"How Does it work? There are no pocket watches swinging from side to side during a hypnobirth.

Nor is the birth mother hypnotised before birth, so that when she hears the word 'push' she becomes a pain-free island of calm.

It's more a form of deep meditation, which encourages women to use their minds to manage the pain and unpredictability of childbirth. Advocates say because of this altered state of consciousness, the pain experienced in labour can become a controlled sensation for the woman."

"To the uninitiated, the stories of painless, chilled-out labours it has facilitated might sound akin to the orgasmic birth movement, which, let’s face it, isn’t for everyone. But I’ve tried hypnobirthing, and can vouch that it’s a commonsense antidote to how alien and scary one of the most natural things in the world has become for many women."

Even if you have all the intentions in the world to have a natural birth, things can change. I urge all pregnant women or women planning pregnancy to educate themselves in all birth outcomes including caesarean section. And also for women to write up their birth preferences and discuss them with their midwife and health care providers.

"Feeling in control, respected and part of the decision making process is so important no matter how you birth your baby," hypnobirthing practitioner Pip Wynn-Owen says.

Women deserve to birth without fear and have the best birth possible given their situation. Even if this situation involves a caesarean.

"Everything she taught made complete and utter logical scientific sense. It was like a fog lifting for us.

Fear can hold us back in all aspects of our lives and childbirth is no different. If you expect a difficult birth, you’re much more likely to get one. If you are positive and have the right tools to help you cope, you’re much more likely to have a good experience. In a nutshell, that’s what hypnobirthing is all about."

"Hypnobirthing is as much about the preparation you do before your baby arrives as it is about creating a calm and positive birth experience. However, to not talk about how much hypnobirthing can be a powerful tool for women who are looking to birth at home is ridiculous and here’s why."

"As técnicas de hipnose terão um papel importante na redução da ansiedade, na compreensão e desenvolvimento psicológico para o parto.

Com o Hypnobirthing, ou Parto sob Hipnose, previne-se o desenvolvimento positivo do parto, aprendem-se técnicas de relaxamento, respiração, condicionamento físico e mental que possibilitam uma experiência do parto tranquila, livre de medo e tensão, o que facilita o funcionamento natural do corpo no momento do nascimento do bebé."

"Hypnosis to deal with the pain of childbirth was once left to only the trendiest new mothers. But now more and more NHS hospitals have begun offering the technique to all pregnant women. Midwives across the UK are being trained in ‘hypnobirthing’ – which claims to help mothers cope with labour through concentration alone."

"Hypnobirthing operates under the concept that muscles under tension create the experience of pain; conversely muscles that are in a relaxed state do not. "It's like when you lift your arm without holding anything in your hand – it doesn't hurt," explains Rivkah Estrin, childbirth educator and postpartum doula, who herself practiced hypnobirthing successfully though five deliveries. "But if you're holding something extremely heavy in your hand and then you try to lift your arm, then you feel it."

That’s an empowering feeling when you’re facing the unknown.

Hypnobirthing doesn’t mean you are hypnotized … yes I’m afraid you still have to do the work! It’s a birthing education program teaching self-hypnosis, relaxation and breathing techniques.

(...).That’s how hypnobirthing works. It will allow you to experience birth in a state of relaxation rather than tension, with tension preventing the muscles in your body functioning as nature intended, meaning pain. Yikes. I’m strictly anti-pain, so I’m going to give this a go. You prepare for all sorts of milestones in your life, why not labour?...

"

Nowadays, pregnant women are inundated with options - and hypnobirthing is one such birthing method that more and more expectant mums are turning to. 

Hypnobirthing is by no means a new 'trend'. It was first being written about by an English Doctor, Grantly Dick-Read, in 1942, in his book Childbirth without Fear, which encourages hypnosis during labour.

Now, many women are choosing to take this route after a traumatic experience with their first child or just because they are anxious about what lies ahead during childbirth."

"In the past hypnobirthing has always been perceived as a bit hippy dippy, which is a point I look to debunk throughout The Calm Birth School book as by far the majority of hypnobirthing theory is based on the biology of birth and evidence based neuroscience. As an avid reader I find that many of my favourite authors pepper their teachings with quotes from the genius of Einstein and as I was listening to one of my favourite books of the moment recently, it struck me just how many of Einstein’s teachings and quotes applied to the lessons we teach our hypnobirthing clients."

"I'd always assumed that hypnosis involved altering one's mental state to the point where one would be completely out of control of their actions and decisions. But hypnobirthing, I learned, is more about elevating endorphin levels, relaxing one's muscles, and developing self-soothing techniques to use during childbirth. In other words, hypnobirthing promotes control. It's just a deliberate, calm, and flexible sort of control."

"Hypnotism has been practiced for decades and decades now. But can it convince you the pain you’re feeling during birth is nothing more than an illusion? Any woman who has ever undergone childbirth knows just how difficult it can be to maintain your cool under such stress and pain. When you’re trying to push a baby out of you, the last thing you’ll be able to do is relax. But thanks to a calming method called “hypnobirthing,” one new mom was able to deliver both of her children with relative ease while remaining under control."

"So when I heard of hypnobirthing, which promises a relatively painless, easier, zen birth without need for drugs, my ears pricked up. I needed to learn more about this method like, immediately and preferably, use my newfound knowledge to quash my childbirth fears once and for all.(...) To learn how effective hypnobirthing really is, I reached out to a few women about their personal experiences of the method. And what I found was: Their reviews are overwhelmingly glowing. Like, mega-watt, neon-style glowing."

"Having a baby is one of life's greatest gifts, and the ability to create, nurture and eventually birth a brand new human being is nothing short of a miracle. Yet, when many women think about the actual process of giving birth, fear of pain(and how to avoid it) is at the forefront of their minds. Something as simple as the term labor can feed into the fear. Language is a powerful thing, and the very definition of labor is "physical or mental work, especially of a hard or fatiguing kind; toil.""