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Hypnosis can help women manage the pain and discomfort of childbirth [Image: Canwest News Service - Wikimedia Commons]

Hypnosis for childbirth

“There is a secret in our culture and it is not that birth is painful.  It is that women are strong!”  – Laura Stavoe Harm

Wouldn’t it be great to have your baby without experiencing fear, anxiety or extreme pain? Wouldn’t it be great where you reach the stage of looking forward to giving birth to your child?

Wouldn’t it be great to not use drugs but to a more natural method for managing the pain of birth? Wouldn’t it be great to be ‘present’ and in control of your birthing?

It is possible to have this kind of experience, using HypnoBirthing, a special process of deep relaxation that can be incorporated with whatever type of birth you are planning: home birth, water birth, hospital, birthing centre or whatever.

Hypnotherapy has been shown in studies to be more effective in childbirth than some of the strongest painkillers, including Pethidine.  It involves amongst other techniques, visualisation, which enables you to mentally turn down the intensity of the sensations that you are experiencing, just like turning down the heat of the cooker or the volume of your TV.

Some women can even turn off uncomfortable sensations completely. HypnoBirthing is a gentle approach to childbirth that teaches you the art of using your own natural birthing instincts.  With HypnoBirthing, you will be aware and fully in control, but profoundly relaxed.

Now in its 20th year, HypnoBirthing is a complete ante-natal education. The classes are intended to help you have the most natural, gentle, comfortable childbirth possible, using easily learned self-hypnosis, relaxation, and visualisation and breathing techniques.

You can easily learn to apply these techniques at work, at home or at the hospital.

If you are looking for an easier, more comfortable and drug-free birth, then HypnoBirthing is the answer!

• Rebecca Muller is a hypnotherapist in the therapy rooms of Neal’s Yard Remedies, Glasgow.  See the store finder here. To find out more about HypnoBirthing® visit her Facebook page or website.