A good question to ask yourself as you are preparing for birth is "why do humans seem to have so much trouble with normal physiological birth?"
The answer of course, is many layered, but Marie Mongan, founder of HypnoBirthing International, believed it's what humans bring to birth that animals don't. Fear.
We've been taught to fear birth by an increasing spiral of medicalisations of birth, a fear of our birthing environments (mainly hospitals), a fear that our providers are not listening to our preferences (often true!) And a fear that our bodies are not capable of doing this thing called birth. We also fear the images we are handed from the media, and rightly so!
Drama and trauma sells, right?
So how do we take the fear out of birth? In HypnoBirthing we immerse ourselves in visualisation of normal, calm, even enjoyable birth. We remember how to breathe to optimise our bodies and uterus. We bring couples together to be each other's best team and birthing companions.
We remember to use words and language that enhances our vision for the best possible birth outcome. We release fear and stories that don't belong to us.
Birth is like planning a trip. If you have a destination decided upon, then you can decide on the best way to get there. As a guide, I can't control the people who you will meet along the way, I can't know if there is a storm or rocky paths.
But I can assure you that your journey will be well informed, your travel bag will be filled to the brim with all the things you need to get to your destination. A calm, positive and safe birth experience. Guided over 5 sessions.
And if you need more in-depth work overcoming triggers or trauma or birth stories that no longer belong to you or serve you, then reach out for clinical hypnotherapy sessions.
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Author JodyAnn van Keulen is a certified facilitator of HypnoBirthing International (The Mongan Method) as well as a practicing Clinical Hypnotherapist with a focus on women’s health, in particular fertility, birth, womb and hormonal balance.