BlossomBelly

Excerpted from the Hypnobabies Website.  See the whole post here:  http://www.hypnobabies.com/mylink.php?id=6837

First and foremost, it is important to understand that although many of our Hypnobabies moms do experience pain-free births, not all of them do, and we do *not* promise or guarantee that will be the case. Hypnobabies is dedicated to helping each birthing mother have the *easiest, most comfortable birthing experience* that she can have. This is one of the first concepts our students learn, since our student workbook directly states the following:

You are about to embark upon a journey to learn how you, your Birth Partner and your baby can have a much easier, more comfortable and joyful childbirth experience. It will take dedication, planning and a willingness to be open to new concepts, and all will be well worth your effort and time.

At Hypnobabies, our motto is, “ENJOY your baby’s birth … in comfort, joy and love.” This is exactly what we work towards and what Hypnobabies was designed for, as you will see by the wording of each Hypnobabies script. It is important to remember that we cannot promise you a completely pain-free or drug-free birthing.

Although the majority of our Hypnobabies moms do have very comfortable births, some even pain-free, it is important for anyone using this course to understand that every birth experience is different, just as every pregnancy is different, you need to know and accept that your own will be the perfect one for you, no matter what path your birthing journey takes.

There is no “right way” to do Hypnobabies, no one outcome or effect that every woman experiences. Therefore, there is no “failure” should things go differently than you originally planned. You will always be a successful Hypno-mom as long as you practice and use your Hypnobabies techniques, cues and scripts. Every woman has the kind of birthing that she needs to have, and every woman deserves to have the best and easiest one she can, so keep practicing your Hypnobabies skills until baby is born, and use what you have learned during your birthing … and afterwards.

Childbirth is so much easier when you use the incredible power of your own body, mind and spirit together, and that’s exactly what you are doing with Hypnobabies. Enjoy your course, your practice and your wonderful birthing!

As you can see, Hypnobabies does not guarantee a “pain-free” birth experience to anyone, and makes clear that birth outcomes for each mother are completely unique. This is exactly why we have affirmations and hypnosis scripts which include suggestions and directives such as:

“I easily accept any path that my birthing takes me when I give birth to my baby,

knowing that it is the right one for me and my baby.”

It is, however, extremely important that all mothers who embrace Hypnobabies *believe that it is possible to have a comfortable birth* using Hypnobabies techniques. There is no way for any of our moms to actually experience an easy, comfortable birth unless they believe it is a possibility for them and of course, that is what our course is all about: changing belief systems. I have actually heard birth professionals state that it is misleading to indicate to women that they can achieve comfortable, easy labor with Hypnobabies. Their reasoning seems to be that not all women do achieve this, so we shouldn’t teach anyone that it is possible!

Consider this: If we at Hypnobabies taught all of our mothers that “easier, more comfortable…even pain-free births can be experienced, but don’t expect that it will be that way for you”…what kind of outcomes would we see? We would be invalidating our tried and true, very successful techniques and tools, (and the birth stories of women who have had easy comfortable Hypnobabies births) in favor of…fear! This is similar to telling a child they shouldn’t work towards getting an “A” in school so they won’t be disappointed when they get a “C”. To bring it closer to home, it is akin to physicians telling moms that “VBAC may be possible for some women, but don’t really plan on it for yourself because most moms can’t achieve it”. Giving a bit of encouragement and then negating it with a *warning* is counter-productive and counter-intuitive to all that many of us stand for in the birthing world. It will benefit everyone if we all become a bit more open-minded about concepts that we don’t yet understand fully, and be willing to grow as we learn.