When Elaine (not her real name) phoned her midwife to say she thought she might be in labour, her midwife asked a few key questions about the frequency and strength of the birth contractions. As a first time mom, Elaine had struggled with anxious feelings in her pregnancy, but now she was pleasantly surprised with how calm she felt.

As Elaine chatted through the contractions on the phone, her midwife confirmed the pattern of every two to three minutes, lasting a minute.

Elaine was planning to birth in the hospital unit in which her midwife had staff privileges. I taught the prenatal classes that Elaine and Ben had taken and I remember her saying to the group, “I am not even sure if I am capable of natural birth.” Over and over throughout her pregnancy, everyone agreed that taking chemical anaesthetic in labour was somehow essential: “Take the drugs, Elaine,” her friend said, “it’s the only way!”

Managing pain

Elaine was frightened at the thought of being in pain, terrified that either her or her baby might be harmed somehow, and deeply distressed at the possibility of losing control. Every day her baby kept getting bigger and she could not imagine how her body could possibly open enough for birth. Ben thought that his role was to help her during birth, but he had no real idea of how to do that.

As a Childbirth Educator, I teach a wide range of hypnotic strategies to help reduce the perception of pain. In my classes, participants look at and test different strategies with self-hypnosis because what works best for one woman might not work for another.

What you may not know is that if you are planning a natural birth, you will still be getting lots of “drugs”…your body makes natural anesthetics that are good for you and good for your baby. In fact, you have 24/7 access to an amazing internal pharmacy that provides safe and effective relief.

A couple of Elaine’s classmates were planning on using an epidural[i] in the birth and the rest, like Elaine, were hoping for natural birth, but had low confidence in their ability to cope with physical pain. Two couples were planning home birth, so self-hypnosis was their primary strategy for comfort in birth. One couple signed up for the course because a friend had used self-hypnosis for a planned caesarean (with epidural) with great success. Another couple was planning a VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Caesarean) and wanted to improve their odds, because almost 75 percent of women with a previous caesarean have an automatic repeat caesarean.

Self-hypnosis can be used in conjunction with an epidural for two reasons. First, in the period before receiving an epidural, women are expected to cope without medications, and self-hypnosis is superb for this. Second, during the administration of an epidural, fears of needles⁄procedures can be easily calmed, which allows the epidural to work more effectively, while also reducing the potential for risk.

One of the reasons that hypnosis works so well in today’s birthing culture is that women are capable of the deep inner focus that block out distractions inherent in busy hospital units; hypnosis also calms the primitive brain’s fight-flight-freeze response. The fact that women can be attended to by strangers in an unfamiliar setting…and still birth naturally…is a remarkable testament to self-hypnosis.

Supporting research

Elaine liked the idea that other women using hypnosis had, on average, about half the length of labour, a reduction of about 75 percent of epidural use and a reduction of about 70 percent of the caesarean rate[ii].

In fact, a growing body of medical research shows an association between hypnosis and faster births, reduced interventions and increased rates of natural birth [iii-xi].

Relaxing into the birth process

Even though it seemed like active labour, the mild nature of the contractions led Ben and Elaine to think that they had a while to go. They both knew that from the first contraction, it could take 24 hours (or more) until their baby was born, so their first priority was to rest, sleep, and eat so that they could maintain their energy.

Elaine found that self-hypnosis calmed her so that she could relax into the contractions. Sometimes she did her self-hypnosis by herself; sometimes, she used her Quick Self-Hypnosis recording. A few times, however, she needed more help to get back to sleep, so she emptied her bladder, returned to bed, got comfortable and put on a longer hypnosis recording. In the morning, her body let her know that the contractions were closer and getting stronger, and that it was time to call the midwife.

About an hour after their call, the midwife arrived at Elaine and Ben’s home (much to the excitement of the dog). Elaine was already relaxing in her bathtub, pouring water over her belly. With every contraction, she briefly focused her eyes on a spot in front of her, then closed her eyes and proceeded to use her favourite technique to take herself into a deeper state of hypnosis. Elaine had tried a few different strategies in the prenatal classes as well as in the weeks following and finally settled on a combination of walking up an imaginary set of stairs to her mental “happy place.” She found it helpful to take another “step” with each exhale as a way to pace herself.

Everyone was surprised and happy to learn from the midwife that it was time to go to the hospital. Realizing that as she was in strong, active labour and that everything was normal, Elaine and Ben finally let all their old fears vanish. Ben touched Elaine’s shoulder with a hypnosis command for her to remain relaxed as she left the tub, changed her clothes and settle into the car. She put on her hypnosis Deepening recording with earbuds while Ben drove.

Like many women, Elaine did not feel comfortable in hospitals and she knew that a fear of hospitals can sometimes stop labour contractions. She especially liked the idea that she would relax deeper in the car and deeper still when she arrived at the hospital, thus ensuring that her birth would continue well. Between the contractions, she mentally reminded her baby to stay inside her until she was ready.

In today’s stress-filled culture, many are looking for alternatives for birth that are safe for both mother and baby. There is plenty of evidence to suggest that the safest method of pain relief is that achieved with hypnosis; the safest birth is a birth with a minimum of intervention.

Soon after settling into the birth room, Elaine and Ben welcomed their son, Jacob. As they looked back at the birth, they were pleased to see how well hypnosis worked for them and felt ready to be parents to their beautiful little boy.

Shawn Gallagher is a Board Certified Hypnotist who has trained more than 900 couples since 1998 in the use of hypnosis to promote a calmer, faster and more comfortable birth. As a retired midwife, Shawn brings a wealth of experience to childbirth preparation, improving fertility, changing habits and other health conditions. To access a free MP3, visit Shawn’s website.

References