What is HypnoBirthing?

Rhonda Fawks, HypnoBirthing® Childbirth Educator

Relaxation is nothing new to childbirth. It is used in practically every method to help mothers during the birthing experience. HypnoBirthing uses this technique as a main focus during childbirth using hypnosis.
There is a lot of curiosity about hypnosis and it is often thought, “Isn’t that some type of mind control?” But there are many misconceptions about what it actually is. It does not control thoughts or actions. It is just deep relaxation and for the birthing mother, a wonderful gift to help her have a calm labor. In HypnoBirthing classes, we talk about what hypnosis really is, and how you are in control of it, completely.
The most important thing in HypnoBirthing is practice. Practicing relaxation is the main focus to this method and like with any other method, it requires a certain amount of dedication. Practicing assists the birthing mother on achieving deep relaxation with minimal or practically no effort on her part. Doctors, midwives, doulas, and other birth professionals that trust birth, all understand and know the importance of relaxation. With practice, it can become second nature.
Visualization is another tool taught in HypnoBirthing classes. There is a focus on visualizing the birth that you want so that your subconscious mind will be saturated with these thoughts and images to help make it real in your experience. In each class, actual births are shown to help women figure out how they would like to see their birth. Pictures of birth positioning and metaphoric pictures are given to be used by the mother. Of course, birthing rarely plays out exactly how it is envisioned, but preparing in these different ways make many differences in outcomes.
Affirmation is a way of saturating the brain with positive thoughts. HypnoBirthing uses the Law of Attraction, which is a belief that positive thoughts can bring about positive results in a person’s life. It is similar to looking into the mirror and telling yourself that you are beautiful and wonderful, which results in positive thinking about yourself.
HypnoBirthing is truly a way to recondition how you live your life. It teaches how to breathe to bring about calm feelings, and how to redirect feelings when they need to be directed in a different way. By intentionally changing the way birthing is viewed, there is an unintentional change in the way life is lived.
If you are interested or have questions about HypnoBirthing, please feel free to contact me. I would love to talk to you!