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Birth Empowerment
Today’s expectant mothers, our “New Millennium Moms” are much more proactive in their approach to childbirth preparation. They are well-educated, techno-savvy and do a lot of research to help themselves make informed decision for their baby’s birth. This is one of the reasons that Hypnobabies Classes have become so popular with pregnant couples, allowing them to learn in detail how their pregnancy and birthing choices will affect their baby’s health, their own birthing experience, and the association of the mother *with* the baby for the rest of their lives. Expectant mothers today understand fully that they need to take responsibility for their baby’s birth, and that failure to do results in someone else taking over who may have a completely different agenda than they do. Pregnant couples are no longer willing to give up their own control over decisions made in pregnancy, childbirth and their new baby’s care, and Hypnobabies helps them to learn, practice and use not only the best hypno-childbirth skills available, but also to create their birth of their dreams, without unnecessary interference.
Most women do, and to have the best chance of fulfilling that vision, there is much to know…and much to do. The first thing we need to admit to ourselves is that no matter what others have told us, no matter how many TV shows, books and websites have tried to portray it differently, in actuality women’s bodies were created with a perfect design; to carry a child through pregnancy, to give birth without intervention or complications, and to easily nourish our babies. The truth is, every woman knows this innately in her heart and in her soul. Challenges to this knowledge only arise when we allow ourselves to be convinced otherwise. If we allow any other person or set of events to dictate what our pregnancies and birth experiences are going to be…our own vision of what is right for ourselves and our babies…vanishes. Fear takes its place, other people’s agendas dominate our own, and childbirth is no longer what we know it inside to be. This can be disappointing to some, and devastating to others. Do you want to feel safe and secure when you give birth? All women have this need, and for some that will be in a hospital with all that technology can provide. Others will only feel safe enough to enjoy their birthing in the calmness of home, where all choices are theirs, or in a birth center, with other women supporting them, and many personal choices. No matter where you will feel the safest, your birth experience belongs to you and yes, you deserve to have the opportunity to make the decisions that will create your beautiful birthing; easy, joyful and empowering. Can childbirth be empowering; strengthening beyond words? Childbirth can be the most profound, empowering experience a woman can have…if she allows herself to believe fully in her body, her mind and her baby. If she takes the time to empower herself with knowledge and a full education of what real childbirth is, the choices that she alone gets to make concerning her own health care, and how to create the birth of her dreams. At Hypnobabies, we are dedicated to educating everyone, no matter what childbirth method they choose. All women deserve to have the easiest, healthiest and safest birthing experience possible, and this can only happen if we take some personal responsibility for learning the facts about childbirth as it is today. Read on! Did you Know...? Instead of each pregnancy and birth being looked at as unique, with each expectant mother having individual needs, we have an unnatural set of circumstances happening in childbirth right now. While 30 years ago, the C-section rate in America was 7%, we now have a 30% rate, even though women’s bodies clearly have not changed, and there is no higher percentage of babies or mothers that are being saved! We now have physicians directing women’s labors and births to fit their work schedule and avoid litigation. We have so many inductions, interventions and iatrogenic (caregiver-caused) complications that the general public accepts this as normal, when in fact it is far from being so! Many expectant couples simply do not question what is presented to them, and often suffer the consequences. Childbirth should be a joyous, empowering experience, yet because of these practices, it is often disappointing to say the least, and traumatic for many. Education is really the key here. Learning about the choices you will be making, the fact that all choices belong to you, and how to make them confidently, can be done easily and quickly. The following information was compiled for you, with love, by us here at Hypnobabies, in the hope you’ll empower yourself to enjoy a beautiful birthing. Did you know...? In any situation that arises regarding your pregnancy, birthing and with your baby’s care, you are always in charge! You (two) as the parent(s) are responsible for making the all-important decisions that will affect your health and that of your baby, your labor and after-birth procedures. No one can “allow you” or “make you” do anything. Contrary to what many expectant couples currently think, no one can set a date that your baby must be born by, insist you undergo tests or medical procedures that you don’t agree with, or manage your labor in any way that you don’t want. You are the consumer, and just like any other service you pay for, it is you who calls all the shots! It is important for you to know that no one can ever force you to do anything you feel uncomfortable with, no matter what the circumstances are. You as the consumer make all of the decisions, not the doctors and nurses. You tell them how you will give birth since they are working for you. They are the “lifeguards” who stand by in case anything should not go in a normal direction, and they will let you know if that is the case. Interference in a normal birthing is unnecessary. Doctors and nurses are only people like you and I; people who are taking care of their own agendas, and trying to do what they feel is best to have a good outcome for you and your baby with as little risk as possible for everyone, including themselves. They have special training, but not special powers, so if we as consumers will look at them as people, we will have a much easier time of dealing with them when they want to manage pregnancy and childbirth differently than we want. In reality, it is the *parents of the baby* who have the ultimate responsibility for the pregnancy and birthing decisions, and each couple will make these decisions based on what is right for their own families. Just taking care of their own agendas, the same way doctors and nurses are. Did you know....? Many laboring women seem to be treated the same way when they go to a hospital to have their babies? It is common for every laboring woman to receive the same “management of labor”, which may include many unnecessary interventions that can cause complications in an otherwise uncomplicated birthing. These complications the lead to others; fetal distress, forceps delivery and even unnecessary Cesarean sections, among others. We encourage you to educate yourself fully, take responsibility for the decisions in your pregnancy and birth, and make your own “blueprint for childbirth” that you will create from your own family’s needs, in a fully informed way. Our Birth Empowerment Links page has many articles that will help you on your journey. Only you can create the birthing you want!
"You can only consent to that which you are capable of refusing" ~ International Cesarean Awareness Network www.ican-online.org The image of a woman reaching down to bring her baby onto her breast at the moment of birth is a powerful one. She birthed her baby, and every cell in her body knows and shows her strength. At the end of hours of pain and emotions felt more intensely than at any other time in life, she is exultant. To know the exhilaration, euphoria, and power that comes with the exhaustion and pain of giving birth is truly empowering. After giving birth, a woman knows she can do anything, accomplish any goal. Even women who need interventions for the safety of themselves or their babies are given the gift of empowerment, for they know they did the best they could. Birth has long been thought of as the ultimate rite of passage. Cultures close to nature have devised methods of initiation, testing young men to show that they are adults, ready to take on the responsibilities of adulthood. Women have not needed such tests, for they have birth. A woman may have doubts about her body: are her breasts too small, or too large; her hips too narrow or too broad? Even in these days of women's liberation, it is not unusual for a woman to have questions about the "rightness" of her body. However, "after giving birth, a woman knows her body works beautifully. Another facet of the empowerment of birth is the complete bonding that happens when the baby is brought immediately on to the mother's breast and allowed to stay there until the mother is ready to have the baby checked and weighed. This, of course, is assuming the baby has no problems. As empowering as birth is, some women in our culture have become afraid of birth, afraid of the pain, and afraid they cannot do it. Today, inductions, c-sections, and epidurals are done so frequently that practitioners have become quite skillful in their management and have significantly reduced the risks associated with these procedures. However, when not medically indicated, such interventions do increase the risks involved in the birthing process. They also remove a woman from the experience of giving birth. While there are many women who choose to try to birth naturally, most women in the United States today are choosing the latest obstetrical model, which is one of controlling the process. "Mrs. Smith, how would you like to have your baby next week? You will be close to your due date, and this baby is mature and big enough to be born. You can check into the hospital, we'll start some Pitocin, and get you an epidural so that you'll be comfortable for the entire process. You'll have your baby by the end of the day." Sounds tempting. No wondering if you are really in labor, if you'll make it to the hospital, if you will have help at home, or if you should have taken those birthing classes. For the care provider, there is no rescheduling of the office, fewer middle of the night calls and conflicts with vacations or meetings. This is known as nine-to-five obstetrics. Another trend is to offer a scheduled cesarean section as a choice even before a woman is at the end of her pregnancy. Ostensibly, this is to preserve the perineal floor, although there are no well-designed studies that show cesarean section prevents urinary incontinence or prolapse of the uterus. With the current c-section rate around 30%, we tend to forget that a section is still major abdominal surgery with all the risks of hemorrhage, infection, and postoperative pain. Epidurals offer good pain relief in most cases, but they are not without risks. When they do not work well, a general anesthesia must be given for surgery, which may add yet another risk factor. While we are all grateful that inductions, epidurals, and c-sections are available when needed, they often work to rob a woman of the experience of childbirth and the empowerment that comes with going through that experience as much as she can on her own strength. Interventions are often needed to safeguard the health of the woman and the baby, especially if she is a smoker, does not have good nutrition, or has any of a number of other risk factors such as diabetes or hypertension. However, intervention for medical reasons should happen only in a small percentage of pregnant women. The great majority of women are capable of giving birth naturally, especially if they have support from their obstetrician or midwife and their partner and family. To not support a woman in this most definitive of feminine acts is to rob her of her birthright to empowerment, to leave her devoid of the deep resource of power that birth can give. Jan Verhaeghe is the mother of five children and has been a midwife for over 21 years. She is Director of Midwifery at New Dawn Midwifery in Asheville, NC. http://www.newdawnmidwifery.com Doris Haire, the president of the American Foundation for Maternal and Child Health has written an article in the link below that all expectant mothers should read. It explains:
http://www.aimsusa.org/gettingw.htm More information on improving childbirth, obstetrical drugs, ultrasound and evidence based medicine can be found at the American Foundation for Maternal and Child Health website:
Joyful Birthing……Using Hypnobabies Unlike most natural childbirth preparation programs, the philosophy of Hypnobabies is that labor does not have to be painful at all; indeed it can be quite enjoyable to many women as they experience wave after wave of contractions feeling mostly pressure and baby movement sensations. When preparing for childbirth, I find that women are often consumed by fear; fear of the unpredictability of the birthing process itself, fear of pain during labor and sometimes even fear of becoming a mother or the effects of adding another child to their family. One of the main advantages of using hypnosis to prepare for your baby’s birth is being able to explore those fears and literally eradicate them yourself, through Fear Clearing sessions. There are also many positive suggestions throughout childbirth hypnosis sessions that create a calm, relaxed attitude and confidence regarding how smoothly and easily your birthing process will be, from the inside out. This literally re-creates your inner belief systems about childbirth and programs them to only positive expectations for labor, which makes a huge difference. It is software for your mind! Does it take more of a time commitment to practice Hypnobabies than other methods? Probably so, since you will need to hear your hypnotic suggestions every day to make sure your inner mind continues it’s “computer re-programming.” This, however is the easiest thing that you will do as you prepare for your baby’s birth; easier than picking out that car seat! What could be better than getting into a fully relaxed position once a day and listening to wonderful imagery about how easy and comfortable your baby’s birth will be, and drifting into an amazingly relaxed dream-type state for about 35 minutes? Sounds lovely to me and yes, that’s all it takes to have a much safer, easier and more comfortable natural childbirth experience. Critics of hypnotic childbirth wonder whether using hypnosis during labor distances a woman from her baby and her birthing experience. In my experience of observing my own Hypnobabies students as they give birth and interviewing them afterward, it is very much the opposite. Women are much more in tune with their babies and their own bodies, completely aware of everything that is going on inside and around them, yet their inner focus is on relaxation and complete physical comfort. How is this possible? That inner computer has been programmed to help her remain focused and calm, physically comfortable and relaxed at all times, and now executes its program with ease. Our minds are truly amazing and can indeed provide us with so many benefits if we would only take advantage! There are those who say that the pain of natural childbirth is “empowering”, a “rite of passage” and for some women that may be true, but for many who have had their babies without drugs and have been severely traumatized by the intensity of their pain, this is not so. Fortunately, women now have a choice. They can experience an unmedicated childbirth without having to suffer, and at Hypnobabies, that’s’ why we do everything we do. We are extremely committed to helping each Hypno-mom have the birth of her dreams so that she can not only look forward to her baby’s birth, she can actually enjoy it, and then go on to tell other women as well as her own children how joyful childbirth can be. This legacy is one of true empowerment and love, and has already begun to heal those in need of a better way to give birth. Our Mission Statement at Hypnobabies is to positively change the way women give birth, they way babies are born and the way natural childbirth is perceived. We are all dedicated to these goals and we eat, drink and breathe our passion to achieve them! If there is anything we can do to help you along your birthing journey, please feel free to contact us, and ……..Enjoy your beautiful birth!
Contact Information Sharon Lindenfeld, LCSW, HD, HCHI, CHt, HP
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