(hypnobirthing) Home Study Course for Expectant Mothers

My birth was fast, and the pain that I did feel was very tolerable.I am a first time mom. I practiced my Hypnobabies as much as I let myself make time for -- I did the daily tracks, listened to my pregnancy affirmations almost daily on my way to and from work, read all of the passages from the textbook, but was terrible about practicing my finger-drop technique, learning how to use my hypo-anesthesia, and putting my switch into the center position. I didn't realize going into this program that it would be so much work (it is not easy, but it's worth it!), and so part of it was my stubbornness and part of it was just not making time to practice. So, I practiced when I could and hoped for the best. My advice to you -- Do not wait to do your tracks until you go to bed at night. I would fall asleep almost every time, and doubted if it was going to work for me when my birthing time came. When I would do the tracks in the morning I always felt like I got more out of them. So when it's possible, do your tracks in the daylight!I'm sure that if I had devoted more time to the program I could have had a birth that was even more pain free than it was. With that said, my body progressed quickly. The first time my OB checked me at a routine appointment, I was at a 2. I walked around at 3cm for at least 3 weeks. My baby was born at 38 weeks, just one day after dropping. On his birth day -- my water broke at 3:30 p.m. We checked into the hospital at 5:45, when the hospital doctor checked my cervix around 6:00 p.m. I was already at 7cm! Up until that point, my contractions (pressure waves) were only mildly uncomfortable, comparable to mild menstrual cramps with some lower back pain. Prior to my water breaking my contractions were completely painless. Once the "real" labor kicked in, I did feel pain. But, it was tolerable. And the Hypnobabies birthing track along with my hypno-doula helped me to remember to relax and breathe through the pressure waves. When I really focused on breathing and relaxing all the important parts of my body, the pain became so tolerable. I wouldn't say it disappeared completely, but it wasn't BAD like one might expect. Pain was not the focus of the labor, bringing baby down to where he needed to be, and allowing my cervix to open completely was at the forefront of my mind. The physical sensations, while present, took the backseat.While unable to relax my WHOLE body, I was able to channel the tension into my arms, grasping the hand rails on the bed, while relaxing the lower portion of my body. Not having an epidural allowed me to move around on the bed during labor, utilizing various positions to let gravity help baby to continue moving down. From the time that my "hard" labor began, to the time he was born, totaled 4 hours.I never thought I'd want to listen to the birthing track in the hospital room, but when my husband turned it on, it was actually comforting to hear Kerry Tuschhoff's voice. The whole time I did the program, I wondered if it would really work. But, I told myself that even if it didn't work like I wanted it to, because I didn't practice like I should have, that it would still be beneficial to me AND my baby to practice deep relaxation for an hour a day. I honestly feel like this program is the reason why my body progressed as quickly as it did. On top of that, the program gave me the confidence and positivity that I needed to stick to my guns and KNOW that I COULD have a natural birth. The "bubble of peace" really works! The negativity surrounding childbirth from friends, family, the media, etc., didn't bother me if I reminded myself of my "bubble of peace." I constantly told myself, "I'm gonna rock this birth! Naturally!" And I did. The positive pregnancy affirmations track was a little corny -- some parts of a lot of the tracks I felt were a little corny -- but -- they really worked to clear out fears and reinforce confidence.I went in knowing I wanted a natural birth but was unsure if I could actually handle it. The Hypnobabies program gave me the confidence that I needed to know that I could do it. I would definitely recommend Hypnobabies to other moms and would do it again.Last pieces of advice:1. Practice, practice, practice. Don't slack off!2. Practice in the daytime hours when possible.3. Hire a Hypnobabies certified doula.4. Prepare your medical history before checking in to the hospital. See the Hypnobabies blog - search for "Typical Questions Asked for Admission to Hospital". By handing over my medical information when checking in, I was able to tell the nurse to refer to that so that I could focus on my pressure waves and not have to be bothered with answering the same medical questions over and over.5. Believe that you can do it!

Let me preface this review by saying that I am still a few months away from giving birth to my first child, so my review at this point is based upon the home study course materials themselves, and not on their effectiveness during labor. I will update my review after the baby is born with insights on my experience using these techniques during labor.I purchased this program after becoming interested in using hypnosis to minimize the discomfort of labor to achieve as natural a birth as possible. I am 25 weeks pregnant at the moment and at this point I have not listened to all of the cds that come with this course, but I have read the entire workbook and have listened to the first two weeks worth of hypnosis lessons. I also listen to the joyful pregnancy affirmations cd regularly. I plan to start my daily hypnosis practice in earnest in a few weeks.I really like the hypnosis tracks that I have listened to thus far and feel that this program has already helped me learn how to relax deeply in response to hypnotic induction and has strengthened my confidence in my ability to birth naturally and cope with the totally new sensations I will feel during labor.Kerry has a very relaxing voice and the background music is the same on each of the cds, so as you continue to listen to the different tracks, you'll begin to associate the music itself with a sense of calm and relaxation. I usually fall asleep about 10 minutes in to listening to each track. Don't worry, this is a very normal occurrence for many people practicing Hypnobabies, and falling asleep is not supposed to negatively impact the effectiveness of the program. Although, you are encouraged to listen to each track at least once while you are awake to be sure you've gotten the basics of each track down.As with any program like this, I think it's important to be realistic about what you hope it will do for you. I do not expect this program to deliver a completely "pain" or discomfort free experience (which, I might add, this course does NOT promise.) Rather, I wanted to learn self-hypnosis tools to use to manage the sensations of labor and to learn a philosophy for working with, rather than against, my body. Hypnobabies has exceeded my expectations in that regard and I can't imagine trying to labor naturally without it. I feel certain that using this course to prepare is certainly better than trying to muscle through without any training or practice at all.I have also read the Hypnobirthing book and taken the Hypnobirthing course, and I think that Hypnobabies is a superior product because it provides so much more depth in terms of the hypnosis techniques and instruction it provides. It's also a more current and up to date program. From watching the various Hypnobirthing videos shown during my class, it is clear that the course materials desperately need to be updated, including the book. I expect that over time, Hypnobabies will overtake Hypnobirthing as the more popular program.*UPDATE*Thanks to the preparation I received from the Hypnobabies program, I am happy to say that my beautiful, healthy, 10lb. baby girl was born naturally at home with the help of midwives on March 18, 2011 after 36 hours of active labor. I had a wonderful birth and I give Hypnoabies a lot of credit for helping me to stay calm and focused the entire time. I want to make sure it is clear to everyone who reads this that my birth was not easy and it was not pain free, but it was completely manageable and I was able to stay calm, confident and relaxed for the entire experience. There were certainly moments during my labor that I thought about how nice it would be if the pain would go away, but it's funny to me now that I never once asked my husband, doula or midwives for pain relief or mentioned going to the hospital. I see now that I was very mentally prepared for labor and I think that Hypnobabies was an integral part of my mental preparation (along with lots of reading about childbirth and talking to everyone I knew about their birth experiences). I recommend Hypnobabies to anyone who is very committed to a natural birth, with the caveat that I think it's important not to expect a pain free experience. While I am convinced that some women luck out and experience no pain, I really think that is the exception rather than the rule, even with hypnosis. I realized at some point that my goal was always a natural birth (as well as a healthy baby of course) rather than a pain free natural birth. So, in that regard, Hypnobabies really lived up to my expectations. I want to add that I had a tremendous amount of emotional support from my husband, a fantastic doula, and two midwives. It would have been much more difficult for me personally to focus on birthing naturally without so much support and had I been in the hospital (of course I do understand why home birth is not an option for everyone).

I enjoyed listening to these CDs during my difficult twin pregnancy. I would fall asleep to these CDs every night and listen to them during the day as well. I felt happy and confident.I was induced and my labor was lengthy - I listened to these CDs diligently as the monitors were painfully digging into my belly, however after my water broke the pain became so intense that all hypnobabies' advise flew out of my head at once. I was surviving. The anesthesiologist was busy with an emergency case and I was praying for her to come over and give me that epidural shot that I was planning to proudly reject.When it was time to push I was dead tired. I wish I had an epidural earlier and had a night of sleep instead of torture! By evening of the next day I pushed both babies out but one stopped breathing while waiting for me to push him out. He spent weeks in NICU due to what happened to him at birth. He was healthy otherwise. I wish I took the drugs right away and did not fool myself with all that self-empowering gibberish!! I feel that Hypnobabies failed me big time and my baby almost died because I was too tired to push after being through long hours of pain. Everyone is different, so I am glad that this works for other people. Not for me.