Last night I had the most incredible discussion with my husband's grandmother. She is a very analytical, not very sentimental kind of lady, so to hear her talk about her birth experiences is a big deal. Also, she is a doctor ( well, retired now), so you can imagine I am not super confident about telling her our entire birth plan.
Anyhow, I was talkng to her about the progress of the pregnancy and one of the cool, progressive care programs that our military hospital has set up. before I know, she is telling me about she was hypnotized for my F-I-L's birth....this was in the 1950's.
Since it was her firs time doing it, she had no idea that it was out of teh ordinary. It just so happened hat the OB she was referred to had been experimenting with hypnotism, and he asked her if she would be willing to see how susceptible she was to it. Well, apparently, she was very susceptible, and they decided to have regular visits, with her husband ther( in the 50's !) to plan on using hypnotism at the birth.
My grandfather in law was still not allowed in at the birth, hospital policy back then, but he waited int eh waiting room. It wa typical to gas women at that point in time, but the doctor instructed the l/d nurse that grandmother wouldn't be needing anything. They even let her watch the deliery in a mirrow, and at one point, when she tore and was bleeding, the doctor told her " Eileen, I want you to stop that bleeding" she says she had no idea how it happened, but she remembers watching in the mirror and seeing the bleeding stop. She swears that she never felt anything more than the urge to have a bowel movement.
She actually walked out of the delivery room ( after getting her stitches) to tell my grandpa in law that they had a boy. Furthermore, she felt so fantastic and euphoric after the birth, that the nurses called her doctor because they thought she should be sedated- this was when women were treated like invalids at birth. All of the other women were laying on their backs in pain, while she gabbed on the phone
p
What is so awesome about this story is that this lady is so analytical and skeptical, you know that she is telling the truth about the whole thing. She had no idea that this has become somewhat of a birthing movement, she was just sharing her experience.
If anything proves that hypnobirthing can work, this would be it)
Anyhow, I was talkng to her about the progress of the pregnancy and one of the cool, progressive care programs that our military hospital has set up. before I know, she is telling me about she was hypnotized for my F-I-L's birth....this was in the 1950's.
Since it was her firs time doing it, she had no idea that it was out of teh ordinary. It just so happened hat the OB she was referred to had been experimenting with hypnotism, and he asked her if she would be willing to see how susceptible she was to it. Well, apparently, she was very susceptible, and they decided to have regular visits, with her husband ther( in the 50's !) to plan on using hypnotism at the birth.
My grandfather in law was still not allowed in at the birth, hospital policy back then, but he waited int eh waiting room. It wa typical to gas women at that point in time, but the doctor instructed the l/d nurse that grandmother wouldn't be needing anything. They even let her watch the deliery in a mirrow, and at one point, when she tore and was bleeding, the doctor told her " Eileen, I want you to stop that bleeding" she says she had no idea how it happened, but she remembers watching in the mirror and seeing the bleeding stop. She swears that she never felt anything more than the urge to have a bowel movement.
She actually walked out of the delivery room ( after getting her stitches) to tell my grandpa in law that they had a boy. Furthermore, she felt so fantastic and euphoric after the birth, that the nurses called her doctor because they thought she should be sedated- this was when women were treated like invalids at birth. All of the other women were laying on their backs in pain, while she gabbed on the phone
pWhat is so awesome about this story is that this lady is so analytical and skeptical, you know that she is telling the truth about the whole thing. She had no idea that this has become somewhat of a birthing movement, she was just sharing her experience.
If anything proves that hypnobirthing can work, this would be it
)
Thanks for sharing the story!
