This blog post was written by Colleen from Harmony Hypnobirthing, who is passionate about helping families feel positive about their upcoming birth experience.
The thought of giving birth, to most people, can be utterly terrifying! Either because they have spent their whole life hearing how painful and horrible birth is, or they have had a birth before and it actually was painful and horrible. This was my experience when I first became pregnant back in 2015. I was happy to be pregnant, but pretty anxious about how the baby was going to get out!
Luckily for me, my sister was a midwife at my local hospital. She had seen first hand how some women were having fantastic births due to this ‘new’ technique called hypnobirthing. She told me that she thought I would get on well with it, as I already did weekly yoga classes so booked me on to a course.
At first I was very sceptical. how could a couple of classes make a difference to what I predicted to be one of the worst experiences of my life - something that I would just have to endure, get on with and hope for the best. I read the introduction to a hypnobirthing book and was hooked. Hypnobirthing wasn’t some weird, hippy concept that made no sense. It was logical and actually quite scientific. Completing the in person hypnobirthing course only solidified my opinion and I soon became quite excited about giving birth. I went on to have a totally natural, water birth after a labour that lasted only three hours. I was amazed at how well it went, and found myself talking about my brilliant experience. It was then that I decided everyone should know about hypnobirthing and within a year (whilst on maternity leave) completed my hypnobirthing teacher training. Here is a break down of how hypnobirthing helped me:
1. The science
Hypnobirthing includes learning about the science of birth - the hormones needed, how contractions work, how to work with the pelvic floor etc. It was so logical and obvious once someone pointed it out to me. I realised that my body knew what it was doing, I just had to trust it.
2. Back up plan
I also learnt different birth scenarios, such as inductions and c-sections, so that if my birth did go a bit off plan I had the knowledge and tools to stay calm. This meant that I was prepared no matter what.
3. Bonding
Practicing hypnobirthing meant dedicated time out of my busy life. I got to focus on my growing baby, my changing body and really enjoyed my pregnancy.
4. Birth partner
Like many birth partners, my husband was pretty clueless about birth! Doing a hypnobirthing course together meant that he was clued up too (and luckily very supportive). On the day he was fantastic and really helped me as he knew what his role was.
5. Breathing techniques
Learning how to breathe for birth helped me to stay calm, kept my body energised and gave my mind something to focus on. Never underestimate how helpful the breath can be in stressful situations!
I offer group hypnobirthing classes in Dartford, Kent and private hypnobirthing classes in Kent and South East London. For anyone not local to me I also offer bespoke hypnobirthing classes over zoom. You can also follow me on socials for hypnobirthing, yoga and pregnancy tips.
To contact Colleen for more information, see her website and social media links below:
Instagram www.instagram.com/harmony.hypnobirthing
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