This weeks blog is written by Tamara Cianfini, Founder of The Wise Hippo Programme. Tamara is giving us an insight into Hypnobirthing and why more and more women are choosing it as part of their birth plans.
What do the future King and Queen, the mums from Towie and the England football captain all have in common…apart from fame and money of course? The answer lies in the way they all chose to educate themselves in preparation for the birth of their babies.
Hypnobirthing has seen a huge growth in popularity over the past few years with more and more women and their birth partners flocking to classes to remove their pregnancy anxiety and empower themselves with tools and techniques to handle anything that crosses their path on their birthing day.
Gaining the right knowledge and support from a birthing expert beforehand can significantly increase your chances of achieving the right birth on the day for you and your baby.
Learning how to relax and breathe are the two most important ingredients when it comes to achieving a positive birth experience, and this is what hypnobirthing primarily focuses on. Pregnant couples will come away from a hypnobirthing course having learnt the science behind it all too; when you understand more about the physiology of birth and how ‘fear’ (the birthing room’s enemy) can get in the way, you will understand how useful any tools and techniques that reduce fear and anxiety are, and how this can really improve the birthing experience.
The Duchess of Cambridge recently shared her experience in a revealing interview on the Happy Mum, Happy Baby podcast, hosted by another hypnobirthing mum Giovanna Fletcher. She said:
“I saw the power of it really, the meditation and the deep breathing and things like that – that they teach you in hypnobirthing – when I was really sick, and actually I realised that this was something I could take control of, I suppose, during labour,” she continued. “It was hugely powerful and because it had been so bad during pregnancy, I actually really quite liked labour!”
Achieving the right birth on the day is the main goal when it comes to hypnobirthing – this means giving parents the best birthing experience for you, whatever that looks like. The hypnobirthing tools and techniques will help you to manage anything that happens on the day. By reducing the body’s ‘fight or flight’ response, this keeps cortisol levels low (the body’s stress hormone), and enables the body’s endorphins to act as natural pain relief. That’s why many hypnobirthing mums find that they don’t need any medical pain relief during labour.
The most important thing is how a woman feels about her birth experience afterwards. If she was able to remain calm, relaxed and in control throughout then it is likely that you will hear her say that she achieved the right birth on the day. The hypnobirthing knowledge will also empower the birth partner so that they know how to support mum during labour. Their role is to ensure that mum has everything she needs in the environment that she is birthing in, as well as ensuring that the powerful hormones oxytocin and endorphins are in full flow.
As more and more mums choose hypnobirthing (including some high profile celebrities), awareness is growing regarding the benefits it can bring.
You can find out more here:
https://www.facebook.com/worldhypnobirthingday or if you are pregnant please check out www.thewisehippo.com to find a hypnobirthing teacher.
Tamara Cianfini, Founder of The Wise Hippo Programme
