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What Is HypnoBirthing?
Why Does HypnoBirthing Help?
Myths about HypnoBirthing
Photo of a Laboring Client in Trance

What Is HypnoBirthing?
If you live in Los Angeles, you may be familiar with the phrase "willing suspension of disbelief." What this means is that you "agree" to believe something which you know is not true. Here's how it works.

Imagine that you go to the movies. You enter the theater, fully aware that you are about to witness something that someone wrote to entertain you. You know that the actors are repeating words that were written for them, about a situation created for your entertainment. As you sit in the theater, you are aware of the other people in the theater. You may be aware that you are eating your popcorn. You are fully aware that the movie is NOT reality.

But somewhere along the way, something changes. As you watch the movie, you find yourself absorbed in the movie so much that when Bambi's mother dies, you cry ... or when you are watching Jodie Foster being stalked through night goggles, your heart is pounding as if the killer were stalking you.

You respond to the movie AS IF it were real while, at the same time, you are fully aware that it is NOT real. Your body certainly responds as if it is real because you have willingly suspended your disbelief. And you did it without having made a conscious decision to believe it!

Why Does HypnoBirthing Help?
Relaxation is the key to an easier birth. A major part of what causes the pain of labor is muscle exhaustion. Think of how it feels to do a sit-up. Next, imagine doing the sit-up so slowly that it takes a full minute or longer to complete. Now think of doing one of these minute-long sit-ups every 4 to 5 minutes for 18 to 24 hours, without eating a meal or stopping, even when you have to go to the bathroom.

Taking this analogy to the next step, imagine instead that someone else is lifting you and holding you in this sit-up position so that you could be relaxed, leaning back into their strong hands. You would still become somewhat exhausted from the activity, and lack of food and sleep, but your muscles wouldn't hurt nearly as much.

Myths About HypnoBirthing
There are myths about birth hypnosis -- it is not stage hypnosis. I don't put my clients "to sleep." Laboring women are not out of control, but more in control with the help of relaxation. Everyone can be helped with relaxation training, even if they don't believe they can be hypnotized.

The level of relaxation my clients report is much like having someone else to the hard work of lifting while the woman relaxes through the contractions. This allows the muscles to work as nature intended, without the tension and pain usually associated with childbirth. I don't promise painless childbirth, even though some clients have had that experience. Everyone has their own, unique experience, just as every child and every pregnancy and labor are different. Some women seem almost asleep throughout labor, appearing to have received heavy narcotics when, in fact, they are unmedicated. Others have said that they felt calmer than they had every expected to feel. Every client has felt that it has helped them to some degree to listen to the tapes I make for them, with a direct correlation to how often they listened to the tape and practiced their relaxation.

If you're interested in learning these techniques, please contact B*E*S*T at tracy@bestdoulas.com.