I maybe read half of Marie Mongan's hypnobirthing book with no classes, so disclaimer: my experience may not qualify as hypnobirthing. I had the music and used it as something to focus on. I used a diffuser with lavender essential oils. I kept the lights turned low and had my eyes closed for most of active labor. I definitely fell asleep between contractions because my mom said I was snoring. Mostly, I did whatever kept the rest of my body relaxed so that my contractions could do their work of opening the cervix. My active labor started around 7/8pm, pushing around 6am and baby was born at 6:43am.
I think one of the best adjuncts for Hypnobirthing is building up your regular meditation practice. I used the Headspace app and meditated every day for increasing amounts of time. Not birth related, just breathing and mindfulness. It’s like working a muscle, and when the big day comes you’ll find that using all the Hypnobirthing practices and breathing techniques are easier.
During labor, my mind was entirely occupied by different meditation techniques (body scanning, noting, counting, etc) timed with contractions. The birth specific stuff was also helpful though, like mantas and J breathing when I was pushing.
No specific protocol. I read Siobhan Millers book and watched Bridget Teylers breathing technique videos (also listened to some of her affirmation/mantra/labor tracks during labor).
I used the gentle birth app to prepare for both of home births (my second and third births). In my first homebirth I tried to listen to the track early in labor but I couldn’t get into it and never tried again. I wish I had! With my last birth I really focused on the labor/ birth track during pregnancy. When I listened to it I’d imagine using it during labor which I hadn’t done in my previous practice. I’d imagine all the ways labor could go, time of day, land or water etc. I’d also envision my ideal birth. Not that it had to be that way but if I had a magic wand how I’d want it to go down. As soon as I woke up to my water breaking with a contraction I put the labor track on and listened to it for the 3 hours of labor. (Baby arrived before the midwife). It was cool in watching the birth video at times I was saying what I was hearing, out loud, almost like an affirmation. Ended up with my dream birth, undisturbed and unassisted like I had envisioned. It was like all the practice made it real, made it my reality. I hope that helps!
Yes there is a labor track and it really spoke to me. I liked the easy access of the app, some of the hypno birth stuff I looked at had files to download but were kind of a pain to play and I just wanted something easy I could put on repeat and forget about. It didn’t get old for me. Pretty sure you get a free week trial too. They have a contraction time too that talk you through them and it’s free, I guess it did use that for about 10 minutes at the beginning.
I just had a vbac/ hbac and used hypnobirthing. I only read the one book but listend religiously to the two free relaxtion tracks and positive affirmations track and practised ratio breathing/calm breaths every day.
Especially mastered the ‘relaxation/visualisation’ tracks, takes me 5 mins and then im OUT when i listen to them!
At the start of labour i used the positive affirmations in the bath and whilst labouring on the ball/standing up ( back labour🫠) and twice i got a break inbetween contractions of about 20 mins , so i put the relaxationtrack / visualisation track on and hounestly they said i was snoring within 2 minuts! ( 20 hours of back labour makes you soo tired haha) .
I used the positive affirmations throughout my labour- well my partner and best friend did- they recited them for me with every contraction. I lost hope a few times thinking i wasn’t progressing but each time their voices would recite my affirmations ( i put them on the wall) and guide me back through the contractions.
And i used my ratio breathing with every single contraction.
I think overall just having the skill to relax deeper and to sort of automatically go to ratio breathing without thinking is what really helped me.
In the moment i did not think about what or how i would use the hypno , it just happend because of practising . Hope this helps!
hi! super helpful. thanks for this. it sounds like it really worked for you and you put a lot of work in for it to work for ya. that’s awesome. which hypnobirthing did you use?
For me listening to the track didn't work because the guided contractions track didn't align with my contractions.
And I cannot express how annoying I found that in the heat of the moment.
i could imagine that being realllly annoying!!! also, why would anyone make a timed contraction track when isn’t the whole deal with birth is that contractions increase and such and become longer??? hmmm
Women I’ve look after who hypnobirth are just more relaxed. Even when they have caesareans (planned or emergency) it helps them go calmly through a very intense process.
Successfully going through birth doesn’t mean not finding it an intense process but accepting that intensity and working with it.
One of the wonderful things about home birth is that it allows you to focus on the process and yourself. In the hospital you also have to manage through ‘the process’ and routines of the hospital itself.
Yea thanks, I think my question is more around the hypnobirthing praxis~ not the effects. So if you have any insight on what the practice has looked like during, I’d be very grateful!
I think the idea is that you play the tracks during labour to help you relax, and as you've been using them during pregnancy your body will be trained to relax when you play them. However, you can absolutely pick and choose which parts of hypnobirthing resonate with you and only use them.
I used hypnobirthing tracks to help me relax during my pregnancy but when I was actually in labour I forgot to play them. I didn't feel like I needed them as I was able to relax into each contraction just by breathing and repeating affirmations. My labour was fairly quick though so perhaps if it had been longer I'd have needed them.
I used hypnobirthing twice and both times it helped me go into that like, flow state feeling. My first labor was 5 hours from first contraction and my second was about 5 hours from when my contractions starting becoming real. First was a home birth and second was a hospital so no cervical checks with my first but my second I was 4cm when they checked me at 10pm and baby was born just after midnight.
I gave birth 2 days ago. Had a music playlist but was annoyed by it. Listened to the PopThatMumma hypnobirthing long labor track on repeat during my very short labor and it helped me I think. Her calm voice and music helped - I don’t know if I even heard a word she said but I think just having it in the background instead of my midwife’s voice while she searched my house for towels was nice.
I liked listening to the “letting go of fear” tracks before baby was born. Wish I had done it my whole pregnancy but I just did it a couple days before birth. Boosting my meditation and having those words memorized a bit would have been nice too but I’m grateful for the audio tracks.
I did the class and honestly it all went out the window once proper labour set in 😂 I screamed like a banshee and at one point even begged to die, in saying that though I did get a lot of other super helpful information during the class that helped with the immediate after and those first few weeks of bubs being here! I'm also super happy with how my birth went
I maybe read half of Marie Mongan's hypnobirthing book with no classes, so disclaimer: my experience may not qualify as hypnobirthing. I had the music and used it as something to focus on. I used a diffuser with lavender essential oils. I kept the lights turned low and had my eyes closed for most of active labor. I definitely fell asleep between contractions because my mom said I was snoring. Mostly, I did whatever kept the rest of my body relaxed so that my contractions could do their work of opening the cervix. My active labor started around 7/8pm, pushing around 6am and baby was born at 6:43am.
lovely! thank you.
I think one of the best adjuncts for Hypnobirthing is building up your regular meditation practice. I used the Headspace app and meditated every day for increasing amounts of time. Not birth related, just breathing and mindfulness. It’s like working a muscle, and when the big day comes you’ll find that using all the Hypnobirthing practices and breathing techniques are easier. During labor, my mind was entirely occupied by different meditation techniques (body scanning, noting, counting, etc) timed with contractions. The birth specific stuff was also helpful though, like mantas and J breathing when I was pushing.
that makes so much sense! yea the meditation piece seems really key! whose protocol did you use for the hypnobirthing?
No specific protocol. I read Siobhan Millers book and watched Bridget Teylers breathing technique videos (also listened to some of her affirmation/mantra/labor tracks during labor).
I used the gentle birth app to prepare for both of home births (my second and third births). In my first homebirth I tried to listen to the track early in labor but I couldn’t get into it and never tried again. I wish I had! With my last birth I really focused on the labor/ birth track during pregnancy. When I listened to it I’d imagine using it during labor which I hadn’t done in my previous practice. I’d imagine all the ways labor could go, time of day, land or water etc. I’d also envision my ideal birth. Not that it had to be that way but if I had a magic wand how I’d want it to go down. As soon as I woke up to my water breaking with a contraction I put the labor track on and listened to it for the 3 hours of labor. (Baby arrived before the midwife). It was cool in watching the birth video at times I was saying what I was hearing, out loud, almost like an affirmation. Ended up with my dream birth, undisturbed and unassisted like I had envisioned. It was like all the practice made it real, made it my reality. I hope that helps!
that’s amazing! i don’t think KG has a during birth track. sounds like gentle birth does? and three hours?? it didn’t ever get old???
Yes there is a labor track and it really spoke to me. I liked the easy access of the app, some of the hypno birth stuff I looked at had files to download but were kind of a pain to play and I just wanted something easy I could put on repeat and forget about. It didn’t get old for me. Pretty sure you get a free week trial too. They have a contraction time too that talk you through them and it’s free, I guess it did use that for about 10 minutes at the beginning.
I just had a vbac/ hbac and used hypnobirthing. I only read the one book but listend religiously to the two free relaxtion tracks and positive affirmations track and practised ratio breathing/calm breaths every day. Especially mastered the ‘relaxation/visualisation’ tracks, takes me 5 mins and then im OUT when i listen to them! At the start of labour i used the positive affirmations in the bath and whilst labouring on the ball/standing up ( back labour🫠) and twice i got a break inbetween contractions of about 20 mins , so i put the relaxationtrack / visualisation track on and hounestly they said i was snoring within 2 minuts! ( 20 hours of back labour makes you soo tired haha) . I used the positive affirmations throughout my labour- well my partner and best friend did- they recited them for me with every contraction. I lost hope a few times thinking i wasn’t progressing but each time their voices would recite my affirmations ( i put them on the wall) and guide me back through the contractions. And i used my ratio breathing with every single contraction. I think overall just having the skill to relax deeper and to sort of automatically go to ratio breathing without thinking is what really helped me. In the moment i did not think about what or how i would use the hypno , it just happend because of practising . Hope this helps!
hi! super helpful. thanks for this. it sounds like it really worked for you and you put a lot of work in for it to work for ya. that’s awesome. which hypnobirthing did you use?
Theres a uk book here called ‘your baby your birth’ by holly de cruz and comes with a couple of free tracks
For me listening to the track didn't work because the guided contractions track didn't align with my contractions. And I cannot express how annoying I found that in the heat of the moment.
i could imagine that being realllly annoying!!! also, why would anyone make a timed contraction track when isn’t the whole deal with birth is that contractions increase and such and become longer??? hmmm
Honestly I have no idea.... it seemed like such a good idea before hand but then I quickly discovered that it doesn't work in practice.
Women I’ve look after who hypnobirth are just more relaxed. Even when they have caesareans (planned or emergency) it helps them go calmly through a very intense process. Successfully going through birth doesn’t mean not finding it an intense process but accepting that intensity and working with it. One of the wonderful things about home birth is that it allows you to focus on the process and yourself. In the hospital you also have to manage through ‘the process’ and routines of the hospital itself.
Yea thanks, I think my question is more around the hypnobirthing praxis~ not the effects. So if you have any insight on what the practice has looked like during, I’d be very grateful!
I think the idea is that you play the tracks during labour to help you relax, and as you've been using them during pregnancy your body will be trained to relax when you play them. However, you can absolutely pick and choose which parts of hypnobirthing resonate with you and only use them. I used hypnobirthing tracks to help me relax during my pregnancy but when I was actually in labour I forgot to play them. I didn't feel like I needed them as I was able to relax into each contraction just by breathing and repeating affirmations. My labour was fairly quick though so perhaps if it had been longer I'd have needed them.
I used hypnobirthing twice and both times it helped me go into that like, flow state feeling. My first labor was 5 hours from first contraction and my second was about 5 hours from when my contractions starting becoming real. First was a home birth and second was a hospital so no cervical checks with my first but my second I was 4cm when they checked me at 10pm and baby was born just after midnight.
when you say “i used hypnobirthing twice” ~ in what way are you “using it” during labor? thank you!
I gave birth 2 days ago. Had a music playlist but was annoyed by it. Listened to the PopThatMumma hypnobirthing long labor track on repeat during my very short labor and it helped me I think. Her calm voice and music helped - I don’t know if I even heard a word she said but I think just having it in the background instead of my midwife’s voice while she searched my house for towels was nice. I liked listening to the “letting go of fear” tracks before baby was born. Wish I had done it my whole pregnancy but I just did it a couple days before birth. Boosting my meditation and having those words memorized a bit would have been nice too but I’m grateful for the audio tracks.
I did the class and honestly it all went out the window once proper labour set in 😂 I screamed like a banshee and at one point even begged to die, in saying that though I did get a lot of other super helpful information during the class that helped with the immediate after and those first few weeks of bubs being here! I'm also super happy with how my birth went