Hypnotherapy for pregnancy,

 labour, birth and new mums

Phil Parker DO MRO, Dip E. Hyp.P.NLP Member of the British Institute of Hypnotherapists

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Overview.

 Hypnotherapy has a long tradition of assisting both expectant and “new” mums, it has found to be useful in dealing with many of the common problems associated with this time, including

·       reducing and eliminating morning sickness

·       calming fears around the birth process

·       preparing the mother both physically and mentally to be at her best for the birth and post natal period

·       turning breech babies

·       natural pain control

·       connecting with the baby pre and post birth

·       breast feeding problems and soreness

·       stress

The specifics and research

For more details of the actual process of hypnotherapy, see our sheet on hypnotherapy and the Myths of hypnosis.

·       Stress relief.

 Hypnosis is extremely good in assisting you to find ways to become instantly calm and incredibly relaxed. This can make such a difference in labour.

·       Anaesthesia and pain relief.

 Not only is hypnosis a great way to learn how to reduce and control pain, so much so that people can have major surgery under hypnotic anaesthetic, without a general anaesthetic; but it also reduces the amount of bleeding following trauma, cuts and tears.

 Your body already as the ability to control pain, hypnosis helps you to harness this ability.

 “In a series of drugs test, patients were given a pill to help them with their pain. Some of the pills were morphine, a powerful pain killer, others were a sugar pill, or placebo. The patients didn’t know which they ones they had been given. Between 51-70 % of the patients given nothing but a pill made of sugar got pain relief. “( The Power of the Sugar Pill. Psychology Today 1974-79 pp55-59)

·       Breech babies.

 If the baby is in this position it can cause difficulties in delivery.

"A researcher at the University of Vermont, Burlington, used hypnosis with one hundred pregnant women whose foetuses were in the breech position between the 37th and 40th week of gestation.  The intervention group received hypnosis with suggestions for general relaxation and release of fear and anxiety. While under hypnosis, the women were also asked why their baby was in the breech position.

The study, which appeared in the Archives of Family Medicine, reported that 81% of the foetuses in the hypnosis group moved to the vertex position, compared with 48% of the control group."( Natural Health, December 1995 issue, p 22)

·       Preparation for a great birth

 When an athlete prepares for their Olympic event, or a brain surgeon operates, they will have spent hours preparing themselves, training up, so they have the knowledge and abilities that they need to perform that task well, and then the final piece of preparation for getting the results they want is to be in the right frame of mind. Hypnosis can help you in just the same way to be at your best for the great day.