Category: Mindful Hypnobirthing

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Your Birth Plan

Your birth plan – or better, your birth preferences – can be an important part of your journey into parenthood.

You may have heard people say their birth plan went out of the window, or that it isn’t worth writing one. In my opinion, as a doula and mother of four, it is worth thinking about your birth preferences (rather than a “plan”). Whether you put them in writing is up to you, but sharing and discussing your preferences, thoughts and feelings about the birth with your birth partner(s) is important.

Positive birth affirmations
Information is power – write down your birth preferences!

You can make it as detailed as you like, but the more detail you include, the less realistic your expectations may become. So focus on your top four or five preferences – things you are likely to be able to control.

You may wish to consider:

  • Your birth place – where would you like to give birth?
  • The birth environment
    • Who will be there (birth partner(s), doula…)?
    • Which home comforts would you like (music, a blanket, a cushion…)?
    • What will the lighting be like?
    • Will there be music?
  • Type of birth
    • Vaginal
    • Caesarean
    • Induction
    • In water or out of water
  • Your religion, beliefs and traditions
  • Your medical history and your individual options
  • Your preferences for medical pain relief, for example:
    • “I don’t want any”
    • “Let me know when I can have an epidural”
    • “I would like X but would like to avoid Y”
  • Vaginal examinations and touch: you can decline any vaginal examination, or any other form of physical touch, at any point – and you can change your mind at any time. Many people are happy to have vaginal examinations, and consenting to them can help your midwife support you.

The NHS website has a very detailed birth plan template. It’s a useful checklist to make sure you’ve considered all your options, even if you don’t use it as your actual birth preferences.

It can help to think through your birth in order:

  • Early labour / at home
  • Active labour / on the way to hospital / while waiting for the midwives to arrive
  • Established labour / at your birth place under midwifery care
    • Transition
  • Second stage / pushing
  • Third stage / the placenta
    • The golden hour with your baby

If any of your preferences don’t align with your healthcare provider’s recommendations, discuss them before the day, not on the day. A doula can also help you explore your preferences and make sure you have good, evidence-based information. You might also like my post on using the Circle of Control to write your birth plan.

Please also check out my online course! No videos, just text and images to learn in your own time. Includes hypnobirthing mp3s, scripts, workbook, handouts, infographics and much more! Lots and lots of information at your fingertips! Includes:

  • hypnobirthing mp3s
  • hypnobirthing scripts
  • written information
  • infographics and other imagery
  • printable handouts
  • printable workbook/journal
Enroll now

Some sources of good evidence-based information:

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Positive Birth Affirmations

Free positive birth affirmations to support you in your hypnobirthing journey.

Positive birth affirmations – also known as positive self-talk – are short, positive statements about birth.

Positive birth affirmations help programme your subconscious to tune into your natural ability to give birth, and into your strength and resilience. Letting go of fears and building confidence in your body is a big part of hypnobirthing, and helps you work towards a more positive birth experience. Remember: your job is to focus on your comfort and the birth you want – your midwives are there to support you and your baby.

You can write your own positive birth affirmations on cards or sticky notes and put them up around your home to read, take in and practise daily. Make them colourful and eye-catching, or keep them all the same – it’s up to you! Your body, your baby, your birth experience!

I have designed a few different styles of affirmations for you to download for free.

Print them and put them up around your home to create a wonderful, safe and inspiring environment in which to enjoy your pregnancy and prepare for your baby’s birth!

Top tip:

Print or make two sets of positive birth affirmations: one to keep around your home, and one to take to your birth space or put on a portable vision board for birth!

When it’s time for your baby’s birth, take your affirmations with you into the birth space. Every time you notice one, or your partner reads one to you, it will act as a trigger to help you relax, feel resourceful and welcome each contraction wave.

Every time you spot an affirmation in your home, look at it and take a moment to slow down, breathe and connect with your body and your baby!

positive birth affirmations
positive birth affirmations
positive birth affirmations
positive birth affirmations
positive birth affirmations
positive birth affirmations

You can download these positive affirmations for FREE and print them here:

Colourful-Affirmations-for-ChildbirthDownload

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How does hypnobirthing work?

How does Hypnobirthing work and what is the difference between hypnobirthing and mindful hypnobirthing?

Hypnobirthing is a method that helps women and birthing people stay calm during pregnancy and childbirth.

There isn’t much research on hypnobirthing yet. However, from my own experience of giving birth to four children and supporting families since 2010, I would encourage every family to explore it.

So how does hypnobirthing work? Do you have to be a hippie?

Hypnobirthing (hypnosis for birth) works through the power of suggestion. A practitioner uses affirmations, visualisations and suggestion to help you relax your body and mind, guide your thoughts and control your breathing. They don’t need to be with you at the birth, but you will need to practise the techniques regularly to get the full benefit.

You can learn the techniques at an in-person workshop, online in a group or 1:1, through a self-paced online course, or simply by reading a book.

Benefits of Hypnobirthing

  • Alternative for anyone who is looking for a non-medical pain relief method
  • Can be used alongside medical and other pain management methods
  • Non-invasive
  • Accessible to anyone who practices
  • No adverse health outcomes / side-effects known
  • Inexpensive
  • The skills learnt are transferrable

Disadvantages of Hypnobirthing

  • Learning the techniques takes time and effort and requires practice
  • The language used in a hospital setting may disrupt the hypnotic state
  • Not provided by the NHS
  • Not everyone can afford a workshop or practitioner
  • Families [mostly first-time parents] have reported that their relaxed state was misinterpreted by medical professionals [midwives] at arrival at the hospital and seen as not ‘far along enough to stay’.
  • May not meet your expectations
Hypnosis + Mindfulness = Magic

WHAT IS HYPNOBIRTHING?

Hypnobirthing is a range of hypnosis techniques to help keep you calm and relaxed during the birth.

Why is being calm and relaxed during birth so important?

Well, it’s pretty basic. Our survival instinct makes it important!

All mammals – including humans – naturally have a fight-or-flight response to danger. When we are scared or anxious, our bodies produce stress hormones, such as adrenaline, to help us deal with the situation and act quickly if we need to. These protective hormones shut down non-essential systems like digestion, raise our blood pressure and heart rate, and divert blood away from organs such as the uterus towards our arms and legs.

Adrenaline may be a protective hormone, but it also slows labour down by inhibiting oxytocin…

Oxytocin is the hormone of love, labour and lactation. It causes the uterus to contract, but it also softens how intensely we perceive those contractions. Your natural oxytocin makes you feel better and happier, and lets your body’s own painkillers (endorphins) thrive too.

Nobody wants to give birth in an uncomfortable or unsafe environment

The way our bodies respond to our surroundings is rooted in a basic survival instinct that goes back thousands of years. Of course, we know that midwives and other healthcare professionals won’t hurt our babies, but we can still be ‘triggered’ by strangers in the room or an unfamiliar environment. These triggers can make us feel out of control, as if fear and pain might take over. Hypnobirthing techniques aim to ease your anxieties about childbirth and help you create a ‘safe place’ in your mind that you can retreat to at any time. Other techniques help you tone down unwanted sensations and thoughts.

What is Mindful Hypnobirthing?

Mindful Hypnobirthing was first introduced by Sophie Fletcher in her book Mindful Hypnobirthing. Sophie Fletcher was the first to combine Hypnosis with Mindfulness for Childbirth.

Hypnosis

Hypnosis is a deeply relaxed state of focused attention in which you are highly responsive to suggestion. You are always in control of how deep the hypnosis goes, and you will only accept suggestions or changes that you are willing to make.

Mindfulness

Mindfulness is a state of mind in which you are aware and living ‘in the moment’. You pay attention to the here and now, calmly acknowledging and accepting your feelings, thoughts and sensations.

Mindful hypnobirthing combines self-hypnosis and mindfulness techniques to help you and your birth partner have an empowered, calm and positive birth experience.