Considering Childbirth Hypnosis, but not sure what you should do?
Here are your options:
Option # 1)
You can seek out a Hypnosis for Childbirth Class (Yay, Hypnobabies!) in your area. Some are taught at local
hospitals, birth centers, or physicians offices. The backgrounds of the instructors can vary widely, and obviously
the more training and experience they have in the fields they are teaching, (hypnosis and childbirth) the better
and it will benefit you to interview them before signing up for a class.
Hypnobabies is a course that is taught in a group. Five couples, hypno-moms and their partners.
Hypnobabies has the most rigorous standards for their instructors, and take pride in their ability to
offer you a successful experience. All Hypnobabies Instructors have a background in 'both'
hypnosis and childbirth education, and have completed the Hypnobabies Instructor
Training and Certification program.
TIP: If you are looking into a group or private Childbirth Hypnosis class, here
are some questions to ask prospective hypno-teachers:
1) Do they have a background in hypnotherapy or hypnosis? This is important as they will be able to help
you with individual issues such as a previous negative experience or fears, and will be able
to assess your depth of hypnosis, etc.
2) Do they have a background in childbirth education? This is also helpful to ensure that you will not have to
attend other childbirth classes that show frightening videos of women giving birth in a way that does not
reflect your choices for birthing with hypnosis, and may indeed have different and
confusing philosophies and techniques.
3) How long they have been teaching hypnosis for childbirth classes, and where do they
teach the class? (Home, hospital, office etc.)
4) How many classes do they teach and how long is each one?A minimum of 12 hours of instruction is
advised for a successful birth hypnosis course. Hypnobabies has 16 hours of instruction.
5) What materials do they provide with the class? (A workbook, handouts and at least 4 hypnosis CDs/audio
tapes, as well as one script for each class session to take home and practice with are 'necessary.
If you choose Hypnobabies classes, you will 6 CDs for the Hypno-mother, 1 CD for the Birth Partner,
your Hypnobabies Workbook, 5 hypnosis scripts on paper, a Quick Reference Guide booklet,
the Birth Partner's Guide booklet, and the book, "Back Labor No More".
6) Do they teach Birthing Choices? (Consumer Issues): Birth Plans, Choices for Labor
(IV's, Pitocin, Natural Induction Information, Fetal Monitoring, Internal Exams,
Hospital Admittance Forms, SROM vs AROM) Positive Communication with caregivers, etc.
It is 'extremely' important that you learn about your Birthing Choices so that you can make informed
decisions while in labor. In Hypnobabies, we teach all of our Hypno-couples to be excellent consumers
and make intelligent, educated Birthing Choices.
7) How much is the class fee, and is it a group class or private?
8) Do they attend births as a Hypno-doula, and if so, how many have they attended? If not,
have they trained any local doulas for this?
9) How many of their former students have been successful using their
childbirth hypnosis course? (they should know)
10) Ask them about why they became a childbirth hypnosis instructor. Hopefully they have
a passion for natural childbirth and a love of the beauty and power of the birthing process!
Their answer will tell you a lot about them.
Option # 2)
You can choose a Self-Study Course, of which there are many. Hypnobabies Home Study course offers
you the most comprehensive and supportive resources since it is a complete childbirth education
course using real medical hypnosis techniques. However, I encourage you to research other
programs by doing a search on the Internet for: "hypnosis, childbirth, self-study."
An adequate home study program will have detailed information on hypnosis and how to
use it in childbirth, and hypno-tools for you to achieve your goals; books, at least 4 audio hypnosis tapes
or CDs, many handouts, and consumer information. (Birth Plans, Choices for Labor, etc.)
Since you will be studying on your own, it is your responsibility to gain as much knowledge
as possible, so research and choose well.
***Tip: If you are seeking out a way to study Hypnosis for Childbirth on your own,
make sure you get a complete self-study course. A book and a few tapes without hypnosis
scripts, a structured schedule for practice or training for the Birth Partner will NOT be adequate.
I hope this helps you in your quest to find information on using hypnosis for your birthing. I urge you
to take some time to decide for yourself what your goals for this birth are before
making the decision on how to prepare. Happy Hypno-journey!