Are you wondering how you can use hypnobirthing techniques to achieve a calm and natural birth? This guide will get you started with exactly how to use hypnobirthing techniques so that you can feel relaxed and calm through your delivery.
The thing I love about hypnobirthing is that it truly empowers moms to work with their birth. Instead of feeling like they are caught in a crazy dangerous storm during birth, hypnobirthing moms usually feel safe and secure.
This allows their bodies to relax. A relaxed body works effectively. When a mom is relaxed and her body is working effectively, it is more than probable that her birth will be a joyful and peaceful event.
But, a calm, centered birth doesn’t usually come on its own. Like anything of value, practice, intention, and purpose all need to go into creating a beautiful and rewarding birth experience.
These hypnobirthing techniques will give you a place to begin your preparation for a birth experience you will cherish forever.
What Are Hypnobirthing Techniques?
Hypnobirthing is based on the belief that childbirth is a natural and normal event. Although in rare cases, birth may need medical assistance, in general, every woman is made to give birth in the same primal and instinctual way any mammal is made to give birth.
Hypnobirthing techniques are practices that you can do that will help you connect with the resources inside of you that are already ready to give birth. These practices will help you understand and trust your body. They will help you have confidence in yourself and your own ability to give birth fearlessly, and maybe even painlessly.
If you are curious about where hypnobirthing came from and want more information about why these practices were made and how they work, check out the full comprehensive article Hypnobirthing Explained.
Why Do Hypnobirthing Techniques Help You?
As you prepare for birth, I am sure you have heard a wide array of stories. Some sound very frightening and scary, while others sound empowering and joyful. Birth can and does affect every woman differently. But, when you prepare for a positive birth, you are much more likely to have a positive birth.
Marie Mongan, the creator of the Hypnobirthing technique, taught that pain does not have to be apart of birth. She believes that pain is mainly caused by fear. When you prepare for birth in a way that removes fear, you reduce pain and complications.
Hypnobirthing techniques are built on three pillars that help you with that goal. These pillars are:
- You need to obtain a sense of deep relaxation through self-hypnosis and breathing techniques so that you can allow your body to do its job during birth.
- Positively reframe what is happening during birth in your mind so that you can accept the intensity of birth and surrender to it.
- Acquire education about the process of birth so that you can make decisions that protect you and your baby and allow birth to unfold without intervention whenever possible.
Hypnobirthing techniques are one of the most effective ways to be prepared for the challenges that are part of labor.
7 Hypnobirthing Techniques To Practice Daily
1. Replace Your Fears Of Giving Birth With Trust In your Body
Most women have never been exposed to positive birth stories and have layers of fear when it comes to birth. An essential part of preparing for birth is coming to know the miraculous abilities of the female body to create life and bring it into the world.
This means asking yourself questions about your own beliefs about what birth is really like and then seeking out real stories and real experiences that might expand your thinking. This may mean reading pregnancy books or watching videos of other women sharing their birth stories.
When you expand your knowledge, you can think rationally and clearly about birth and hold a positive expectation for the experience ahead of you.
2. Recognize And Release Body Shame
Many women have been taught to feel a sense of shame about their bodies. Especially when it comes to anything that has to do with sex, birth, or anything that involves the more feminine parts of the body. Spending time learning about birth and how your body is made to give birth is a crucial part of the hypnobirthing process. Practicing gratitude for your body and its power is a key hypnobirthing technique.
This can look like nurturing your body with gentle massages. Or it may look like using affirmations like “I trust my body.” Spending purposeful time holding gratitude, love, and attention for your body is a key and often overlooked part of hypnobirthing.
3. Avoid Negativity
Often, hypnobirthing moms create a bubble of peace or positivity around them. Yes, this sounds a little woo, but science has clearly shown that stress affects a growing baby, even within your womb.
In the hypnobirthing world, this means saying no to things that are intrinsically stressful like watching the news, people or events that drain you, and even TV shows that needlessly stress you out or give you nightmares.
In a more practical term, this also means looking to understand what is causing the most stress in your life and taking simple steps to resolve the underlying problems of those unique stressors.
4. Practice Self Hypnosis Before Bed
One of the most important parts of hypnobirthing is the belief that the body achieves what the mind believes. In hypnobirthing, one important technique is to practice self-hypnosis or listen to positive birth affirmations as you go to sleep. The point is to completely rewrite your subconscious beliefs about birth.
That way, when labor begins, you can welcome it with softness. Many moms end up fighting against labor because they are afraid of its intensity or of the complications they have spent months dreading. With self-hypnosis and positive affirmations, moms learn to accept, allow, and work with the forces of labor.
5. Breath Slow And In Control While You Are Dilating
If you are preparing for a hypnobirth, you will want to practice this hypnobirthing breathing technique. In fact, I teach very specifically how to do this in my mini-course Birth Secrets.
But essentially, you want to take in a deep breath, one that fills your diaphragm and belly. Then, you hold it in for just a moment. And lastly, you slowly and intentionally release it to either 6 or 8 counts. Your exhale should be about twice as long as your inhale.
This helps you activate your parasympathetic nervous system. Which is a long way to say it helps you relax and let go. When you practice this type of breathing before birth, not only do you get better at it, but you also train your body to complete cycles of stress more efficiently.
The more efficient you are at removing stress from your body the less pain you will experience during birth. So this is a great hypnobirthing technique to practice regularly.
6. Use J Breathing When You Are Pushing
J breathing is the hypnobirthing technique you should use when you feel the urge to push your baby out. Your body will naturally start bearing down during contractions. You want to allow your body to push in the way that feels the most natural to your body.
The J breath is a way to help you focus, stay calm, and stay in control as you push. When you are breathing this way, you are using your breath to visualize pushing your baby down and then up – like in the shape of a J. Think down, and then in your arms.
To do a J-breath you simply start by taking a deep breath. Instead of immediately letting it out, you almost lock your breath in your chest, while you give a gentle push out. You are visualizing pushing the breath down and pushing your baby out. Then you release and go again.
You should never feel like you are holding your breath or straining your face or upper body while pushing. For more information on how to push a baby out and what muscles to use, check out this article.
7. Create A Calm And Relaxing Environment
One hypnobirthing technique that is often overlooked is setting the stage for birth. Just like a romantic night helps you feel more in the mood for intimacy with your partner, carefully preparing the environment you give birth in can help you stay focused on the process at hand. This means different things to different moms.
Most hypnobirthing moms like to prepare visuals with their favorite affirmations, turn the lights down in the room, make sure the temperature is comfortable, that the clothes they are wearing are comfortable (goodbye hospital gown) and that there is music playing that helps them stay calm and relaxed.
Some moms also choose scents like lavender, clary sage, or bergamot to diffuse into their room as well.
What would make a peaceful envirmonment for you?
Who Should Practice Hypnobirthing?
In my experience as a doula, I have seen that these can be very effective tools for some moms and not very helpful for others. While all birthing classes will teach about breathing, relaxing, and coping with pain, they each have a different style.
Hypnobirthing is perfect for a mom who has a quiet or inward reaction to stress. It takes much practice to be able to maintain a sense of peace through the intensity of birth. If you area person who handles stress by going inwards and focusing deeply, hypnobirthing is perfect for you!
If you are more active and outward, check out other styles of birthing classes, such as Lamaze and Bradley classes here.
Hypnobirthing Techniques Conclusion
In the hypnobirthing philosophy, most births do not have to be medical events. As such, you can create an experience that feels sweet, tender, and peaceful. These techniques will help you do the things that will create a positive and joyful experience.
But, I want to give a simple word of warning, the hypnobirthing technique can be very effective at helping you have a positive birth. But, it is not a guarantee of an outcome or specific unfolding of your birth. Keep an open mind and a sense of exploration and discovery when it comes to birth. Because every birth is its own story.
May your birth be beautiful and joyful,
Thank you for being here,
Suzzie Vehrs
The post 7 Hypnobirthing Techniques That Will Help You Achieve A Calm Birth appeared first on She Births Bravely.
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