You’re not the only one who fears giving birth. I pretty much put the concept of childbirth in a dusty box in my mind before I even knew I was pregnant. The idea was to never open this box until absolutely necessary because I was frightened to do so. I saw giving birth as a means to an end, and I thought the sooner I could finish it, the better.
My mind was completely blown when I first took a hypnobirthing lesson. I honestly believed that everything was a ruse to fool me. I distinctly recall thinking it was too wonderful to be true after I left the lesson. You imply that birth might be advantageous? What, I might actually enjoy it? The rest of my pregnancy was consumed by my obsession with hypnobirthing and childbirth in general. I used the technique, and my birth was incredibly satisfying and wonderful.
Whatever transpired, I felt I could unwind in the knowledge that some factors were beyond my control. Every step of the way, I had confidence and peace.
Hypnobirthing is a technique for pain management without drugs that is intended to aid in labor and delivery. Contrary to popular belief, hypnobirthing does not include being hypnotized or under any kind of spell. By using methods like self-hypnosis, meditation, visualization, breathwork, and the power of suggestion to rewire your mind to think more positively about delivery through education, hypnobirthing tries to lessen anxiety and dread surrounding childbirth. Fear is banished with knowledge.
Since we can remember, birth has always been portrayed in a highly dramatic, unfavorable way.
Imagine the stressed-out, frightened woman lying on her back, screaming, surrounded by nurses and physicians who are in a panic. These concepts have long since become ingrained in our psyche, so when we learn we’re pregnant, we are already fearful of giving birth.
Hypnobirthing helps us to let go of fears and embed more positive images and ideas around birth through a process of learning and reprogramming.
The first step in hypnobirthing is to understand the physiology of birth. This helps you to feel confident in your ability to give birth because you’ll better understand the mechanics and have faith that your physiology is working for you and with you, not against you.
Through meditation and affirmations, hypnobirthing can help to instill positive ideas and messages about birth into your subconscious mind, the mind that controls a lot of what we do and think. If you’re using hypnobirthing as part of your birth plan, you’ll want to develop your own birthing toolkit, focused on the meditations and affirmations that most help you to feel confident, relaxed and in control.
