My daughter was expecting her first baby, she was thrilled to be pregnant, but absolutely terrified at the prospect of labour, due to what she had read and heard. No amount of reassurance and encouragement could quell her fear. Her anxiety forced her to tackle the dilemma head on. She did a large amount of reading and searching websites and eventually decided that Hypnobirthing® may be the answer. At that time I had not heard of Hypnobirthing® and was quite sceptical, thinking an epidural may be the answer!

She found a practitioner and enrolled for the course, although her husband agreed to go with her, he was sceptical and reluctant to be involved.

The classes were very helpful and she practised the techniques on a regular basis for about six weeks before the baby was born. When she went into labour she remained calm and controlled using the techniques she has learned, she stayed at home for the majority of her labour. When they did go to the hospital she was five centimetres dilated, she continued with the hypnobirthing® techniques and opted to relax in the birthing pool. After a few hours she gave birth very quietly and easily to a beautiful baby boy, she didn’t need stitches and had laboured well without any medication. Her first comment was that she didn’t know what all the fuss was about, there was nothing to it! I visited the new family 20 minutes after the baby had been born.

The proud mum was sitting up looking radiant, feeding the baby and Dad was full of praise for his wife and amazed at her achievement. They have since had a lovely baby girl with Hypnobirthing, a shorter labour and a lot more involvement from Dad. I was very impressed and found out as much as I could about Hypnobirthing® and trained as a practitioner.

Both these children have fed well and been calm contented babies, developing into happy and enthusiastic children.

Edwina and Charles were expecting their first baby, Edwina suffered from epilepsy and had been advised not to attempt labour and to opt for an elective caesarean section. This was not what they wanted and eventually they persuaded her physician and her obstetrician to agree to her learning a relaxation technique and to attempt a short trial of labour at the hospital. This was to avoid her getting stressed and too tired. Edwina and Charles decided to learn Hypnobirthing®, they took it very seriously and practised the techniques for three months before the baby was due.

When she went into labour they just stayed at home, relaxed and employed all the techniques they had learned with Charles encouraging and helping Edwina through the surges, because Edwina was so relaxed they thought she was in very early labour and didn’t go to the hospital straight away as planned. When they did arrive at the hospital Edwina was well established in labour and was eight centimetres dilated, she remained calm and relaxed and one and a half hours later their baby boy was born. The doctors and midwives were amazed and impressed at the ease of the birth and at how calm and relaxed Edwina had been throughout.

Edwina continued to use the same relaxation techniques when the baby was small to keep herself calm and to help with the breast feeding. Their son is now over a year old and Edwina hasn’t suffered the extreme tiredness that many new mums experience.