HypnoBirthing VS. Lamaze and Bradley Method
What is HypnoBirthing? Is it like Bradley or Lamaze?
I receive several inquiries or even questions from people on what exactly is HypnoBirthing. Some people ask, “Will I be hypnotized?….Am I completely ‘out’ during my labor and wake up to find a baby on my chest?” My answer is….no. There are no pendulums being swung or quacking like ducks. That is stage hypnosis. In HypnoBirthing, we teach concrete pain management techniques to help the mother get through labor and birth in a calm, confident, and positive manner. The basis of HypnoBirthing is more like “meditative” birthing in which the mother is able to go more within herself, shutting out needless distractions and focusing on what she is doing in a more positive way. She learns the proper breathing, head to toe relaxation, visual techniques, optimal birthing positions, birth preference formulation, nutrition, and much more in pregnancy to better prepare her for labor. On a daily basis, the mother is practicing the techniques so she can more easily apply them through the course of her labor. It is bringing the familiar into unfamiliar territory. HypnoBirthing, which is a comprehensive childbirth class, pulls the ideas of Lamaze and the Bradley Method, but with a more “mind over matter” approach.
Melissa Gonzalez, a Lamaze instructor explains what Lamaze is: “Lamaze focuses on Six Healthy Birth Practices: let labor begin on its own, walk, move around, and change positions throughout labor, bring a loved one and/or doula for continuous support, avoid interventions that aren’t medically necessary, push in an upright position, following body’s natural urges, keep mother and baby together, with unlimited opportunity for breastfeeding. These care practices help keep labor and birth as safe and healthy as possible.”
“The Bradley Method® educates and empowers expecting parents to confidently pursue natural childbirth. The class series focuses on educating the expecting mother and her ‘coach’ about the importance of a healthy pregnancy, the entire process of labor and birth (including unexpected situations), postpartum and newborn care, and breastfeeding. The ‘coach’ is usually the father of the baby, but the coach can also be a significant other, friend, or family member so long as they are committed to assisting the mother throughout her pregnancy and labor,” explains Bradley instructor Katie Ondyak
HypnoBirthing brings Lamaze and Bradley together, but really gets into the “head space” of the mother to help create a positive outlook on birth. The in depth class instruction and the outside practice helps the mother get rid of any fears/anxieties/self-doubts she may have surrounding the birthing experience and replacing those thoughts with self-trust and confidence. The class gives several different tangible tools a mother can utilize from which she has been practicing on a daily basis. She learns how to stay in control of herself, which is through the proper breathing and relaxation techniques. HypnoBirthing includes the birth companion/labor support person in the birthing atmosphere by giving concrete tools to better help his/her partner during the whole process. When the environment is calm and peaceful, mom is calm and peaceful, and then baby is calm and peaceful. The overall goal of HypnoBirthing is to create a very calm and positive birthing experience. No matter how the baby gets into the arms of the mother, the goal is a positive and empowering experience! Furthermore, the techniques learned in class can be utilized anytime in life, but our emphasis is for pain management for labor and birth.
This class is for anyone! In fact, I was recently a doula for a mother birthing her 9th child and I had been present for the birth of her 8th two years prior. This time around she used HypnoBirthing and I will say there was a dramatic difference in this birth. She was extremely calm and focused the whole time (though just two hours of active labor/birth), which she was not as calm with the birth of her 8th child prior. Even the midwife who has been present for 7 out of 9 of this mother’s births exclaimed, “I think this is by far the best birth you have ever had! I think you are finally getting it and the HypnoBirthing really worked well!” The mother was even so impressed with herself and felt much better after this birth than she ever has.
If you have further questions on all that is included in a HypnoBirthing class, please contact me. I would love to help you achieve a calm, positive, and empowering birth experience!!!
Photography by Maggie Cuprisin Photography http://www.maggiecuprisinphoto.com/
