What is hypnobirthing? All your questions answered
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Earlier this week, Ella Mills (a.k.a Deliciously Ella, the woman behind the mega-successful plant-based food business of the same name, and who boasts a cool 1.6 million Instagram followers) announced she had given birth to her daughter, Skye Mills.
In one of the subsequent Instagram posts after announcing the birth, Mills wrote: “I went totally into my own space during the birth, focusing on every sensation and visualising what was happening during it, thinking of each one as a wave. It’s a whole other level of surrendering and trusting your body totally, and we spent months focusing on letting go of fear, learning everything we could about birth, so that we felt as educated and informed about every step of the process and every decision along the way.”
One of the tools Mills used during her birth was hypnobirthing.
“Hypnobirthing is both an approach to antenatal education and a set of tools and techniques that women and their birth partners can use during pregnancy to help reframe the way they feel about giving birth and release any fear or anxiety they feel about it too,” Megan Rossiter, founder of Positively Birthing tells the Standard.
“Many of the tools can also be used during labour itself to help manage the sensations of labour and help women feel calm and relaxed during birth.”
Earlier this year, Rosie – who runs lifestyle blog The Londoner – took hypnobirthing classes with Rossiter prior to giving birth to Lily at home in February.
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“I had heard wonderful things about hypnobirthing from other mums,” Rosie tells the Standard. “Whether they had a hippie-homebirth or an epidural on their back in hospital, they all said that hypnobirthing gave them a wonderful sense of power and control in a situation where it’s easy to slip into panic and fear.”
Rosie explains that Rossiter had showed her how she could reframe the idea of ‘painful contractions’ into ‘powerful surges’ and to see them as something that will bring you closer to meeting your baby.
“My husband found it incredibly helpful as Megan taught him little tricks to help me focus when it all got too much,” Rosie continues.
“I used hypnobirthing throughout labour to have an incredible natural birth at home. When we met our baby it was very peaceful, calm, she didn’t cry, she just looked up at us like she’d done it all before. I was grateful not to feel drugged by pain relief, so I could be completely present in that moment.”
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Rosie doubts she would have been able to do a natural birth – whether at home or in the hospital – without hypnobirthing and recommends expectant mothers book a class or two to learn the techniques.
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Rossiter first encountered hypnobirthing when she was pregnant with her first baby. She explained: "I was actually midway through my midwifery training at the time and I approached my own birth from quite a medical, scientific perspective, so needless to say, when someone suggested ‘hypnobirthing’ to me, I was somewhat sceptical. Once I realised that actually, it’s grounded in science, evidence based and completely logical, I was sold."
After finishing maternity leave, Rossiter decided to retrain as a hypnobirthing and antenatal teacher instead, which she combined with her NHS experience to start Positively Birthing. We asked Rossiter some of our most burning questions about hypnobirthing below.
What are the benefits of hypnobirthing?
“Current research shows that women who prepare for labour through the practice of hypnobirthing experience overall shorter labours with less intervention and reach for less pharmacological methods of pain relief," says Rossiter. "That’s not to say the hypnobirthing can’t still be incredibly effective for women who choose to use epidurals or accept medical intervention. Hypnobirthing tools enable women to feel calm, confident and in control and is suitable for every kind of birth- whether that’s a water birth in your living room, an induction with an epidural or a C-section.
“From a personal perspective, we had planned a home birth for our first baby, but due to a medical situation that arose, we ended up opting for an induction on a labour ward. Thanks to the hypnobirthing preparation we felt in control of our choices and had an incredibly positive birth in what may otherwise have been more difficult circumstances.”
How can you practice hypnobirthing techniques during labour?
“A key focus of hypnobirthing is about the choices that you make around your birth and the impact of these on both how you feel and the actual physiology of birth," says Rossier. "Fully understanding what our bodies and minds need in order for birth progress as expected, is probably one of the biggest ways hypnobirthing can impact birth. Ultimately it comes down to four things: the need to feel safe, relaxed, unobserved and undisturbed.
“Some of that will come from the choice’s women make about their birth environment, and some of it will come from practical hypnobirthing tools themselves. Whether that is the highly effective breathing techniques, oxytocin producing massage techniques or the use of relaxation or hypnosis scripts. The scripts themselves are a key component of hypnobirthing [as they] enable women to access a state of deep relaxation, perfect to keep them in the part of the nervous system our bodies need to remain in for birth to actually ‘work’.”
When should you start taking hypnobirthing classes?
“There are many ways of accessing the tools and techniques of hypnobirthing, whether that’s reading a book, accessing an online course such as The Positively Birthing Online Course or in-person courses in a group or one to one. It will totally depend from person to person as to which method suits them best.
“It’s never too early (or too late) to start. Generally, I work with women and their partners between 20-30 weeks of pregnancy. The longer you have to practice the techniques the better, but equally, even if your ‘due date’ was yesterday, an understanding of hypnobirthing could still change everything, so never assume you’ve missed the boat.”
Is hypnobirthing the key to a less painful and more positive birth experience?
“Both yes and no. Hypnobirthing is a total game changer when it comes to birth preparation, there’s no doubt about it. But there’s no magic wand for a positive birth," says Rossiter. "Some women report feeling just a sensation of ‘power’ during labour and not one of pain, but for the majority of us, whether practicing hypnobirthing or not, birth is likely to hurt. The difference lies in what those sensations mean to us (is it bad and something we want to stop, or something we welcome and respect as it takes us closer to meeting our baby?) and also the tools we have at our fingertips to manage those sensations both on a physical and emotional level.
“A positive birth experience, in my opinion, relies on women feeling fully informed about every choice that she makes during pregnancy and birth, supported and respected in those choices by the people looking after her and having tools, techniques and information available to her to get as close to the kind of birth that she wants, in the safest way possible for her and her baby.”
Rossiter’s 5 top hypnobirthing tips for expectant mums
1. Opt for in-person sessions
Where at all possible take an in person session if you can afford to. Having a baby is expensive business, a new buggy can set you back more than a second hand car these days. But you won’t look back 20 years later and remember the day you chose your pram, the day you give birth on the other hand, will stay with you forever.
2. Make sure you 'click' with your teacher
Find a teacher or class whose approach you ‘click’ with. Hypnobirthing teachers are as unique as you are and their passions, approach and expertise will all differ.
3. Online courses are a happy medium
If an in-person course is out of your budget or doesn’t work practically, an online course is a happy medium between a book and in person course. Generally, much more affordable (ours is just £40) and easier to fit in at a time to suit you.
4. Read positive birth stories
So much of hypnobirthing is to do with reframing the way feel about birth. So, turn off One Born Every Minute, which makes for very exciting viewing, but isn’t generally a very realistic representation of what birth actually looks like. Read positive birth stories instead, head to your nearest Positive Birth Movement meet-up or follow some Positive Birth Accounts on social media.
5. Don’t let scepticism hold you back
When I first heard about hypnobirthing, it all sounded a bit too alternative for me. But, I would say it’s more comparable to something like sports psychology - marathon runners will use similar tools to help them break through the ‘16-mile wall’. Hypnobirthing does the same thing for birth - helps us to utilise the power of the mind to help the body perform at its best physically.
For more on Rosie visit her site The Londoner and for more information on hypnobirthing visit Positively Birthing.