I am super excited to have kicked off this weekend past by doing my first hypnosis recording to help pregnant women have an easy, natural, drug-free birth. I absolutely loved giving birth, it was such an empowering experience. I have wanted to share what I learnt about it since the day I got to bring my daughter in to the world.
Whilst pregnant, like most expectant mothers, I heard my fair share of horror stories about giving birth. We all seem to have grown up with this constant narrative about how painful, dreadful and body destroying the whole process of birth is. Movies, TV, media even parents love to push that idea on us. So much so that I believe the whole culture of this can easily cause valid fears and anxiety in any expectant mother. Ironically it is the psychology of this negative mental mindset towards birth that can actually cause a lot of the problems that come up during labor. More on this later.
I chose to not accept a bar of the horror stories and join a whole wave of mothers tapping in. I always loved the vision of a pregnant woman in India moseying off alone to the peace and quiet of nature and simply giving birth right there in that same spot, right under her favourite tree, where she has already given birth to her eight children before. Whilst the development of medicine and professionalism amongst midwifery is absolutely a bonus we must all take, what is poignant in this image is through lack of brainwashing via culture, society and media, women are so much more matter-of-fact and calm about birth.
How could there be more than 7 billion people pushing on 8 billion on the planet today if birth really was so 'terrible'? Ok I know, improved medicine, decreasing death rate as well as an increasing lifespan probably plays quite a major role. My point is that the idea of having a normal, natural and easy flowing birth is surely a perfectly plausible one given the sheer number of us who exist and have existed. I'm not even asking for a completely bearable and even more so, enjoyable birth experience at this stage (but do keep reading as I am endeavouring to enable just that).
Wider perspective removed, I can see how easy it is to grow up being influenced by the mindset that contractions, labor and birth are some horrific process. The great news is that any deep-seated limiting beliefs can all be reversed through a simple process.
The notion I fortunately came across whilst pregnant and locked on to was that of hypnobirthing. I read the original book by Marie Mongan and totally agreed. I took pregnancy yoga classes and encountered some teachers that were truly incredible in knowledge and secrets about what happens in our primal nature during labor and what functions of this behaviour were useful. Going in to labor is about connecting with that primal nature and letting your body's innate wisdom take over. Thinking *insert: overwhelming pre-programmed anxiety and fear about labor 'pain'* can really get in the way of this. I took a 2 day hypnobirthing course, any of which starts nearing $1000 to do here in Australia. Beyond having knowledge from the book consolidated in a lecture format, my main takeaway was a picture of a lotus flower and the vision to "open up like one". Actually this was great but perhaps needn't have been so expensive. Amazingly my dog was pregnant at the same time as me but with only 9 weeks of pregnancy I got to learn all about her birthing and received an avid lecture from her dog breeder about how much birth is such a natural, normal, non-drama the day before I went in to labor. The key takeaway: we are all animals.
Long story short. All of the knowledge that you need to have a wonderful, natural and easy birth can be consolidated in one hypnosis recording.
To have a successful, natural, drug-free birth* you must:
- Erase any previous fears you have picked up along the way about giving birth. These can be longstanding, numerous and deeply ingrained somewhere deep down you haven't even realised exists.
- Realise that taking painkillers numb your body from being able to use it's innate wisdom to safely guide a smooth birth as well as drug your baby so they are unable to be active in their own birth and alert to properly latch and breastfeed when born (an important first function)
- Realise that taking painkillers may actually interfere with your body's own natural painkillers - beta-endorphins and oxytocin - which are meant to flush through your body during labour in a major way
- Know that the 'pain' is the sensation exactly that of menstrual cramps. I've had menstrual cramps that were worse than labour.
- Accept that choosing to be scared during labour activates your fight-or-flight response, meaning that blood is drained away from your vaginal canal to the call of your vital organs. The result is that labour can be unnecessarily delayed, wearing both you and your baby out and elevating stress as well as make trying to give birth with no blood flow down there extremely painful and make damage more liable to happen
- Heightened stress means raised cortisol levels in both you and your baby. Studies show that mothers who are highly stressed during labour have newborn babies with elevated cortisol levels in their blood also up to 8 weeks postpartum.
---> are you seeing how people get caught in this downward spiral when labour starts?
- Know that having the mindset to be confident during birth and simply allow your body to go in to it's primal state whilst flowing with the process will greatly increase your chances of having a normal, natural, easy birth
- Use visualisations and birthing wisdom based on the physiology of birth to safely guide us
My hypnosis track for an Easy, Natural Birth works along this rationale. All any pregnant mother needs to do is set aside 21 days to listen to it. The reason being is that it takes 21 days for your brain to fully accept a new belief system. If you have less than 21 days to go before your due date then don't worry, the track will still be useful and transformations still happen. 21 days ensures that everyone can reap the fullest rewards.
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So what does the Easy, Natural Birth hypnosis mp3 do for me?
It works on your subconscious level to eradicate any misconceptions and unhelpful information you may have picked up about birth. From here, it reasons with the mind about why choosing to be free of painkillers and to be calm about labor and contractions over being scared has overwhelming benefits. Then, the hypnosis delves in to powerful visualisations and programs a subconscious code for being able to just let nature do it's job with ease and confidence.
What are the benefits of choosing this hypnosis approach to birthing rather than others?
Other than the obvious health and happiness benefits to both you and your baby, this approach is simple, effective and cheap. You are ingraining in your mind the code for an easy, natural and successful birth. All you need to do is listen daily for 21 days or regularly whilst pregnant. An easy time of day is whilst you are going to sleep at night.
Joining a hypnobirthing course or reading the book is also a great option. I'm just simply offering an alternative that easier to do, can fit in to any schedule and that can be accessed by anyone as well as more effective because my recording uses a simple method to activate your alpha brainwaves so that you are highly suggestible and you can be sure that your mind has truly erased any misconceptions, locked on to this far more empowering concept and accepted it.
What if I believe I have deep, unique issues surrounding giving birth that are causing particularly strong fear and anxiety?
Arrange a personal RTT session with me to deal with your anxiety about giving birth which I offer either in-person here in Melbourne or online. In a session, we will uncover the deeply ingrained beliefs you have made to cause the issue and through a process of self-realisation I guide your mind to let go of these beliefs and then use hypnosis to give you new, affirming and self-serving beliefs to lock on to. This is a wonderful process with extremely high success rates that will leave you feeling unblocked and with a newfound sense of freedom.
Another thought I will add here is that often ingrained fears and anxiety surrounding pregnancy and birth is so high that it causes fertility issues. If you are struggling to conceive or know somebody who is for inexplicable reasons then it might be worth exploring RTT as an option.
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If you have stumbled across this, I hope reading through this has been helpful to you. My track will be released in the upcoming weeks so any mummas-to-be please stay tuned. Feel free to drop me a line with any questions you might have.
Warmest, Forest xo
* Please be aware that the knowledge and guidance of medical professionals is absolutely important. Please always consult your birth plan with doctors and receive sound medical advice. Having a natural birth isn't a possibility for everyone. Likewise there may be underlying issues that are unseen during pregnancy but propose issues during birth. Always plan to give birth under the guidance and care of trained professionals in the field. Always be prepared to be flexible to circumstance whilst in labor. Often our children like to start testing and surprising us from the get go.
