Many of you have seen these posts and expressed interest in finding out more about Hypnobirthing. You can find all the posts I've written about it here:
My Discovery of Hypnobirthing:
The Hypnobabies Lessons I've blogged through:
And also be sure visit the Hypnobabies website, www.hypnobabies.com, for more great information. (Some of the Hypnobabies links embedded in my posts may be outdated since Hypnobabies has updated their website). If you have any questions or want more details, please feel free to send me a message and ask away!
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"A rose may still be a rose by any other name...but would you still be as willing to walk up and smell it if I called it a Stinkweed?" -Hypnobabies Workbook, Chapter 1
When I first read Lesson #1 of Hypnobabies, it caught me a bit off guard. It explains, of course, the basics of the normal hypnotic state we experience each day, and how such a state can enable us to naturally manage pain—all of which I expected. But the remainder focuses on changing one’s entire set of vocabulary used when referring labor and delivery. Hence, Due Date = Guess Date (because really, it is…you’re nuts if you think that little wheel is actually accurate!)
Pain = Discomfort or Pressure
Contraction = Pressure Wave
Labor = Birthing Time
Transition = Transformation
…and so on. I found this concept a bit silly at first, especially in practice: “What is that you say? You’re having a contraction? Not sure what that is, but I am having a Pressure Wave!” Seriously? Oddity aside, though, the science behind it is that we are all suggestible beings. (Marketing 101; must be why all those Facebook ads have me salivating over another pair of cute shoes when my closet is already bursting with ten pairs like it. But I digress). This means the ideas, words, and images we encounter can be so influential that our bodies have a pre-programmed reaction to them. Example: when virtually any woman in the English-speaking Western world hears the word “contraction,” she will likely cringe as her brain associates that word with things like pain, exhaustion, and fear, and her body will respond accordingly. The triggered response may be just emotional, but can easily translate to the physical as well: quicker breathing, tightened muscles, the increase of adrenaline (‘fight or flight’ response), increased perspiration, increased heart rate, etc. Many times it’s a chain reaction.
The more we hear these words and associate them with said negative concepts, the more quickly our bodies learn to respond unfavorably (darn muscle memory!). So one measly word association can stress us out enough to negatively affect what a woman’s body was originally made to do: birth a baby all on its own without lots of fear, drama, medication, or unnecessary intervention. To overcome this, we must learn some new optimistic, euphemistic terms with positive associations which re-train our brains and bodies to work with us and accomplish nature’s original goal.
Same goes with the situational. It’s not just words that trigger a response, but any situation appealing to our senses, especially in a negative way. This includes all those baby shows on TV, since producers know that more drama = more viewership. Dangerous, too, are those horrid labor stories that everyone from Aunt Mildred to the stranger in Target feel compelled to share as soon as they see—and try to rub—your bump.
The Hypnobabies Rule: While pregnant, do not watch any Desperate Laborers shows, and never ever ever allow someone to impart her past (and most likely inflated) “wisdom” and misery on you. These will cause you to view the entire birthing process negatively (be it consciously or subconsciously), even if the end result is positive (read: baby). So even if a woman’s labor did last five days and she pushed for 12 hours, it should have no bearing on your experience. This isn’t to say that nothing will ever go wrong during pregnancy or birth (because sadly, it sometimes does). Rather, every experience is unique, and just because half the labors in Baby Story end in an emergency C-section or Aunt Mildred had the worst labor known to womankind doesn’t mean yours will be anything like that. In effect, we should focus only on those things we can control prior to the big event (like healthy eating, exercise, and positive mental stimulation) and fill our heads with positive thoughts and associations to help our bodies cooperate, instead of creating a self-fulfilling prophesy with worries and negative thoughts. Accordingly, a woman should tell talkative friends, relatives, and strangers that under no circumstances will she entertain a useless “my labor was more agonizing” peeing contest. So can it, Auntie M.
Luckily, this isn’t too hard for me to internalize since I did a lot of my “re-training” last time…and had a pretty awesome second birthing experience following the pretty traumatic first one. This reinforces the idea that each experience is unique, and birthing a baby can be peaceful and wonderful instead of scary and painful, especially if I continue to learn how to best cooperate with nature. And as odd as it seemed at first, the concept of word power in practice actually worked last time: I felt very intense—yet manageable—pressure, and not much of what I’d classify as actual “pain”. So my focus starting this week is fine-tuning my filter for the positive…starting now. In with the good, out with the bad!
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