Many future parents are considering hypnosis for natural childbirth but are concerned that they would be “zombies” and miss the birth.
Nothing can be further from the truth.
A typical birth with hypnosis would go something like that:
The future parents arrive at the maternity ward smiling confident that their labor started a while back. They labored at home and are still smiling. The future mother closes her eyes as she is getting a contraction and starts a soft dance while her partner robs her gently or hugs her during the contraction. When the contraction ends, they smile at each other. No scream, no huffing and puffing.
The nurse that welcomes them rolls her eyes as if saying “another couple with false labor.
When the nurse checks the baby’s heart, the mother’s blood pressure etc everything is perfect.
But the nurse’s face changes as she double checks her cervical examination: “Oh my God! You are dilated at 8 centimeters and fully effaced and the baby is already well engaged in station +2!”
The future mother did not hear her as her eyes have closed again as another contraction came. Her partner looks at his watch and his eyes grow wider “the contractions are three minutes apart.”
The mother-to-be asks the nurse if she can stand or sit on the physioball as lying flat on the bed is getting uncomfortable during a contraction.
The nurse had called a second nurse to help her set-up the room for the coming birth.
Meanwhile, the future mother has put some headphones on her ears and is listening to her relaxing Hypno-Baby self-hypnosis recording. Her partner gently touches her shoulder as she goes into hypnosis.
They answered that they wanted natural childbirth to the nurse who asked them what their expectations were. She rolled her eyes again…
TO BE CONTINUED
