HypnoBirthing Class at McKay-Dee Hospital, Ogden, UT

HypnoBirthing is basically relaxation, and it's working with your body's natural process. Women's bodies are designed to give birth, and it should happen easily and comfortably. But the reason it doesn't work is because we women tend to be fearful and stressed. So in HypnoBirthing we educate women about the natural process, and then we teach them how to relax so that this natural process can proceed in the easiest way possible for them.

I was introduced to HypnoBirthing for the birth of my last baby, and I've had all my babies unmedicated so I felt pretty confident in my ability to do that. But I was excited about trying these new techniques that I learned in class, and it made such a difference that it really inspired me to go ahead and become a HypnoBirthing Practitioner so I could share these techniques with other moms and other couples.

Hypnosis is sometimes perceived as like something that somebody is doing to you, like you're going to be in some zone or something. Actually hypnosis itself is a natural state that everybody goes through everyday. It's the state right before you go to sleep when you're relaxing, your mind is slowing down getting ready for sleep. That's what we refer to as a state of hypnosis.

Hypnosis is a therapy of consent, which means that nobody is doing anything to you. In actuality, when you're in hypnosis, you're in a highly focused state so you're very very conscious. You're actually more connected with the birth experience in this state than you would be, say, if you couldn't feel the process. So you're very very conscious and very connected. So it's like you are really really working with your body, and so very connected with this process of birthing in this state of hypnosis.

I think once they understand that it's very scientifically based, it isn't out there, you know, new age weird stuff or anything. It's just really about the body and how we can use our minds to help impact the physical experience we're having. We do this all the time in everyday life. If you're really stressed out, you're not going to digest your food as well. If you're really stressed out, you're not going to be able to take a test and think clearly. So basically HypnoBirthing is teaching them relaxation skills and how to work with their body and their body chemistry.

And when I took HypnoBirthing, what I recognized is that they had really captured what happens during birth, and help women to prepare specifically for those, what your body would naturally do. You naturally go into a state of hypnosis if you're doing a natural birth. There are just different events that will naturally happen. You naturally release endorphins. We just teach women how to choose to release endorphins, techniques so that they can do that. Endorphins are 200 times more powerful than morphine, so that's a pretty heavy drug that you have right in your own body. So we teach them how to do that. If they're releasing endorphins, that means they're not releasing stress hormone. If they're not releasing the stress hormone, they're going to have a much more relaxed, more comfortable experience.

So what I tell people in class is you can have a natural birth on your own, and I'm sure you'll be very successful. I'm not saying that wouldn't happen. I experienced that myself. But with taking HypnoBirthing, you actually are taught techniques so that you can repeat them and practice them, and become more proficient at them and more consciously aware of what your body is naturally doing so you can support it, even magnify it in a lot of cases, so that the experience is as positive as possible.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• HypnoBirthing
• Class