The Power of Hypnobirthing — And How It Can Help You Achieve A Painless, Natural Childbirth

There is no wrong way to have a baby.  I celebrate a mother’s prerogative to make birth choices that are best for her and her child.  Since my birth experiences were unmedicated, I will share 3 of the benefits I found in having an unmedicated birth: (1) I was able to move freely during birth, (2) I was able to avoid drugs being introduced to my child, and (3) I was able to experience the power of my own body and be an active fully present participant in a miracle of life. There are several more benefits, but these were the ones that were most important to me. It is a popular opinion that getting an epidural is the most comfortable way to birth.  For me, getting a large needle inserted in my spine and then being numb in my body did not sound comfortable. I found that, through hypnobirthing, I was able to achieve a calm and comfortable birth. Any discomfort I felt was manageable through my breathing exercises.

I provide coaching for expecting mothers through a combination of mindset work, hypnobirthing instruction, best practices for calm and confident birthing, and emotional support.  Hypnobirthing uses three different breaths that I teach my clients.  The coaching session also comes with a 20-page toolkit of information to refer back to after our session.

Hypnobirthing is self-hypnosis for childbirth that changes your conscious awareness by enhancing or diminishing certain patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving. It relies heavily on the power of suggestion to gain self- awareness and maintain self-control. Studies have proven that use of hypnobirthing results in shorter labors, reduced use of pain medication, higher Apgar scores in newborns, and reduced rates of caesarean and forceps delivery. Self-hypnosis is not only used for birth, there a people who use hypnosis for pain relief during surgery because they are allergic to anesthesia or are having a type of surgery that they need to be awake for.

Some women have medically complicated births, so always consult with your OB/GYN or midwife about your birth plan and desire to use hypnobirthing.  I read an article in The Bump that about 40% of women who have singleton births are birthing naturally. That is a significant number, and hypnobirthing can certainly help those women have a much more comfortable birth. Our culture has made birth synonymous with pain but that does not have to be your experience. There are women who have orgasmic births (yes that is a thing!), so many of us are capable of much more than we think. It is important to note that, not every woman who tries hypnobirthing has a pain-free birth experience or even a natural birth.  I share my experience, what worked for me, and what I have learned in the process— and if I can make birth a more positive experience and remove some of the fear of birth that so many women are operating under—to me, that is success.

I encounter many women right now who are afraid of dying during childbirth, particularly Black women because of the maternal death rate disparity. Personally speaking, I had some fearful thoughts about tearing and also of my birth not progressing to the potential of needing a C-section.

Don’t just listen to yourself, talk to yourself. Repeating affirmations is a great tool for this. Instead of viewing birth with fear, I saw it as a divine appointment. Birth can be beautiful!  I did not listen to my doubts, I talked to myself instead. I told myself, “You can do this. You were designed for this”.  And whenever I had a negative thought enter my mind, I took it captive and said something positive to myself about birth to counter it. It worked. Also, proactively seek positive birth stories! Hearing a friend’s amazing natural birth experience helped me realize what was possible and want to experience it for myself.

We have to intentionally elevate positive birth experiences.  We trade our negative birth experiences like war stories with the more traumatic ones getting the most attention. Trauma should not be normalized—that should be an exception. Birth is a natural physiological function, and when not high-risk , it should be treated as such.

Even with the greatest medical care, there is an entire floor of women having babies at the same time as you, so having a doula present always a good idea.  My doula contributed greatly to my natural birthing success. I felt a synergy with her, because she given birth before and had ushered many women through the experience.  She was present for me. She stood with me in the shower as we waited for my baby to drop into position, we even danced to “Back That Thang Up” through the birth waves, and she guided my breathing.  Every birth is miraculous, and I was glad my doula was there to witness it, support me and even make my placenta into cute little capsules.