What is hypnobirthing?

Hypnobirthing teaches relaxation and breathing techniques to achieve a calm and comfortable birth for you and your baby. Its main premise is that a mother is physiologically designed to give birth to a baby naturally.
If a mother is fearful then her muscles will tense causing more pain and this will often mean that medical intervention is more likely. If relaxed, her muscles will work as designed and labour will be shorter.

With hypnobirthing you will not be in a trance, you will be very relaxed but awake and fully aware of your surroundings.

The techniques learnt during the course will help you to:

• Reduce the requirement of medication during labour
• Stay calm and relaxed whatever is happening around you
• Reduce the risk of an episiotomy
• Release any fears around childbirth
• Feel confident when dealing with medical staff
• Feel energised following a gentle birth

Rachel trained with the HypnoBirthing Institute and is a member of the Hypnobirthing Association. For more information on hypnobirthing, please see The Hypnobirthing Association website.