HypnoBirthing® UK

[mbeales]

Hi, I wonder if anyone can help or offer some advice please? I had hoped to attend the next lot of HB classes being run in my area, but due to the three little ones I already have getting the chicken pox, this is no longer possible. In addition to this, my husband would not have been able to come with me as he is the only child care support we have and I have no family or friends nearby to go in his place. My question is whether I could manage to understand and implement the HB practices by just reading the book and accompanying CD? This is my fifth baby and to date, I have never used any pain relief with any of my other babies, with exception to my last one, which I used a TENS machine and then a bit of gas and air. As this will be my last baby, I really want to enjoy the whole experience and take control. The actual contractions, I can deal with, although it would be nice for them to be less painful, but it is the actual delivery itself that I find the most painful and it is for this reason that I really want to get to grips with the HB process. Many thanks in advance and any help at all will be greatly appreciated.

[millybean]

i did teach myself from the book, but it was my first birth (so no previous fears to release) and i already had some experience of how to use self-hypnosis and i knew that success depended on me, not the book or the method. also i did tear, which would have been avoided if i went to the classes and got proper help with the all-important breathing. so i would definitely say that attending the classes is still the best way of going about it. having said that i enjoyed my birth and i'm looking forward to number two in january.

i've just done the training as a practitioner, so i can honestly say that you will gain far, far more in terms of knowledge, support and self-confidence if you can get with a practitioner- how far along are you? if chicken pox is the only hurdle, just wait until it's out of the way. i'm sure if you contact your practitioner asap they can work something out with you, as they'll want to help. remember the book is not a homestudy version of the actual course.

if you do go with the book, it's also still imperative that your partner is totally involved too, as they're integral to the whole thing. if you don't think he'll read it, you may find the process much harder. that's why the course is delivered to the birthing couple- dads are incredibly important as they speak for you, look after you, and keep you relaxed, using hypnosis and massage, etc. the course also shows dads how scientific hypnobirthing is right at the very beginning, so there's no struggle to get started- they are more comfortable with everything once they see the evidence and a few videos!

let us know what you decide to do- it's your birth, and the whole point is that you are in control and confident. if you're still happy to go with the book, make sure you come back and ask questions, as everyone here will want to support you in achieving the birth you deserve.

[mbeales]

Hi millybean,

Thank you so much for getting back to me. Unfortunately, aside from the chickenpox, which my 3 youngest have now recovered from (thank goodness!!), my husband and I have no one to look after our children so that we can attend the HB classes. We live in the Republic of Ireland and moved here 4 and half years ago - we have no family here to provide help or support and only know a few people, all of which have thier own families etc to look after. My husband has been with me at each birth (my parents always fly over a week before the baby's due date to help out) and is the best birthing partner. He is calm, relaxed and reassuring. He seems to know what to say and when to say it, without being patronising. I have already said to him that he will need to read the book with me and listen to the CD too so that we are both as familiar as we can be, without having the benefit of attending a class, to which, he is fully on board with. My previous birthing experiences have been good, no complications, no tearing and relatively quick. I am pretty good at the "self-talk" and have always felt in control of the labour process. I think that as this will be my last baby, I want to be able to have as relaxed experience and enjoyable experience as possible. It rather looks like reading the book will be my only option and I just wanted to know that it would be of some benefit. Many thanks again for taking the time to get back to me and if we could go to the classes, we most certainly would.