Ask anyone what their expectation of natural childbirth is, and most would use the word pain somewhere – regardless of whether they have even experienced it personally or not.  So it’s never a surprise to me that women react with disbelief when I tell them that pain-free childbirth is actually possible!

The way to achieve it? HypnoBirthing: a complete antenatal course that allows couples to approach the birth of their child with excitement rather than trepidation, and with a full understanding of the physiology of birth, as well as their options during the process.

By learning what actually happens to the body in labour, and how the body is perfectly designed to perform the function, couples learn how to break the Fear-Tension-Pain cycle that disrupts that natural process and causes the pain experienced in labour.

How pain in labour occurs

At the onset of labour, the brain, expecting to be faced with a painful process, causes the body to go in to a ‘defence mode’. In physiological terms, the body’s response to fear is to release adrenaline, causing muscles to tighten (the flight, fight or freeze response) and blood to divert to the major survival organs (of which the uterus is not one). Thus, the very muscles designed perfectly to birth your baby begin to work against each other and cause pain. The pain causes the body to release more adrenaline, and a cycle of pain-adrenaline-pain is triggered. Added to this, the lack of oxygen in the uterine muscles creates lactic acid, increasing the level of pain even further and often causing distress for the baby.

How the body should work

In contrast, when a woman is calm and relaxed about meeting her baby, and she understands and trusts that her body is perfectly designed for the task, endorphins (the body’s natural relaxant) are released at the onset of labour, which supplement the specific hormones released to allow her to birth her baby easily. This powerful natural combination of endorphins (which are 200 times more potent than morphine!) and hormones makes the birth an exhilarating and empowering process, rather than one filled with escalating pain and discomfort.

How HypnoBirthing helps

By learning simple self-hypnosis, breathing and relaxation techniques from around 28 weeks of pregnancy, HypnoBirthing® mums are, with regular practice, able to reach a deep state of relaxation, allowing them to switch off the part of the mind which is responsible for triggering the adrenaline release. You’re in full control – the techniques produce an effect no different to the mild state of hypnosis experienced when you become engrossed in a good book, watch TV, daydream, or drive (ever got somewhere and not remembered parts of the journey?). The relaxation makes pregnancy easier and more enjoyable, and HypnoBirthed babies are on average significantly calmer and more relaxed infants.

HypnoBirthing® statistics

95% of women are capable of having a ‘comfortable’ birth without medical intervention; 70% of women that have used HypnoBirthing® used no pain relief at all; a further 15% used only something mild such as Entonox (gas and air).

HypnoBirthing® was founded by Marie Mongan in the late 1980s in the US and is now taught in 34 countries worldwide. Only practitioners affiliated with the HypnoBirthing® Institute (still run by Marie Mongan) are qualified to teach the course, of which there are now many generic versions.

My own experience of HypnoBirthing

Our daughter Kiera was born in 2005 in hospital, after a fairly “typical” first labour – 14 hours, lots of shouting, stalling and screaming, all of which was exhausting and painful. I discovered HypnoBirthing® shortly after falling pregnant for the second time in 2007, and this time I was determined to have a more positive experience, and take control of the process. After learning the HypnoBirthing® methods, our son James was born, at home, in under 2 hours following a pain-free, drug-free labour. It was one of the most incredible experiences of my life and inspired me to train as a practitioner so that I could pass on what I had learned and experienced. I trained and qualified as a practitioner in the UK in 2008, and have been lucky enough to teach many mums who have all had wonderful birthing experiences.

I returned to Cape Town permanently at the beginning of Dec 2009 and founded ‘Beautifully Born’. I hope to help women in South Africa have comfortable, natural and fulfilling birth experiences, and offer a viable alternative to the “standard” labours that have for so long been the only way to bring children into the world.

For more details on HypnoBirthing® in Cape Town or to contact Kim visit www.beautifullyborn.co.za