HypnoBirthing classes in Sydney
If you’re pregnant and starting to prepare for the arrival of your baby, you might be starting to worry about what your birth experience is going to be like. So many women have experiences that weren’t what they expected, or worse, that leave them feeling traumatised. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be able to have a birth experience which is celebrated, treasured and remembered forever? We want these things for our milestone birthdays, or weddings, why not for your baby’s birth day too?
HypnoBirthing offers pregnant couples a natural childbirth education program that centres on the idea that for a healthy woman, with a healthy baby, birth is natural, normal and healthy. It is not a medical event. However, this doesn’t mean that a HypnoBirthing course won’t be useful to someone planning to have a c-section! It’s just as relevant!
How you bring your baby into the world is so important – not “how” in the sense of a spontaneous natural birth, an induction, an instrumental or even surgical birth. But “how” in the sense of how you felt whilst giving birth – do you feel heard and respected, treated like an active participant in deciding in your care? These are the factors that can contribute to the experience of birth trauma. And a birthing course such as HypnoBirthing can help women have the positive birth experiences they desire, no matter how they birth.
There is a growing recognition of how effective the mind body connection is, and when Marie Mongan founded HypnoBirthing over 30 years ago, she was already a strong proponent of using this connection to a birthing person’s advantage. HypnoBirthing teaches a range of techniques that use this connection to work with the natural processes of birth to make them more effective. Research from neuroscience and epigenetics also feed into the HypnoBirthing syllabus, as well as evidence-based information to ensure that pregnant families are able to rely on a range of information and facts that work in their favour.
What's involved?
HypnoBirthing classes are taught over 5 weeks and not squashed into an intensive weekend, or even one day session. Why not over a weekend, when it might be more convenient? Convenient for the person running the course perhaps, but definitely not for the pregnant families! This sounds bad but women’s brains get smaller in pregnancy. It’s not actually bad, there are lots of reasons why your brain changes and the benefits of it (read this excellent book). But one of the benefits is not an increase in your ability to receive, retain and apply a whole load of information and techniques to practice in less than 48 hours. You need time to really take in and fully digest all the information that’s being shared with you in a birthing course like this.
When you look at what is covered in an antenatal class it’s important to remember that your care provider can tell you about the procedures, medications and risks of what they’re recommending for you. You don’t need to be taught about these things in a birthing class. Hypnobirthing empowers you with the skills and confidence you need so that you can have the conversations and ask the right questions of your care provider so that you can feel comfortable with your decisions as well as show your care provider that you want to be an active participant in your care and in the decision-making process.
Trust in your body's design
When it comes to pain relief, many people assume something a doctor can give you is going to be the best, most effective option. The reality is that we already have the ability to make our own, very potent, pain relief! Oxytocin, also known as the Love Hormone, can be easily produced in our bodies. And with practice, it can be quickly deployed. HypnoBirthing teaches breathing techniques as well as techniques that birthing families can use to access this wonderful, natural pain relief.
Fear and anxiety around the birthing process and even about how to care for a newborn can inhibit labour and birth from progressing. So it’s really important to work through the fears and limiting beliefs surrounding birth before finding yourself in the birthing space and worrying about what’s going to happen instead of relaxing your body and allowing the birth to progress. HypnoBirthing has a strong focus on positive visualisations – watching and listening to positive birth stories help the brain to see and understand that this is possible. Looking at how we’re conditioned as a society to fear birth and accept it as painful can be eye-opening for many and often marks a turning point for many in their pregnancy and birth journeys.
Many women want to have an active labour. In the final sessions of a Hypnobirthing course, positions for labour and birth are taught. This is a great opportunity for couples to figure out what they might like to try and get a feel for it before their birthing day. Prenatal yoga classes (these were my favourite ones to go to in Sydney) are another great way to get the body ready for birthing and to bond with the baby before they arrive.
Bringing partners into the picture
One of the most important aspects of HypnoBirthing is the recognition of how integral to the whole experience, the birth partner is. Having a baby is not something that happens to a woman. Her amazing body is working with the baby to birth together. And her partner plays an important role in helping keep her calm and relaxed and focused on birthing, not worrying about her environment and who else is around. Just as important is the relief and support, both physical and emotional, that they can provide. It is a team effort and one which can result in the most beautiful and transformative experience for all involved.
If you’re looking to have a positive birth experience and reclaim your birthing instinct, then HypnoBirthing is the calm, gentle birth class for you. I regularly offer group courses or private sessions in and around Sydney, so please get in touch if you have any questions or book your spot in the next course now!