'm very clear that Blooming Births Hypnobirthing is for all types of women, people and births. i promote an inclusive, supportive environment where all births are celebrated.

Whether you want a homebirth, a hospital birth, or a c-section, I can support you to have a truly empowering birth experience.

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Benefits of Hypnobirthing

A study from the the Royal Wolverhampton NHS trust looked into the effectiveness of Hypnobirthing. The research found that Hypnobirthing can:

Help to eliminate fear and worry surrounding childbirth, so that you can relax & enjoy your pregnancy
Help you to feel calmer, relaxed and more in control during labour
Gives your birthing partner an active role to play during birth, rather than feeling like a spare part
Help your baby to born in a calm way which helps them adjust to the outside world
Reduce the levels of pain you may experience during birth. 53% of those who used hypnobirthing during labour experienced slight or no pain compared to 6% who didn’t use hypnobirthing
Reduce the chance of you needing an epidural. 14% of those who used hypnobirthing during labour had an epidural compared to 40-95% of those who didn’t use hypnobirthing
Reduce the chance of you needing a c-section. 4% C-section rate for those using hypnobirthing compared to 15-20% for those without hypnobirthing

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Booking a Hypnobirthing course can feel like a huge investment - believe me, I get it. It's also really important that you find the right Hypnobirthing teacher for you.

If you have any questions about my courses, please do get in touch!

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