Since the day you held that positive pregnancy test, you've probably been imagining the moment when you'll finally be welcoming your baby into the world. You know that this will be one of the most magical moments of your life, as you will be holding a little miracle; your perfect miracle. This feeling is so precious and guess what, it will be even better than anything you've imagined so far!
But there is this nagging doubt that often (if not always) comes crushing the pure joy of those daydreams: 'Is birth painful? Will the pain be too overwhelming? How will I be able to cope? Can I do this?’. After all, if your birth references are only what you've seen on TV, and the awful stories that people seem to sadistically relish sharing with pregnant women, then it’s close to impossible not to feel terrified.
So, is birth painful?
We can all agree that labour is an incredibly powerful experience, but our bodies have evolved to birth effectively, and yours is no exception. If you ask a group of women and birthing people to rate their birth experience using a continuum of pain (from 0 to 10), the answer will vary massively as we are all different, but mums who used Hypnobirthing will often be on the lower half of the scale.
This is because if you are informed, and you're feeling calm, relaxed and in control, and if you've chosen the right birthing environment for you, then your body will - in the vast majority of cases - do what it's been designed to do. By understanding the physiological process, you can truly embrace and lean into the powerful sensations of labour as you know that each of them is bringing your baby closer.
By learning to release all physical tensions, and by adopting a positive and confident mindset, you're giving yourself the best chance to have a more comfortable experience.
However, if you are stressed or frightened, your oxygenated blood will be diverted away from your uterus (basic fight or flight response), and the tension and lack of oxygen in your muscles - that are simply trying to do their job - will build increasing discomfort and pain. Inevitably the pain will be the source of more fear and bring more tension in the body. As a result, your body will be taking longer to open and prepare for baby to be born, which can then be the cause of unnecessary interventions, and reinforce this self-perpetuating circle of pain and tension.
I truly believe that if all women and birthing people were given a chance to understand the physiological birthing process better, and were able to eliminate the all-so-destructive fear-tension-pain cycle during childbirth, then gentle and empowering birth stories would become the new norm. The dangerous epidemic of unnecessary obstetric interventions would then be a thing of the past, as it would be much easier for care providers to recognise when mums and babies do genuinely need help instead of putting everyone on a conveyor belt of interventions...
A Cochrane review in 2006 found that Hypnobirthing had many benefits as a birth preparation programme. The publication revealed that it decreases the need for pharmacological pain relief, reduces the rate of induction and augmentation of labour, shortens the length of labour, and improves maternity wellbeing as well as neonatal outcomes.
In my birth preparation courses, parents learn about the physiology of birth and the power of the mind during pregnancy and birth. They also learn breathing and relaxation techniques, as well as their options of comfort measures, from warm water to epidural analgesia and everything that is available in between.
