It is true that the female body is endowed with the ability to bear children. And therefore, it goes without saying that it is also equipped to give birth without much difficulty. However, most mothers will tell you that childbirth is an extremely painful experience. In fact, considering this very fact, many pregnant women these days opt for a C-section followed by pain medication. These women want to avoid the so-called ‘scar’ that the intense pain of childbirth leaves on their minds. In fact, in certain cases, this can even somewhat cast a shadow on the mother-child bond.
However, even as many a pregnant woman prefers this medical intervention, a growing number of mothers are slowly shifting over to opting for a natural delivery, but one assisted by self-hypnosis to help with the intense pain.
Hypnosis and Natural Delivery
It is said that the passage of the baby through the birth canal into the world outside is as painful and difficult for the child as for the mother. And this shared experience of pain is what forms the first and strongest bond between the mother and the baby.
And hypnosis is being increasingly used to ease the discomfort of childbirth – with the help of self-hypnosis practice, pregnant women are not only preparing themselves for the birth, they are also making use of it during the birth to breathe in calm and letting go of the pain and the anxiety.
But as incredible as it may sound to those who are considering it for the first time, for many women, self-hypnosis has actually acted a boon, and a surprising pain killer!
In fact, most Birth Hypnotherapists will tell you that quite a bit of the pain is felt because women spend their whole lives believing that childbirth is a painful traumatic experience. And the resultant anxiety and fear intensifies the pain and also limits the body’s own pain-fighting mechanism. The excessive release of the stress hormone is another reason that the perception of pain is further intensified.
But using self-hypnosis has seen to greatly help many women!
Benefits of using Self Hypnosis at the time of childbirth
In the words of a 33 year old sales account manager, Victoria Parrott who used the hypnobirthing technique instead of the usual pain killers:
‘I can honestly say I felt no pain at all,’ she insists. ‘All I felt were gentle sensations as Martha passed through my pelvis. It was the most extraordinary experience.’
The article about hypnobirthing featured in the Daily Mail UK talks about more than one such instance. And while the picture of tranquility the quote paints may vary from woman to woman, the range of benefits of self-hypnosis at the time of childbirth are many:
- Regular self-hypnosis as preparation helps to alter the negative belief about pain associated with birthing and makes you more prepared for the experience.
- Self-hypnosis helps to induce the trance state at the time of childbirth that actually helps your body to release the body’s natural anesthetics – endorphins.
- Decreases levels of Cortisol (stress hormone) and thereby, diminishes pain.
- Also, self-hypnosis is a state where you can experience complete dissociation of the mind from the body, and this dissociation can actually distort the perception of pain – done right, you can actually completely do away with the feeling of pain!
- Self-hypnosis can also help in time distortions – therefore, what would have been a long and harrowing delivery can actually seem to pass in a much shorter period of time.
- Post-birth, a hypnobirth leaves the mother much less exhausted (physically and mentally) and more capable of caring for the baby immediately!
Self-hypnosis can be your way of making your child’s birth a more wonderful experience than it already is… but since it isn’t something that one should approach without adequate knowledge, it is always advised that you start preparing for the birth beforehand with the help of a certified hypnotherapist. In the process, you are sure to learn the finer points of hypnobirthing and be prepared when the time comes!