HypnoBirthing Class #1

Last Thursday was our very first HypnoBirthing Class, taught by Carol Yeh-Garner. Carol's hypnobirthing classes are so popular around our North County San Diego region, we waited 2 months just to get into this class. Classes are actually kept quite small (8 couples max per class) to keep the classes more intimate. I was very excited about this class and wasn't really sure what to expect. All in all, our 2 hour 45 minute first class was actually really interesting and eye opening! I've been getting a wee bit more anxious and a wee bit more "scared" as my due date gets closer, but this first class already gave me the confidence that I can do this! I can have my natural birth, but it's all up to me! (and up to Elbert, since he's supposedly gonna be my calm labor partner. We'll see about that haha).

Our first class was basically an introduction to HypnoBirthing- the history of it, the history of childbirth, how child birth has evolved from the ancient times to the (medically) present time. There are 8 couples in the class, including Elbert and I. We all got to introduce ourselves to one another and got to share our story of what we're most scared of when we go into labor, what we expect when we go into labor, and what we want to accomplish with HypnoBirthing. We got to participate in a few HypnoBirthing meditations at the end of class that was not only very relaxing, but made us realize that when we are under our own "self hypnosis," we lose all concept of time. We were under "self hypnosis" for about 20 minutes, but it seriously felt like 5 minutes at most. This could be VERY helpful during those hours and hours of labor hahaha.

People who are interested in or just plain out adamant about having a natural, uninterrupted (by medical intervention) birth should definitely consider HypnoBirthing. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this type of birthing class, don't let the name fool you into thinking that we'll be hypnotizing ourselves to be unconcious and unaware of what we are doing. Nobody will be there swinging a pendulum in front of our faces, telling us that we are getting sleepy. No one is gonna make us do anything we don't want to do while being unconcious. And NO mom and dad, THIS IS NOT SCIENTOLOGY!!! (Sorry- not to offend any Scientologists out there!) :) Although we will be in a state of self hypnosis (through meditation), we will be totally aware and concious - just relaxed (well, hopefully haha). Basically, if you think about all the times that you've sat in class or sat there at the office daydreaming about vacationing in Hawaii, or daydreaming about that super hot guy you met at the coffee shop, that's a state of hypnosis. Or have you ever driven home, pulled into the garage and thought to yourself, "Wow. How did I get home?" because you were totally on autopilot the whole time? Well, that's a state of hypnosis too. People always associate the word "hypnosis" to those comedy shows where the hypnotist pulls audience members on stage and make them do ridiculous things. Sorry to break it to you, but those shows are like the WWE. It's fake. And no, hypnosis doesn't work like that. :)

At our first class, we were given a HypnoBirthing book to read (ours to keep), by Marie F. Mongan (the founder of HypnoBirthing)

and was also given an accompanying "Rainbow Relaxation" CD that we are to listen to at night, before we drift off to bed. The CD has relaxing music playing behind spoken words, or birthing affirmations, that just repeats positive, can-do, self imagery of a relaxing, natural, birth. The second part of the CD is basically a relaxing, meditative part of the CD, where we allow ourselves to just be calm and relaxed, as in any type of meditation or yoga meditation. Elbert doesn't even last 5 minutes into the CD before I hear him snoring away haha.

I think this excerpt from the HypnoBirthing book summarizes the concept of HypnoBirthing:

"A HypnoBirthing mother learns to embrace her body's innate knowledge of birthing, to relax into her birthing process, working with her body and her baby. She trusts that each knows how to do its job. She wants this experience to unfold naturally without interruption. In doing this, she eliminates fatigue and shortens her birthing time. The result is a truly rewarding and satisfying birth experience, with the entire family, including the baby, being awake, alert and calm, yet energized."

HypnoBirthing doesn't teach that labor is pain-free. It just teaches you how to deal with it or ignore it by letting your mind think of positive images. The reason why women think of labor as being excruciatingly painful is because that is all we know- that's how TV and society portrays child birth. If we go into labor with all of this fear already etched in our minds, we'll be tensed and stressed. Being tensed and stressed doesn't allow the body to naturally go about its business, thus prolonging the birthing process. And then of course, there's the business of hospitals where doctors just want to go home, or get patients in and out as quickly as possible, so they end up giving the laboring woman unnecessary medicines like pitocin to speed up labor. If you mess with mother nature, of course your body's gonna be like, WTF?!?! So then your birthing muscles get all cramped and hurt like hell, and thats when you scream for an epidural. Funny thing is, the pitocin and the epidural counter act each other, and your body is now just like, "No seriously, WTF?!?!" With your body being all drugged up, it can't function the way it would function naturally. This is usually when doctors say they need to do an emergency c-section- probably because the fetus is now all in distress from your drugged up body, or the doctor just wants to go home, because its like 3am and he's been at the hospital for 20 hours already.

Wow, I just went off on a tangent there, didn't I? :) Do I sound like a crazy lady? Do I sound like I'm brainwashed and am a victim of the HypnoBirthing cult? hahaha Well, if you think about it, it all makes sense. Tribal women in Africa birth by themselves... They just lean up against their hut or a tree or whatever, squat, and receive their own babies. No problem! Asian rice paddy women workers... Same thing! Why is it that women in the 3rd world countries have no problems delivering their own babies without all of these medical interventions? They don't know any better and they don't know of all the fancy things our hospitals offer here in the states. And they are all fine, along with their babies! Because we are taught that this is what happens during birth in the US, of course we're gonna be expecting the worst and gonna be wanting all of the "miracle" drugs that will put us out of our misery hahaha.

HypnoBirthing isn't a guarantee for NOT getting a C-Section either. Of course there will be times where a C-section is absolutely necessary (i.e. baby is over 9lbs and won't fit through the birth canal, baby is suffocating because the umbilical cord is wrapped tightly around the baby's neck...). HypnoBirthing can also help in these kinds of stressful situations by keeping you calm and relaxed.

So in a nutshell, HypnoBirthing is for those who ideally want an all natural birth, someone who wants to allow their body to do its thang naturally- under no time restrictions and under no medical invervention if possible. It's all about listening to your own body and trusting it to do what it needs to do, WHEN it needs to do it. It's about creating a calm, relaxing, and positive mindset so that you don't fear labor... Now that I've spewed out all this information to you on why I am SOOO on the HypnoBirthing bandwagon, let's hope I can keep my word and follow through when the real thing happens! hahahahaha