How Hypnobirthing Helped Me Have a Natural Birth

In preparation for my birth I took Hypnobirthing classes. Many of my pregnant friends have said they wanted to hear how Hypnobirthing worked for me so I thought I'd share.
Firstly, I felt empowered while I was taking the classes because I learned more about my body and specifically how it works during pregnancy and birth. Knowledge is power! Once I learned how my muscles and bones would be working with my baby during birth the whole idea seemed a lot less scary. I also grew to appreciate how amazing my body is, and I knew my body was literally created by God for this purpose. I am made to give birth!
In addition to learning about the body, we also learned about our minds and the power they have over our bodies. We explored the power this gives us and how it can help us during birth. To do this, we used breathing techniques, relaxation, and self-hypnosis to focus on relaxing muscles in our bodies and minimize pain. I practiced this every night while going to sleep, and it helped me to sleep better. I think this practice is what helped me to effectively relax my face and abdomen during my contractions and it relieved a lot of the pain.
Also, in my post about Paisley's birth I mentioned that I took one drug in the hopes that it would significantly dull the pain and help me get some sleep. I was looking for an easy way to take a break from all the work I was putting in and get some rest because I was exhausted! Unfortunately, the drug did nothing for me except perhaps make me more drowsy. The reason I bring this up is because I believe that using a relaxation script would have been more effective and produced better results than the drug I took. towards the beginning of my labor, I did use a script to help me relax and I felt much more rejuvenated after that exercise than I did after taking the drug. If I had continued this practice during my labor I believe I would not have felt I needed a drug.
Finally, Hypnobirthing helped me know what birth experience I wanted, and taught me the things I could do to get that experience. This included things like writing birth preferences, and getting the support you need to be successful. My experience would have been much more difficult if not for the support of my doula/big sister Fiona and my husband Myles. They were so supportive and encouraging from day one! It was wonderful to have a big sister who had been there to whom I could go with questions, and Myles was so encouraging, he made me believe I could do anything! I cannot thank them enough for the role they played in my birth experience.

And that is how Hypnobirthing helped me have a natural birth. Let me know if you have any questions!