What is Hypnobirthing?
Giving birth was one of the most powerful, intense and transformative experiences I’ve ever been through and for me hypnobirthing was the key to it being a really positive one. Following the birth of my first baby I set up SoCalm Birth Co. to support other new parents on their own transformative journey through pregnancy, labour and beyond!
Dr Michelle LeClaire initially came up with the term ‘hypnobirthing’ but her work was based on research by English Obstetrician Dr Grantly Dick Reid who recognized that fear and anxiety had a huge impact on the birthing process. Hypnotherapist Marie Mongan also followed his work and after her own experiences of birthing her three children in the US she eventually set up the Hypnobirthing Institute in America to share the brilliant techniques she’d developed for a comfortable and calm birth. I think some people think Hypnobirthing is a new way of birthing but really it’s just about learning how to trust your natural birthing instincts and work with the incredible birthing system that we already have in place in our bodies.
Hypnobirthing is a fantastic way to prepare and equip yourself to navigate your baby’s birth whatever path it takes in a calm and confident way. There’s no right or wrong way to birth your baby, what’s important is that it feels right for you. It’s a mother-led approach that’s judgement-free. What I love about it is that it takes a full 360 approach to birthing – it looks at the physiology of birth and how our bodies are designed to grow and birth our baby’s comfortably and efficiently. It also explores the psychology of birth – how the mind triggers the production of different hormones that can either disrupt the natural flow or help it work more efficiently when we’re in labour and the great news is – we can influence which hormones were producing!
There’s a big focus on how we release fears or anxieties we may have around birth so that we don’t carry them with us into labour. We teach some lovely relaxation tools, breathing techniques and visualisation practices that help to reframe our expectations of birth as well as using them to help manage the actual sensations of labour which is key to not feeling overwhelmed. We also teach a simple but super effective massage technique. Altogether it’s a bit like having your very own birthing toolkit that you can use as and when you feel you need it.
Exploring and knowing what your birthing options are is also key to having a positive birth experience so on our courses we provide up to date evidence-based birth info on all aspects of birth. It’s really important that parents feel empowered and can communicate confidently, feel listened to and make informed decisions that feel right for them and their baby. Hypnobirthing is super factual and practical and what’s not to love about educating and empowering ourselves!
We run a range of courses for expectant parents as well as working with a fantastic bunch of companies to support and nurture their employees at such a transformative stage of their lives. Find out more at www.SoCalmBirth.com.