Hypnosis for Pregnancy and Childbirth By Paul Mischel

There are many myths about what hypnosis can and can not do. Unfortunately, the general public are commonly fed a diet of misinformation about hypnosis by the popular media. This misinformation is often sensational in nature, full of inaccuracies and fear based. So to begin with, I feel it is appropriate to clarify what hypnosis is. There are many definitions of hypnosis and after hundreds of years of use there is still much debate as to what actually constitutes hypnosis. However, the definition that most appeals to me has been coined by UK hypnotist James Rolph. Rolph's perspective is that Hypnosis is a process of engaging people's beliefs and imagination in creating for them a new subjective reality. This new subjective reality is achieved through verbal and non-verbal communication processes and may or may not utilise a trance state to achieve the desired outcome. In fact, Rolph postulates that trance is not necessary at all to achieve some of the medically useful hypnotic phenomena such as pain control and amnesia. As the birthing experience is a vastly altered subjective experience from a woman's normal day to day life experience, the birthing process lends itself well to the use of hypnosis. It is important to recognise that there is nothing inherently mysterious about the process of hypnosis. We all have the innate capability to alter our subjective experience either consciously or unconsciously. For instance, have you ever forgotten about how your arm or leg was positioned and had it fall asleep? Have you ever had the experience of looking for your keys or some other item and despite having looked everywhere discovered it in plain sight in a place you swear you looked? Maybe you have found yourself going into a room for something and forgotten what it was that you had gone there for? All these natural functions of your mind are remarkably useful resources that can be recalled, enhanced and utilised during pregnancy and particularly the birthing process. Over the years I have had the privilege of working with numerous mothers preparing for the arrival of their little bundle of joys. I have also used hypnosis effectively to assist with the preparation and delivery of my own two boys, one naturally delivered and the other delivered by emergency caesarian. As a result of my professional and personal experiences, I would recommend the following guidelines when considering the use of hypnosis for pregnancy and the birthing process: 1) If possible start your hypnosis for childbirth sessions within your first trimester. The first trimester is in my opinion an opportune time to start practicing for the birth. With plenty of time up your sleeve to become accustomed to hypnosis you will most likely take time to enjoy the process rather than face it as a task that must be completed by a due date. The advantages of practising self hypnosis as part of your sessions, will provide you with opportunities to unwind, de-stress and tune in to your body. All the psychological and physiological benefits of hypnosis can be enjoyed throughout the majority of the pregnancy instead of within the birthing process. Another advantage of initiating hypnosis sessions in the early stages of pregnancy is simply one of comfort. In the later stages of pregnancy the movements and position of the baby can be quite uncomfortable for some expectant mothers and distract them from the hypnosis sessions. Starting early conditions both mother and baby to the process of deep relaxation which will be of benefit later on when comfortable sleeping positions become harder to obtain.

2) Practice, Practice, Practice. Make using self hypnosis a daily practise. The more adept at achieving self hypnosis you are the more familiar your mind and body will be with the physiological and psychological shifts that occur. Like training a muscle to become stronger, the more you train your body and mind with the hypnotic processes the stronger and deeper the hypnotic experiences will be. One of my clients who was to become a first time mum, had extensive experience with meditation prior to her sessions with me. Her hypnosis sessions always resulted in optimal outcomes and she quickly and easily attained deep levels of profound relaxation. When the time came for her to deliver her first child she was so relaxed the doctors couldn't believe she was actually in labour. Within 20 minutes of arriving at the hospital she delivered a beautiful little girl without the use of drugs and with minimal discomfort. My client joking refers to her daughter as her Hypnobaby as a result of her experience. 3) Create a birthing plan with options. Hypnosis sessions are a great time to reinforce at the deep unconscious level how the mind and body can respond to the pre-delivery, delivery and post delivery time frames. Ideally everything runs smoothly and according to plan, however this is not always the case for everyone. In my wife's instance we had covered all types of possibilities in the hypnosis sessions and despite this planning we still had unexpected complications which resulted in an emergency caesarian. Thankfully, we had built in a strategy if a caesarian was required and we employed hypnotic techniques in the operating theatre to control bleeding, maintain an optimal and relaxed mindset and promote accelerated post surgical recovery. Had we been inflexible in our preparations for the birth then the emergency c-section might have been a more traumatic experience than it was. The unconscious mind, which is the aspect of the mind that hypnosis primarily works with, is quite literal in it's interpretation of information. As such, it pays to build in options and flexibility into your birthing plan and have your unconscious mind support your plans regardless of how they play out on the day. 4) Focus on what you want to experience during the birth. If you could choose how you ideally wanted to experience childbirth what would that look, sound and feel like? I am constantly astounded by the war stories and at times horror stories that women tell expectant mothers about their experiences of childbirth. For some reason, requested or not other women feel compelled to relate the worst elements of their birthing experience to expectant mothers. I must admit that my wife and I were both mortified by the unwitting use of hypnotic language during our pre-natal education classes where the nurses and midwives repeatedly reinforced how excruciatingly painful child birth was going to be. I recognise that the intentions of the educators were not to sugar coat the experience, however from a hypnotic perspective these suggestions from an authority figure can actually manifest these outcomes. After these educational sessions, I actually needed to run some hypnosis sessions to counter the less than useful suggestions these educators had offered so that my wife regained choice as to how she wished to experience childbirth. Most (not all of my clients), including my wife have had childbirth experiences that are manageable, mildly uncomfortable but not horrific. Your unconscious mind has an amazing capacity to reduce pain and discomfort, increase levels of comfort, remove things from awareness and increase the body's natural production of anti-inflammatory and pain killing chemicals. It can speed up and slow down the perception of time and dissociate you from intense experiences if need be. A qualified hypnotherapist can assist you to access and initiate these natural functions of your mind and body, you can then practice them in your own time as discussed in point no. 2. The saying Perception is Projection is a highly useful frame of thought to have when approaching the childbirth experience. Focus on what

you want, associate into those experiences using your hypnosis sessions and make them part of your perceptions of childbirth. Just as there is evidence to suggest that childbirth can be a painful experience, there is also plenty of evidence to suggest that it can be mildly uncomfortable yet enjoyable. Choose which one you want for yourself and begin orienting your mind to manifesting that experience. 5) Plan for the post delivery phase of being a new mother. Bonding with the baby, recovering from the delivery, attaching the baby to the breast, finally having your milk come through, hormonal changes, sleep deprivation, changing the baby, holding the baby properly, well wishers and visitors are just a few of the things to plan for after the birth. The first 24 72 hours after giving birth can be quite an ordeal in it's own right. Make sure to include strategies for aligning body and mind for the post delivery time frame. This is where your hypnotic preparation will hold you in good standing. You can use your well developed hypnotic skill sets to achieve deep relaxation that will aid recovery and offset the sleep deprivation that often comes with being a new mother. Twenty minutes of being in a light to moderate hypnotic state can provide the physiological benefits of eight hours of sleep. Many first time mothers under estimate how stressful the post delivery period can be if not planned for adequately. New mother craft skills are being learned during this stage. Elements of child rearing that are commonly expected by first time mothers to be instinctual and natural, such as attaching a baby to the breast properly, require time and patience as they are skills that require some finesse. Using your hypnosis sessions during your pregnancy to plan for this stage, bond with your baby and your husband, promote healing and post delivery recuperation and accelerate your learning capabilities will pay dividends. Pregnancy and Childbirth are life changing experiences for all involved and are wonderful enriching experiences. Tools such as hypnosis can further enhance your enjoyment and appreciation of these experiences while helping to minimise or eliminate some of the less desirable elements. Hypnosis is non invasive, non addictive and highly adaptable in its applications and can make a world of difference to you and your baby. About the Author Paul Mischel is a qualified hypnotherapist and trainer of Neuro Linguistic Programming. He has been involved with natural therapies and health and wellbeing for approximately 20 years. He holds numerous qualifications in the natural therapies, counselling, coaching, energy therapies and martial arts. He has worked with and consulted to domestic and international companies in the natural health industry within Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada, Singapore and Malaysia, Paul works with his wife Dana in their business Mindscape Consulting Pty Ltd (www.mindscapeconsulting.com.au). Mindscape Consulting provides public and corporate services and training within the fields of leadership, executive and life coaching, sales and customer service, health and wellbeing. Mindscape Consulting Pty Ltd.