Any HypnoBirthing/Calmbirthing stories???

[zenifa]

I have used hypnobirthing even though I have had 2 c/s, it helped with pain and anxiety management, control of bleeding and helped with my recovery in terms of managing pain etc.

I have taught hypnobirthing & general hypnotherapy for years and have also helped some friends with their births.
One of my friend had her 3rd baby successfully using hypnobirthing 3 weeks ago. With each of her 3 vag births, she had no drugs nor interventions and no tears etc and had a wonderful birth experience. So it can be done!!

Good luck to all of you reading the books, doing the courses and in your births!!

[~Emmylou~]

I just supported someone on the weekend who did hypnobirthing. She had a 40 hour posterior labour - she did it completely drug free.

I was amazed at how well she handled it, it really seemed to make a difference. Even as she got quite well into labour she remained very relaxed. I was pleasantly surprised when she had a VE and was 8cm, I would never have thought she was so close as she had still barely broken a sweat.

There are two things I want to say about it though.

The first is that I am really, *really* uncomfortable with the way the course minimises the pain factor. It refers to pressure, but not pain and I think this can set some women up with unrealistic expectations of what labour will be like. I don't care how relaxed you are - labour still hurts for about 99% of us.

The second thing is that it's a good idea to research and learn outside of the concepts taught in the course. Hypnobirthing doesn't seem to address issues in labour that might require movement...in all the videos women are stationary and sometimes in labour we need to move around. For example to shift a posterior baby.

Other than those two issues, I think the skills are really worthwhile learning

[3'llhavetodo]

What a great story thanks heaps storklove

Hi Girls
Just thought that I would let you know that I did Hypnobirthing for my labour and birth.
Was fantastic I cant rave about it enough.
I had a 17hr labour (which unfortunately ended in a c-sect due to him getting stuck) but I had no "contraction" pain I felt a small tightening/pressure feeling at each surge but was not painful just new it was there. I was able to talk and walk around no probs spent some time in the bath, had a shower, even a cup of hot choc about half way through - The midwives were amazed that the techiniques i was using were having such a massive effect on the labour at first they didnt believe i was in labour. So my only advice is to do lots of positive research ( people will drive you crazy with there doubt and there horrific stories - IGNORE THEM)

I have found lots of great birth stories on the net

http://www.hypnobirthing.co.uk/birth_stories.shtml

http://www.hypnobirthing.com/birthing_stories.htm

Read the Mongan Method Book and if you can afford it do a class with a trained hypnobirth teacher/hypnotherapist

Also practice practice practice - by that I mean practice the breathing techniques, listen to any cd you get (everyday if possible) and practice positive birth afirmations

Lastly BELIEVE in urself, ur body and ur baby and the technique which you are using - dont let anyone put one dot of doubt in your mind if they do start reading all the positive stories again and again.

If you want anymore specific detail about my labour just ask.

Good Luck

[3'llhavetodo]

I think you make some good points Emmylou.

I think it all depends on your teacher, as much as my teacher is very strong in her beliefs regarding HypnoBirthing she is also fairly realistic in that there might be "special circumstances" aka complications that you might have to address and "sensations" that vary in strength. The reason for the change in termonology is so you can judge the experience for yourself without pre-judges negative expectations. She has told us that some ladies can practice to make themselves not feel any sensation, but they really have to work on this prior to labour. My teacher has also told us that it's better to move around if you can and has shown me some positions to help move our baby into a favourable position.

[Areca]

I used calmbirthing for the birth of my DD2 and it was great. It still hurt...a lot...but calmbirthing doesn't give you the illusion that it isn't going to hurt. Yes the steer away from the word pain because of the emotional impact that can have on some women (eg. I find a huge difference in my workouts at the gym now...if I take my focus away from how much something hurts I can endure it for much longer...if I let the instructor get in my head and listen to them sayin g'oh how much does that hurt, feel the burn' it's so much harder to get through and I cave much quicker) but they are definitely teaching you the skills needed to deal with the pain!
DD2's birth was not how I imagined it all. I had lots of changes that I wasn't prepared for emotionally and despite barely coping with being on the CTG monitor for 15 minutes with DD1 I found myself on it for the majority of my labour with DD2. I got to 7cm before I had a big meltdown over it all but with the help of my DH I was able to get back on track. I did ask for an epidural (never had it) but at that point I had really lost my focus and I was choosing to not get it back. I ended up having some gas but wasn't using it for the contractions because I found my breathing skills worked much better to get me through than the gas...the gas I used inbetween (naughty, naughty) to basically get on a high so I didn't have to think about the next contraction. I didn't realise I was actually going through a very, very fast transition and I also had some fear return about the second stage (I had a long second stage with DD1). In the end the midwife told me to focus and I breathed out my 10lb 2oz girl rather than screaming her out like I did with DD1.
After the birth I was very alert and was able to soak in those first precious memories of my DD2's life....something I didn't do with DD1...was in too much shock I think!

[3'llhavetodo]

Wow 10ld 2oz well done ace.

[Random541]

Quick update:

I have posted my birth story on the forum (sorry - its VERY long!). Not exactly the calm, relaxed hypnobirth I had envisaged, but I must say that the affirmations and general philosophy helped me a great deal. Things progressed extremely quickly and unfortunately things got a little bit out of control for me. I think if i had started the ball rolling and gone to hospital about half to one hour earlier and got my CD on and got in 'the zone' things may have been better.

Having said that, I truly believe that if I had not done the hypnobirthing course, I would not have coped at all with the way things turned out and would have been even more traumatised than I was by my first birth. In actual fact, I look back on the whole experience with joy and excitement and (as if you can't tell by my birth story) I actually enjoy telling people how things turned out - as crazy as it was!

[3'llhavetodo]

Hey well done Trin, will have to check out your story.

Quick update:

I have posted my birth story on the forum (sorry - its VERY long!). Not exactly the calm, relaxed hypnobirth I had envisaged, but I must say that the affirmations and general philosophy helped me a great deal. Things progressed extremely quickly and unfortunately things got a little bit out of control for me. I think if i had started the ball rolling and gone to hospital about half to one hour earlier and got my CD on and got in 'the zone' things may have been better.

Having said that, I truly believe that if I had not done the hypnobirthing course, I would not have coped at all with the way things turned out and would have been even more traumatised than I was by my first birth. In actual fact, I look back on the whole experience with joy and excitement and (as if you can't tell by my birth story) I actually enjoy telling people how things turned out - as crazy as it was!

[3'llhavetodo]

Well... I didn't get the vba2c HypnoBirth I planned as I went over and after trying every trick in the book, he wasn't coming out on his own so had to c/s [IMG]http://forums.**********.com.au/forums/images/smilies/sad.gif[/IMG]

In the end he was 9lb 11 so a vaginal birth may not have been so much fun anyway

[jaiyanti]

I used hypnobirthing for my birth and also can't rave enough. Yes, of course it hurt, but it was never unbearable. From the first twinges of back pain until the baby was born took exactly 10 hours.

I used no pain relief or anything, but we did use suction at the end because DS had the cord wrapped around his neck, twice, and the thinking was to get him out asap.

I think the best thing about hypnobirthing is that it teaches you not to contract against the pain but to ride it out, keeping your body as relaxed as possible. At least, that's how I experienced it and it seemed to work.