Hypnobirthing: The New Age Natural Choice (2024)

With modernisation come all its hi-tech accompaniments which include ways to get things done quicker and more ‘efficiently’. Unfortunately, sacred experiences of humankind such as child birthing have also been undergoing this speed-inspired trend where scores of mothers today hardly even know what it really means to give birth naturally, simply because it’s been deemed by society as too time-consuming and ‘labour-intense’, pun unintended. Many though, are slowly turning back. Read on….

Call it a natural instinct to bring ourselves back to a more humanised way of life, for there seems to be a rising trend these days to bring back the simpler, more natural ways of living from going organic to being more environment conscious and yes, even giving birth naturally with no drugs and minimal intervention.

Thanks to the perseverance of its believers and all the widespread education, information and guidance, the much talked about HypnoBirthing®, also known as the Mongan Method of giving birth has brought much joy to many mums throughout the world, allowing them to experience the true gratifications of natural birthing experiences.

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A natural birth – The long-lost right of every woman

Ideally, it should always be a woman’s right to be able to have control over her birth rather than handing things over to doctors and midwives who in turn are compelled to comply with hospital policies of taking full charge of childbirths. A woman who is about to give birth is not a patient but unfortunately is often treated as one. In a typical hospital delivery room, there is little or no choice on birthing positions. Whether or not she is comfortable with it, a woman is expected to give birth lying down with both legs secured onto stirrups. In most cases, by the time her baby is ready to come out, she is already riddled in fear and may even doubt her own capabilities to go through the childbirth.

Up until HypnoBirthing® was founded in the United States by Marie Mongan, it did not seem likely that gentle, natural and drug-free childbirths can be achieved. Now, through a very simple program of self-awareness and education, women the world over including Malaysia are learning how to give birth the way nature intended it – safely, calmly and completely free of fear.

That’s what drugs are for

Most women today are pre-conditioned to believe that having a vaginal birth is naturally associated with excruciating pain which is why there is an unprecedented fear of giving birth among many women. Fear, naturally causes one’s body to become tensed and stressed, resulting in what they expect in the first place – a painful birthing experience. However, in the medical field, this is not a problem, for that’s what drugs are for!

How fear influences labour and childbirth

You will find that while most modern childbirth classes teach you all sorts of breathing techniques that will supposedly help you relax and stay calm, they will also keep you well-informed on all the drugs available to ‘manage’ the pain that you’re expected to feel. That sounds a tad contradicting in theory but unfortunately, they are the facts of today’s childbirth preparations.

A woman who has given birth before can’t help but carry with her the painful memories of her previous childbirth experience or experiences, which in turn bring about an inescapable expectation of pain once again during her next childbirth. A new mum-to-be on the other hand has only the stories and accounts of other women who have given birth before her, and needless to say, they all pretty much speak of pain, pain, pain. In short, there is an exorbitant amount of confirmation that giving birth is going to hurt. So much so that countless women ‘pre-order’ their epidurals in hopes for a pain-free birth and just as many decide beforehand to forgo all of these and undergo a caesarean instead to bring their baby into the world.

Little did any of us know before this that the only things that stand between us and a virtually pain-free birth is, ironically, our fear and anticipation of pain itself!

What to expect from a HypnoBirthing® class

HypnoBirthing® is an antenatal education program which seems completely new to mums today but is in fact empowering women with the wisdom of natural birthing techniques which are as old as time itself. These well-executed programs have been helping women the world over experience the most natural childbirth possible, using easily-learned self hypnosis and breathing techniques.

Through this program, a mum-to-be will rediscover her inborn natural instinct on how to relax her body in order to have a calm, safe and natural birth. She will be taught how to achieve deep relaxation and to rid herself of the fear so that her body need not get tensed up in anticipation of pain. This by itself greatly reduces and often eliminates the need for harmful chemical-based painkillers or drugs.

Also, instead of risking hyperventilation from “shallow” breathing methods, she will be taught proper techniques on how to stay alert, fresh, awake, and energised for her childbirth and subsequently to gently breathe her baby into the world without the need for harsh, physical pushing.

In a series of structured but informal classes, one can also expect to be taught about the physical, emotional and spiritual aspects of birth. Also taught at HypnoBirthing® classes are:

How to reduce your risk of needing an episiotomy during birth through simple massage techniques
How to be confident and informed when dealing with the medical staff, when to exercise control over your own body and when it’s alright to let them take charge
How to naturally ‘induce’ your own labour with a few simple, non-invasive techniques, if you are overdue