If you are pregnant, I have no doubt that you will have already experienced, or will at some point in the near future, have some well meaning person tell you of all the childbirth horror stories they have ever heard. These people are trying to help, and want to prepare you for the experience they believe you will have when you give birth to your baby. However, all the pre-conceived notions of childbirth (if you’ll excuse the pun) that you have, should be put to one side, because pregnant ladies can help themselves prepare for the positive birth experience they want, by combining self-hypnosis, coaching and imagery.
I have two children of my own and am already running a successful general hypnotherapy practice in Langley, Berkshire. Earlier this year, I completed further training to allow me to specialise as a Confident Childbirth Practitioner, so that this invaluable and much needed service can be offered to women from the surrounding areas.
Numerous studies into the benefits of hypnotherapy for pregnancy have been undertaken. One such five-year medical study was carried out in Wales comparing the labour of two groups of pregnant ladies. The first group had pre-labour hypnotherapy sessions, whilst the second group was given only the usual pre-natal support. The study reported that the time for first stage of labour was generally reduced by an average of several hours for the hypnotherapy group when compared to that of the control group. It also said that the hypnotherapy group needed significantly less chemical pain relief. Other studies have noted that having pre-labour hypnosis tends to mean that ladies need less medical intervention (forceps/caesarean etc) and that their babies have a higher AGPAR score. This is all good news, at a time when midwives in the NHS are under more and more work load pressure due to staff shortages.
I find it really sad that mention the word ‘childbirth’ to most people and the first thing that enters their mind is ‘pain’. It doesn’t have to be this way – just because we seem to have expectation in this country that childbirth equals pain! That expectation is slowly begin challenged and I am passionate about helping as many women as possible to have the most positive birth experience they can. You can contact me by getting the details on my website www.anitamitchell.co.uk.