Hypnosis is a controversial therapy with the whole world of medicine divided on the issue. But as of late, many pregnant women are finding comfort in times of extreme labor pain in hypnosis.
Hypnosis is a state of mental and physical relaxation that allows the person under this state to focus entirely on a thought, forgetting every other distraction. For women giving birth, hypnosis is used to persuade them to relax and expect a comfortable birth instead of a fearful and painful experience.
The âFight Or Flightâ Theory
The theory behind successful hypnotherapy during childbirth is that the state of hypnosis suppresses the birthing woman’s ‘fight or flight’ response. The response works in the following way:
- When a woman is in labor, fear of impending childbirth releases stress hormones in their body.
- These cause contraction of muscles.
- The contracted muscles pose hindrance to the delivery of the baby.
When the women in labor are put under hypnosis, they are persuaded to think that they will have a painless and comfortable childbirth experience and thereby, are not affected by the painful contractions of muscles.
[ Read: Uterine Inversion ]
Self Hypnosis For Labor
Hypnosis during labor pain is often done by the woman in labor herself. This self-hypnosis involves various techniques including:
- Some women concentrate on the sound of their breath and visualize the baby descending further with each breath. This is also known as Deep breathing Affirmations Visualization.
- Doctors are recommended to use words that take away the fear associated with childbirth. For example, contraction and dilation are two such ‘fearful’ words that can be replaced by ‘surge’ and ‘blooming’ instead.
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Benefits Of Hypnotherapy In Childbirth
It is seen that in most cases where women use hypnosis to deal with labor pain end up using less pain medication and also report less pain than those who did not use this technique. Other advantages are:
- Hypnosis during birthing is a popular option among women who plan on giving a completely natural birth, i.e., without any pain medication.
- Hypnosis also has no side effect that medication may have.
- Hypnosis convinces a woman that her body and mind are capable of handling the experience and get through it without a problem.
Disadvantages Of Hypnotherapy
To start with, learning self hypnosis is not an easy task. Here are some disadvantages of hypnotherapy in childbirth:
- Therapy sessions cost you money and time.The hypnosis programs usually involve a series of classes for two to three months.
- Even then, some women are unable to put themselves in a trance as completely as others. This means, despite their efforts to make the natural birthing process pain-free or less painful, they face the same agony.
- Apart from that, some women also claim that being completely under the state of hypnosis, their pain was hardly alleviated and they ended up begging for medication anyway.
[ Read: Positions For Labor ]
An Alternative For Painkiller?
A lot of women across the world have found success in hypno-birthing. There have similarly been success stories in India too, and hypnosis is becoming a popular option in many leading cities to help women in labour.
- William Camann, the director of obstetric anesthesia at Brigham Women’s Hospital in Boston, says that hypnosis makes the woman much less stressed even if they feel the pain.
- Some women under hypnosis may opt for pain medication in the end, but even before it is given, they are quiet and less stressed.
[ Read: Music For Labor ]
If you are pregnant and wish to explore the option of hypnosis to ease labour pain, do consult your gynaecologist who will certainly be able to give you more information and help you opt for it!
Have you tried hypnosis during labor? Do share your experiences with other mommies in the comment box below:
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