Hypnobirthing…..

🔥 Controversial PSA (again)🔥

Just noted another new new mother who feels disappointed with herself on the 'hypnobirthing front'.....though she birthed her baby at home, and all is well 😞.

I often hear:

🤔 I didn’t do it right.

🤔 I couldn’t stop pushing.

🤔 I wasn’t calm.

🤔 I was so LOUD.

🤔 I couldn’t control the pain.

Where is this coming from? Is it the terminology some hypnobirthing teachers use?

Is it the expectations hypnobirthing builds up?

I'm really tired of people taking away from their own achievements because their birth did not fit within certain hypnobirthing criteria.

Birth is often overwhelming, loud, rough, primal and yes, painful. Hypnobirthing may not change that.

Can hypnobirthing be a good tool to promote relaxation, surrender, education and knowledge about physiology? YES.

Will those tools work for everyone to achieve a birth that is easy/straightforward/calm/insert word of choice? NO.

Is the success of hypnobirthing dependent on the teacher (by success I mean the person who did the hypnobirthing evaluating it as a useful tool after birth)? Oh yes.

Can a certain way to teach hypnobirthing be responsible for a negative recollection of birth? Also yes.

And finally, is hypnobirthing necessary to have a positive birth/a birth that goes well/a birth that feels manageable/a birth that is physiological? Absolutely not.

Hypnobirthing can be a wonderful tool, one that can enable people to understand/advocate for themselves and navigate birth in a positive way.

It is also perfectly fine to NOT choose hypnobirthing 🤓.

Your ability to birth a baby does not hinge on a birth preparation course…..birth preparation is one of the first interventions we encounter, and it can be positive AND negative 😬.

(I’m prepared to get flamed for this 🔥.)

www.debsneigerindependentmidwife.co.uk