Can Hypnobirthing really be used in a Caesarean?

Hypnobirthing has been around for many years now and public awareness of it has increased dramatically. Yay!

Celebrities talking about Hypnobirthing has helped, plus lots of media interest too.

Search media headlines and you’ll see lines like...

“Hypnobirthing: an alternative to medicalised birth”

“I had a pain free birth with Hypnobirthing”

"Hypnobirthing Goes Mainstream: More Couples Opting for Natural Birth Techniques"

I’m a massive advocate for utilising Hypnobirthing to stack the odds in your favour of having a straightforward birth. That’s certainly what Hypnobirthing did for me personally.

Whilst these headlines are fantastic, any publicity for Hypnobirthing should be celebrated, there’s still a lack of awareness of how beneficial Hypnobirthing is for births that DO involve medical intervention.

Hypnobirthing is incredibly beneficial for women having induced labours, caesarean births, assisted births. ANY birth.

How many women rule out Hypnobirthing when they know they are likely to have a caesarean?

They assume that there’s no point spending time and money on Hypnobirthing. They know they are going to be having drugs, so why do a course that they think is just about natural pain relief and having a natural birth?

I’m here to challenge this and to remind you as a Hypnobirthing teacher to let potential clients know that doing a Hypnobirthing course will be birth changing, however birth happens.

A caesarean is major surgery, approaching one can come with a great deal of fear. Nerves about surgery, anaesthetic, how it will feel, a hospital stay, drugs, recovery, looking after baby. Fear can impact pregnancy and make for a more stressful caesarean birth itself.

Feeling fearful means she is less likely to be able to relax during the caesarean. It is known that stress impacts pain perception and it can even delay healing after birth too.

A mother that feels calm and relaxed during her caesarean birth has a greater chance of finding the overall experience a good experience and is better placed emotionally to bond with her new baby.

So how does a Hypnobirthing course help with this…

Mindset

Hypnobirthing allows expectant parents to prepare really positively for their caesarean birth; letting go of fear, accepting the choices that they’ve made and having tools to make the experience itself as calm and positive as possible. This helps them approach their caesarean with confidence.

The mindset preparation that comes from a Hypnobirthing course can enable parents to be to be more assertive in their needs with health care professionals, they are more likely to deal with the unexpected calmly and are then able to regroup and refocus on what they want from their experience.

“I feel so grateful for the hypnobirthing course, which meant that we had a good memorable experience through the day in labour and coped well when things didn’t go as we hoped” Amanda and Dan

Relaxation

Emotional responses are driven by the subconscious mind, so feeling relaxed and at ease with the process on a deeper inner level is so important. In addition, developing the ability to relax deeply and easily takes practice and preparation. Completing a Hypnobirthing course and doing the practice provides powerful skills for this.

A caesarean birth can come with discomfort in the run up, during and when healing too. Hypnobirthing relaxation tools can help with pain management. This is not to replace pharmaceutical drugs but in addition to. This might be a comfort to women nervous about cannulas, spinal aesthetic and the healing process too.

Add to this that the time spent preparing for birth in this way is valuable bonding time for parents and their unborn baby. Prenatal bonding lays the foundation for the parent-child relationship, fostering a sense of attachment and responsiveness even before the baby is born. This early emotional connection has long-term positive implications. It has even been associated with lower levels of parental stress, anxiety, and depression, as well as reduced risk of emotional difficulties in children.

Choices

Through a Hypnobirthing course, parents-to-be will learn about their birth choices. It is often surprising for them to know that they do have choices during a Caesarean birth and that it is really beneficial to write a birth plan.

They have choices such as when their caesarean takes place (at what gestation or waiting for signs of labour), whether or not the obstetrician talks through the process as it is happening, environmental comforts around them, how the baby emerges, skin to skin and so much more.

This can be invaluable for women to feel that they retain their autonomy when it comes to their birth.

“If we hadn’t have done Hypnobirthing, I honestly don’t think I would have been able to deal with the changes to my birth preferences as calmly and as well as I did. I really, really enjoyed my birth experience: it was empowering, calm and left me feeling on such a high.” Abbie and Darren, Planned Caesarean Birth

How could you increase awareness that Hypnobirthing is powerful for caesarean birth so more potential clients know it’s for them too?

-Share testimonials from those who have used Hypnobirthing for a caesarean birth.

-Addressing it directly in your marketing e.g. ‘It is a misconception that Hypnobirthing is only for home water births, in actual fact…’ This could be on your website, at taster events, on social media etc.

-When showing birthy images, sometimes show images from caesarean birth.

-In your content, whether that is social media, blogs or something else, include Caesarean birth related content e.g. 3 ways Hypnobirthing is incredible for a caesarean, 6 choices you might not know you’ve got in a caesarean birth, Why ….. loved her caesarean birth.

-You could also be mindful of avoiding language that assumes clients have a preference for a vaginal birth, showing them that your courses are inclusive of all choices.

-Celebrate all births for how the woman FEELS rather than how it happened.

Here at Love Your Birth, we have dedicated resources for use with clients planning or wanting to be super prepared for a Caesarean birth. This includes detailed session plans, client workbook and Hypnosis Script. This is all included in our Hypnobirthing Teacher Training and Expansion course at no extra cost.

Would you like a one-to-one chat about our training options to see if they are right for you? Book a chat here.

Abby x