Hypnobabies: What Can I Expect?

[OurLittleNest]

I am about to order the Hypnobabies Home Study Course but I wanted to hear from a some mothers who have used it (or are using it right now). What can I expect?

It says that there are five classes and you advance to a new class each week with practice every day. So do you listen to the same "class" every day for a week before advancing to the next one? And what is the workbook all about? And would this home study course include the CD that I would listen to in labor? Is that a separate CD and how long is it?

Also, are there other choices for hypnobirthing self-study courses other than Hypnobabies? I have heard of the Mongan method but I didn't hear good things. It seems like Hypnobabies is the most popular.

Thanks for all your insight. I've reviewed the website and read about it online but I would really like to hear some personal experiences/explanations.

[TabithaB]

Yeah. I have been reading up on it a bit also. I am just wondering is it all it is cracked up to be or hype. I am pretty busy. I read online I think that you had to listen to a 35 minute stretch of birth affirmations, etc every night. I am not sure that I would have the time or self discipline to do that (distraction free anyways).

Do the benefits outweigh the costs and is it worth the money and effort. I also don't quite get the whole calling a contraction a "rush" thing either. I am open minded but not sure if it is for me. I would love some feedback on it be it either positive and/or negative.

[Veritaserum]

Over 250 birth stories of moms using hypnosis (mostly Hypnobabies) are here:

http://pregnancybirthandbabies.com/P...th_stories.htm

I've only used the live class materials, but I'm sure the home study includes the Birth Guide CD (one specifically designed for listening during labor). The Birth Guide CD has two tracks. The first one is 50 minutes long and has all the techniques from throughout the course put onto one track. It also talks about staying focused even if people are asking questions, etc. The second track is for pushing and it is 30 min. long. I listened to the first track on repeat a few times with one of my Hypnobabies births. It helped me take a nap at 8 cm. Another track specifically for labor is "Birthing Day Affirmations". I really liked that one with my last baby and listened to it several times during the course of the birth.

The workbook explains the techniques and gives other childbirth education info. The CDs are assigned for a particular listening order and schedule. In the live class, moms listen to the assigned script for the week three times and Deepening three times (alternating). After the next class they do the next script three times and Deepening three times. Etc. In addition to your hypnosis listening, you practice with your mental lightswitch. When you turn it off, you have instant relaxation and hypno-anesthesia (endorphins). In center position, your hypno-anesthesia is concentrated from your breasts to the middle of your thighs so that you can walk around. The finger drop practice took me less than 10 minutes a day.

Overall, I liked my hypnosis births better than my non-hypnosis epidural birth. I had to put in more effort before giving birth, but it really paid off when push (ha!) came to shove.

[babycatcher12]

I'm currently using it to prepare for my HBA3C. I really enjoy it. I listen to the CD's at night before bed or during naptime. I sometimes fall asleep, but it's no big deal. I've been surprised at how much I'm "absorbing" while I sleep. I have 3 LO at home so I was concerned too about having enough time to do it so I started a little early. I don't always listen every night/day, but it really has helped me even without listening all the time.

There are some great videos on youtube of moms having hypnobabies births which I have found really helpful.

I'm a pretty analytical person so I wasn't sure it was going to work as well for me, but I have found that it has helped me be more relaxed and comfortable this pregnancy. I am sleeping so much better!

Have you listened to the free track on their website? I listened to it for about a week before I decided to buy the homestudy package. Here's the link... http://www.enjoybirth.com/Free-Hypnobabies-Tracks.html

[paintedfire]

Originally Posted by Veritaserum

Over 250 birth stories of moms using hypnosis (mostly Hypnobabies) are here:

http://pregnancybirthandbabies.com/P...th_stories.htm

Wow. Thanks for the link. I'm toying with the idea of Hypnobabies myself. It'll take me forever to get through all of those!

[Veritaserum]

Originally Posted by TabithaB

Yeah. I have been reading up on it a bit also. I am just wondering is it all it is cracked up to be or hype. I am pretty busy. I read online I think that you had to listen to a 35 minute stretch of birth affirmations, etc every night. I am not sure that I would have the time or self discipline to do that (distraction free anyways).

Do the benefits outweigh the costs and is it worth the money and effort. I also don't quite get the whole calling a contraction a "rush" thing either. I am open minded but not sure if it is for me. I would love some feedback on it be it either positive and/or negative.

The Affirmations are meant to be "background noise". You can put them on while you're busy doing other things or even while you're driving.

For me, Hypnobabies worked to help me experience a more relaxed pregnancy and confidence about giving birth. The focus isn't on "painfree" so much as it is on working with your body and using hypno-anesthesia techniques (to release endorphins) to be more comfortable. I felt many sensations when giving birth with hypnosis, but I'd say that over 95% of those sensations were not what I would call painful. (I did have one painful birth using hypnosis, but it was painful due to complications.)

When I experienced uncomfortable sensations, I changed positions, used more hypnosis, etc. My body guided me to do what I needed to do without the legendary pain of childbirth. I've had menstrual cramps worse than labor. After giving birth with a working epidural (first baby) and hypnosis (last four), I would not choose to give birth wihout hypnosis.

[wombatclay]

I enjoyed my hypnobabies births... I can honestly say dd2's birth was uncomfortable but "pain free". DS's birth was beyond intense, but the hypnobabies program made the pregnancy a lot nicer/more comfortable so while the birth wasn't as calm as dd2's birth, the program still helped. My birth story with dd2 is on the hypnobabies yahoo group but I didn't add ds's. oops!

Time commitment- I put the affirmations on the cd player at home and in my mp3 player for taking on walks. It's "background noise" of sorts. The actual "lesson" I listened to once or twice with a sort of intentional focus... after that I put the lesson on the mp3 player and listened to it in bed. I found that the lessons put me to sleep and given my pregnancy insomnia, the sleep aspect was worth it's weight in gold! I also slowed the program down, listening to each lesson for two weeks instead of just one week. This isn't necessary or even necessarily beneficial, but it worked for me.

For practicing the tchniques, I worked it into my day. I'd get into the car, then do one or two finger drops before turning the car on. Or I'd do a set in the shower after I put conditioner on my hair (to give a moment before rinsing). I added a finger drop here and a lightswitch there and it wasn't a big deal. Sort of like if you think "I should do 100 kegels, no way do I have the time!" but if you do 10 while brushing your teeth, and 10 while you wash the dishes, and 10 at every red light, etc then you've done them and hardly noticed!

Oh, I also used the Maternal Fitness program (tupler technique) and that has regular exercises too... I planned on using the tupler technique during the birth so I made sure I was practicing these techniques at the same time as the hypnobabies. Both to add the exercises as a trigger and to become familiar with how it felt to do these positions while using self-anesthesia.

Anyway, I suggest hypnobabies to everyone I know. It's a great tool for pregnancy and birth.

[limette]

Was nice during pregnancy but didn't do a thing for me during labor. I've actually only heard good things about it on Mothering and on the hypnobabies yahoo group. Everywhere else I hear that it wasn't helpful.

[Sudonk]

I used the Hypnobabies Home Study, and it worked very well for me. The time commitment isn't big, if you take the time to get organized about it. The reading for each class took about an hour. I picked an evening as my "Hypnobabies night" and read the next lesson after the kids were in bed. Then I would put on the next script I was going to learn and listen to it without going into hypnosis (I would fold clothes or putter around doing similar brainless things) so I could stay alert and hear what was being taught. Once I knew what I was learning from the script, I would do my practice with it while I was sleeping - literally. I did my daily practice while I was in bed every night, and if I woke up during the night to go to the bathroom, I would press play again and pat myself on the back for doing double practice and being such a good student (while snoring - LOL!) I put the daily affirmations on my computer and put them on in the background when I was working, so they didn't take any time out of my day. I did my Fingerdrop practice 2-3 times after getting into bed, and again if I woke up at night. So practicing didn't really take any time out of my day, and learning it only took maybe 1 to 2 hours one night a week for the 5 weeks I was doing the lessons. VERY minimal time commitment for what I got out of it.

As others mentioned, the emphasis isn't on "painfree" birth, but rather on learning to understand all your choices and work with your body to maximize comfort and have the safest, best birth possible, no matter what circumstances arise. Quite simply, it worked beautifully for me. I loved being able to move around so easily and comfortably during the birth. Most Hypnobabies moms find that they are much more able to interact with others, remain calm and focused enough to request what they need from other others and move easily into the positions their body need them to take. That was certainly the case for me. At my first Hypnobabies birth, I was able to finish our taxes during the middle stage of the birth (prior to transition, but well into the active birthing time), take a 4 hour snooze right through transition, and walk into the birth center so relaxed that they considered sending me home because I "clearly wasn't in labor". A cervical check showing full dilation was all the convincing they needed that I should stick around. LOL! My second Hypnobabies birth was a fast 3 hours start-to-finish. It wasn't as comfortable as my longer, more gentle birth, but it wasn't painful. The difference for me was that the longer birth was so comfortable that I actually enjoyed and looked forward to the birthing sensations. With my fast birth, they were crampy and annoying, so I didn't enjoy them, but they also weren't painful so it wasn't a big deal.

Honestly, even with Hypnobabies, birth took some effort. I had to stay relaxed and calm and use the skills I had learned, and it wasn't always easy. I had to make the conscious choice to continue using the skills if things became intense. But even when it was most difficult it was still laughably easy, when I considered the fact that I was having a baby without any need for drugs, interventions or even discomfort! Yeah, I'd say that's worth the effort to stay focused, comfortable and calm!

So yes, in my experience, birth using Hypnobabies was well worth the time and money, and even better than I had imagined, even given the "hype".

[OurLittleNest]

Thanks everyone for your responses. They are so helpful and I look forward to hearing more.

As I read more about hypnobirthing, I have a few more questions. What is your husband/boyfriend/partner's role and how can they prepare? What is it actually like when you are in labor/giving birth? Is it distracting to talk to people? Do you need to listen to the CDs the whole time? And what are these finger exercises I hear about?

[Oztok5]

I had a pretty intense back labor due to a poorly positioned baby. Unfortunately, it wasn't the pain free hypnobabies birth I had hoped for, but the relaxation techniques made it manageable. I labored for 35 hours at home without ever thinking that the pain was too much or that I wanted to go to the hospital for meds or anything like that. After I got him passed the very painful part in my back, my contractions were much more what I hoped they would feel like.

The pain of the pressure on your back is a very different sensation than the normal "pain" of your uterus contracting. I think the hyponobabies works very well for the normal contraction sensations because they're muscular and relaxing and letting your body do what it needs to really works, but honestly, I'm not sure there's a way for back labor to be painless. I'm sure there's someone out there who will prove me wrong, but in my experience, it wasn't happening.

Having said that, even if I knew I would have another back labor, I would certainly do hypnobabies again. I think it helped me stay very in control during my labor, and it helped me sleep during pregnancy!

[Sudonk]

Originally Posted by OurLittleNest

Thanks everyone for your responses. They are so helpful and I look forward to hearing more.

As I read more about hypnobirthing, I have a few more questions. What is your husband/boyfriend/partner's role and how can they prepare?

Hypnobabies is written to include the birth partner as much or as little as the mom and partner want. My husband didn't actually practice with me all that often, but I did convince him to sit down with me and go over the parts that I really wanted him to know. He did great, so I have no complaints, but I would have felt more confident about his ability to help me if he had done more. But I've also known partners who were very involved in the preparation and did all the reading, etc. But not all birth partners are going to take the time, which is why the techniques can be used with or without the support of a birth partner. I think that's probably one of the biggest reasons to take the Hypnobabies live class if there is one in your area - for whatever reason, a birth partner who has an instructor tell them "read this - practice that" will almost always do it, even if he wouldn't have participated much in the Home Study. But if the partner is interested, there is a great deal they can do to participate in the preparation and birth. There is a separate "Birth Partner Guide" that goes over his role in detail, gives tips and hints and even has "cheat sheets" of terms he can use to help mom's comfort and mind-set. And there are several instant hypnosis and deepening cues partners can use to greatly influence mom's comfort.

Originally Posted by OurLittleNest

What is it actually like when you are in labor/giving birth? Is it distracting to talk to people? Do you need to listen to the CDs the whole time? And what are these finger exercises I hear about?

For me, the biggest difference between giving birth with Hypnobabies and without Hypnobabies is that Hypnobabies allowed me to be much more "normal". I had specific tools that allowed me to remain comfortable while moving around. During my first birth (for which I learned HypnoBirthing, which I do not recommend since it wasn't nearly as effective or thorough as Hypnobabies) I remember being surprised by how much incredible effort it took to simply move around. I felt like I was moving through chest-deep wet sand every time I moved at all. It was exhausting and I had to stay soooo focused and deep within myself to handle the intensity of what was going on. So I was thrilled to find that when I was using the Eyes Open Childbirth Hypnosis in Hypnobabies, movement felt like...well, movement. I was able to walk and interact normally. When things got really intense, I enjoyed going more inside myself during the birthing waves, but generally you couldn't even tell I was in the middle of giving birth. That's why so many Hypnobabies moms talk about midwives and nurses and doctors pretty much blowing them off at first, because they seem so "normal" that the staff assumes they're not really in labor until they check them and discover they're 7-8, even 10 cm dilated.

Everyone uses the skills in the way that fits their needs. There are plenty of choices of CDs moms can use during the birth, and there are suggestions of what they may want to think about doing or hearing at various stages of the birth. Some moms don't want to hear anything during their birth, and there are plenty of skills they can use in that case. Some moms prefer to only hear the birth partner giving them hypnosis prompts from the Birth Partner Guide and don't use the CDs much, if at all. Other moms listen to several CDs during their birth. Personally, I loved the Birth Guide CD, so I put it on "repeat" and listened to out loud it for ages. Other women prefer to use headphones to block out distractions. There are as many ways to use the skills as there are birthing moms.

The Fingerdrop technique is an instant hypnosis cue that moms learn and practice regularly so that she can instantly reach a state of relaxation and comfort at any time. There are a number of similar verbal and physical prompts that the birth partner learns to do the same thing.

[St. Margaret]

I did the home study course for DD's birth 3 years back, and I loved it. It needed some grammatical editing, but otherwise it was a great overview of what birth really is and all the things to think about preparing for (but yes I did do some other preparation for just in case of back labor, but I was also REALLY careful about my posture etc to encourage good baby positioning).

You do a lesson, alternating two tracks I think, each week, and then when you get to the end you can review by going through them again. The reading was easy and fast for me, but a lot of the info about our bodies in birth was familiar to me. But I thought it WOULD be complete for someone not taking any other course (I did one with my DH that was hynobirthing/Birthing from Withing/and just general, just to share all the options, and the teacher ended up being our doula, so that was nice, plus the bonding with DH and discussing birth and our feelings).

HBs certainly includes the partner-- they have jobs assigned like being the protector of you and helping you through the fear release script I think.

I had the affirmations on in my car. I loved them, and I think they really did help me have an easy, awesome pregnancy.

I didn't listen to the CDs after I got cozy on my bed during transition. I think I didn't want the headphones on and I just wanted to utterly space out, but I'm sure my brain was using what I had practiced (plus I had a super supportive birth team, very quiet and calm, no directed pushing, etc, so it's not like I had to tune them out to get the right kind of vibe going). I just curled up and sort of dozed and dealt with the intense waves that came along. But I thought it was VERY manageable and I am totally doing the program again this time.

I would listen to the one affirmations CD in the car, and then do the track for the day at night, and I'd almost always fall asleep. I agree, listening while not able to sleep is good b/c then you know what you're hearing, but sleeping is fine for the tracks. The practice you're supposed to do towards the end, with your lightswitch and all that, I couldn't do as much as they said b/c I couldn't be fully supported at work (I teach, no high back on my chair, etc.) but I did it when I could and it worked great for me. I really think it's a great program.

ETA-- I cross-posted with Sudonk, but totally-- my doula came to our home and thought that I couldn't be very far along at first, til she could see how irregular the waves were. I was too calm, she said

I definitely drew within my self, but I could move whenever I wanted to. Talking was harder, I was in that labor-land mental place my mom told me about, that you're thinking you want something but can't get it out, and why don't they know I want it? So it took a while for me to get out-- cold-- and they brought me a blanket But it's like being soooo cozy and wrapped up like when you're getting ready for a nap or bedtime, that you don't get up to pee or do something else like that. It was great b/c I knew I was close

[SublimeBirthGirl]

When I listened, the emphasis seemed to be on pain-free to me. I hear they've changed it, and I'm glad for that. It seemed an almost fear-based emphasis on lack of pain at the time. That said, it was still helpful and I especially loved the affirmations. I loved listening to the scripts and they completely cured my insomnia too. My birth was not remotely pain free, but it was about as perfect as I could have imagined. I often think that the way hypnobabies put me in touch with my...what? subconscious?...helped the birth of my dreams become a reality.