Prenatal Hypnosis
Access Your Inner Powers
For many women pregnancy can be a challenging time. From morning sickness to heartburn, there are many ways in which women can be uncomfortable. Then there is the birth itself. For many the fear of pain can make labour even more painful as their fear creates tension which then creates more pain. It's a vicious circle. Stories about what can go wrong during the labour are plentiful and whenever we watch a film or television drama, labour is usually portrayed as either dangerous or extremely painful with the woman screaming at the top of her voice during the contractions.
Working with pregnant women, I focus on helping them feel relaxed and confident during the pregnancy. They connect with the baby while it is still in the womb. They learn to control their bodies to help them cope with symptoms like heart burn and remain positive and relaxed. I also work with them, preparing them for the birth itself so that they are relaxed and confident at all times. In addition, I teach them pain control. The earlier we start, they more practice they get. An additional benefit is that even after the birth, they apply what they've learned to stay calm and relaxed during those difficult first weeks when they get very little sleep.
Birth Story- Here is Rosemary's experience of giving birth with the help of Hypnosis.
”At first I was doing loads of yoga moves to try to speed it up but then after about 5 hours I was so tired and I kept falling asleep in between contractions and just waking up and doing yoga moves during them. my midwife came about 4 hours later and kept reheating my rice sack that I was holding on my belly and feeding me water. I cant remember much of what happened and I was asleep for the whole labour except during the contractions. I know they moved me to different positions every hour or so and they blew up the birth pool and I was in there for a while. I think maybe I unconsciously hypnotised myself to sleep all the way through, they said I was even sleeping standing up at points. I remember at the beginning really resisting falling asleep because I thought it would slow it down but I couldnt help it. I was really calm all the way through though and it must have been because I never thought anything. I was also really relaxed and I was telling my muscles to relax all the time. I didnt manage to not feel any pain though, it really hurt but I stayed calm and relaxed.
When I felt the baby was coming the midwife kept telling me he wasnt and she wouldnt examine me because it had been too soon since the last examination. I was in the birth pool at this point and she kept telling me to get out and walk around the house to move things along but I wanted to push. in the end we made a deal that I would go and walk around if she would examine me after but when I stood up she said she could see the head! i must have been so calm that she didnt believe me.
Giving birth didnt hurt any more than the other contractions and I had him at 8.48pm on the 28th, only 20 hours after I went into labour. They passed him between my legs to me and I held him for about 40 minutes in the pool. he was really calm as well, he didnt cry at all, he just looked at me and looked around. he was holding Carlos finger and kicking his legs around. I cut the cord myself when it had stopped pulsing.
I dont think they told me at the time but he was born with his hand on his cheek and his head tilted to the side. he was also 4.7 kilos or 10 pounds 4. the midwife examined me after but she didnt see I had a tare. The next day I looked in the mirror because it didnt feel right and I got my mum to examen me (she is a midwife aswell) and she said it was a really bad tear and took me to hospital. the examinations were really painfull especially the day after he was born becasue it was really sore by then. when we got to hospital I was really anoyed the only surgeon was a man and he had to examen me as well. I really used the hypnotherapy during the examinations to relax the muscles and to stay calm. I used it to stay calm in the hospital when there were loads of doctors and midwives and surgeons and anethatists telling me scary things. and then when I had to leave my baby and go into theater. when the anethatist was giving me local anesthetic in my back so he could put the spinal block in I hypnotised myself fully so I wasnt aware of what was happening. My mum and one of the midwives were by my head and they were talking to me and I was just trying to not notice what was going on. After that I had to stay the night in hospital and all the next day and I was in so much pain after the spinal block wore off. I was also allergic to the sheets and blankets and I was so ichy untill my mum went home and brought me our own sheets. I couldnt stop myself from being in pain but I kept myself calm and maybe I was in slightly less pain because I was calm.
Its so lucky you taught me how to hypnotise myself, I think I could have managed the birth without it but I dont know what I would have done in hospital I was so scared. Anyway I can go up and down the stairs now and carry Leo around the house and Im almost fully recovered. Ive been keeping myself calm when he cries as well. thank you so much for all your help. I dont know what else I can say, I cant tell you how much this has helped me.”
Rosemary Gray