A new book about Hypnosis and Childbirth

Today Painless Childbirth:  An Empowering Journey Through Pregnancy and Childbirthby Guiditta Tornetta was released on Amazon. 

It is exciting to see a book that appreciates the power of hypnosis for childbirth.  It was written by a doula who is a hypnotherapist and has used hypnosis to help many of her clients have painfree births. 

Buy the book by the 19th and you can enter a drawing to win a prize.  They are trying to get the book to the #1 position of pregnancy and childbirth books!   

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Claire’s Awesome Hypnobabies Hospital Birth!

When my husband and I got pregnant we did extensive research on the having the safest birth possible for both mother and baby.  We chose a midwife as our healthcare provider based on exceptional outcomes research.  We quickly came to the conclusion that natural birth was what we wanted.  Our midwife recommended using Hypnobabies for pain management and we began the extensive self-study course.  We practiced everyday and did all the recommended cues and affirmations.  We knew we were not ready to have a home birth, but we were apprehensive about birthing in a hospital because of unnecessary medical interventions.  Our midwife assured us we would be fine and to put together a Birth Plan.

I am happy to report that I was able to give birth in such a perfect way!  The nurses at the hospital were so wonderful, loving and patient.  They really facilitated such a spiritual birth for our little one.  They were so respectful of our preferences.  They used a Doptone instead of the external fetal monitor and allowed her to be placed immediately on my chest when she was born for an hour.  She was able to nurse immediately, and they also did all procedures in the room with us.  My midwife is truly an angel as well.  She knew I desperately wanted to have a natural hypnobirth and she was there and supported me the entire time!  Even when I felt like it was going to be impossible, she reminded me that I could do it and to stick with my plan.

I woke up at 1:30am Saturday morning with menstrual-like cramps that started in my back and wrapped around the lower part of my abdomen. They were about 5-10 minutes apart and very regular so I was sure my birthing time had begun.  I laid in bed for an hour but I was restless so I decided to start baking brownies for the nursing staff.  Our dog came down to see what the commotion was, and then went upstairs to wake my husband. 

We went to the hospital around 9:15am once I had been having pressure waves for 1-2 hours and they were 2-3 minutes apart.  We called the in-laws to start their journey from Ohio, paged my midwife and called my Mom.  We loaded up the car and were on the way to take the dog to doggie day care, I was deep in my hypnotic trance with my headphones on when I noticed blue lights in the rearview mirror. We were being pulled over!  My husband jumped out of the car at the red light and motions to the police officer that I am in labor by pointing to his belly.  The officer pulled up beside us, took one look at me and asked if we needed a police escort.  We thanked him and said we could make it on our own.  I was still in trance but I was getting a little uncomfortable and irritated at the disruption. 

When we got there, my pressure waves slowed down considerably because I was nervous about being in the hospital.  I was only 3cm dilated so my husband and I walked the halls for an hour, bounced on my birthing ball and paced.  When my midwife checked me around 1:00pm I was 5-6cm and 100% effaced.  I used my hypnosis and was able to stay in trace during most of the dilation.  I could hardly feel the pressure waves at all.  When I was 7-8cm when my midwife suggested I get in the tub.  I was a little reluctant, but I decided to do it and my husband helped me. I was so glad I did because it provided tremendous relief and allowed me to catch my breath. 

My husband was so wonderful! He was with me the whole time helping me with my hypnosis ques, bringing me water, snacks and holding my hand while they checked the heartbeat.  He didn’t leave my side once, not even go to the bathroom!  My mom was there supporting me the entire time as well.  Her Lamaze experience definitely came in handy during the pushing phase.  I was fully dilated around 5:00pm and tried pushing in several different positions.  It was very hot and when my mom asked if she could loosen my gown I grabbed it and tore it off. My modesty went out the window as I was fully concentrated on staying as comfortable as possible. 

I was getting frustrated, feeling that I wasn’t making progress and almost came out of my trance.  I leaped on to the bed in high position and grabbed the mattress and screamed.  My husband and mom came to my rescue quickly and reminded me that I can do this and to RELAX! I agreed and made the conscious decision to continue with the tools I had for hypnosis. Looking back on it, I would guess this would be what they refer to as  “transition”. 

Finally, I was most comfortable on my side.  I tried to push with every pressure wave, but since I was so deep in trance, I could only feel it at its peak and wasn’t able to utilize the full force. With every round of pushing everyone would exclaim “THIS IT, PUSH HER OUT!”  They got me the mirror and showed me part of her head sticking out.  My  midwife encouraged me to feel her head as well.  I knew I could do this; it was just going to take some time. I had to pace myself. I pushed and pushed and in-between I used my relax cue to catch my breath and took sips of water.  It was amazing that I had so much control considering I had no pain medication.  My midwife used bottle after bottle of mineral oil to massage and stretch me.  We listened to the “Pushing Baby Out” CD it seemed like 100 times and we were all getting annoyed but nobody could reach the CD played to turn it off or change CD’s.

Centimeter-by-centimeter, baby Claire was born at 9:30pm after 4.5 hours of pushing.  I didn’t end up with any stitches or episiotomy! I had a very small tear that didn’t even bleed.  It was so awesome, as soon as she was born and they placed her on my chest she looked up at me with those big eyes.  How amazing!  I did it all natural and my baby is so healthy and relaxed as well.  She is beautiful and her head was perfectly round despite such a long time in the birth canal.  She nursed right away and was very content.

What a spiritual and euphoric experience!  We are truly blessed and it was worth all the hard work.  It means so much to me that with all the loving support and patience of my midwife, husband and mother, I was able to be empowered to have the perfect natural birth.  Later I found out that some of my friends had actually placed a bet that I would end up with an epidural.  You can imagine how excited and proud I was to tell them my birth story!!!

This birth story was shared by a mom from the Hypnobabies Yahoo Group.  Come join us if you want to learn more about Hypnobabies!  (You must send an introduction to be approved to the group) 

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I climbed my Mount Everest! Wonderful Hypnobabies Birth.

When I found out I was expecting baby number two, I immediately knew that I wanted to try again for a completely natural birth experience. Olivia’s birth had been wonderful, and I had no complications from the epidural or the birth itself, other than lots of pain after we came home, but nothing I couldn’t live with. So, upon the return of the positive pregnancy test, the search began for the best natural childbirth method I could find. I had gone into Olivia’s birth with a stubborn mindset that “I can do this,” and not much else. I had practiced some Lamaze breathing techniques that they showed us in childbirth preparation class, but didn’t really have anything else in place. So, after laboring at home for almost 24 hours, and arriving at the hospital still at 2 cm dilated, I was more than discouraged. When my doctor decided to break my water at 4 cm four hours later, I was certainly not prepared for the overwhelming pain that would consume me.

I knew I didn’t want to experience that again, so in my research, I was drawn to two natural childbirth methods. The first was the Bradley husband-coached childbirth method which stressed deep relaxation and “pain with a purpose.” I knew how painful Olivia’s birth had been, so this appealed to me. I liked how logical it all seemed- yes, it would hurt, but there’s an end in sight and you will reach your goal if you push through the pain. However, I continued my internet searching, and stumbled across a program that touted, “No pain for Mommy, no drugs for baby- pain-free childbirth.” “Yeah, right,” I thought. “Have you ever given birth??” But, after reading more about the program, and visiting various related internet sights, I started to wonder, “Which would I rather have? Pain with a purpose, or no pain at all?” Well, that’s a no-brainer. I’d rather have no pain- wouldn’t anyone?

So, I dove head first into a program called Hypnobabies. It was a self-hypnosis home-study program that came with multiple CDs, a birth guide and multiple supplemental materials for my birth partner (my wonderful husband). Everyone I told about this thought I was nuts- at first, I did too! But, then I realized how perfect the program was. It reaffirmed everything I already knew about childbirth but had forgotten- that birth is a natural process, that my body was created to do this. So, I followed the schedule and listened to every track on every CD. I even downloaded them onto my MP3 player so I could listen while I was at work. I restructured my whole mindset about childbirth, and it worked! Henry James’ completely natural, drug-free birth story begins!

It is a long story so, to read Sunny’s Beautiful Birth Story of Henry James’ click here.

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Noah’s Hypnobabies Birth Story

I haven’t posted much before but have enjoyed reading the posts. The following story is that of the birth of my 3rd child but 1st Hypnobaby. My first was born vaginally after induction at 42 weeks. I was not aware at the time of the risk of multiple medical interventions and ended up with a terrible spinal headache after a bad epidural. My second was a natural childbirth using the Bradley method. This was a beautiful natural birth but I felt a little left in the dark in regard to relaxation. This time I used Hypnobabies….

Our baby boy was born Sat Oct 20 at 1:42 pm. He weighed 8lb15oz and is 21 in long. He is perfect and I can’t stop staring at him. His name is Noah.

I started having pressure waves Thurs night but nicely spaced (20 min apart) and this lasted all night Thurs (not much sleep) and all day Fri. I basically went about my day with my other dds. Fri night, just when I was about to try to rest again, they picked up to 10 min apart then 7 etc.. I labored all night by myself, listening to my Hypnobabies scripts and sitting on my ball. It was very peaceful and exactly how I imagined this stage. At 8:00 am I called my mw to tell her I had been begun my birthing time. I was not sure I wanted to leave for the hospital yet and she said that I shouldn’t then.

I went back to my cds and my ball. It was harder to stay focused though because at that point my kids were up and distracting me. I stayed home until 10:30 am when I started to feel a little shaky and started crying. By the time we got in the car comfortable, drove to the hospital and walked from the distant corners of the parking lot we arrived just after 11:30. I was 7 centimeters!! My mw brought me a ball and some socks… had forgotten to pack socks.

I had stayed very focused this entire time with my Hypnobabies cd using my light switch in center. I was never able to tolerate the off position during pg as I always felt too fidgety and was always more relaxed in center. This worked great for me. I lost track of time completely at this point. My df was also present with my dh and mw.

Everybody was taking turns rubbing my back and fending off the nurses. I was oblivious to anything going on around me. I suddenly just felt the urge to move and change positions but could not find one comfortable as the waves were coming very quickly. I decided to lay down as I was tired.

I then had 2 transformation pressure waves and then had the urge to push. I pushed out my baby boy in 3 pushes about 2 hours after arriving at the hospital at 1:42 pm. He was placed at my breast immediately, his cord pulsed and then cut and he latched on right away and nursed for about 45 minutes. He wasn’t bathed, poked, prodded or separated from me. He is a great nurser.

This is exactly the birth that I wanted for him. I am so happy. I have a slight tear…only 1 stitch. (with my other 2 babies I had large episiotomies) I feel amazing!!! Yeah Hypnobabies…. Hope you are all holding your sweet babies soon

peace

jen

Written by a mom from the  Hypnobabies Yahoo Group.  To read more wonderful Hypnobabies Births visit here. 

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